“Dorn, they fired on us without warning,” April said. “They’re not going anywhere.” I told the other ships to stay cloaked until we went back to hyperspace.
“Ship from Boldlygo, we acted too fast; we can’t make it home. You can’t leave us here.” We went to hyperspace.
I stood from my chair. I looked at April and Marie. “I love you, yet you scare me.” They laughed.
Tressa said, “You, Opa, scared? I can’t believe that. Opa, I would have done the same. Leah told us, Marie, April, and myself, no chances. Opa, they fired on us first. They said it was a mistake, it was. Opa, it was a mistake for them.” Zar took control of the ship. He sent us back to hyperspace.
I went to the galley. My thought went suddenly to my son, for some reason. I felt his present strong. I walked back to the bridge, checking on everyone. I told Zar, “You have the bridge, I’ll be in my quarters.” I stretched out on the cot. Somewhere, I fell asleep. In my deep sleep, a voice called to me from the Marder-to-go’s. It had been weeks since we left. My son was with Ira and Kayla.
“Dorn, wake up, son.”
“Yes, Ira, I’m here,” I said.
“You seem far away.” I told Ira I was on a journey to Earth. Marie’s brother is in trouble. Ira said to me, “Son, Zin is doing great.” Ira told me several things. It seemed hours had past when April woke me.
“Dorn, come to the bridge.” I jumped up. I told her I guess I fell asleep.
“Dorn,” she said, “You have been in there for ten hours.” I walked to the bridge. Zar reported. Zar told me there were two ships off the port side.
He said, “I have held the ship. I got no response.”
I called to the Vernon ship, “Commander, can you identify the ships?”
He responded, “I’ve never seen them, they’re not in our archives.”
April said, “We’re being held, all ships come from hyperspace to stop.” The alien ships flew by.
“This is Dorn of the Royal Command of Boldlygo. Respond. Respond, or we’ll act.”
A voice called, “There’s no need for violence, we mean you know harm. We’ve never seen ships as yours before.”
I asked them, “What is your home?”
They replied, “The Pegasus galaxy.”
I told him, “We have the Veronians here with us.”
He told me, “We are called Valornia.”
The captain said, “We were on a peaceful mission to the big blue planet.”
I asked the captain, “Would you grant me permission to board?”
He replied, “I’m afraid our appearance might frighten you.” I told him I doubt that. Appearance, well let’s say, are superficial.
The captain said, “We will accept this. We will be waiting.” Opening the hatch, I thought to myself, the being that greeted me, you could tell was intelligent.
“I am called Mag,” he said.
I introduced myself. “I’m Dorn.” I met him in my human form. When we took hands, I shifted to look like him.
Looking at me, “How did you do that?” I told him it was a gift.
“Captain,” I said.
“Please,” he said, “Call me Mag.”
I asked Mag, “Have you been to Earth before?”
Mag replied, “No, I have not.”
I mentioned, “Humans will not accept you.” I shifted back to my human body. “Humans like me will destroy or kill you.” I shifted to my native body. “This is the way I look on my world.”
He asked, “Then why do you change?” I told him I took a human wife; she accepts me, either way. There are several in my world that can shift.”
The captain assured me it would be a peaceful mission. I told him, “I’m sure you mean well Mag, the humans won’t. I have walked among them for almost three hundred years. They will destroy you. We have taken humans from Earth to our world for hundreds of years. It was the only way to save our race. We’re about eight thousand now.
Humans don’t understand life beyond the stars. They’re not intelligent as far as the stars yet they do have potential. There’re so many different countries always fighting. There’s a great war going on there now.”
Mag asked, “Why are you going there?”
I told him, “We were going on a rescue mission; we have people there, we’re going to retrieve them. Their ship was destroyed by the Palatonian and Centaurian.”
Mag said, “I’ve heard of the Palatonians, they are forceful being.”
I told Mag, “Not as much as the Centaurians. We at one time were friendly to both planets. We would not sell or trade with them. They came, tried to take what they wanted by force. They lost.”
Mag said, “Doesn’t sound like something to fight about.”
“Mag, my main concern is my people. I’ll go, retrieve them if I can. Then we’ll go home, never to return. I’ve said this to others. If you encounter these beings, do not trust them; mostly never let them board you.”
Mag stated, “They will have a fight if they try.”
“Mag, I must leave you, return to my ship. I must rescue my people; it’s still a six months journey.” I told him to come along with us if he wishes. I returned to my ship. Zar took us once again to hyperspace, to the blue planet called Earth.
7
The Earth’s sun shined warm through my window. I sipped my morning coffee. It had been three months since I had written to my folks. I thought, surely, they had received the letter by now; I had no way of knowing. Many thoughts ran through my mind. Maybe they were dead or in prison. I didn’t know if they made it out of the clearing. I really have no way of knowing that either.
The inspector of Scotland Yard sat at his desk thinking of that night long ago. He thinks everyone made a fool of him that night. If only he could have caught a real alien. The two he caught proved to be humans. He had to let them go shortly afterward. The inspector has watched them night and day for years. He had watched their mail. He watched all people coming and going from their home.
