by Brandon Hale
“With the stupid street lights back on,” Alice said, “we can’t see the sky at all. I say we go outside town and see what we can see.”
“All of us?” Arthur asked. “I just mean, don’t you think that’ll be a little awkward?”
“I think this might be a little more important,” Alice said.
“Why?” Arthur said. “The lights went out and some helicopters flew by. It’s interesting, yes, but I don’t see it as changing the way we view the universe.”
“Do you seriously think those were helicopters?” Lauren asked. “There was no noise. Only those lights shining down on the town. I’m with Alice. I think we should get somewhere that lets us see the sky.”
A few minutes later, they piled into Arthur’s car and drove toward the fairgrounds on the outskirts of town. It was the best candidate for a clear sky. The fair came to town every August. The rest of the year, the area was nothing but a giant, dark field.
“You know,” Arthur said, “after we find out what happened with the power, we have much to discuss.”
“We know, Art,” Lauren said. She was sitting in the passenger seat beside him. Alice and Jerry sat in the back. Lauren wasn’t sure why they had chosen to sit with their respective future ex-spouses. Most likely, she decided, it was because any other seating arrangement would have been much worse.
Arthur sighed. “Despite our little comedy show at the coffee shop, things aren’t resolved. And when the excitement of these helicopters wears off, we’re all going to be facing that again.”
“Okay,” Alice said. “So let’s just enjoy the excitement with the helicopters for now. How ‘bout it?”
“It’s them.”
Everyone turned to look at Jerry, realizing that this was the first time he’d spoken since they decided to go to the fairgrounds. He was sitting in the back seat, staring blankly out the window.
“How do you know?” Alice asked quietly.
“The lights,” Jerry said. “They’re the same.”
“It was just a bright light,” Arthur said.
“No,” Jerry said. “That light was the first thing I noticed when they took me. It wasn’t like any man-made light I’d ever seen. When I first saw the lights that night, I remember wondering if that’s what light looks like in heaven.” Alice could see the tears welling in his eyes. “It’s them,” he repeated. “They’ve come back.”
“Do you want us to turn around?” Lauren asked.
“Yes,” Arthur said. “We can turn around, buddy. Our differences aside, you don’t need to be giving yourself a heart attack here.”
Jerry smiled. There was a hint of his old arrogance in that smile. “Thanks for the concern, Artie. But I think I’ll be okay. Besides, I don‘t think it matters what we do. I have a feeling everything is about to change for us.”
“No shit,” Arthur said. “A lot’s happened to us tonight.”
“No, Arthur,” Jerry said. “I don’t me ‘us’ as in the four of us. I mean ‘us’ as in the human race.”
“Why would you think that?” Alice asked.
“Gut feeling,” Jerry said. “What’s going on up there?” he asked, looking through the front windshield.
Everyone turned around to see that traffic had been stopped ahead. “Apparently,” Arthur said, “we’re not the only ones that thought of the fairgrounds.” He slowed the car down and eventually stopped behind a pick-up truck. Ahead, the line of stopped cars seemed to go on for a mile or more. In the distance, there were several flashing blue lights in the road.
“Looks like the police are up there,” Lauren said.
“Maybe there was a wreck,” Alice added. “I mean, all the cars lost power too.”
“Turn around and go back home?” Arthur offered. “Perhaps watch the news?”
“Maybe,” Lauren said. “Traffic to the fairgrounds seems to be stopped. I think they’re turning people around.” The cars in the other lane were slowly headed back towards town.
“Let’s just ride up to the police line at least,” Alice said. “We might be able to see the fairgrounds from there. I mean, why aren’t they letting people into the fairgrounds?”
“Probably nothing to do with the fairgrounds,” Arthur said. “Like you said, it’s probably a crash.”
They sat in the car for several more minutes, moving forward a few yards every few seconds. Eventually, they could see the line of police cars blocking the road. Several officers stood in the center of the road, turning the traffic around.
“I know that guy,” Lauren said. “It’s Billy Marlon.”
“One of the cops?” Alice asked.
“Yeah,” Lauren said. “He goes to my church. Maybe he’ll tell us what’s going on.”
“I don’t see any flares,” Arthur said. “Or anything to signify an accident.”
“Is there something going on at the fairground?” Alice asked.
By now, they were three cars away from the police line, which was about a mile from the fairgrounds. They could see several lights coming from what appeared to be the center of the fairgrounds. Bright lights. Beautifully white lights.
“Oh my God,” Alice whispered. “They’ve landed.”
“Don’t be silly,” Arthur said. “Jerry just has us all on edge. No offense, Jerry.”
“None taken, Art.”
“Let’s be reasonable,” Arthur continued. “We had a power outage for a few minutes and we saw some weird lights coming from the sky. It’s a damn big jump to go from that to space aliens.”
“He has a point,” Lauren added.
“Until you factor in Jerry,” Alice said. “He recognized those lights.”
“Respectfully,” Arthur said, “it’s still a pretty big leap.”
“Are you saying he’s lying?” Alice asked. “Because he’s not, Art. Jerry didn’t make up what happened to him.”
“I’m not saying he did,” Arthur said. “I’m not doubting that he believes he was abducted.”
