Aliens in the Sky

by Christopher Pike

  “I have erected a mental shield around this ship. I have set it so that only my thoughts are allowed in and out.”

  “What do your people intend to do with Adam and Watch?” Cindy asked.

  The huge space station was very near. They were coming in at the top. A black doorway opened before them.

  “I do not know.”

  “What did your teachers tell you was their reason for going to Earth?” Sally asked.

  “They said we went there to observe. To learn.”

  The ship slowed to a crawl. They began to enter the station.

  “Well, I hope they learned not to mess with us,” Sally replied. “You said you had a plan to rescue our friends. What is it?”

  “It is hard to explain.”

  Sally fingered the weapon she kept tucked in her belt. “You’re going to have to do better than that. I have trusted you this far, but before I leave this ship I want to know what you have up your sleeve.”

  The alien appeared puzzled. He checked his sleeve.

  “I have nothing up it except my arm, Sally.”

  Sally snorted. “Just tell me how we’re going to get our friends out of this metal cylinder.”

  The alien thought for a moment.

  “None of us is going to leave this ship. Not right now. I am going to try to start what you call a riot.”

  “What?” Cindy gasped.

  “I am going to broadcast the thought that your friends have been taken by force and are being held captive. I have explained that this act violates our most important laws. But I can only do this once I know where your friends are, and once I am hooked into what you would call a youth computer network. Except this network works with telepathy, not electric modems such as you have in your present-day culture.”

  Sally glanced at Cindy. “Did you get all that?” Sally asked.

  “I don’t know.” Cindy spoke to the alien, “Why do you first have to know where Adam and Watch are?”

  “Young people play pranks in our culture as they do in your culture. I will have to prove that your friends are being held captive. The best way to do this is to direct as many individuals my age as possible to the place where Adam and Watch are.”

  “What if they are in a restricted area?” Sally asked.

  “Nowhere in our culture is supposed to be restricted.”

  “Why do you have to be hooked up to a network?” Sally demanded. “Why can’t you just broadcast the information with your fat head . . . I mean, just with your incredible telepathic abilities?”

  “It is easier on the network. It is set up so that interference is filtered out. I will be able to reach many more people this way.”

  “When you say a riot do you mean that hordes of your kind will begin to loot and burn?” Sally asked.

  The idea seemed to startle the alien. He took a moment to respond.

  “No. I mean that my people will gather and demand that Adam and Watch are released. It is the only plan I can think of.”

  Sally glanced at Cindy and shook her head. “I think our little friend underestimates what his government has going on the side.”

  “What do you mean?” Cindy asked.

  “Think about it. These ships obviously landed in Spooksville with the purpose of taking hostages. The aliens we hijacked weren’t there to explore. They were there to grab humans, pure and simple. That means they must have done it before, many times.”

  “What are you saying?” Cindy asked.

  “I am finally beginning to believe this runt is on our side. But I think he is naive—his government is up to all kinds of secret stuff that he knows nothing about. That’s why his teachers hid him out of the way when we were being kidnapped. Ten to one he’s never going to be able to find out where Adam and Watch have been taken, especially if he stays inside this ship.” Sally paused and spoke to the alien. “Did you hear that? What is your name anyway?”

  “Ekweel2.”

  “Do you mind if I call you Ek?” Sally said. “No? Good. Did you hear what I just said?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, what do you think?”

  “I hope you are wrong.”

  Sally had to laugh, but it was not a happy laugh. “You can hope all you want. But I think we’ll all be lucky to get out of this alive. One thing for sure. As soon as we dock, there will be a group of guards waiting outside for us.”

  “No. I have already sent a message ahead that I have taken control of this ship. That is what I told my teachers on the other ship that I was going to do. There will be no guards waiting for us.”

  “Ek, I hate to tell you this,” Sally said. “But you’re about to get your first lesson in the real universe. This ship fired on the other ship. That is no small matter. Guards will be waiting for us and they will be armed. As soon as we dock I want you to let them in. Cindy and I are going to be hidden behind. As soon as we see them, we’re going to stun them and lock them up with the other goons. In fact, set our guns to the right setting. I don’t want to kill the guards accidentally. I would feel bad about it afterward.”

  Ek had to put a hand to his head.

  “You will just shoot them if they come in?”

  “Yes,” Sally said. “Listen, one of your guys already shot me once. And I woke up with a splitting headache. I have a right to a little retaliation.”

  Ek gestured in front of them.

  “We are about to dock. I should be able to tap into the network from here. I hope you are wrong about all this, Sally.”

  10

  Adam and Watch were first led to a locker room where they were told—telepathically—to undress and shower under a strange orange liquid. Actually, after all the bike riding and alien fighting, the shower was rather pleasant. The liquid was warm and smelled nice. Adam was happy to wash the dirt out of his hair.

  But while they were in the shower their clothes were taken. In their place were laid out two tan jumpsuits similar to the ones the aliens wore, only larger. This was OK with Adam and Watch; neither of them was particularly attached to his clothes. They dressed quickly, enjoying the feel of the soft material against their skin. The only trouble was Watch’s glasses were missing. He stumbled around the room while Adam looked for them. The two guards just stood like statues, holding their ray guns. Finally Adam got fed up.

