Chapter 2
There was no time for a council of war, no time for the media to cover the event, no time to carry out evacuations. From the time Earth’s satellites detected the swarm of unidentified objects there was scarcely over a minute before they were in plain view. Thirty-four black starfighters streaked out of the upper atmosphere like starved vultures and immediately opened fire on everything in sight. No one could make out a pattern from their attacks, at least not at first. Groups of the alien craft would swoop down in one location, occasionally land for a short time, and then move on to the next.
On multiple occasions Earth military forces were able to engage the alien fighters. When the first Earth missile struck its target and exploded, it revealed a protective energy field surrounding the alien craft; the alien ship was thrown off course but not damaged. This shielding gave way after multiple hits, however, and, since the aliens were far outnumbered, Earth forces achieved notable success when they were able to force battle.
Unfortunately, opportunities for battle were not frequent. The aliens’ superior craft allowed them to escape quickly when they wanted to; the Earth aircraft could not even come close to keeping up with them at top speed. So, despite their inferiority in numbers, the aliens continued their mysterious raids for several hours, leaving a wake of destruction wherever they went.
Ned did not learn of the attacks until news reports of the event flooded his television; none of them had yet come near his town. At first he, like most people on Earth, could not bring himself to believe what he was hearing. Was the news playing some sort of cruel joke? But somehow that seemed unlikely. News reports showed people leaving cities in huge numbers, although no one had left Ned’s neighborhood yet. After all, there was probably nothing in that small town that any aliens could possibly be interested in. Anything except… Ned walked quickly up the stairs to his room and took the blue stone out of his pocket. He always kept it with him now, afraid that he would be unable to let it go if he really tried. The stone was pulsating brightly.
Thousands of miles away, the alien squadron had gathered nearly all of the materials it needed to complete repairs on its damaged ships and depart. The rich planet had provided an abundance of most of the natural resources they required, although it did not appear to have any useful technology. Then, suddenly, their sensors detected a faint subspace signature. It would have been indistinguishable and insignificant on any more advanced world, but this was the only such signature in the entire star system except for emissions from the star itself, and it meant a hope of something that might speed the repair process. Even with their notable success in obtaining materials, time was running out, and they jumped at this possibility of finding something that might be of use to them. The aliens sent seven fighters to investigate the subspace reading and left the remainder of their squadron to complete repairs.
Ned could not believe what was happening. What had he done? Was it possible that this attack was a result of his taking the stone? Had he caused this? He could not stand to sit and worry in ignorance like that, so he returned downstairs and watched the news report. As he entered the room he saw that Jared was staring at him.
The reporter was saying, “We have just received word that their number has been reduced to twenty-four. The aliens have still made no detectable attempt at communication. They were last reported to have landed in northern Canada, but a small group of them appears to be moving south toward…”
Toward Ned’s home.
Suddenly the entire community went into a state of virtual shock. Families rushed to load their cars with whatever necessities they could carry and leave before the streets became impossibly crowded. The news reported that the ships would be there in a matter of minutes.
“Ned!” Jared shouted. “Get rid of it!”
Ned’s parents stared at him, stunned, wondering what Jared was talking about. Slowly, Ned removed the glowing stone from his pocket. There was no time for any explanation. He said simply, “I’ve got to get this as far away from here as possible.”
“Ned, what is …” his father began, but Ned was already running out the door. Jared tried to keep his parents from following, but they broke past him at a run. Already the streets were too crowded to make driving a reasonable possibility, so Ned hurried back toward the trees. Maybe they would look there first, since that was where it had landed, and, besides, if he headed anywhere else there would be people everywhere, and that would slow him down. Jared and his parents were all faster runners than Ned, and they caught up with him before he had run a block. Jared had already explained to them in shorthand everything he knew about the stone.
“Nedward! Just throw it away!” his mother shouted at him after the three of them had stopped him.
Ned was breathing heavily, totally overwhelmed by the terror of what he had apparently done. “I can’t!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, even though his family was standing right in front of him. “Just stay at the house, and I’ll be back as soon as I can!”
