...Eventually, it gets dark and crickets begin to chirp. The night sky is starry with a quarter moon.
SPACE
Stars streak by. They slow down.
The Earth reflects in Mystery Character's sunglasses. She is brown and grey.
Mystery Character loses his smile. As he does so, he shudders and begins to cough like an asthmatic having an attack.
He pounds his chest, turns a little yellow.
Looking at Earth, alarmed and still coughing, he speeds away. Stars streak by.
ABOVE THE CLOUDS
A greenish meteor streaks by. A portion of Earth sprawls below, covered by the swirling clouds of a forming hurricane.
A nearby satellite transmits a newsperson's voice, "Temperatures reached record highs in over one hundred cities again today. More at eleven."
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Woman
GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT
Night. A meteor streaks by.
Space Hippie is nineteen now. Except for her green color, she could be her mother's clone.
She is wearing good-looking, good-fitting, hippie-style clothes. Her long, clean, greenish hair is topped by a garland of fresh flowers.
She is holding a cloth bag filled with fresh vegetables. As she tries to mount her shiny blue mountain bike, her grocery bag swings on her arm.
A loud-exhausted older car full of teenagers drives close, slows down.
Teenagers within laugh and call out, "Space Face!"
They throw beer bottles at her. The exhaust roars as they begin to speed away and the bottles smash, tinkling on the asphalt.
She snaps. "That's Space Hippie to you!"
A screech of tires, then silence.
Grinding gears and the car begins to back up, engine whining.
Uh-oh. She panics.
Stumbling over her bike, she crashes into the bushes of the neighboring woods. Her grocery bag gets tangled and she abandons it.
WOODS
The crunch of breaking twigs drowns out the teens' drunken laughter as she runs.
After a while, her breathing makes even the twigs difficult to hear. She stops to listen for pursuers. A vague male yell sounds distant behind her.
She begins to run again, but only at a half-hearted jog, until she comes across an old, broken fence with a no trespassing sign. Panting loudly, she stops to catch her breath.
She hears the boys yelling again, lifts the fence, and crawls under...
GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT
3 large teenage boys stand outside their muscle car, holding fresh beers and laughing.
The largest one yells into the woods, "Tim! Come on, man, she's gone!"
Another boy throws her bike.
The third kicks her grocery bag. Veggies and tofu scatter across the pavement amid the broken glass.
OUTSIDE THE LAB
Space Hippie walks slowly, unsure of where she's at. An owl and a deer are following her. The owl alights on each tree she passes.
She comes across a clearing and an old industrial building with an attached tower. The building has an odd green tinge similar to Space Hippie's and lush greenery growing all over it.
Plants inside are growing out a broken window.
Curious, she goes up to the front door.
It's hanging crookedly. Plants are growing out from inside.
As she opens the door, it falls off its hinge and onto the ground with a crack and a thud.
She steps over it and shuffles into the lab.
She doesn't realize that she steps through the red laser light of a silent alarm.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Home
THE LAB
Space Hippie looks around nervously. Behind her neck, she twists her hair around her finger.
Everything in the lab is green and covered with vines. The protruding knobs and levers are rusty.
The roof remains partially open. The lowest level in the center of the room is now a shimmering pond surrounded by lush greenery.
The full moon reflects breathtakingly off the water. Crickets and croaking frogs make a small racket.
Close to Space Hippie, a nearby plant grows in a moonbeam. A flower blooms. A butterfly settles close by. The owl that was following her flies in and lands among the vines.
Space Hippie smiles.
As she does so, she looks over into the corner. Stairs. Her smile fades.
She looks uncertain, then troubled.
Platform shoes below bell-bottoms slowly and carefully climb the stairs. They pause at the top.
TOWER
The green door creaks open a sliver. Space Hippie peeks in cautiously.
She opens the door a little more and begins to step in.
Her eyes catch the cage and she stops.
She catches her breath and staggers back. Her eyes are as big as saucers.
