Sci Fi & Fantasy / Alien and Essence

Alien and Essence.

Discovery

It was getting quite dark when he took his last dive.

It was freezing.

“Where is it, Uncle” he thought to himself as the black rocks in the water loomed up in front of him.
The air in his mouthpiece tasted of rubber.

Gary glanced at his waterproof notepad at his Uncle’s mysterious instructions.

Suddenly it was no longer murky and he could see the seabed clearly.

Despite the cold water, the ring he was wearing felt hot on his finger. He saw a door.

“Well, well” thought Gary, “what were you up to Uncle Martin ?”

After Gary touched the handle, the door opened, but not in the normal way that doors open.

It slid sideways with a ripple.

Perhaps its a trick of the light when one is swimming underwater, thought Gary.

He was an absolute beginner when it came to sub-aqua.

He swam inside, and the door closed behind him.

There was a rushing sound as the water was pumped away, and within seconds the chamber was bone dry, except for Gary standing dripping in his wet suit.

This is getting very interesting he thought.

It must be a hidden submarine or something belonging to his uncle, and according to the will, it was now his.

His uncle’s unexplained death, the strange letter left to Gary in his will, and now this, a diving chamber hidden in a little bay off the English coast.

This was most weird.

His uncle had always been taking sailing holidays and this must have been where he went to, thought Gary.

In the Saucer

Around the wall were places to sit.

The walls looked rather like fake leather, and the floor seemed a bit like wood, but somehow not quite right.

As soon as Gary had sat down, he noticed the design on the opposite wall.

He was sure that it hadn’t been there a moment before.

The design was exactly the same as the one sketched in his uncle’s letter, which meant that this was the right place.

He reached inside his wet suit for the letter and started to read it again.

The instructions he had followed so far had lead him to this underwater diving chamber.

The next instruction just said ‘talk to yourself out loud’.

Gary could imagine his uncle laughing to himself, when he wrote this letter.

“So,” , He said loudly, “at least there’s no-one here to laugh at me doing this”.

People were always laughing a little at Gary.

Usually he was the joke.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you” chuckled a voice from the wall.

“Uncle” cried Gary in amazement as he recognised the voice.

“You’re supposed to be dead !, I saw them cremate you yesterday”

The voice laughed “Aah, but did you see a body ?”

“Well, no, but..”

The voice changed into a woman’s voice,

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist speaking with your Uncle’s voice pattern. He is really dead you know, and I’m quite sad about it”.

“Who are you then” Gary replied, getting a bit annoyed,

“and where are you. Come out where I can see you”.

“Alas, I cannot, for I am all around you and not a person at all. If you like, just imagine that I’m a whale and you’re Jonah” the voice chuckled again, obviously pleased with itself at the comparison.

Gary, saw a small control panel, set into the leather facia.

“You’re a computer ?” he asked.

“No, no, no, nothing so boring as that. On Earth I’m called a flying saucer, a UFO. But your uncle used to call me Lizzie”.

“Busy Lizzie, I expect” said Gary under his breath, and then realised that the voice had said ‘Flying Saucer’ !.

He looked around at the room with renewed interest.

The material was a strange one he hadn’t seen before.

It was not plastic or metal or leather, but something in between.

The voice spoke without any accent that he’d heard before.

A shiver ran through his body, as if he’d taken some unpleasant medicine.

The control panel had what looked like Egyptian hieroglyphic on it.

He half expected to see a socket for a mouse or keyboard.

“How do you work?” He asked.

“Well, actually I couldn’t describe it exactly”, said Lizzie. “I’m just me”.

“No, I meant, how do you fly?”

“Oh that. It’s a form of gravitational reflection. Quite good really. It doesn’t muck up the environment as much as your spaceships do.”

Interesting. Gary scratched his chin.

“So can you go anywhere ?”.

This must be a dream.

Lizzie laughed.

“There are limits you know, but I can get to most of the interesting places in this solar system. Where would you like to visit ?”

