Trespassers: a science-fiction novel (5 page)

New Guy pulled the black SUV off the road and parked in a grassy field behind a small wooden building that bore a faded sign reading
WAFL 1260 - WAFFLE RADIO
. In the passenger
’
s seat of the SUV, Mindy looked up through the windshield, using Web
’
s binoculars to admire the alien ship hovering above. She pulled the binoculars down to compare this image with the empty sky she saw with her naked eye. When she lifted the binoculars again, the spaceship was gone.

“
Two five five one,
”
Web said, in case she had forgotten.

“
I have to put it in again?
”

“
Every time you take it away from your face.
”

Mindy pressed in the code with her thumb and returned the binoculars to her eyes. There was the ship again, pushing slowly through the air, settling into its parking spot.

“
Before Stewart joined the Limestone Group,
”
Web explained,
“
all the trespass ships used to be taken to a restricted storage facility in Roosevelt, Montana. But Stewart pioneered the concept of using vertical landmarks as holding stations. That saved a whole lot of time and resources.
”

Stewart carefully eased the massive alien ship forward. Out a side window, he watched the red-and-white poles of the broadcast antenna get closer and closer. He pulled the controls into a locked position, and the ship settled into place, next to the tall metal structure. It was one of those skeletal antennas that jabbed at the sky. This particular antenna was attached to a small two-bedroom house that had been converted into an AM radio station, mostly broadcasting syndicated talk shows.

The ship hung invisibly in the air, halfway up the antenna. It would stay parked there until someone from the agency returned to move it. Antennas and water towers were now the preferred parking spots for quarantined spaceships. These ships weren
’
t being permanently confiscated. They were just impounded until their owners completed the proper paperwork to reclaim them.

Stewart checked over the gauges to make sure everything was in order. Five blinking lights in the bottom right corner of the console had been bugging him. They could have been a dozen different things, but he had an uncomfortable suspicion about what they were.

“
Web, did you get any cold energy from the ship on the way over?
”
he asked.

Web opened his laptop and began the search.
“
Give me a second
—
I
’
m checking .
.
. Yeah, four pulses
—
maybe five.
”

Stewart grimaced. This could be bad. His suspicions were telling him something was dropped from the ship, but he would have to worry about that later.
“
I
’
m sending him down.
”

Web grabbed a blanket from the back seat and stepped out of the vehicle. New Guy stepped from the driver
’
s door and walked around to the passenger
’
s side, where Web was unfurling the blanket. Mindy watched them stretch the blanket between themselves and stare into the sky, trying to line themselves up with some unseen object. They held the blanket tight, like firemen preparing to catch someone jumping from a burning building .
.
. only there was no building or person to be seen. Mindy
’
s curiosity was too great. She stepped out to join them without even considering whether she should stay put.

“
Okay, we
’
re ready,
”
Web reported over the radio.

Mindy was ready, too. She was ready to see this. And she was ready to jump out of the way, if necessary.

“
He
’
s on his way,
”
she heard Stewart say over the radio.

Mindy waited. Then all at once, there it was, falling toward her. She flinched and took a step back before realizing she wasn
’
t in its path. It was the unconscious trespasser, and he was already falling when he appeared. In her peripheral, she saw Web and New Guy shuffling to get into position. Then she noticed something unexpected
—
not that anything she had seen so far could have been expected. The body was falling at a slower rate than normal, though it was still too fast to hit the ground without a cushion. She was hit by an overwhelming urge to check for prying eyes. As much as she wanted to watch, she knew others shouldn
’
t be, so she scanned the area. There was not a spectator in sight. By the time she turned back, he was right overhead. As he struck the blanket, Web groaned, almost collapsing. New Guy picked up the slack and kept Web and their alien from hitting the ground.

Web chuckled as he righted himself.
“
We got him.
”
He turned to Mindy.
“
Can you get the back door?
”

“
Sure.
”
She moved to the rear of the vehicle, opening the hatch. The back
—
like any other SUV
—
was mostly open space with a few supply boxes lining the edges. There was also an overnight bag of Mindy
’
s that Stewart had recommended she pack. She did another check for prying eyes as New Guy and Web carried the unconscious man and loaded him into the cargo area. He was big, but with some careful folding, he fit. This was Mindy
’
s first look at an alien. He looked like a man
—
in every way. She studied the few features that she could see: mostly the side of his face. It was familiar. It was all human. Curled up asleep on the carpet, he looked peaceful, like a friend who had too much to drink. Web stretched the blanket over him and the picture was complete.

“
So, is he okay?
”
Mindy asked.

“
Yeah.
”
Web nodded.
“
He
’
ll be out for a few hours, but he
’
s fine.
”

“
And he
’
s human?
”

“
Absolutely. Just like you and me,
”
Web said.
“
Well, not
just
like you and me. There are differences
—
small differences.
”

Mindy noticed a shiny circle that had slipped out of the alien
’
s pocket. She picked it up and saw that it was a cheap, metal souvenir button with a pin on the back for attaching to clothing. On the front, the words
“
I VISITED EARTH
”
were stamped around a rather cartoonish picture of the planet.