Jared had given up reasoning with his brother; he grabbed at the stone in Ned’s clutched fingers. A sharp bolt of energy knocked his hands away. “I can’t let go of it! Just get away!” Ned yelled, then started to run again. His family tried to hold him back, but this time the blue light forced them away. They followed Ned for a time, but after a while their confusion and fear overrode their drive to pursue him. Realizing there was nothing they could do to stop Ned, they slowed to a stop and stared after him.
Ned ran through the trees as fast as he could. He tripped and fell several times, but, feeling no pain, he got up and bolted ahead again. He thought at first to go to the spot where he had found the stone, but then changed his mind. There was a relatively large clearing ahead, and that might be a better place. He could only hope the aliens would come to him and leave the town alone. Ned tried to go over in his mind what he should do. Should he just hold the stone up to them and hope they beamed it away somehow? Should he just run and try to draw them as far away from his family as possible? When Ned finally reached the clearing, he tried to throw the stone to the ground, but it clung to his hand even when he spread his fingers. He could not let it go. This was a nightmare. Ned’s mind was still reeling from the apparent impossibility of this entire experience, at his stupidity in keeping an alien object, and at his total inability to take control of even himself. He was beginning to feel that there was nothing he could do.
His attention was snatched away by what he saw out of the corner of his eye. Several black spots in the sky were streaking toward him. He quickly identified them as the alien fighters he had seen on television. Momentarily he was impressed by their appearance; they looked like shiny, black jets but they were larger than most fighter jets he knew of and they were more detailed – less aerodynamic, but they were probably primarily space vehicles anyway, so it wouldn’t matter… That impression took only a fraction of a second to die. Most of the fighters broke off to the left and right and flew out over the town, although none of them had fired any weapons yet. Three fighters were still left, and they were headed directly toward where Ned stood, and they were slowing. Ned wanted desperately to run, but he had already decided to stay there. So, he did the only other thing he could think of. Both hands raised and pointed toward the foremost of the three alien ships, his fists intertwined, the blue stone locked between them. Ned gathered the blue light around his hands in a sizzling ball of energy and then fired it at the fighter with all of his might.
The ship was close now, although it was moving no faster than a car would, and Ned watched as the energy blast hammered into the front of it. A greenish, transparent bubble became visible around the fighter – a shield? There was no apparent effect at all on the ship itself. Ned was just too weak to do any damage. Finally he let the energy beam die, his strength spent. As he gazed toward the approaching ship he saw a flash of red under one wing, and there was nothing he could do but stare in horror as the red ball of energy sped toward him and engulf
ed him in its fiery explosion.
Ned’s family watched in silence as the enemy ship hovered over the forest and fired blast after blast into the trees. They had seen the blue light and could only assume it had come from the stone Ned carried, but none of them managed to say or do anything; this entire event was totally impossible to them, as well, and they stood there gripped in an assortment of shock, horror, and desperation. Strangely, none of the other ships had fired. As far as they knew, this was the first encounter with these aliens in which they had not destroyed everything in sight. Perhaps they really were looking for something and were afraid they might damage it if they attacked. It was all so overwhelming…
Suddenly, green streaks of light shot downward from the sky and obliterated one alien ship after the other. They tried to fly off, but this new attack destroyed every one of them within thirty seconds. The entire town stared upward in amazement as something descended from the sky. When it came closer they all realized that it was another alien ship. It was much larger than the alien fighters – larger than an office building – and it was bulkier, not at all shaped like any Earthly aircraft. It hovered over the town for a moment, and then a hatch opened in the side of the ship’s hull. A smaller craft emerged and slowly settled toward the ground. Jared and his parents watched it as it flew into the trees and landed, out of sight.
Captain Smardwurst Varlon stepped out of the shuttlecraft and into the clearing, followed by his companions, many of whom spread out to secure the area and put out the fires that were burning in the surrounding trees. The entire area had been scorched by the torpedo blasts, but a young man lay unconscious in the center, showing no visible sign of injury. His hand was clenched over something that was pulsating with a blue light.
Smardwurst walked over to the man. The medic checked him over and declared that he was alive and apparently unharmed, except that he had been in shock, which had caused him to lose consciousness. The medic said that there was nothing he could do, so Smardwurst simply stood there, waiting.