  “All right,” he said. “What did you do with my friend’s glasses? He needs them. He can’t even walk down a hall without them.”

  At first the aliens acted as if they didn’t understand. They gestured with their guns for Adam and Watch to exit by a door on the far side of the room. But Adam refused.

  “We are not going anywhere until he gets his glasses back.” Adam pointed to his own eyes, then pointed at Watch’s eyes. “Understand? He uses those things to see.”

  The aliens gestured again with their guns.

  “No.” Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re going to have to shoot us both. We are not leaving without those glasses.”

  “Maybe you should tell them that they can shoot you if they want,” Watch said, as he bumped into a wall.

  But the ultimatum worked. Finally they received a telepathic message.

  “We did not know the glasses were so important.”

  The glasses were returned and they were led from the locker room area to a small cubicle that was equipped with an Earth-like toilet and two small beds set near the floor. The far wall of the room was made of what looked like clear glass or plastic; they could see through it into what appeared to be a courtyard. The moment they were inside the tiny room, the aliens turned and left, locking the door behind them. Adam pounded on it for several seconds before giving up in frustration. There wasn’t even a doorknob he could try to jimmy or break.

  “This is a cage,” Adam muttered.

  “It’s one of many cages,” Watch said, standing near the far wall. “Look out there.”

  Around the circular courtyard were twenty such rooms. Each was equipped with a similar transp
arent wall and held a different creature from other worlds. Some cells held two of the same species. In one glance, Adam and Watch were treated to an overview of many life forms from other galaxies.

  Closest to them was a critter that had six heads.

  Six feet tall, it was vaguely insectile; it walked on six legs and had dozens of eyes on three of its heads. On the remaining three were tiny claws and mouths. It stared at them wickedly, snapping its claws repeatedly. Adam and Watch instinctively backed away from their transparent wall. The thing looked as if it wanted to eat them.

  In another cage was a bloblike being that flowed from one corner of its container to another. There were fish creatures, birdmen, and even one individual that looked like a cross between a robot and a dinosaur. They saw what they thought was a Hyeet—a Bigfoot. The hairy apelike fellow waved to them. Adam waved back without enthusiasm.

  “We’re in a zoo,” he said miserably.

  “I wonder,” Watch said. “Where are all the tourists?”

  “Maybe it’s nighttime.”

  “You wouldn’t have a specific nighttime aboard a space station. People would probably work in shifts, around the clock. If this is a zoo, I think it would have to be open all the time.”

  “What are you saying?” Adam asked.

  Watch scratched his head. The aliens had taken his four watches and hadn’t returned them with his glasses. Adam knew how much his friend must miss them. They were like a part of his body, his persona even. Of course, if there was no night and day on a space station, then there were no time zones either. Watch had an accepting nature and hadn’t complained of the theft.

  “I think this is more of a laboratory,” Watch said finally. “I think we’re cut off from the public.”

  Adam frowned. “That sounds terrible. Do you think they’ll experiment on us?”

  Watch nodded. “It’s a possibility. We have to mentally prepare ourselves to have our organs removed, maybe without anesthesia.”

  “If they remove many of our organs, we’ll die.”

  “It might be a blessing.”

  Adam stepped back from the transparent wall and sat down on one of the beds. He was exhausted. The time he had spent unconscious from the ray gun zap had not qualified as a refreshing nap. He was also deathly thirsty and hungry. He wondered what the meals would be like.

  “You’re depressing me,” Adam muttered.

  “I’m sorry.” Watch sat on the bed across from him. “Maybe it’s not as hopeless as it appears. We’ve been in some nasty fixes before, and we’ve always gotten out. Why should this time be any different?”

  “Because this time we’re trapped in a cage billions of miles from Earth?”

  Watch yawned and leaned back on his bed. “Now you’re depressing me.”

  There was nothing else to say, for the time being.

  They both lay down and rested. They may have even dozed.

  Time went by. They weren’t sure how much.

  Without warning they heard a soft knock at the door.

  “Hey. Are you in there?”

  11

  As Sally predicted, there were four guards waiting for them when they docked. Sally had Ek invite them in so she and Cindy could stun them. They stored the guards belowdecks with the others. To Sally and Cindy’s immense relief, no other guards rushed to the scene. Perhaps Ek was partially right—his people were not experts when it came to security. Sally, Cindy, and Ek had time to work.

  Unfortunately, Ek was making little progress with his plan. They had been in space dock an hour and he still hadn’t been able to locate Adam and Watch. He was searching through some kind of computer map that was projected on a three-dimensional computer screen located to the left of the saucer control panel. He said it was supposed to register all living creatures on the station.

  “I do not understand why they do not show up.”