“
Is this for real?
”

Web laughed.
“
He probably gets them from the gift shop just outside the Earth
’
s atmosphere and sells them to the tourists.
”

Mindy was about to ask Web whether he was serious, when
—

“
Are we ready yet?
”
Stewart
’
s voice arrived in their ears.

“
Oh, yeah.
”
Web had somehow forgotten.
“
Just a minute.
”
He grabbed the blanket off the sleeping man and scurried back to the landing zone, where New Guy was already waiting.

“
Okay, we
’
re good,
”
Web said, as he handed New Guy his half of the blanket.
“
Go ahe
—”
Before Web could even get all the words out, Stewart was headed face first toward the Earth. He could see for miles in every direction.

Centered below him were Web, New Guy, and a blanket. But Stewart didn
’
t concern himself with the landing, yet. He wanted to soak up the ride for a few moments more. No roller coaster could compare. The aliens certainly perfected the art of ship-to-planet transport, and it was exhilarating. Suddenly, the ride came to an end as Stewart plowed into the blanket and rolled gracefully to his feet
—
he prided himself on his dismount.

Six miles away stood a farmhouse, nestled among thick fields of corn and wheat. Stewart and the spaceship had passed over this house en route to the broadcast antenna. If everything had gone perfectly, the farmhouse would have no indication whatsoever of the ship
’
s presence. However, things did not go perfectly. Stewart
’
s suspicions were right. Something was dropped from the ship .
.
. five somethings to be exact: four trespassers and a supply bag. Their names were Dexim, Lyntic, Tobi, and Jin.

Stewart was to blame for this. He had given the ship a quick looking over, strolling down the halls and poking his head in the rooms, but with Bruner right on their heels, he was distracted. He didn
’
t give his search enough attention. A sly crew could have hidden from him and secretly deployed as he drove the ship to its parking spot .
.
. and that
’
s just what they did.

Dexim stood from a bed of crumpled cornstalks. The weight of his harsh landing left a trail of bent stalks. He brushed his pants and took a quick assessment. He looked fine. He would pass for an earthling. Every part of his wardrobe was from Earth. Blending in was the first and most important rule in visiting an inhabited planet. You had to blend in.

Dexim was a natural-born leader, which was obvious to anyone who ever followed him. He had the ability to inspire confidence, and he had the good sense to preserve that confidence. He was also blessed with a full measure of courage, which allowed him a clear mind to focus on solving problems. He was a solid and rugged five foot eight, with black hair and a faint shadow of a beard forming on his jaw. His pale blue eyes were piercing, but thoughtful.

Dexim took a careful look around the cornfield. It was a good landing site: isolated and blocked from view, but easily passable on foot. He knew that no matter which way they walked, they were bound to encounter a road, or maybe even a house. Dexim
’
s team had been forced to dash from the ship without time to plan, but they had gotten lucky. They couldn
’
t have picked a better spot if they had all day to research it. From behind the shield of the tall cornstalks, they could surveil the area and plan their next move.

Lyntic and Tobi stood from their own beds of crushed cornstalks. They appeared to be in perfect condition, but Dexim knew that appearances were deceiving, especially in Tobi
’
s case. Tobi was tall and solid as a rock, with broad shoulders. He, however, was the immediate problem, and it was a big problem. He should be on the ship at this very moment, letting the vaccine course through his body, but he never got that vaccine. This was Tobi
’
s first time on the blue planet, and it was going to be an interesting introduction. The others knew the clock was ticking. Without the vaccination to give his body a fighting chance, his system would quickly succumb to the onslaught of microscopic organisms.

Lyntic weaved her way through the cornstalks toward Tobi
’
s clearing in the field. She was a tall, slender, athletically toned beauty with light-brown hair in a ponytail that swished back and forth across her shoulder blades as she moved. As she reached Tobi, she pulled her shirt off over her head, revealing smooth, delicate skin over perfectly sculpted shoulders and arms, lightly moistened by perspiration. She wore a black bra, the edges tinged with sweat, riding on two perfectly placed breasts, which didn
’
t need any help to look their best. On this planet, she would easily be mistaken for a European tennis player or a lingerie model .
.
. or both. Her back arched and her ribcage expanded as she stretched to throw her shirt over Tobi
’
s head. The sunlight caught the tiny hairs that led down her spine and into her pants.

The image was striking. It struck Dexim in a completely different way, though, since Lyntic was his sister. She had only been a year and a half older, but she matured much faster, and those taut muscles and broad shoulders had been used countless times to pin him to the floor and make him gasp for mercy while her powerful thighs squeezed the air from his ribs. Now that she was a fully mature woman, half the human population would certainly pass out from delight should they fall victim to her in such a way. Dexim was relieved when he was finally able to match strength with her and turn the tables, pinning her down and tickling her so hard that tears ran down her cheek .
.
. which was probably another fantasy of half the human population.