Slowly, Ned opened his eyes and almost screamed. The figure in front of him had to be one of the aliens. It was humanoid, but it was wearing a space suit, so Ned could not see any of its body. The suit, though, did not look like it was made on Earth, and the figure’s features were all larger than those of anyone Ned had ever seen; the suit itself was well over seven feet tall. Ned soon calmed down, though. The people standing to the left and right of the figure looked like they were from Earth, and even if they weren’t, they did not look hostile. In fact, they looked rather shocked. Ned was suddenly shocked that he was still alive. His attack had failed, and he had taken that to mean that his power over the strange light was insufficient to protect him. He felt completely well, though, and he rose to his feet without difficulty.
Then the figure in the suit stepped forward. “Hello,” he said in a low, guttural voice. “I am Captain Smardwurst Varlon of the StarBlazer Alliance. We have destroyed the fleet of Yendarian fighters that attacked your planet. Are you all right?”
Ned smiled then. Apparently he was making first contact with an alien race! And this would explain why the fighters were gone; other aliens had arrived and destroyed them. He extended his hand, and, to his surprise, Captain Varlon grasped and shook it. “I am Nedward Simmons of Earth,” Ned said, trying not to sound ceremonious. “Thank you. And yes, I’m all ri…” Ned’s jaw dropped open. “You speak English.”
“We, too, were rather shocked when we monitored transmissions from you planet in our language. I suppose there is much that we both must learn. I will contact the leaders of your governments before I leave, but I must speak with you first. We picked up a subspace signature that appears to have come from the object you now hold. It is the only one on your planet. If I may ask, where did you get it?”
Ned suddenly remembered his part in all of this. “I’m sorry. Here, you can have it back. I tried to get rid of it, but …”
Smardwurst cut him off. “No, it is not ours. We simply wish to know how someone in a society that apparently does not have subspace technology has come to possess such an object. More specifically, we wish to know how you survived being struck by a round of Phantom torpedoes.”
Captain Varlon, who asked to be called Smardwurst, sent Ned out along with some of his crew to pick up his family, and then he brought the four of them onto his ship to discuss the situation. Seated around a table in a small conference room along with Smardwurst and a few of his crewmembers, Ned recounted his whole experience with the stone in detail. He could have left out parts, but he was tired of carrying the burden of such a significant secret, and he told it all. When he was done, he felt much better, and his family was calming down, as well.
“That is a most interesting story,” Smardwurst said when Ned had finished. Now, let me tell you at least some of what I know about this situation. I am a freighter captain and a member of the StarBlazer Alliance, as I mentioned. StarBlazer is, to put it simply, an organization that has broken free from the Anacron Empire, which holds most of the explored space in the galaxy. We are now fighting a war to protect our independence. Earlier this morning, which for you was late last night, we were fighting a battle against the Yendarians, who were working for the Anacron Empire. The Yendarian fighter you have just encountered came from that battle. Part way through the battle, those fighters disappeared without a trace. We feared that the Empire had developed a new transportation system, so I followed them, along with an escort of our own starfighters. What we discovered is this: there is some kind of spatial vortex that links this part of space to ours; we live on the other side of the galaxy from you, and no one from any civilization we know of has ever come this far into space. When we came out, we were still several hours from your planet, even at maximum warp. It had taken us a while to find the vortex’s entrance, so the Yendarians had a significant lead on us. Apparently they were trying to make repairs on their ships so they would be able to escape us and return to the vortex before we overtook them. They failed in this; even as we met you, our starfighters destroyed the remaining Yendarian ships. We would have gone back immediately ourselves if it had not been for this strange incident. This stone you have, Nedward, is a curious thing. May I ask you, what is it that you plan to do with it?”
Ned thought a moment. “Well, before this attack I planned to keep it a secret. I didn’t think it would be wise to let people know about such a strange thing. I’d give it to you, if I could. Maybe I can find a way now. But if not, I guess I’ll just keep it a secret still, unless I find a practical use for it. I can’t think of one.” After saying it, Ned realized that maybe he was trying not to think of a useful purpose.
