The map shot out and zoomed in, linking the planet with another one in a different star system. It plotted a zigzag route for part of the journey and then a direct line into the destination planet's solar system. A ringed planet came up on the display.
"Ha. That's strange. The mainframe hasn't recognised this planet."
"What does that mean?" said Jason.
"It means that it is unexplored territory. The planet is 37 light years away, and from the statistics on screen, we can see it would take this ship approximately 11.2 hours to complete the journey. So there you go. The nearest planet to yours sustaining life is 37 light years in distance from this exact spot."
The children looked on dumbfounded.
"But our teachers and parents said that life doesn't exist anywhere else in the galaxy," said Jason, looking a tad disappointed.
"Oh, dear. I've given it away. This is worse than finding out about the Easter bunny or Christmas. Maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth. Maybe you should have waited until you were older to find this out for yourselves."
"So are you saying we are not alone in the galaxy?" said a little girl.
"You are not alone and you never have been," said Elwood.
"There are other life forms out there besides our own?" said another girl.
"More than your imagination could possibly try to grasp."
"I don't believe it," said a boy. "I think this is all a set-up. My dad warned me about this. I need proof. This ship is probably used for transporting drugs or lucrative cargo to the other side of the world, but outer space? I don't think so."
At that very point, a reptilian female opened the door to her quarters and stepped out, shocking the group and silencing the sceptical boy.
"Ok, what the hell is that thing?" he said.
"That thing is a mutation of a lizard and a mammal, and that thing has a name. I am Rodeena."
"Wow," said Jason. "She looks really cool."
"Only in looks," said Elwood. "Right, kids. Who wants to understand electrical components and hyper speed mechanisms and their operating systems?"
The children shook their heads.
"Neither do I. Let's get something to eat."
* * * * *
"What does this do?" said a boy named Xan as Wingclipper took him on a private tour of the cockpit.
"This is the automatic navigation switch. When I am tired or if it's before two in the afternoon, I press this button and the ship flies itself just a few hundred thousand miles per second over the speed limit."
"What does this do?"
"I call this button the 'time traveller'. It unleashes a flurry of powerful proton cannon shots that can demolish an entire village and send the inhabitants back to the Stone Age."
"What does this do?"
"This is the compartmental decompression activator. When the crew are starting to annoy me, I will lock myself in the cockpit and partially decompress the rest of the ship, sending them slowly to sleep and granting me some peace and quiet."
"What about this button? Can I press this?"
"You cannot press that."
"Why not?"
"Because if you do, then something bad will happen."
"Like what?"
"Go ahead, press it and see."
The boy pushed the button, waited a few seconds and then received a swift slap to the side of the head from Wingclipper.
"That didn't feel so bad," said the boy.
"Hmm. Sometimes it jams. The trick is to keep pressing the button."
* * * * *
Rodeena sat in the engine room with a workbench and a set of gadgets in front of her. The children huddled together keen on getting a glimpse of what she was about to do. Elwood held a stopwatch and reset it to the beginning while Bink hovered overhead.
"Are you ready?" said Elwood.
"I am," said Rodeena, poised for action.
"Then go," he said, clicking the stopwatch. Rodeena's arms moved in a whizz, rotating sections, cogs, pieces and parts, screwing portions, tightening bolts, turning and moving the assembly as it was quickly engineered into an end product. Rodeena inserted the final piece and sat the weapon on her workbench, spinning it around and shouting, "Finished!"
Elwood slammed the button on the stopwatch and Bink scanned the product of its individual components, verifying each piece was in the right position, and then it bleeped back a fully functioning approval message to Elwood.
"Bink says it's working, and that is a new record. 25.7 seconds to make a laser gun, which beats 234's half a minute, and my seven hours."
"Now what I am about to show you is classified information," said Rodeena. "This is going to be a secret between all of us, you understand?"
The children nodded.
"I will remove each individual piece, explain how each section works and then show you how to put together your own weapon with the resources available on your planet. There will be a time in your future when this information will come in handy. So let us begin..."
Later, the children, the crew and Mrs. Wimwomtiki grouped outside the ship. Mrs. Wimwomtiki staggered towards Wingclipper, gave him a kiss on the cheek and landed the notes into his hand for payment of his services.
"You're absolutely sure this is a good idea?" he said to the slurring teacher.
"Oh...ab...absolutely. Wh...what you are doing is a lovely idea and it would m...make a...hic...dream come true for him. It was a p...pleasure doing business with you. Now I've h...had a few drinks, I th...think I'm fit enough to return to the classroom."
Mrs. Wimwomtiki took the children with her back into the museum and to the shuttle service ready to transport them back to the school. Meanwhile, the crew boarded the ship, closed the ramp and prepared for takeoff.
Inside the engine room, Jason was running around with a partly built laser gun pretend firing at invisible enemies when he heard the ramp close. His heart rate rose and he ran out into the hallway, only to be greeted by Elwood, Rodeena, 234 and Bink.
"Where is everybody else?" he asked quietly. Rodeena walked over to him and knelt down.
"Do you remember asking Elwood if you could have a ride in a real spaceship?"
He nodded.
"Well, we arranged with your teacher to give you a lift home."
Jason ran around the command room screaming with delight at the top of his voice.
"Hey, hey, quiet down," said Elwood. "There's one small problem. We don't know the way, so you're going to have to help us fly the ship."
"This is coming out of your wages!" Wingclipper called from the cockpit.
* * * * *
The Chromium Bullet descended through the stratosphere, sank below the clouds and as a thin mist cleared, a grey suburbia came into focus. Wingclipper watched in anguish as Elwood helped Jason guide the craft over the streets, navigating landmarks to find his house. A clearing emerged large enough to house the ship, and the Chromium Bullet lost altitude, hovering feet off the ground, at which point a worried Wingclipper seized the controls and gently touched the ship's legs against the ground. He breathed out and high-fived Jason.
"Great landing there, little buddy," said Wingclipper. "You should fly your own ship one day."
A group of kids who had been playing a ball game in the street stood transfixed. Their parents were too busy with household dealings and unwinding after work to notice anything going on in their neighbourhood. Even the local cats had stopped fighting to witness the ramp on the Chromium Bullet lower and see a little boy walk out.
"How does it feel to be the coolest kid in the world?" said Wingclipper as he guided Jason down the ramp.
"It feels awesome."
The other kids stood in a mixture of terror and astonishment as they watched their friend walk off the ship towards them. Wingclipper stood and waved farewell. One kid dropped the ball as Jason walked past him.
"I told you aliens were real," said Jason, and the other kids muttered, "No way."
"Don't tell your parents," said Wingclipper to the neighbourhood kids as he turned and rose up the ramp that closed behind him, the thrusters built power, the legs lifted from the ground and steam hissed from the engine exhausts. The craft lit up in a bluish glow and gained altitude at a stunning rate. Jason knocked on his front door, waving to the craft as it disappeared into the cloud layer, wondering where it was going on its next adventure, and wondering if one day he would be in command of a stolen vessel.
The galaxy was his oyster.
* * * * *
Written by Richard C. Parr
* * * * *
About the Author
Richard C. Parr was born in 1986 in England and lives in Nottingham. He has travelled to 20 countries and runs a blog at HumanEmbodiment.com.
Contact Me
Email:
[email protected] Twitter: @HumanEmbodiment
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