“So you’re saying he’s crazy,” Alice said. The agitation in her voice was obvious.
“Are you two having your first lover’s spat?” Jerry asked.
“Hardly,” Arthur said. “Alice, please understand that we don’t know Jerry like you do.”
“I think you’re the one that needs to understand that,” Alice said. “What happened to him wasn’t imagined, and it wasn’t made up. I’ve lived with him for years. I took enough psychology courses in college to recognize Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when I see it. What happened to him was real.”
“Alice,” Arthur said, a little flustered by Alice’s adamant defense of Jerry, “you have to also consider the possibility that you’re influenced by your own desire for Jerry’s experiences to be real.”
“You are a dick,” Alice said.
Jerry and Lauren both laughed. “Easy, Alice,” Jerry said. “He’s not being a dick. I mean, yes, he is a dick, but not about this. In his place, anybody else would be saying the same thing. It’s a reasonable stance. And I think I need a cigarette. Can I smoke in here?”
“Not in the car,” Arthur said. He looked in the mirror at Alice, then said, “Okay, just this once.”
Jerry rolled down the window a bit and lit up a cigarette.
“Here’s your chance to use that ministerial influence, Lauren,” Arthur said. “Your Billy friend is the officer coming to our car.” He rolled down his window as the officer stepped up to the car.
“I’m afraid you folks’ll have to turn around,” the officer said. “Fairground’s closed.”
Lauren leaned over and said, “Hi, Billy.”
Billy grinned. “Well, hello there, Minister. I didn’t expect to see you up here.”
“Didn’t expect to be here, Billy,” Lauren said.
“Did they call for you?” Billy asked.
“Nobody called for me, Billy,” Lauren answered. “I was just wondering what’s going on.”
“I think God would’ve forgiven her for lying this one time,�
�� Jerry mumbled.
“Oh,” Billy said to Lauren. His tone suggested that he regretted the question.
“Who would’ve called for me?” Lauren asked.
“I better not say any more,” Billy said. “We’re supposed to turn people around. That’s all.”
“Maybe I can be of some help,” Lauren said. “Perhaps the people you thought had called for me just haven’t thought of it yet. You want to go ask them?”
“No, ma’am,” Billy said. “It was a dumb thought. They wouldn’t have any use for a small town preacher.”
“Billy,” Lauren asked, “what’s going on?”
Billy looked back toward the fairgrounds and at the other police officers walking to the other cars. He leaned back down and said, “This is big, ma’am. Bigger than anything you could imagine. I don’t know why they hell they won’t let us say anything to you. You’ll see it on the news as soon as you get home.”
“Then just tell us,” Arthur said. “You know we won’t say anything.”
“Better not, Professor,” Billy said. “Wish I could. Just go home and turn on the TV. Any channel. Hell, turn on the damn radio. I doubt you’ll find music playing.” He looked at Lauren. “Sorry about swearing there, ma’am.”
Lauren smiled. “No problem, Billy. You seem to be under some stress right now.”
“You have no idea,” Billy said. “Now move on before another officer comes over here thinking there’s trouble. Wouldn’t be the first time tonight.”
“Take care of yourself, Billy,” Lauren said.
“You too, Minister.”
Arthur turned the car around and headed back to town. “Okay,” he said. “I admit I’m a little freaked out now.”
“Well?” Alice said.
“What?” Arthur said. “I admitted I’m freaked out. You want an apology?”
“No, idiot,” Alice said. “Turn on the damn radio.”
“Oh,” Arthur said as he pressed the power button on his stereo.
“…has been notified and is currently meeting with his advisors,” the man on the radio was saying.
“Who has been notified?” Arthur asked. “The President? As in the President of the United States? What the hell?”
“So far,” the radio continued, “there have been no reports of direct contact from the vessels. We’re expecting a longer statement from the Department of Homeland Security any moment now, but for now they are advising that nobody attempt to make contact. Stay as far away from the vessels as possible. In most towns, the local police are setting up roadblocks to prevent anyone from approaching the vessels.”
“Holy fuck,” Alice whispered. “It’s really happening.”
Arthur changed the station. “Maybe someone else has more information,” he said.
“Just leave it on one station,” Lauren said. “They’ll start over soon enough.”
He stopped on a station that had a woman’s voice. “Once again, this is Charlene Carol, reporting for WVNA News. It’s official. We are not alone. A few hours ago, people began giving reports of unidentified flying objects in the sky. These reports weren’t limited to any town or locality. They came from everywhere in the country. We’ve now learned that the reports weren’t even limited to America.” She took a deep breath. “They’re everywhere. It’s global. Within the last half hour, we started receiving reports that the vehicles have begun to land. All across the globe, vessels that appear to be alien in origin are landing on our planet. We can only hope that their intentions are friendly.”
There was the sound of some shuffling, and the reporter continued. “We’re waiting for a statement from the White House, but in the meantime, they’ve advised that no one attempt to make contact. Stay away from these vessels until further notice. This is not the time to risk any kind of miscommunication of our intentions. While exciting and terrifying, it is very important that we do not panic. Hopefully, the fact that they’re landing is a good sign that it’s not some kind of attack.”