Mister Pixal, a postal worker in the sorting room, knew the Willards. When a letter came addressed to the Willards, he was to give it to the inspector.
Some he did, the letter he took from the sort today, he would not. The sort was light today. He took the letter, placed it in his vest pocket. The letter would stay in the vest until the time was right. Leaving early, Pixal went to a pub for ale. Mr. Pixal was at the bar having his ale; a man sat down at a table. Mr. Pixal knew who he was. He sat, listening to the man talk about the world’s problems. Having his fill of ale, he left through the front door. Mr. Willard came through the back.
“I’ll have an ale, old chap,” he said.
Mr. Pixal placed his hand in his vest pocket then stopped.
“Tell me, sir, where did you say your son went to?”
I said, “Scotland Yard to the United States with an aunt. I was going to meet him there.” Mr. Pixal took the letter, handed it to Mr. Willard. Willard placed the letter in his jacket’s pocket, finished his ale. Thrilled as he was, he stepped through the back door looking up and down the street, staying in the shadows until he arrived at his home.
“June,” he called, “You won’t believe it.”
“Look,” he said, taking the letter from his jacket. Showing his wife the letter, tears filled her eyes.
“My God, John. Read it, hurry, before someone comes; then burn it.”
The letter told what Tyler and Marie had become. He was in New Mexico, waiting.
“Burn it, now.”
John said to his wife, “We must sell everything, there are only five more months before they come.
Mr. Willard talked to several people, went to several places. He never cared about the price; just enough to go to New York. He would purchase tickets to New Mexico. He knew it would be a burden on his wife; it was his children he was
going to see, his son and daughter.
One thousand for the house, two hundred for the car. Mr. Willard booked a flight on the first airliner for the first part of the week. Eighty dollars for the ticket, then to Denver, another fifty, then a bus to New Mexico. Mr. Willard thought three weeks, maybe. In their home, John told his wife of what he had done.
She had tears in her eyes. “John,” she asked, “Will they follow?”
He replied, “Yes, I’m sure of it. June, they don’t know what I’ve done.”
June Willard looked at her husband. “What have you done?”
Replying, “Just remember one thing, June, we’re going home.”
There were still several days before we were to leave. Each deal I made, I asked my friends not to say a word to anyone. On my way home, I thought of my children; the things I did when they were young. I thought as I walked, I was so glad they got away. In the clearing that night, my wife and I were captured and integrated for several months. Several nights in jail we stayed. Scientist and doctors did their test on us. Every day, this went on for several months.
The Willards told the inspector they were only passing by.
“We saw the bright light in the sky, people started running, shots were fired when the police came. We were only passing by.” Thousands of time the same thing; they told the same story.
I told the authorities, “We were people of value, I own a bank. I’ve lived here all my life; our family comes from Whales.” Day after day it was the same. Two months later, the inspector got his report from the lab; he let us go. For twelve years, we have been followed. Every now and then, the inspector would pull us in. The last three years, we have been left alone.
Early morning, the Willards were having breakfast in a local diner. Two constables came into the diner.
June Willard had enough. “Everyone, please, I would like to have your attention, please. These two police officers follow us everywhere we go. I’m going to ask them to come to my house and sleep with me and my husband.” Feeling embarrassed, the police left. The Willards were never followed again.
Four months after the encounter at the diner, a UFO was seen over Madrid. Mr. Willard thought it will start again.
A voice startled Mr. Willard. “Sir, sir.”
John Willard asked, “May I help you?” John turned to see it was the inspector looking straight into his eyes. He was being followed again. Mr. Willard was checking on his properties at one of the local banks in Cambridge. John had asked his friend about handling the affairs. Walking into the bank, his friend called to him.
“John, old boy, if you will have a chair.”
Willard himself was a banker, the inspector thought, just not of this bank. He needed no reason to come over to him, after all, he was an inspector of Scotland Yard.
“Old chap,” the inspector said, “Haven’t seen you around.”
Mr. Willard said to him, “You were just following me again yesterday. You were following me last night, and last week. I don’t know why you people won’t leave me and my wife alone.”
The inspector leaned forward. “You bloody well know why I won’t leave you alone.”
“Why are you here?” The inspector asked. “This is not your bank.”
Mr. Willard told the inspector, “I don’t like to keep my own business at my bank, conflict of interest.” I told him, “Of course, you would not know anything of that on a police’s salary, now would you?” The inspector’s face turned red. He backed up, stomped out of the bank. Mr. Willard’s friend called him into the office.
“John,” he said, “Your net assets is fifty thousand dollars.”
I said, “A check please, I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”
“Old boy makes the check payable to you?” He asked.
I replied, “No, make it to the Carlsbad bank and trust Carlsbad New Mexico. I’m going to retire. My wife and I are leaving England.”
My friend asked, “Old chap, why New Mexico?”
I told him, “Land, five dollars an acre. Until tomorrow, tally ho.”
