“Here I thought this would be a good day,” Micah said.
Travis wore a baseball cap, and he flipped it backwards. “Now you’ll get the beating you deserve. No teachers to step in. No principal. No mommy or daddy to come to the rescue.”
“Travis! Back off!” Hannelore stepped in between Micah and Travis.
Travis huffed. “Hannelore, you’re so trashy! And if you don’t get out of my way, then I’m gonna give you a beating too.”
Micah’s eyes sharpened. He leapt to his feet and jumped in front of Hannelore. He put up his fists with about as much grace as a newborn puppy. A professional fighter Micah was not. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be!” Travis reared back to take a swing.
“Excuse me young man, is there a problem here?” A deep voice came from behind.
The children turned around to see a police officer approaching. None of them said a word.
The officer walked over and stood in front of Travis. “Young man, as far as I can tell, you were about to beat these other kids up. Is that correct?”
“Um…no sir,” replied Travis with a half open mouth.
The officer folded his arms. “That’s not what I saw. Kid, I'll give you a warning. You better leave these other kids alone. I don’t want to be the one to bring you home to your parents. And take my advice, you better straighten up or you'll have a lot bigger problems in life than a Summer in alternative school. Do I make myself clear?”
“Um…yes sir,” replied Travis.
“Go on now.” The officer pointed towards the nearby neighborhood.
Travis wasn’t in the habit of tucking tail, but that’s exactly what he did. He walked away and never looked back.
The officer turned his attention to the Micah and Hannelore. “Kids, you shouldn’t be out this late. You better go on home.”
“Yes sir, thank you.” Hannelore smiled.
Micah trembled despite his claim of not being afraid. It took him a few seconds to appreciate that Travis wasn’t coming back.
“Oh and son, we’re not alone,” the officer winked.
“Huh, wait…what?” Micah relaxed his fists.
The officer chuckled. “You kids were talking about being alone in the universe. I mean, you were probably talking about aliens or something silly like that, but I want you to keep something in mind.” His tone softened, “none of us are ever truly alone.”
The children looked at each other with blank stares.
The officer turned to walk away. “There’s always someone looking out for us even when we don’t know it.”
The sun was down by now.
“We really better go,” said Hannelore.
Just then, Jimmy the mutt strolled up.
“Where have you been? We could have used a vicious attack dog!” Micah grinned.
“I think Jimmy would have been more likely to steal Travis’ hat than protect us,” Hannelore giggled.
Micah turned to survey the park one last time. “Hey, where did the policeman go? He couldn’t have gone far and I don’t see him anymore.”
“Doesn’t matter Micah. We really, really need to go before my dad grounds me,” Hannelore tugged on Micah’s shirt.
“Sure thing,” replied Micah.
The trio took off for their street.
As Micah was about to enter his house with Jimmy in tow, Hannelore stopped him.
“Kind of lucky that policeman showed up when he did,” she said.
Micah scratched his hair. “Yeah, I didn’t feel like taking another pummeling.”
“But ya know…it’s what he said…that we’re never alone.” Hannelore bit her lip. “You were there for me again when Travis said he might beat me up.”
“That’s what friends do,” Micah said.
Hannelore smiled. “Goodnight.”
“See you tomorrow,” he replied.
Tomorrow came, and the children spent the day with each other once again. It was the same for the day after that and the day after that.
Another school year arrived and life had settled down. The worst seemed to be behind Micah and there was no reason for him to think life would be anything other than wonderful from now on.
You see, Garden City was a safe place and any thought of danger was far off.
That was until one bright, sunny afternoon in October. A sound like thunder clamored in the skies above, but there was no storm. Nothing but a few innocent looking clouds in the sky, but the sound persisted. The roar soon turned into a rumble. Windows were rattling all over Garden City. Objects shook on the shelves of homes and shops.
Over the skies of the city, an enormous spaceship appeared. It was black as night with a few lit windows scattered across its hull. The edges were rounded, much like a blimp, but this ship was wider. There were three huge pipe shaped objects protruding from the body of the ship; one on the front, another on the back, and the third on one side. It was larger, however, and had an open hole facing outward.
The ship was the length of eleven large stadiums lined up one after the other. It was as wide as the tallest skyscraper and consumed the entire sky like no other flying object ever seen before in the long history of humankind.
It descended to a point just above the city’s highest building. There it hovered. The thunder-like sound eased away, but there was still a boisterous racket heard all over the city…echoes of the rattling windows mixed with honking horns and the screams of the people below.
After a few moments, many small objects came flying out of the opening on the side of the craft. There were millions. They were spherical, about the size of a beach ball, and glowed yellow. Some took a position over the city while many more flew to locales all over the globe and within a matter of seconds they surrounded all of planet Earth.
Then came a voice emanating from each of the orbs.
A deep, grizzly voice echoed across the entire world. “My name is Vinitor, the supreme being of this galaxy. You will follow my commands or your world will suffer the consequences.”