CAGE (memory)
A rapidly thumping heartbeat. Heavy breathing. A small child's whimpers. Thick cage bars, widely spaced and close by. The enormous telescope-looking machine lies beyond them, just out of reach. Petrol turns knobs on the other side, unconcerned.
TOWER
The rapid heartbeat continues.
Space Hippie's eyes are still wide.
She stands frozen.
THE LAB
Plants in the lab continue to grow.
Ferns near Petrol's goop grow. The goop begins to quiver, glow green, and grow.
Clunky shoes pound the tower stairs loudly as Space Hippie runs awkwardly downward. Noisy gasping.
The goop bloops and squirches in the background as it outgrows its container.
The footsteps turn to loud thumping as Space Hippie tumbles down the stairs and into the lab.
Space Hippie cries out, then pants.
The goop grows even more quickly, squelching noisily out of its container.
She limps across the room as rapidly as possible, shrieking in pain with each step.
At the sight of the ooze, she stops, confused- then, gripped by terror, she tries to run for the door.
The goop, now much larger than she is, squelches after her.
It leaves a slippery trail of smeared oil on the floor behind it.
She trips on the door lying on the ground just as the goop launches itself over her. She flinches.
Instead of landing on her, the goop gains speed and flies off into the night sky.
Startled, she watches it until it is a tiny dot disappearing into space.
She slowly stands up, favoring one leg, shaking her head and dusting herself off.
She limps over to the building and leans against it, panting fast and shivering.
CHAPTER NINE
Hippie Meet
PARKING AREA OUTSIDE LAB
The deer is still nearby munching the greenery growing on the building.
Space Hippie hears the thibbit-thibbit-thibbit of an old engine.
Gravel crunches and scares the deer away.
Glowing colors flash between nearby evergreen branches.
A unique old hippie bus rounds some trees into the parking area. Four hippies are inside.
The bus, a camper van, is painted in luminescent psychedelic colors with the words "Luv Shuttle" airbrushed across the side. The taillights look like rockets. Solar panels cover the roof.
An older hippie with very long hair and a backward bandana sticks his head out of the passenger window. The bandana falls over his eyes. He calls out, "You order a pizza, man?" like he's reading a script.
Space Hippie, still shaking, simply stares.
The hippie pushes up the bandana and tries again, but he still sounds fake. "Is this 123 Green Drive?"
Inexplicably, he seems to look for the address in the greenery.
Space Hippie shakes her head.
An attractive young woman in a patchwork fairy dress leans forward from the back. Her voice sounds like candy. "You alone, Sweetie?"
The big side d
oor slides smoothly open. A hint of greenery pokes out.
A young man hunches forward from his seat, chewing hard on a wad of gum. He looks like a cross between a surfer and a hippie. He irritably asks, "Got a light?"
He shakes his empty lighter and tries to light it.
Space Hippie's teeth are chattering. "I... don't... smoke."
"Neither do I," the young man replies bitterly. He points meaningfully to an ornate incense burner tied to the back of a seat in the van. The bag of incense sticks beside it is labelled "Soothing."
He tries the lighter again, then throws it angrily.
Space Hippie shakes her head slowly. Her teeth are still chattering. "S-sorry."
The pretty girl sighs, hands the guy another lighter, and pats his head.
He spastically lights the incense.
Space Hippie's mouth hangs open a little. She shifts her weight and winces.
Another woman's voice asks, "You okay?" Space Hippie doesn't see her. The woman sounds far away.
The driver's door slams. The voice's woman, middle-aged and wearing tie dye, rounds the front of the bus. "Lemme look at her." Yep. Same voice.
She checks Space Hippie's pupils and says, concerned, "I think she's in shock. We should warm her up."
Space Hippie sits, with the help of the other women. She resists lying down, though, so they have her recline against a tree trunk.
The younger girl wraps three shawls and a quilt around Space Hippie and then hops into the van, busying herself with a teapot.
