Fear and Aggression (38 page)

“
This would take the
cooperation of the people, and it would allow for a communication
that could not be misunderstood. To say that I would have any idea
what would happen next, would be inaccurate. But I believe this to
be the best course of action.” The sweat had built up significantly
upon his brow, and under his arms. He actually succeeded in
buttoning his coat button around his large belly, and then being
uncomfortable, unbuttoned it as quickly as he could. He surveyed
the group. A low hum was audible with some discussion now, but
mostly the group was nodding. “Are there any objections?” There
were none; at least, none were made known.

“
I thank you, Mayor
Tinron,” said Roloff as he looked him directly in the
eyes.

***

Word of mouth communication spread like
wildfire throughout the city. As Caryell traveled to his Uncle
Priori’s home, he could feel the excitement around him in the
people that he saw on the streets. He heard people speaking of the
craft that would be seen, of the lights, the signal, and that
visitors, from another world, were here. He heard it discussed that
they had one of their own with them, and it made him shudder to
hear his mother referred to so distantly; but he knew that it was
not intended to offend. He did not disclose to strangers that this
was his mother.

In his young mind, he did
not comprehend what exactly the significance would be of the night.
He had been excited that he could see where his mother was tonight,
and watch her move across the sky; but now he wondered if they
would land and return her
tonight
? This had not been spoken,
and so he kept this wish to himself. Still, he thought that
something like this must be happening, for everyone was so excited.
He did not see evidence of much concern, but his sample size of
experience was rather limited. Still, what concerns were there were
generally eclipsed by the excitement and wonderment that the people
were feeling.

Aunt Kaytil was the only
one home when he arrived. She greeted him with a big smile, and
proceeded to tell him the news that he was now already filled in
with. Still, the news was worth a rehearing and he listened with
excitement. She offered him a glass of citrusy fruit juice and ice.
He took it to the swing outside and slowly swung back and forth,
occasionally sipping the juice. He had received an emotional
overload over the past twelve hours, or so. His mind raced
incoherently from thoughts of his mother, to the excitement around
town, to the memory of the young lady—he replayed her smile over
and over again in his mind. He thought of the play, and the themes
of love, and to Miigal and Jeriyal. He thought of fishing with his
father, and exploring in the mountains. He remembered the deer that
he had found the night that his mother disappeared, and he thought
of the searches. He imagined what the craft would have been like,
sitting on the rocky clearing.
Is that
where it would land again?
He tried to
image what it would be like to live inside something like that,
away from the world; but it was too incomprehensible. Mother would
tell him all about it.

He found himself looking up at the blue sky,
and watching formations in the cloud. It was an exceptionally
comfortable day, with radiant heat from his sun warming him, and
the crisp breeze cooling him. Aunt Kaytil’s garden was filled with
brilliant colors, and he occasionally looked at some brilliant
purple flowers in the distance; they were large, and attached to
sturdy green stems coming up from the long, broad, and strong
leaves that seemed to start from the roots and then curved upwards
ending in dull points. Mother loved Kaytil’s garden, and she would
have also stared at those flowers. He could image sitting next to
his mother, here on the swing. He would have loved to tell her all
about the theater. She would have listened, and smiled, and enjoyed
his telling of the experience. Maybe he could do that, and perhaps
not long from now. He wouldn’t have told her about the beautiful
girl and the feelings in his heart; but he would have thought of
the girl while sitting next to his mother, and her presence would
have brought peace; at least he imagined so.

He thought of his father, and how proud he
was of him. He had figured out something that was now turning this
city upside down, and he discovered something that even all of
these smart scientists had not. His father was the most amazing man
in the world and he could do anything. He was doing the impossible.
He was getting his mother back. Caryell had lost her, but his
father was not mad at him; instead, he was going to rectify this
mistake, and return everything back to normal.

Hours passed in this manner, and he was
happy. He saw his father come out the door, and look in his
direction.

“
Father,” he said getting
off the swing and walking towards him. “It will not be long now,
will it?”

“
My son, it will not be
long at all. Everyone is meeting here. Aunt Kaytil has prepared a
nice meal, and then we are meeting near the town center with Mayor
Tinron, and many of the other dignitaries. We should have a great
view.”

“
Will Mother
return…
tonight
?”

“
I don’t know what will
happen. I hope that she will return soon. We may just see the
craft, and then try and signal it. It may not be any more than that
tonight. But, no one really knows. I hope we see her
soon.”

***

“
Hey, champ, come over and
sit by us.” Jeriyal and Miigal were sitting on a bench together,
just a little bit away from the rest of the group, who were mostly
standing. It had gotten cool now with the sun gone down and still a
crisp breeze. Miigal wore a shawl, and was clenching it around her
front. She leaned forward a bit, and had Jeriyal’s arm around her.
Her eyes looked exceptionally bright in the artificial light
surrounding them. She looked Caryell directly in the eyes as he
walked toward them. He again saw his mother in that gaze, and it
gave him a bit of a shiver. “We’ve seen it; so, we will be better
at helping you find it than all those science types over there that
haven’t seen it yet,” he said with a smile and a wink. Caryell
smiled too and sat beside Miigal on the bench.

At first, it felt like it was taking
forever—staring at the sky and seeing some stars, but nothing else.
Mayor Tinron was pacing nervously and kept checking his watch. An
assistant of his was staying close to him, and also checking his
watch. Mayor Tinron continued to give him instructions, and he
continued to nod at them. Roloff wandered amongst the scientists
and various family members. He seemed calm, compared to his
excitement over the past couple of days.