“Mars” said Gary, “I want to see some Martians. Canals and all that”.

“There weren’t any left the last time I looked” said Lizzie, sadly, as if remembering something unpleasant.

“But we can certainly go and check”.

Gary suddenly realised that he wasn’t standing, he was sitting in a close fitting chair.

The room was moving and changing shape.

It was darker too. He was tired, and suddenly very comfortable.

“Hey, wait a minute” yawned Gary, “I don’t want to sleep, I want to see something on the way”.

“Don’t fuss” Lizzie replied softly, “It takes a while to get to Mars. Just sleep and I’ll wake you when we arrive”.

Gary, began to snore, while Lizzie gently moved underwater out to the open sea.

On the cliff top

Some time later, the figure on the cliff top lowered his binoculars, and looked at his watch.

It had been a few hours already since the young man had gone under.

He must have had an accident and killed himself.

The man suddenly had an uncomfortable thought.

Perhaps he’d been seen following and Gary had given him the slip.

Either way, O’Donnell wasn’t going to be pleased.

Late shipments

Kevin Maloney entered the plush office. He gazed out of the large window in anticipation.

He hated reporting failure to O’Donnell, who might do anything in anger.

Kevin remembered what had happened to Mark Crane and it made his stomach turn.

The door behind him slammed and O’Donnell strode to his large leather chair.

He gave Kevin a brief nod and immediately picked up his phone.  

“The shipment’s going to be late if you don’t do something about it” He said impatiently to the pleading voice listening on the other end of the phone.

“and if it’s late then you might find yourself ‘late’ also”

O’Donnell briefly smiled at his own joke and put the phone down.

The big man turned to Kevin, and gestured that he could sit.  

“Since that damned Anderson died, we’re getting real supply problems. I’ve got the customers coming out of the woodwork but no way of getting their goods moved quickly anymore. I knew it was a mistake to rely too much on that guy !. Any luck with his son ?”

“His nephew actually. No, I lost him at the beach. He went diving and didn’t return. I think Anderson must have put him on to us.”

“Unlikely, Anderson was good at keeping his mouth shut. This kid probably got himself lost and swam back to the wrong beach, if this report’s anything to go by”

O’Donnell chucked a file across the desk to Kevin.

“what else did you find out?” He asked.

“At the reading of the will, all the kid was left was some old photographs and a letter from Anderson” Kevin replied.

“I followed him home. The next day, he bought some sub-aqua gear and went down to the beach to try it out. I don’t think he’d ever used it before, he was so awkward. I think he was searching for something.”

O’Donnell looked at him.

“So why didn’t you follow him into the water ? It sounds like Anderson must have hidden that missing package off the beach somewhere.”

“I can’t swim”

“Well it’s about bloody time you learnt isn’t it ?. Give Philip a call and see if we’ve got any divers on the team. I want to know what’s under that water. That Anderson kid is so dopey he probably couldn’t find the package if it was under his nose.”

“Right, I’ll get on to it immediately” said Kevin, picking up the folder.

O’Donnell’s look of annoyance slowly left his face as he watched the door close.

Ping

Meanwhile, some distance from the shore, Gary abruptly woke with a start.

He remembered what he was in.

Ping.

“What’s that ? Why are we shaking ? It’s making me feel sick”

The spaceship was still underwater, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and in the grip of a gale storm.

It was being fiercely thrown about and Gary was just as fiercely throwing up his breakfast all over the walls.

“Messy” said Lizzie, preoccupied with the business of avoiding the warship which was pinging them..

“Where are we ?” shouted Gary as he gripped onto the chair.

The spaceship violently lurched sideways and rolled.

“There is no need to scream at me” replied Lizzie.

We’ve got to steer clear of a minor inconvenience, American I believe.

Although Gary heard that last bit, he couldn’t remember listening to the words being spoken.

He just felt the words pop into his head.

Lizzie could talk to him telepathically he realised, as he sensed that a huge American destroyer was very close by and Lizzie was pretending to be a whale or a shoal of fish or something.