“I can certainly think of one,” Smardwurst said. “That kind of power could prove to be extremely useful in battle, especially if it could be duplicated.”
“Well, here,” Ned offered. “Take it.” Ned arose and walked over to Smardwurst, the stone resting in his outstretched hand.
Smardwurst rose as well. “Thank you,” he said. “This will be a great aid to our Alliance, if …” He reached toward the stone, but a blue energy field deflected his hand. Ned tried to set the stone down on the table, but, again, it clung to him. “We might try a few different methods of removing that stone,” Smardwurst said, “but I doubt that we will be successful. If it can absorb the kind of energy it did today, I do not believe that anything we have will be able to take it from you. If this is the case, Mr. Simmons, I would like you to consider the option of returning with us. You do not need to decide now, but we must leave soon; there is no way of knowing how stable the vortex is, and we do not wish to risk being stranded here.”
Ned was shocked. The thought of space travel had always been intriguing, but to leave his planet behind to risk his life in a distant war did not exactly seem like the ideal scenario. “How long are you talking about? I mean, I’d love to come for a while and see the rest of the galaxy, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be much use to you in a war, no matter how much p
rotection this stone gives me. Besides, I’d be leaving my entire life behind.”
“Nedward, again I assure you that if you come we will be able to find ample use for your power. I cannot promise you complete safety, but if the power we witnessed today is at all reliable, I doubt that much could possibly harm you. As to the duration of your stay, that is difficult to say. Of course, if you ever decided to return home, we would make every reasonable effort to return you. However, it is likely that the vortex through which we came is shrinking. In other words, this end is drawing farther and farther from Earth, and the far end is traveling farther and farther from our space. Without the vortex, the space in-between would be impossible to cross in less than a few decades – in Anacronian years, which are longer than yours. The time when a quick return becomes impossible may not come for decades, or it may be only a matter of hours.”
Ned’s father, who had remained silent for the entire conversation, suddenly spoke. “Ned, you can’t just run off into space just because you have something that people in another solar system could use. You’re needed here, and you’d be leaving behind everything you know, everything you love, and everything you understand. You …”
“I think you’re right,” Ned interjected. Then, turning to Smardwurst, he added, “I suppose I should consider it for a while, though. Can you drop us off and come back tomorrow?”
“I will if you wish it,” Smardwurst said, “but it would probably be safer for you to remain onboard. There were probably many people who saw you come up with us, and their reactions to your return may be unpredictable. However, if you like, I will send some of my people to watch over your home.”
“Yes, we’d appreciate that,” Ned said.
As the group returned to the shuttlecraft launch bay, Smardwurst said, “Ned, I understand that what I ask of you is no small thing, and I will understand fully if you refuse. But there is one other thing I would like you to consider. Dark Viper has been pushing the boundaries of his Empire ever since he came to power, regardless of who happens to live within those boundaries and how they feel about him. It may be centuries before the Empire stretches this far across the galaxy, but if we lose this war, the time may come. There is no way to tell, and the risk may be negligible, but in aiding us you might give immeasurable aid to your own planet, as well.”
Smardwurst’s shuttle then returned Ned and his family to their home, along with an escort of six of Smardwurst’s security officers, all armed. No neighbors, reporters, or government agents attempted to contact them; either Smardwurst had sent some communication to keep them away, or else everyone was still too frightened to approach. Either way, the Simmons family was glad for the privacy. They had a lot to talk about.
From Ned’s parents’ perspective, the matter was actually quite simple.
“You aren’t seriously considering going, are you?” His mother asked.
“It’s insane,” his father interjected, perhaps to himself.
“I don’t know,” Ned admitted frankly. He did not really want to discuss the matter, but he was tired of keeping his thoughts hidden. “These people did rescue me; if there’s something I can do to help them without putting myself at risk, then it seems reasonable to do it.”
“You have no idea what the risk would be,” his father pointed out.
Ned could not argue with that, so instead he continued on his previous line of thinking. “If I do stay, governments are going to want to know what happened here. It’s not like we can go back to the way things were before. They’ll be asking me the same thing – to go on military assignments where other soldiers would otherwise have to risk their lives.”