At that moment, a gigantic, planet-sized shield deployed from an even larger ship that had taken up a place in orbit. The shield unfurled like a flag and moved into place between Earth and the Sun. The shield was a dark gray color, but one would be hard pressed to see that in the darkness of space. It was thin, not unlike a piece of cloth. Made of a metal that humans had yet to discover, it was as opaque as the Moon. It blocked all sunlight from reaching the surface. The planet grew dark and much colder than usual.
Vinitor spoke again, “There’s a fugitive on your planet named Taurean. He’s being harbored among your people. He must be returned immediately or your planet will be denied sunlight until you all freeze to death. Bring this fugitive to my ship in this Garden City of North America. Be wise.”
Back at Micah’s home, he and his mother held each other after hearing the proclamation.
Elizabeth tried to hide her tears. “It will be okay, son. Somehow, some way, God will take care of us,” she whispered.
Jimmy, however, acted strangely. He was pacing from one side of the house to the other. He darted out the door and ran down the street.
Micah, having grown attached to the dog, ran after him, calling out, “Jimmy, Jimmy! It’s not safe! Don’t go!”
But the little mutt didn’t look back. He kept running.
“Micah, leave him be. Stay here!” yelled Micah’s mother.
“I can’t leave him out there, Mom. I’ll be right back.” Micah turned away from his mother and hopped on his bike. He followed Jimmy down the street.
Hannelore, who had been staring out the window at the massive ship above, noticed what was happening as Micah and the dog ran past her house. She yelled at him, “Micah, what are you doing? Come back!”
“I can’t let Jimmy be out on his own. Something could happen to him. I need that dog!” Micah yelled back at Hannelore as he was riding.
“Fine, then I’m coming with you. Stupid boy!” Hannelore s
houted as she hopped on her bike and took off after them both.
The dog took them on a roundabout tour of the city. He ran across yards, parks, and down the not-so busy streets.
Micah and Hannelore followed every step of the way.
The sounds of sirens and people shouting filled the air. There were crowds of people gathered across all corners of the city shouting at police officers, who were out in force trying to calm people down. Streetlights were going haywire, blinking randomly and out of sync with each other.
Micah heard a whirling, buzzing noise over his head. He looked up to notice that, not too far above the rooftops, these glowing yellow orbs flew about like a swarm of bees minding their hive.
Each orb emitted a bright white light that was rapidly moving back and forth over the buildings and shining through the windows. These little devices were scanning every inch of the city. They were looking for something.
Jimmy paid no attention to any of it. He ran with a purpose as though he had somewhere to be, but where would a dog need to be at a time like this?
Micah then noticed that the little mutt was leading them directly under the spaceship. “Jimmy! Come back!”
Not only was the ship massive, but to look at it from below was like looking at another world. This other world, that had come down to make a visit upon the Earth, was the most frightening thing Micah had ever seen.
On the bottom of the ship, he could see hundreds of pulsating circles. They were engines keeping the ship afloat, but made no noise. He was so taken aback by it all he nearly crashed his bike into a parked car.
In Micah’s mind, his job was to protect his newfound friend from the indescribable danger that awaited anyone who approached this ship. So he tried to stay focused on Jimmy.
This troublesome dog ran into a large park under the tip of the ship. After racing through block after block of the city, he came to a rest.
Micah and Hannelore whipped in behind Jimmy.
The little mutt turned around to look at the two children and then his appearance changed. He grew taller and wider as if by magic. His fur changed into pasty gray skin, his dark brown eyes into big blue circles. His snout transformed into a big red nose stretching from the base of his eyes to the top of his mouth. Instead of four legs, he now had two arms and just two legs. If that wasn’t shocking enough, he then spoke, “I’m sorry Micah. I’ve lied to you. My name is Taurean. I’m the one they want and for the sake of this world, I have to turn myself in. You need to go home now. I promise you and your people will be safe after they’ve taken me.”
Micah fell off his bike and Hannelore pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
“Go now, hurry! They’ll take me soon,” said Taurean.
“What are you?” asked Micah.
“I’m your friend, young one. Never forget that. But for now, I must go. I’m sorry to have caused you any trouble. Please go before they become suspicious of you,” Taurean said. He then looked up at the ship with sullen eyes as if he faced nothing short of mortal danger.
At that moment, a bright light several yards in diameter shone down from the ship above. It was a tractor beam. Taurean, Micah, Hannelore, and even their bikes levitated off the ground and brought nearer to the ship.
“I’m sorry, children. This is my fault. I should have told you sooner,” Taurean spoke as he buried his face in his hands.
Hannelore screamed, but they could do nothing.
Micah didn’t know what to do. He thought of his father and wondered if he too would meet a tragic end in the sky.
The voice of Vinitor echoed through the night once again as he greeted his new captives. “Taurean, enemy of mine and your Earthling accomplices, I thought surely you would make this planet wait until the brink of death. I appreciate your quickness in obeying my command. You’ll make fine slaves.” Vinitor laughed.
The ship swallowed them and the opening closed behind them.
Chapter 2
Armed, helmeted, and black-uniformed guards escorted Micah, Hannelore, and Taurean down a long hallway on the ship to a room with a high ceiling and a large chair placed in the center.
