Chapter 47
Brian’s point of view
I tried to sit up as AJ moved to sit down next
to the makeshift bed. The first creature placed his wing down on my chest.
“Don’t move too much – you’ve been so ill from
that weapon blast you’ve been asleep for two days. You head will hurt.”
“You speak English?” I slurred groggily.
The small reptile grunted, as if insulted,
“Would you prefer me to speak French?”
“Go easy on him, Flyer. He’s taking this
better than I did!” AJ intervened.
I rested against the pillow again, heeding the
alien’s warning about head pains. Overwhelmed, I looked back at AJ for some
sanity. He grinned at me, amused.
“You should’ve seen how much I freaked out
when I woke up!”
“You crazy, blue-haired friend is the wildest,
most uncontrollable creature I’ve come across, Brian,” the winged being
claimed, the one AJ had called Flyer.
“If I asked where the hell we are, would I
regret it?” I questioned in fear and caution.
“We’re safe,” AJ stated surely.
“Phew, good!” I sighed.
“You’re on board an alien cargo ship orbiting
the Earth,” Flyer explained causally for me.
I frowned in confusion: “Ah, this is obviously
some strange usage of the word ‘safe’ I haven’t previously been made aware of!”
“You don’t have to worry,” AJ stated. “They
want to let us go home.”
“So what are we waiting for?”
“There’s a problem,” Flyer explained wryly.
“Everyone down on Earth thinks you’ve both been kidnapped.”
AJ took over: “They’ll never believe the
truth, but we can’t just go back with no explanation to where we’ve been.”
“So, what, we’re stuck here?” I asked
nervously.
“Not exactly,” Flyer grinned, showing his
sharp teeth and leaning forwards with exaggerated secrecy. “While you’ve been
asleep, your friend and I have come up with a little scheme to get you both
back to Earth believably…”
Solin’s point of view
I swam urgently onwards, deeply scarred and traumatised
from my encounter on Karnak. I didn’t have very far left to travel – Earth was
now only a day away – but my strength was waning. How much longer could I go
before I needed rest? I had speculated over this many times, but I knew I
couldn’t stop. I had to let Flyer, and his team, know what had happened.
I paused to rest only momentarily, finding the
truth hard to sink in. I remembered an old saying: ‘Ignorance is bliss’. I now
fully appreciated it, fighting to keep my emotions in check.
Kicking forwards, towards the Sol star, I
started off once more, desperate to reach Earth.
Flyer had to know…
Policeman’s point of view
“Sir, over here!” I yelled, keeping my torch
trained on the two unconscious bodies dumped in the shadows.
“What is it, Malone?”
I led my superior officer to the two men. I
turned one of them over, revealing his familiar face from identity photographs.
“Looks like him,” I stated, reaching to check
him pulse. “He’s alive.”
Another officer had stooped over the second
man: “Spiky blue hair, goatee – not doubt about this guy! He seems OK too, but
he has a sling.”
I turned back to the motionless man next to
me. I gently tapped the side of his face with my palm, trying to get some
reaction.
“Mr. Littrell? Brian, can you hear me? Open
you eyes if you can hear me.”
He winced, groaning as he twisted his head
towards me. His eyes opened narrowly.
“Where…?”
I managed to glance over at his friend, who
seemed to be coming to in a similar, groggy manner.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Littrell. You’re in safe
hands now.”
Leighanne’s point of view
Still teary-eyed, I paced across the living
room anxiously – they couldn’t have just vanished! I didn’t think I could face
losing them after all of us losing Kevin so long ago. Howie glanced up at me
worriedly as I continued pacing.
“Leigh, sit down. You’ll wear a hole in the
floor,” he suggested calmly.
Nick, Kristin and Sarah were here too.
Understandably, they wanted to be around when some clue or news was found on
them, rather than hear about it on CNN.
The silence was deathly. We all feared the
worst, but how would I explain it to Julie if her father had been murdered?
The ring of the phone cut through the heavy
mood of fear and sadness. When no one made a move to answer it, through fear of
the news it might bring, Howie tentatively picked it up.
“H…hello?”
Everyone anxiously crowded around him,
straining to hear something.
“Yes…… no, not yet……”
I sat down and hung my head, suddenly losing
hope of this being anything conclusive. Kristin sat by me and offered silent
comfort – she could empathise, but at least she knew what had happened to her
husband.
“What?”
Howie’s sudden exclamation caused icy fear to
grip my whole body – that shocked tone, the surprise on his face…
“N…no, that’s okay…… yes, of course – thank
you…”
He put the phone down in a trance. He sighed
heavily, rubbing his weary eyes.
“Oh God, what’s happened?” Kristin quizzed her
nervousness evident.
Howie looked between Sarah and I slowly, as if
unbelieving to what he had been told.
“They’ve found them!”
***