The older woman props Space Hippie's feet up on a bean bag and checks her ankle over. Her dreadlocks hang down and tickle Space Hippie's leg. She smells like coconut. "Can you move it?" the woman asks.
Space Hippie nods and flexes her ankle, but moans a little.
The lady frowns, but she seems satisfied. "Probably just strained."
Space Hippie flexes her ankle tenderly. "Are you a doctor?"
The woman grins like it's an inside joke. "Not the kind you're thinking of."
The younger girl offers Space Hippie a teacup. "Tea, Sweetie? Herbal. I'm Starr, by the way."
Space Hippie eyes the tea suspiciously. "No, thanks."
The young man takes the tea and shoves it aggressively in Space Hippie's face. "Drink it!"
Starr exclaims, "Chillz!"
Alarmed, Space Hippie sips the hot tea.
Starr's eyebrows pull angrily together as she chides Chillz. "You need that more than she does." She shoos him away and sits beside Space Hippie. "Sorry about that."
The older woman joins them sitting on the ground. "I didn't get your name."
"Space Hippie"
"I'm Rainbow. That's Herb." She jerks her head toward the older guy, who is busy rummaging around in the van.
As Space Hippie drinks the tea, Herb brings out a pair of bongos and begins slapping them rhythmically. Chillz tensely does the same with a hand drum. Thuh-thump. Thuh-thump. Thuh-thump.
Space Hippie's vision blurs a little. There are bright halos around the stars.
She visibly relaxes. Suspicious again, she asks, "Is it drugged?"
Starr giggles a little, but she answers sincerely. "Naw. Just relaxes you. I don't use drugs."
Herb nods and smiles at Space Hippie and hits his bongos with a little extra force for a few seconds, but doesn't say anything. Thuh-thump, thump, thump, thump. Thuh-thump, thump, thump, thump.
Space Hippie hesitates. "I thought..." She chews her lip for a second. Should she trust her? "I thought I was the only hippie who didn't do drugs."
Starr hugs her. "Not all of us. Not these days. Hippie's mostly in the heart. It's about peace and stuff."
Space Hippie looks Chillz up and down doubtfully.
He frowns at her ankle. "Howja do that, anyway?"
Space Hippie squirms uncomfortably and looks away. "It was... Weird."
"You mean, weirder than a green girl and a creepy old green lab?"
Starr growls, "Chillz!"
He looks down. "Sorry." But he grins.
Starr glares at him, but she puts her sweet smile back on before looking to Space Hippie. "It's okay. We've seen some weird stuff."
Rainbow grins again. Another inside joke. "Yep. Try us."
Space Hippie hesitates again. "Well... A black blob of goop chased me out of there and flew into space."
The bongos stop.
Herb and Rainbow exchange a glance.
Rainbow asks quickly, "Do you know who it was?"
Space Hippie's confused. "Wh-what do you mean, who?"
Rainbow stands up quickly, muttering, "Oh, dear."
Suddenly business-like, the four hippies from the bus head into the building. Space Hippie limps after them shouting, "Wait! What're you doing?"
CHAPTER TEN
Pizza Delivery?
THE LAB
The hippies from the camper spread out in the moonlit lab and begin investigating.
They each whip out beeping lighted gizmos from their pockets and scan the room with them.
Space Hippie is befuddled. "What about your pizza?"
No answer.
They continue to scan the lab and touch their gizmos' screens.
She's suspicious again. "There's no pizza, is there?"
Herb explains majestically, "We're aliens, man."
Rainbow's amused. "No, not aliens. We're astronauts. As-tro-nauts."
"Oh, yeah. Astronauts, man. I always get those two mixed up. Mix-anix-anix."
Chillz slips and falls in the smeared oil the goop left behind. He hollers from the floor, "I think I found something!"
Starr points her gizmo at the oil. It beeps. She follows the trail back to the goop machine, and points the gizmo at a mostly-empty container. It beeps like crazy.
She grabs a nearby test tube and takes a sample of the goop. "Guys!"
