3
Earth Shuttle 21
After what seemed like an eternity to Peter a soft blue glow lit the room. A hatch opened and a man stepped inside. He was medium height and build, with short dark hair, and wore a blue and grey uniform. He didn't look like the aliens he’d seen on TV or at the movies. In fact, in his uniform he looked a lot like a bellhop at the Sheraton Hotel. He approached Peter cautiously and said, "Mr. Turner?"
"Yes," Peter replied, still trembling.
He extended his hand. "I'm Lok Thorz. . . . Welcome aboard."
Peter shook his hand tentatively. "Where am I?" he asked looking around what appeared to be the inside of a large tank. It was a stupid question, really. He knew he was in a spaceship, but he still felt compelled to ask.
Lok smiled and said, "You're on Earth Shuttle 21 and this is the transport hold."
Peter looked back at Lok. He felt a little better since Lok seemed friendly and spoke English. Still, he knew evil people often pretended to be nice to get you to trust them. His father had warned him about that."Where are you taking me?”
“The shuttle goes back and forth between Earth and Tarizon.”
“There must be some mistake. I don’t want to go to Tarizon. I’ve never heard of the place.”
Lok shrugged. “Well, I’m sure that’s true, but—”
“How did you get me up here, anyway? I mean, nothing touched me. I was just sucked up like a dry leaf."
"We transported you into the ship through a compression tube."
"A compression tube? I didn’t see any tube.”
“It’s an electron tube. You can’t see it. It didn’t hurt, did it?”
“No, it was like riding a wave."
"Yes, it was a wave of sorts. Don't ask me how it works, though. I'm a diplomat, not a scientist."
"A diplomat? For what country?"
"Ah . . . not a country . . . Tarizon. It’s a planet in another solar system."
"Another solar system? But you look and talk just like an American."
"I have dual citizenship. I was born in Irving, Texas but my father is from Shisk, the capital city of Soni on the planet Tarizon."
Peter just stared at Lok in awe. Dad was right. There are aliens living on Earth! My God! "But I've never heard of people from other planets living on Earth," Peter protested. “It would be on the news if it were true.“
"No. It's a top secret program between our governments called the TRP or Tarizon Repopulation Project."
"You mean the government knows about it?"
"Yes, but like I said, it's very low profile. Only a very few people are aware of it. Your CIA runs the program. That's why we had to bring you on board."
"What do you mean? What do I have to do with the CIA?"
"Well, your father works for them. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No, but I suspected he did.”
Peter’s father hadn’t told Peter about the CIA but Peter suspected his father was doing more than just practicing law. None of his friends’ fathers got shot at or had their cars blown up. Peter couldn’t remember how many times he’d sat with his dad in the hospital after he’d been mysteriously injured. He wasn’t stupid. He’d read the newspaper articles and his dad had hinted that he was involved in other things.
“Right. Well, I guess he couldn’t tell you. Anyway, I'm sorry to have to break this news to you. This ship is on its way back to Tarizon. You're going to have to live there for awhile; maybe, well . . . for the rest of your life."
Lok's words stunned Peter. He turned pale. It suddenly hit him like a Mack truck. He was being taken to another planet! Panic engulfed him. He looked around for a way out, but he couldn't even find the door Lok had entered.
He ran to the wall searching for it. "No! You can't do this! I've got to get home! My mother will be worried. I've got school. I've got to take my dad home. He's at he Sheriff's office in Palo Pinto. He may be hurt! There was an explosion!"
"Calm down!" Lok said. "Take a breath. None of that's important anymore."
“Not important to you maybe,” he screamed, “but it’s my life!”
Lok grabbed his shoulders trying to calm him.
Peter finally took a breath. He could scarcely believe what was happening to him. One minute he's driving along the highway and the next minute he's on a spaceship heading for Tarizon? “Oh, God! No,” he moaned. “This has to be a dream.” Tears began streaming down his cheeks. “It must be a dream. Please God, let it be a dream.”
