As the Jefferian fleet approached the Earth the spacecraft’s numerous windows filled with curious green faces, keen to ogle their bounty. The ship leading the way contained the Time Displacement Beam, the key to their plan succeeding, and a porthole bearing the face of Zarg. The teenage alien had retreated to his room, suitably smug that he would be proved right and his peoples' attempted takeover would fail, but as he stared down at the blue orb he momentarily hoped he was wrong.
The textbooks and simulations hadn’t come close to re-creating the sensation that emanated from the rock. The sheer visual beauty of the Earth was enough to weaken Zarg’s cynical hatred, the overwhelming feeling of life and vibrancy threatened genuine emotion. The aura of hope and drive to discover reached out from the planet and snatched a gasp from Zarg’s lungs. He stood motionless, caught in its glare. One side of the orb consumed by the Sun’s glow, the light not so much reflecting as dancing gleefully away; the other in a darkness that evoked curiosity over fear. Zarg’s hypnotic interest shattered, the sound of approaching footsteps reminding him he was meant to be sulking. He leapt on to his bed and lay face down as Doreen entered. She continued to knock on the door whilst swinging it open.
“Have you seen the Earth dear? It’s within viewing range.” Doreen’s eternal chirpiness had to be admired.
“No. I couldn’t care less.” Zarg kicked the bed in frustration. It was only aimed at his own stubborn nature.
“Come and see. It’s lovely isn’t it, Ted?” Doreen called in to the living quarters to her husband. He was busy showing Edwin the Earth. Edwin only cared about his reflection in the window. The baby alien that stared back was able to predict every move he made. If he knew more words he’d call the police. “Ted dear. Isn’t it lovely?” She tried again.
“What is? Oh the Earth. Yes, delightful.” Ted struggled to keep hold of Edwin, retrieve all the objects he continued to throw on the floor, and hold a conversation.
“Why don’t you come and join us? We’re lucky to have such a big window. You may as well use it.” Doreen sat on Zarg’s bed.
“I’m fine. I just want to be on my own.” Zarg’s head remained buried in the duvet.
“If that’s what you want.” Doreen stroked the visible side of her son’s head and stood up. “We’ll be in the living quarters whenever you feel ready.”
“Maybe later.” It was the closest they were going to come to an agreement. Doreen took it as a positive and headed back to Ted and Edwin, leaving the door ajar.
Zarg cursed his quilt. It was as good as anything else to curse. With the door slightly open he couldn’t return to his own window without being seen, but he desperately wanted to continue watching the planet grow. Wrestling with teenage pride he eventually conceded and strolled into the living room, shoulders fully hunched. Nobody noticed his arrival until he stood six feet away. Doreen and Ted were pointing outside in an attempt to amuse Edwin. Edwin felt above such humour and remained content chewing a plastic model of Dovwar pie.
“Look who has come to join us.” Doreen spotted her eldest son and welcomed him with genuine joy. Zarg reciprocated the sentiment with a scrunch of his nose. He tightened the muscles further in an effort to hide the smile that almost escaped.
“Hello son. Had a good rest?” Ted held Edwin slightly tighter as the youngest family member convulsed with joy. Neither Ted nor Edwin had any idea what inspired such a mood swing. Zarg only offered a huff in response. It suggested Ted didn’t understand the agony he was going through.
“Terrific.” It was that, splendid, or tapestry, from Edwin’s current vocabulary.
Zarg took his place at the large window pointing towards Earth. As a family they stood in silence and reflected on the memories yet to be formed. Within a few minutes Zarg had forgotten all his problems with his parents and reverted to a time when communication between the two sides was pleasant and informative.
“When can we go down there, dad?”
“Erm….” Ted felt a sense of caution. It could be a trap leading to another strop. “We should be in position within eight or nine nolars (half an hour), then the Time Displacement Beam will take another eight or nine nolars to warm up, but once fired it’s only a matter of clintocks (seconds) before the beam will take effect and we can ready the landing parties.” A sense of hope filled Ted. No interruptions felt like something of a victory.
“So within the next forty nolars we should be able to explore?” Zarg spoke without venom or any hint of an intention to argue.
“I’d say that was about right, son.”
“Eight or nine nolars to warm up a beam? That sounds like an awfully long time. You could cook the greatest of all Dovwar pies in that time.” Doreen thought out loud. It served to spark more friendly conversation.
“It’s a very complex beam dear.” Ted tried to explain as Edwin began to doze.
“Yes mother. We’re shifting time not shooting cans from a wall.” Zarg commented without any sense of patronising or malice.
“Oh.” She looked back out the window before thinking of something else. “I thought we were stopping time not shifting it?”
“The effect is the same as stopping it if you’re a human, but technically we’re shifting it.” Ted spoke in a low voice so not to stir Edwin.
“So what’s the difference?” She didn’t know why she persisted. Her mind had already turned to keeping Edwin awake. A sleep now wouldn’t help anyone later.
“I explained this to you last night.”
“Did you? I don’t remember that.” She brushed Edwin’s face, delicate enough to convey affection but annoying enough to stir him. Ted felt explaining the time issue would be easier than arguing over whether he’d already told her.
“Are you listening this time?”
“Yes.” Doreen was already miles away.
“We can’t stop time, this is impossible….” Ted saw his wife beginning to mouth why. “…There simply isn’t time to explain right now why it’s impossible, but believe me when I say it is.” Both parties were satisfied. Doreen wished she’d never asked. The soaps were on soon. “From birth all creatures learn to perceive the world around them, be it through vision, sound, touch or any other sense. Time is equally learned. Over the course of a life we tune ourselves in to the language, social etiquette, and time that surround us.”
“Like the radio.” Doreen hoped showing her grasp of the subject would speed up the explanation.
“Exactly. Like the radio. We on the planet Jeffery have grown up ‘tuned’ in to a different time to the Earth, and our Time Displacement Beam allows us to implant that time over theirs. Science has shown that only one time can exist in any one place, so keeping to the radio analogy we will be able to walk around ‘hearing’ our station perfectly while they will be unable to ‘hear’ theirs.” Zarg shared a congratulatory nod with his dad.
“Is that what all that Earth time training we did was for?” Doreen continued to speak rather than say ‘okay I understand’.
“Yes. That will allow us to walk around in both times and negotiate with the humans.”
“Well that sounds marvellous.” She took Edwin from Ted. The face stroking only served to relax him further. She threw away all subtlety and used words over actions. “Look Edwin. Look at the big blue rock.”
“Tapestry.” Edwin began kicking and writhing once more. It seemed a suitable last word on the matter as Doreen headed towards the television, leaving Ted and Zarg to continue staring towards an as yet untold future.