Rainbow wipes a little of the goop onto her handheld computer. A picture of a DNA strand pops up on the left side of the screen. The right side displays the words, "Searching database..."
And then a different beep as a photo of Petrol pops up on the right side. A red light blinks above the screen.
The photo looks familiar to Space Hippie. "Who's that?"
Rainbow begins pressing buttons like crazy. "A big problem. Hey, guys, we gotta go!"
They run outside...
...and pile into the bus. Space Hippie trails.
Starr pulls Space Hippie in. "Come on! I'll explain later."
Space Hippie feels flattered to tag along. "Cool bus. I love the fake rockets."
The guys grab the bongos and hand drum and then slam the doors.
Herb flips a switch. "What fake rockets, man? Rocket-nocket-nocket!"
The rockets whine as they power up, then they hum and glow blue. The van accelerates upward as everyone hangs onto the seats.
The bus shoots across the sky and towards space.
Herb shouts over the roar of the wind, "Cool, look, man! My plants are growing!"
OUTER SPACE
Meanwhile, not far away...
Petrol is zooming along through space and begins to sputter like he's running out of gas. He slows down and coasts. A pair of glowing lights blink on his behind.
Off to one side in the distance is a planet. Its surface is partially covered with green. Life.
Coasting, Petrol changes shape a little to become heavier on the side closest to the planet. He veers toward it and begins traveling that direction.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Decor
OUTER SPACE
Stars flash by outside the Luv Shuttle's windows.
Herb's driving and humming. The knot in his bandana keeps falling over his eyes. Starr turns the bandana around the right way for him.
With the equipment, plants and people, it's a little crowded in the back.
Rainbow stands up. "Let's get some room in here." She pushes a button on t
he wall.
The back of the bus unfolds and expands to fifteen times its original size. Inflatable furniture, a table, a mini-kitchen, and a curtained-off bathroom somehow burst out of the floor and walls.
Later...
Space Hippie's taking a look around the Luv Shuttle.
Small potted plants. She checks the labels: dill, basil, spearmint. Also, there are a few that look a lot like grass from a lawn.
Guitars, a drum set. Hand-drums. Beanbags, lava lamps. Yoga mats. An Oriental tea set. A weird swinging hammock chair with handles, hanging from the roof.
A doll dressed like a hippie. A rock, also dressed like a hippie. An intricately carved incense burner. Black lights. A disco ball. Posters...
And in between the posters, she sees at least a dozen college diplomas. Masters' degrees, Ph.D.'s. Goddard College, Prescott College, University of South Africa, Molto Bene Culinary Academy, several more... And Herb's real name, apparently, is Herbart? Did somebody spell it wrong?
Also on the walls- photos. One of Chillz surfing. Another of him holding a big surfing trophy. A picture of him hugging a Buddhist monk. A photo of him sitting tousle-haired in a tent, holding a ferret.
A picture of Starr standing with a group of brown-skinned children who are wearing very little clothing... Africa, maybe? Was she in the Peace Corps? And one of her, several years younger, wearing a warm-up suit, standing on a podium and wearing a ribbon around her neck dangling a silver medal, with a banner of five interlocking rings in the background... The Olympics? Seriously?
More photos. Older ones. Rainbow and Herb in astronaut suits with eight other people dressed the same. Rainbow before her dreadlocks, with shiny, smooth hair, and wearing a chef's hat. A photo of Herb in front of an immaculate, chromed-out, classic slug-bug with a big blue ribbon on the hood- "Best in Show." A car show, then. And one very old photo of a very young-looking Rainbow, with her arm around... another Rainbow? Rainbow has an identical twin?
Space Hippie starts to sit down, impressed, but one last decoration catches her eye. A painting. So detailed and so life-like that, at first, she mistakes it for another photo. In it, Starr, Herb, Rainbow, and Chillz stand close together in front of the Luv Shuttle, each holding up two fingers as a peace sign. The signature scribbled in the low right corner is so light she can barely make it out... "Herbart M."