On the chair sat Vinitor, a miserable creature. He wore a black helmet with a glowing yellow triangle on its face mask that hid his eyes. His drooling mouth was there for all to see, however. He had four arms and three legs. Dressed in black armor and standing about eight feet tall, he was quite an imposing figure.
Vinitor stood up and waved his scepter. “Taurean, where’s the Convergence? You must have hidden it on this world. Tell me where it is or I’ll destroy this planet.”
Taurean approached the creature and begged him not to harm the people of Earth. “Your quarrel is with me, Master Vinitor. There’s no need for this planet to suffer.”
“There’s a need as long as I say there’s a need. Tell me where the Convergence is and this will all end.” Vinitor struck the floor with his scepter.
Micah and Hannelore barely stood straight, their knees and ankles weak. They looked at each other intently, held hands, and turned once again toward Vinitor and Taurean.
“Master Vinitor, I’ll give you the Convergence if you spare this planet. These people don’t even know it exists. They had no part in my escape or my hiding here, least of all these two children.” Taurean pointed toward Micah and Hannelore.
“Ah yes, what are these two puny humans if not co-conspirators?” The villain pointed the scepter at the children. “I should disintegrate them right now to prove just how serious I am.”
Micah and Hannelore ducked down to the floor when Vinitor pointed at them.
Suddenly, there came the sound of an explosion in the distance. Then came another and another. The ship shook and its otherworldly metal creaked and bent.
Vinitor’s eyes glanced upwards, if one could have seen them behind his helmet that is. “What is that?”
Outside Vinitor’s ship, a small craft had descended upon the mammoth invader in the sky. It was a bright white color, similar to the shape of a wishbone. It fired repeatedly upon Vinitor's ship and by now was targeted by the exterior gunners.
The small craft made a second pass on Vinitor’s ship and this time dropped a bomb just over the throne room where Vinitor himself stood.
A bright fiery flash later, bits of metal and wire flew away from the ceiling. The darkened sky peered through on the other side of a newly formed hole.
“A Warden is here! Summon my best guards!” The creature moaned into a microphone attached to one of his wrists.
Micah, Hannelore, and Taurean were all stunned. They froze right where they were and awaited whatever chaos was surely to ensue.
The small craft took another pass at Vinitor’s ship and flew once again right over the hole created a moment earlier. A figure jumped out of the cabin of the ship and fell directly into the opening. The ship itself kept flying and was now being followed by ten fighters that had deployed from the mammoth invader.
The figure who had jumped out of the ship slowed his descent with thrusters attached to his feet and elbows. He landed in the middle of the room, stooped down, and fired a stun weapon at the guards overseeing Micah and Hannelore.
The guards dropped like sacks of potatoes.
“What is your name Warden? So I may put it on your tombstone!” Vinitor shouted.
The figure turned around and looked at Vinitor. “My name is Darbian and I’ve survived far worse creatures than you.” Darbian was human looking and wore a white suit with armor over much of his body. Tall and muscular, he stood down a villain such as Vinitor as though it were his third or fourth so far this day.
Just then, Darbian took out a small, round metal object from his belt. He tossed it toward the wall and it exploded, creating a large hole in the side of spacecraft. “Come along children, and you too Mr. Armankouri. It’s time to vacate the premises.”
Micah and Hannelore raced toward Darbian and asked him what they were to do.
“We’re going to jump
. My ship will catch us. No time to question the wisdom of this; it’s now or never.”
Micah and Hannelore questioned the wisdom nonetheless, but they had seen so many strange things today. The thought of jumping off the edge of the ship seemed not so odd compared to the other things they had just experienced. The four of them ran for the opening.
Two dozen guards flooded the throne room just as the four ran. They leapt out of the ship and were instantly teleported aboard Darbian’s ship which, at that moment, was making a pass over the opening as it head straight down toward the ground.
The craft weaved in and around the city’s skyscrapers. Dipping and bobbing yet moving through the air as smoothly as a bird.
Vinitor’s fighters were in hot pursuit and closing fast. Every few seconds they fired their laser weapons at Darbian’s ship, sometimes hitting but mostly missing.
Aboard Darbian’s ship, everything seemed rather calm. And it should be noted that this was no mere spacecraft. It possessed some of the most advanced technology in the universe including an internal gravity field that kept Darbian and all of his new passengers comfortable and upright while the craft made hairpin turns around buildings and sudden shifts upwards and downwards.
“Gregorical, how many fighters are following us?” Darbian spoke into thin air.
“Ten, sir. Do you wish for us to fire back?” responded Gregorical in a muffled but human sounding voice.
“Let me get to the bridge first,” Darbian replied.
“Who’s that?” Micah asked as he spun around looking for the source of the voice.
“That’s Gregorical, the ship. He has a mind of his own you might say.” Darbian chuckled. “Don’t you have artificial intelligence on your planet?”
“Not that I know of,” Hannelore chimed.
“How did we get into the ship? I don’t remember.” Micah asked as he walked closer to their newfound friend.
“We teleported. Don’t tell me you don’t have that on your planet either.” Darbian’s paced quickened.
Hannelore touched the shiny white walls of the interior as the group walked down a broad corridor. “This thing is amazing.”
The Accidental Astronaut Page 2