  “It’s the way I told you,” Sally said as she paced behind Ek. “There must be restricted areas aboard this station. You have to forget about trying to find them. Just broadcast on your telepathic network what has happened. Maybe one of the thousands of fatheads—I mean, maybe one of your many network partners—will have an idea where they are.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Cindy said. “The moment Ek makes such a broadcast, more guards will show up.”

  Sally was agitated. “I know that. I’m not stupid. But they’re going to come here anyway. At least we will have got our message out. Once they arrest us, there’ll be no chance. We’ll probably be put to immediate death.”

  “Our culture does not have the death penalty.”

  “You don’t know what your culture does behind closed doors,” Sally snapped. Then she paused, thinking. “How can we protect ourselves inside this ship? When they do come for us?”

  “We can lock the door. But they will burn through it quickly, if they want to.”

  “Can you fire the ship’s weapons while we’re in space dock?” Sally asked.

  “That would not be a good idea. Many could be hurt.”

  Sally rolled her eyes. “Like I’m worried about a few casualties. Listen, Ek, I am not a violent person by nature but you guys started this, and I intend to finish it. When your authorities show up, we need something to fight them with until we can get Adam and Watch back. Better yet, we need something to force them to give us back our friends. Even if we just use it as a bluff.”

  “What is a bluff?”

  “It’s what you do when you want to win at poker,” Sally said. She pointed to the floor beneath them. “This ship accelerated to near light speed in two hours. It must have a powerful engine or warp drive. What’s its source of energy?”

  “Our space drive is powered by the decay of an element called Zelithium 110. It cannot be found on your periodic table of elements because it does not exist naturally, except in the corona of extremely hot blue stars. As the element decays in a chamber of Hyperzoid Quartz, it radiates subatomic particles we call Bostonians. They are very powerful but unstable, unless carefully controlled.”

  Sally glanced at Cindy. “I got less than half that,” Cindy said.

  “You say the Bostonians are unstable?” Sally said. “I like things that way. Instability brings out my finer points. Tell me, Ek, can this stuff be used to make a bomb?”

  Ek looked as worried as an expressionless alien could.

  “Yes. The Hyperzoid Quartz can be tampered with so that the decay of Bostonians builds toward a critical mass.”

  “What happens when critical mass is reached?” Sally asked.

  “There is a huge explosion.”

  “Would the explosion be strong enough to destroy this space station?” Sally asked.

  Ek hesitated. “Yes. And many stations and vessels in the immediate vicinity.”

  “Can you control the decay of the Bostonians so that we don’t accidentally blow ourselves up?” Sally asked.

  “Yes. But not well.”

  “Can you stop the chain reaction once it has begun?”

  “Yes. If I am lucky.”

  “If you start such a chain reaction, will the authorities outside know what you’re up to?” Sally asked. “Will they be able to monitor it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Will it scare them?”

  The alien lowered his big head.

  “Yes. Very much. You could kill millions of my people.”

  Sally smiled at his sad thought. “Ek, I don’t want to kill anybody. I just want to scare your people into giving us back Adam and Watch. But when it comes time to bargain, I have to give the impression that I’m a crazy chick from Spooksville who would just as soon blow up this space station as go swimming in our reservoir at home.”

  “What is Spooksville?”

  “That’s where we come from,” Sally explained. “And you and your pals are only one of the reasons it has earned that name. You’re not even the worst reason. Now broadcast your telepathic message about Adam and Watch and get your Boston
bomb ready. Work as fast as you can. I’m still hoping to make it home in time for bed.”

  Cindy shook her head doubtfully. “You’re playing with fire, Sally.”

  “You don’t understand me, Cindy.” Sally rubbed her hands together, excited. “I’m playing to win.”

  12

  Hearing the knock on the door, and the telepathic message, Adam and Watch jumped up from the beds and huddled by the door. They could hear nothing outside.

  “Who do you think it is?” Adam asked.

  “Either Ekweel2 or another alien,” Watch said.

  “I know it’s either Ekweel2 or another alien. Sally and Cindy haven’t become telepathic in the last few hours. The question is, what should we do?”

  “If it’s someone come to rescue us,” Watch said. “We’ll never forgive ourselves if we don’t answer.”

  Adam put his mouth close to the door. “Yeah, we’re in here. But who are you?”

  The telepathic response was immediate.

  “Zhekee191.”

  Adam and Watch stared at each other. “Their names are kind of corny,” Adam said.

  “Imagine if there are hundreds of Zhekees,” Watch agreed.

  Adam spoke to the door again. “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Are you Adam and Watch? The two human beings?”

  “Yes,” Adam said. “How did you learn our names?” None of the other aliens, with the exception of Ekweel2, had asked them.

  “Ekweel2 came on our youth network and explained that you two had been taken captive by our government, in violation of our laws. He wanted all of us to fan out and search for you. I know Ekweel2 personally. I am his friend and respect what he says. I know he would not joke about such a serious matter.”

  “How were you able to get into this place?”

  “My father works here. I have known for many years that we are not encouraged to visit here and it made me wonder if perhaps this was where you had been taken captive. I am pleased to find you so quickly. I have my father’s passkey. It allows me to enter and exit this section.”