“
Any moment now…keep your
eyes up that way.” He stared until his eyes burned from not
blinking. The seconds continued to disappear, and still nothing was
being seen. He glanced at the group standing; everyone was looking
in the same direction. He noticed that Mayor Tinron looked at his
assistant, and then began talking and gesticulating nervously. Then
he heard an audible gasp from the group and looked back up. There
it was, racing across the sky. He felt a chill run down his spin.
He watched as the group became silent. Then all the lights in the
city went off—and the sky became blacker, and the light, shooting
across the sky, became brighter. He felt peace, excitement, and awe
intertwined. He had never doubted that he would see this tonight,
but the reality was astounding to him. Miigal put her arm around
him, but he did not move; he only stared. The lights came back on,
and the craft, while still in his view dimmed
exceedingly.

***

“
Starlean, hurry up…I see
it!”

The girl flipped on a final light and ran
gracefully across the front lawn to the blanket laid out and
already occupied by her older sister.

“
Look!”

She turned and looked, and saw the light—the
craft hurling across the sky.

“
Sit down, you’re in my
way.”

Starlean sat down as all the lights in the
city went out, and a strange silence ensued. It was eerily dark and
quiet. She expected the darkness, but the silence she did not. Next
to her home was the electrical substation, and she had become
completely accustomed to the hum that it generated. Now, with the
power cut, the hum was also gone. It felt magical to her, sitting
in silence, in the pitch blackness, and watching a shooting star;
but it wasn’t really a shooting start. It was a vessel with
visitors from another world, and even one of their own was on
board. She was mesmerized, and her crystal-blue eyes were glued to
the spectacle. Then, the hum came back momentarily before all of
the lights. She lay back on the blanket with her long blond hair
now spread out underneath her. A smile spread across her face, a
beautiful smile. As pretty as she was, her smile elevated her
beauty to a new height. Laying there, looking up at the sky, with
the artificial light bathing her, she was the picture of youth, and
beauty, and happiness.

“
What’s this?” James and
Kenny were looking over some readings, while Mike was thumbing
through a report. Kenny looked over with interest at James’ excited
question, but Mike did not seem to have even heard. “It appears
that the city is lit up like a Christmas tree. Electrical and
luminance readings are 2.7 times higher than usual.”

“
Maybe they have some sort
of festival going on,” said Kenny. “I wonder why Aspiria wouldn’t
have mentioned it.”

“
I doubt that she tells us
everything. She’s smart. She is very cooperative, but I’m sure she
holds back plenty.” Mike had never let his guard down, nor would
he. He liked Aspiria fine, but he would never trust her.

“
I want a look.” James
made his way toward the observation window. Kenny followed, but
Mike stayed seated. He wasn’t interested in seeing the city a
little brighter. After a few moments, he realized that he also
wasn’t interested in the report or sitting in the room alone. He
wanted to have companionship, and this was as good as it got these
days. So he dropped the report on the table, and made his way
toward the window.

“
Yeah, it does look
brighter, James.” It really wasn’t very exciting, but boredom had
seized upon the crew to such an extent, that anything, even
somewhat out of the ordinary, would draw them in.

Then it happened, the lights throughout the
city went out, nearly simultaneously. The surrounding towns, showed
a hint of light, but the city was completely dark. Kenny and James
looked at each other in disbelief.

“
Did they blow their
circuits?” asked Mike. No one answered. They stared at the dark
globe until the lights came on again.

“
Somethin’ is goin’ on
down there,” said James significantly.

As the lights went off again Kenny piped in,
“It’s about every twenty seconds that it switches. I think that
it’s a signal.”

“
I think you’re right.
They’ve seen us, they’ve calculated our orbit, and they want us to
know. We are definitely not incognito, anymore.” Mike had warned
about this likelihood. He spoke with somberness. He did not like
seeing his prophesy come true. The men watched for a couple of
minutes longer until the lights came on and stayed on. They watched
for a while until the lights from the city were out of
view.

“
The signal was timed, not
for the period that the city was in our view, but for the time that
our ship was in view to them. That was an unequivocal signal.”
James was verbalizing his thoughts.

“
Captain Jenners has a
communication coming up soon. We better get him up to speed, so
that he can report it.”

***

“
Yes sir, without question
it was a signal from the planet’s surface. They are aware of our
presence.”

“
Does the captive
know?”

“
No sir, she did not
witness it, and she was not informed.”

“
Good.”

“
Sir, if I may…I would
like to report my recommendations.”

“
Go ahead, Captain
Jenners.”

“
Thank you, sir. Our
current mission is complete. Aspiria has been cooperative, and
besides us holding her captive, I do believe that she looks on us
as having treated her well. We are on friendly terms with her. I
think that she would make a great ambassador for us.

“
I recommend returning her
to her world. The place that we landed before is within a short
walk to her home. We could land, allow her to leave the ship, and
return to orbit within sixty seconds.

“
I am confident that she
would hold our interests in high regard. Then, through
prearrangement with her, have a meeting some weeks later. We both
know of each other’s existence. It is true that she has seen much
here, but I don’t see any evidence that she could replicate any of
our technology. She knows nothing of our fourth-dimensional travel.
This course would allow for our worlds to begin a
dialog.”

“
Captain, you are
receiving the reports as to what is going on, back on earth, are
you not?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
I think that it is naive
to think that this alien race would not have a planetary reaction
similar to ours. In fact, the evidence of our superior technology
and capacity would only rile them up. Returning back, at a
prearranged time, would be heading into a death trap,” explained
Commander Wiston.