8
I had no way of knowing life on Earth the way I was used to knowing was ending. I had no way of knowing Dorn was on his way. Beyond the moon, the stars, the galaxy of Earth, to the very existence of time. I hoped every day my letter made its way to my mom and dad. I thought, since I was stranded on Earth, I thought every day if they still were alive. I had bad thought of them that night in the Cambridge clearing. Did they make it out alive? Sitting alone in the mobile, I tried not to think of that. I could only hope they were still alive.
That night, after all had left, I sat on the bed. I cleared my thoughts, my mind. I went to a peaceful place. I meditated, straining my thought, trying to see into the future.
“Marie, please hear me. I wait patiently for word of our parents as I wait for you. I wait to be rescued. I’m ready to go home.” With my hands reached out, I could almost feel the warmth of her hands. “Marie, if you can hear me - “
A strange wind blew through the window. I stood from the bed, walked to the window. A strange man I’ve never seen before lurked outside the mobile. First, I thought it was Mr. Sams. This man was too short. It wasn’t a Palatonian. The glow of the moon gave his position away as a shadow on a wall. I looked again, he was gone into the night as if he never was there. Did I really see something, or was I still asleep?
I sat for several minutes staring through the window. I know I was not seeing things in the night. Living in the desert with a full moon, you just don’t imagine seeing a man. Who was he? Was he here for me? Why was he here? I saw him no more that night. I went back to bed.
The sun came from the East, looking like a red fire in the morning sky. I thought it would be a good day on Earth. I went to the stove, made my coffee. While my coffee was brewing, I walked to the edge of the drive. I took in several deep breaths. The air on Earth in 1940 was still not as pure as it was on Boldlygo. I walked over to where I saw the man.
I looked down, picked up several rocks. I threw the rocks across the desert just in case someone was watching. I was looking where someone stood. I saw the grass bent over, the sand was moved around, footprints were everywhere. I took a better look; two people were here, maybe three. How odd, the tracks were coming from the desert, one set coming from town. I slowly walked back to the mobile.
Going in, I poured a cup. I took a slice of bread, put butter on it. Well, that was my breakfast. I sat on the stoop wishing for Sweet Grass or a Simon. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll miss butter, sometimes eggs, always will miss coffee. I don’t know, maybe Mr. Sams had something. Maybe Omega would start a trade. We would need to be very careful. Everything would need to be done at night. Mr. Sams would need to build a building, a huge one. This building would need to be in a secluded area, it might work. Lee was up early. Standing in the door, Lee yelled.
“Morning, boy. Hell let’s go blow something up. You got coffee on?”
I told him, “I do, come on over.”
Since the first time I met him, Lee always like to have his first cup of coffee without conversation. I finally understood why. Coffee is like a good woman, you just need to take it all in then talk. That’s what Lee said. Personally, I like my coffee; I’d never tell April that.
Drinking his coffee, finishing his first, Lee asked for more. “Damn it, boy, I love the way you make coffee.”
I asked, “Lee, what’s in that direction?”
“Where, son?” I pointed toward the desert to the east of the park.
Lee said, “Nothing that I know of. Why do you ask?”
I asked, “Why would anyone come from the desert, then go back that way?”
Old Lee Said, “Damn it, boy, you got me.”
I asked him, “You want to take a walk, maybe bring that old gun?”
Lee answered, “Hell, yes. Let me go get it, boy howdy.” I thou
ght, humans and their expression.
I had a cup while Lee went for his shoes and that big cannon. Coming from his house with that big gun, I had forgotten it was Saturday.
Lori and Pam drove up. Lori asked, “Where are you going this morning?” I told her we’re going to the desert. We’re going for a walk.
Lori said, “A walk Tyler, with a Goddamn gun? Tyler, what are you doing?”
I smiled. “We’re following a trail, be like detective work.”
The girls said, “We’re coming too.” Walking through the park into the desert, I saw the tracks.
Lori said, “Look, Tyler, tracks! They’re heading south.”
I said, “A set coming and going.”
“There’s nothing out there,” Lee said.
Lori said, “Dad, the old mine, it’s out that way.”
Lee thought, “Doggone it, boy. I forgot about that old copper mine.”
Pam said, “That place hasn’t been open in years. If it’s the mine, there’s a road. We can go faster by car.”
I said to them, “Let’s go find Henery.” Walking back to the mobile, I ran in for more coffee as Henery pulled up.
Henery got out of his car. “Tyler, look up.” Well, everyone saw what I saw.
Lori said, “That was the oddest plane I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s no plane,” I said.
“Bullshit, the air force is building new planes all the time,” Lori said. I told Henery what I’d seen in the night.
He asked, “Show me the direction the tracks went.” We walked back to the end of the park. Henery took his field glasses.
Henery said, “Tyler, look! The ship that went overhead landed about two miles to the south.”
I looked through the glasses. “Damn,” I said,
Henery asked, “What?”
I said, “It’s Centaurian. How did they know I was here?”
Returning, Pam asked so did Lori. “Well, what?”
I said, “We’re not going.”
“Why not?” Lee asked. “I got my gun, boy.”
The Staff of Ira Page 9