occupants!"
The man at the bar started to twitch as Ernie's story developed.
"But he never showed up!"
Perris’s face dropped, as he suddenly realised that his story was no more than a ruse to get him to pay for beer, and disappointedly he went to turn off his tape recorder.
"He'd apparently left without paying his bill, or taking his samples with him.”
Ernie continued, as Perris’s finger hovered over his tape recorder.
“The strangest thing was that the following day his car was found abandoned on a road near the Grange!"
Perris froze as his finger hung over the off button.
This was not the only story that had led him to the Grange, and he wondered whether there was some truth in the tale after all!
Seven
Floating somewhere way above the Grange in a slightly different reality there was far more going on than even Perris suspected. Unbeknown to him, and everyone else for that matter, there was an alien space station in orbit. Quite how long it had been there was only known to those who operated it, and they had kept its existence secret, that was until Reggie discovered it!
Sitting looking out of the observation window, he marvelled at the sight which greeted him. To his knowledge no other human had ever been here, and looking out at the planets of this solar system, he wondered how he was ever going to get home. That however, was not his main concern, as he also had to try and locate his uncle Bob and his friend Heather too.
Everything was a real mess, and he knew that he was already in big trouble. Being shot at by the man in the pinstripe suit or chased by armed soldiers was nothing in comparison to what his mother was going to do when she found out. Reggie had had mixed feelings about going to the shop today, and he began to wish that he had listened to his inner voice which had been urging him to stay in bed.
Uncle Bob had always been so kind to him, allowing him to help out in his shop and also giving him some pocket money. Reggie thought so much of him, and now he was lost somewhere in the vastness of space and time.
Turning his head away from the observation window, Reggie looked at the small alien working away at his terminal. That was the oddest thing of all, standing near an extra terrestrial. Who would believe him if he did manage to get home?
Larn was very friendly and not at all like the ones portrayed in the films he liked to watch. Yes, he did look similar with his grey skin and big dark eyes, but fortunately he was different. For some reason he was trying to help as opposed to wishing to experiment on him. Maybe he was some sort of a hybrid?
Reggie had been given a television and DVD player by his uncle, when he had upgraded his equipment, and they now sat proudly in his bedroom. That was where he sometimes watched his films, when his mother was engrossed downstairs with the soaps. His uncle looked upon him as a son as he did not have any children of his own.
There was also a computer which his father had bought him to help with his homework. Following one of the films he had searched for more information, and discovered that some people believed that there were hybrid aliens walking about. The whole subject had given him nightmares, and yet here he was standing by one of the creatures…
“Found them!"
Larn’s voice startled him, as Reggie came out of his daydream. He sounded very pleased with himself, although that was hard to tell when the voice appeared in his head and not from his ears.
One of Larn’s thin fingers pointed to the screen, which sat above the console he was operating. Reggie looked at the star chart, as a little marker flashed out their position.
"But we're going to have our work cut out rescuing them!"
There was a sound of resignation in his voice, which was being projected into Reggie’s head. He looked very worried, but was determined to rescue Bob and Heather come what may.
“Well I’m going to try!”
Larn admired his determination, which was one of the qualities that his people had hoped to acquire from the human DNA that they had been taking.
"Well, where are they then?"
Reggie was keen to get started, anxiously wanting to get away before Larn had a chance to experiment on him!
"On one of our other space stations."
Larn zoomed in on the marker, which flashed above their position.
It seemed quite a distance away, and Reggie wondered how they were going to get them back from all the way out there.
"So what do we have to do to rescue them?"
Larn looked uncomfortable, as his small frame twitched slightly.
"I don't know - that station's been abandoned for some time!"
Reggie looked worried. Although he was surrounded by very advanced technology - none of which he understood, he was hoping that Larn would be able to do something.
"Can we use this temporal thingy?"
Larn thought for a moment.
"I don't know, it’s only normally used for transporting cargo, and is really not suited for anything else.”
Reggie was growing more concerned by the minute.
"Well, have you got any ships then?"
He shook her head.
"One left for the Orion system yesterday, but there are no others in this sector. Besides, we really don’t want to involve anyone else do we?"
Reggie could see his point, he was very lucky that Larn was friendly, but other members of his race might not be the same. After all, they did abducted people and take DNA samples from them!
"But it might be possible to use the temporal thingy?"
Reggie persisted.
“I can program things from here, although it would be a dangerous journey for you if you are still determined to go through with it. Reggie was, and walked over towards the rings.
Reluctantly Larn activated the machine, and the rings began to rotate. It did not take long for them to pick up enough momentum to generate a small energy bubble. Reggie was just about to walk into it, when Larn put his hand up.
"No, you must travel in a life pod!"
What on earth was a life pod?
Larn opened a hatch in the wall, revealing a small vessel made out of a type of lightweight plastic.
“It can be used as a means of escape, although it is a bit of a last resort.”
Reggie did not mind and looked at it as Larn activated a beam of green light, which began to drag it across the floor. He thought that it looked just like a miniature flying saucer, complete with a row of lights around the side.
"You must travel in one of these, as it will protect you from the forces of the distortion."
After the trip out here, Reggie would be glad of a better journey!
He eagerly jumped through the flap in the front, sitting in one of the moulded seats. The material seemed amazingly strong, although it was a bit uncomfortable. His feet were resting on the inside of the plastic shell, next to a small electronic device. He picked it up, looking at all of the strange markings. Larn peered through the opening, holding out his hand. Reggie just handed it over, and watched as he started to program it.
"Use the yellow button to open and close the flap, and when you've located the others, just press the green button and it will take you home!"
Larn then handed it back, and Reggie took hold of it, placing it on the seat next to him. He then looked at Larn who stared back at him through his large dark eyes.
“Thank you for all of your help.”
Larn smiled, nodding his head.
“You must hurry before you are discovered by one of the others.”
That sounded a bit ominous, and so with a quick wave of the hand, Reggie reached for the yellow button as Larn handed him three neatly packed space suits.
"You must also wear one of these, as there is no air in the distortion and you will probably suffocate before you get to the other side!"
Reggie took them off him, realising that he had been lucky to have survived his journey here, and hoped that Bob and Heather had been equally as fortunate. Larn th
en gave out his the last of his instruction.
"When you arrive home, leave all of your suits inside; you won’t have much time to get out before the life pod will start to return!"
Reggie now began to realise that he was on his own, and felt even more frightened than he had done before. Reaching for the yellow button again, he pressed it and the flap began to close. He watched Larn walk away slowly, as he began to take off his outer clothes. Reggie then grabbed hold of the nearest space suit, slipping his legs into it, and pulling it up towards his waist. It was much larger than he had expected, and perhaps it had been designed for a much bigger alien. Slipping his arms into it, he was glad that he would soon be on is way in case one of them made an appearance.
The suit fitted snugly enough never the less, and was almost like a synthetic foil, but felt more like his pyjamas. Somehow it seemed to mould itself to him, which was just as well as he could not find any sort of a fastening. Reggie then reached for the big rubber boots, which were a little clumsy. They also seemed to mould themselves to his feet in a similar way the space suit had done to his body. The outfit was completed by a lightweight helmet, which he clipped into position. Air automatically began to circulate and he was able to breathe, even though it felt a bit claustrophobic.
The beam of green light was now dragging the life pod towards the energy bubble, which had grown considerably larger over the past few minutes. Reggie secured himself in with one of the belts that he found inside, as everything started to get brighter. He instinctively closed his eyes as the pod began to rock gently from side to side.
There was no way of knowing how long this journey was going