“Again, this is Charlene Carol. If you’re just tuning in, the world is witnessing the most monumental event in the history of the human race. We are not alone. The most important thing I can tell you is that this is not the time to panic.”
“Is it me,” Alice said, “or do her constant reminders to not panic make you want to panic?”
“This is not happening,” Arthur said.
“We need to get to a television,” Lauren said.
“Our place or yours?” Alice asked.
“Ours,” Arthur said. “It’s closer.”
Nobody objected. While Arthur drove through town, they listened to the reporter’s terrified voice, constantly reminding listeners to avoid panic.
As they entered the Carver home, Jerry was whistling to himself.
“You’re suddenly perky,” Lauren said.
Jerry grinned. “It’s a good feeling to know I’m not crazy.”
“That’s not completely determined yet,” Arthur said.
“Nice place,” Alice said as she hung her coat up by the door.
“The church provided it,” Lauren said. “I don’t know that I’ll be staying here after this week, though.”
Alice grimaced. “I’m sorry, Lauren.”
“Shit happens,” Lauren said, looking around her couch. “Where’s the remote.”
“Here,” Arthur said as he picked up the television remote from a small table beside the couch. He pointed it at the television and hit the power button. “Any preferences on channel?”
“I doubt it’ll matter,” Jerry said. “You got anything to drink?”
“Orange juice, lemonade, apple juice, or coffee?” Lauren asked.
“Ugh,” Jerry said. “Coffee, I suppose.”
“Oh, and tea, if you’d like,” Lauren added.
“Coffee’s fine,” Jerry said. “Plenty cream, plenty sugar.”
“Sugar substitute okay?” Lauren asked.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Jerry said.
“Life of a diabetic,” Arthur said.
“Which reminds me,” Lauren said. “After the coffee, I have to change my pump.”
“My God,” Alice mumbled. She was staring at the TV.
They all looked at the TV and saw image after image of what could only be described as flying saucers. The size was impossible to determine, but they were all silver and round. Some shots were of the craft landing in fields or parks or city streets. Others were shots of the sky, where the only thing you could see were hundreds of white, hovering lights.
Lauren returned from the kitchen to find Jerry and Alice sitting on the couch. Arthur was in his recliner. They were all watching the television intently. “Coffee will take a few minutes,” she said as she squeezed in between Alice and Jerry.
“What time is it?” Jerry asked.
“About three in the morning,” Arthur said. “I look forward to seeing these things in daylight.”
The television switched to two men, sitting at a news desk. They were apparently co-anchors. The images of the vessels continued to run in a smaller picture on the bottom right of the screen.
The two men looked similar to each other. Both had short brown hair. One of them wore glasses, and the other had a neatly trimmed mustache and beard.
“We’ll continue to run a solid feed of images and videos of the vessels throughout our reports,” the man wearing glasses said. “From this video footage, they look very much like classic flying saucers. But as we saw from the closer videos, the surface of the ships is anything but smooth.” He looked off to the side and mumbled, “Can we find that footage?”
“The surface,” the bearded man added, “looks like thousands of tiny pyramids. It’s really stunning to see the similarities between those surface pyramids and the various pyramids here on Earth. Ah, there’s the footage.”
“Fascinating,” Arthur said.
The video appeared to be from someone’s home video recorder. As it zoomed in, the pyramids became evident. The grea
ter shape of the vehicle was indeed shaped like two saucers, glued together at the wide edges. The actual surface was covered with what could only be described as tiny pyramids.
“If you’re just tuning in,” the man wearing glasses said, “you may be surprised by what you’re seeing. And no, I’m not talking about the visitors. By this point, I think it’s safe to say the entire waking world is aware of them. I’m referring to the fact that my co-host and I aren’t at each other’s throats.”
The co-host laughed. “Yes, we’re witnessing two extraordinary events tonight. We’re seeing the arrival of vehicles that appear to have come from space, and we’re witnessing an episode of the Hamilton/Banks Hour that doesn’t involve the two of us almost coming to blows. It appears this visitation is already ushering in an era of peace.”
“Turn the channel,” Alice said. “These two assholes are intensely annoying.”
“I agree,” Arthur said, “but I’m actually glad they’re the ones covering this. The guy in the glasses is Chris Hamilton. He’s as liberal as they come. The other guy, with the beard, is Fred Banks. He’s the conservative.”
“Do they have a sitcom or something?” Jerry asked.
Arthur chuckled. “No. They have a political debate show. Comes on this news channel every night at eight. It’s their most popular show. It’s a good show to watch, because they each get equal time, which means each viewpoint gets equal time. When the news channels start pouring out the experts, this show will almost certainly have a better variety.”
“Who gives a damn,” Alice said. “I just want to see what’s going on. I seriously doubt this will get political.”
Arthur chuckled. “You underestimate our politicians.”
“We’re still waiting on word from the White House,” the man in glasses--Hamilton--was saying. “So far, the only statement we’ve gotten is that the President is meeting with advisors. In the meantime, they warn everyone to avoid contact with the vessels.”
“And,” Banks added, “they have stated that it is very important that we--”