“At least you’d be fighting for our government, on our planet,” Jared said, although their mother’s scowl made it clear that she was not very pleased with that suggestion either.
“With an alien device,” Ned said. And if someone finds a way to capture me and take the stone away?”
“No one knows about the stone!” Mr. Simmons was practically shouting. “You can hide it. Stop using it. People will ask questions for a while and then forget about it. We can move if we have to. But you are not a soldier. You don’t know a thing about space travel. It’s not even supposed to be possible! You cannot be manipulated into leaving your family over something like this.”
I’ll be leaving my family for college soon anyway, Ned thought, but he knew that was not really an argument. It was not that he wanted to leave; it was just that it was becoming harder and harder to imagine his life going back to the way it was now that he knew that there were aliens out there and that they wanted this strange object that he had been carrying around and could not let go of. But at the same time, what his family was saying made sense. Being worried and confused did not imply an obligation to leave.
“I think you’re right,” he said after a while, and everyone seemed to relax just a little. “At the very least, I need more time to think. They’re the ones in a hurry, not me. Maybe if I go long enough without using the stone, it will let me give it up and they can go. If they really want it, they can wait.”
It was not exactly the sentiment his family had been hoping for, but it was enough for the moment. Everyone was exhausted, and they hurried off to bed and whatever sleep they could get.
It was past midnight when Ned awoke to the sound of laser blasts. He shouted to wake up Jared and their parents, and all of them ran out into the hall, making sure they were all okay. Outside, the sounds of battle were growing louder. Everyone ran downstairs toward the basement, half wondering what was happening, half not caring and simply wishing this whole matter to be over. They had not even made their way down the stairs to the house’s main level, though, when the front door splintered apart and a strange figure dashed through the opening. Like Smardwurst, the thing wore a suit that covered its entire body, but its limbs were long and spindly and its head was oblong; it was obviously not human, and it did not appear to be one of Smardwurst’s crew. It carried no weapon, but it immediately dashed toward Jared, who was the farthest down the stairs.
“No!” shouted Ned, the power of the stone suddenly flaring within him. Acting more out of instinct than logic, he dashed forward and threw Jared behind him. As the alien figure reached out for him, Ned extended one arm and threw a bolt of energy into it. He was mildly surprised when the alien fell backward, but then it was up again and lunged at Ned, wrapping its strong arms around him. Ned stumbled backwards with the alien on top of him, its purple, reptilian face vaguely visible through its helmet visor. But then blue fire erupted all around Ned, burning into the alien’s suit, protecting Ned from the crushing force of his attacker’s body. A moment later the creature was up again. It leaped over Ned and ran at his family, who had retreated back into one of the upstairs rooms. Now anger burned through Ned’s body like molten metal. He would not let this monster touch his family. He extended his arm once again and sent another blast of energy into the alien, throwing it against the wall. He fired again and again, the power of the blasts growing with each attack as his anger gave fuel to the light. The alien struggled to get up, but each time it arose another blast hammered it to the ground. Finally someone rushed in from the open door, calling out that he was here to help. He ran up the stairs until he could see the alien, then raised the blaster in his hand and fired a stream of red light at the creature. It fell once again and did not get up.
Ned did not appear to see the man. He was resting on one knee at the top of the stairs, panting heavily, staring at the fallen alien, his eyes mere slits below his brow. Surges of blue energy trailed all over his body like sidewinders. Moments later several more of Smardwurst’s officers entered the home to bring the Simmons family to safety. They stepped carefully past Ned, not attempting to even touch him as his power continued to crawl visibly over his body.
After she calmed down, Ned’s mother walked up to him, bent down, and whispered softly, “Ned. Ned, can you hear me?” He did not
answer, or even look at her. She crouched there for several moments, not knowing what to do. She called his name several more times, but he did not respond.
Finally, Jared walked over to his brother, motioning for his mother to step away. “Ned!” he shouted. “It’s me, Jared! Wake up!” Jared reached out then and took Ned by the shoulders. Suddenly Ned stood up, and a violent yell escaped his throat. Blue light erupted all around him, and Jared was thrown back several feet, the entire front of his body seared. Then Ned collapsed onto the ground, the light gone, his breathing normal. He was unconscious.