Lok walked over to the wall and pushed a button on a small control panel. A shield protecting a large window retracted. Peter's jaw dropped as he saw Earth in the distance. Utter despair came over him. He staggered to the window and ran his hands along its surface to make sure it was real. “No,” he moaned as he began to feel weak and light headed. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and his knees suddenly gave way. Lok grabbed him from behind to keep him from collapsing.
"I know this is a lot to assimilate all at one time," Lok said, "but the Treaty requires us to be honest with you and to keep you informed. We are a highly civilized society and live in accordance with the Supreme Mandate."
Peter blinked and looked at Lok who appeared fuzzy to him now. He rubbed his temples trying to clear his head. "What . . . I mean . . . ah . . .what’s the Supreme Mandate?"
"It's like your Constitution and Bible all rolled up into one. It's the foundation of our modern civilization."
Peter shook his head and his vision began to clear. He was starting to recover a little from the shock of his abduction. He wondered if he’d heard Lok correctly. “Did you say you had to be honest with me?”
“Yes. Our treaty with the United States demands it.”
“So, I can ask you anything?”
“Yes. Ask away.”
Peter blinked a few times and then questions began flooding his mind. "So, you said my being here has something to do with the CIA?"
"Yes, it seems your father has been recruited by them to be a part of the TRP—some sort of legal liaison or something. Regrettably, in the process of his recruitment I understand you became aware of the program's existence."
"No. I've never heard of it."
"You must have or they wouldn't have ordered your exile."
"Exile. Is that what they call this?”
“Yes. It’s much more humane than killing you, don’t you think?”
Peter couldn’t argue with that so he didn’t try. “Well, now that I think about it, I guess my father and I saw one of your ships take off, but I don't have any recollection of it myself. I only know about it because my father had himself hypnotized so he'd remember it."
"Precisely; so you admit you knew about us?”
Peter shrugged.
“So, they had to bring you aboard. They can't allow anyone to compromise their mission."
"The Tarizon Repopulation Project?"
"Yes," he sighed. "But I think we've probably talked enough for now. I have to get you ready for deep space transport."
"Deep space transport? Prepared? How?"
"I know this is a little scary, but I'm going to have to put you to sleep for awhile. It's a long ride to Tarizon. We have to conserve food and water to get you there safely."
A cold chill washed over Peter. "How long do I have to sleep?" he asked.
"A little over a year," he replied without emotion.
"A year!” Peter gasped. “You've got to be kidding me. No way!"
Peter looked around the room again frantically as if searching for something—an escape pod, perhaps.
"Don't worry,” Lok said reassuringly. “It won't seem like more than a single night. You'll go to sleep and wake up just like it was the next morning. You won’t age hardly at all. Time slows down as you approach light speed. I've done it several times now. Everyone who travels between our two worlds has to do it."
Peter’s eyes widened. "You said light speed? I didn’t think that was possible.”
“
Actually the ship goes faster than light speed.”
“I don’t think so,” Peter gasped.
Lok frowned. "You don't have a choice. It's either the sleeping chamber or death. Without the protection of the chamber, the moment we went FTL your body would disintegrate, not to mention the tremendous radiation your body would be exposed to."
"FTL?"
"Yes, faster than light—don't ask me how much faster—like I said, I'm no scientist. Somehow they create a huge magnetic field and the ship drops right into another dimension. It’s pretty scary if you think about it, so I try not to."
Peter swallowed hard but couldn’t think of a thing to say. Lok went over to a control panel on the wall and pushed a button. A door opened and he motioned for Peter to go in. He reluctantly followed Lok into the rectangular room approximately twenty feet deep. On either side were what looked like enclosed sleeping compartments with a myriad of wires, monitors, and tubes. Several of the compartments were already occupied. Peter's hands began to shake and he felt nauseous.
"I won't be able to sleep in there," he protested. "I'll go crazy."
"No, you won't. We have a drug that will put you into a deep coma-like sleep. You'll be out in a flash."
Peter folded his arms, struggling to keep his composure. Tears welled in his eyes. Then he felt a sharp pain in his arm and the room faded.