What was that about being a Jonah ?, thought Gary, as the last flecks of his breakfast hit the wall.

I bet Jonah was never seasick.

The sound of the destroyer’s engines and screws churning in the water steadily got louder.  

In his head the vision of  metal slicing though water became stronger.

Blip on the screen

The destroyer’s captain studied the screen in front of him.

“There it is again” he exclaimed, looking at the blip moving on the sonar display.

“We’ve almost got it this time. When this storm eases off we’ll get some divers down there ” He commanded.

Marbles

The motion made Gary feel even sicker.

“I think I’m going to throw up again. Can’t you get us out of here quickly ?”

“OK then, hold on ‘cause we’re going Up ..” said Lizzie with a sense of excitement.

The chair sucked him down, but Gary was too startled by the sudden view to notice.

He saw the rain and the destroyer illuminated by a flash of lighting.

The clouds became blacker briefly before they emerged into the bright sunlight speeding straight upwards.

Gary tightened his already strong grip on the chair.

A sense of vertigo flooded over him.

It was like being in one of those awful roller coaster rides, like Space Mountain, going at an uncontrollable speed without being able to stop.

And he hated roller coasters.

The cotton wool clouds familiar from transatlantic flights, were replaced by a bluish haziness.

He saw the curve of the horizon, and there was a squashed bubble at the edge.

As they rose further it un-squashed itself and became a big round eye surrounded by blackness.

It was the moon.

He’d never seen it so clearly.

He saw a movement.

A meteorite flashed past.

Gary turned to look at the Earth behind him.

It was fascinating.

The clouds were so white and swirled around against the brownness of the land.

He felt as if he should be able to predict the patterns they made, if he could just keep watching them long enough.

The Earth was becoming a round marble in the sky, and Gary couldn’t stop looking at it.

The side away from the sun was black.

Really black.

He thought at least he would be able to see the lights of a few cities, but the only way to see the difference between the Earth and the black space around it, was to look at where the stars stopped.

Lizzie’s next remark, brought him out of his rapture.

“You know that we can’t go back, don’t you ?”

“What !” Gary’s mouth dropped open. “Never ?”

Lizzie continued, “Not if you still want to go to Mars. We’ll have to wait for the planets to be in the right place, for one thing.

That will be in several weeks time, and anyway I’m not ready.”

“Oh, well in that case, you’d better stop. I don’t want to lose the Earth”  

Gary paused, letting Lizzie draw a sketch in his mind of the problem.

This flying saucer certainly had its limitations, he thought to himself.

“What CAN you do ? he asked.

Lizzie wasn’t very forthcoming on what was possible and what wasn’t, almost as if something was being hidden from him.

“Where did you used to go with uncle Martin ?”.

The flying saucer stopped, and Gary felt a little weightless for the first time.

There was a disquieting silence and Gary  waited for Lizzie to say something or cough.

Or do something !.

The Earth was still a small blue and white marble hanging in blackness.

Gary realised that there was no going back to a mundane job, even if he had one.

He wasn’t going to be able to un-invent this spaceship he was in.

He had to follow his uncle Martin’s footsteps, wherever they led.

He could remember days when uncle Martin had returned to his parent’s house with an armful of exotic objects.

He’d said he’d bought them in a distant tropical island when his ship had docked for a few days.

Gary had always wondered how his uncle had managed to be a sailor and still keep his hands so soft.

It certainly wasn’t washing up liquid.

Now he could see the real story in his head.

Lizzie slowly placed a dream inside his head.

Uncle Martin had been the captain and Lizzie his only crew of this ship he was in, a ‘space’ ship !.

But he also remembered that Uncle Martin trading with the locals, and often rushing off when the police or customs came on the scene.

A game of cat and mouse. Uncle Martin had been the cat, playing with an US airforce jet, letting it glimpse the flying saucer before escaping underwater or up to the stars.

The image was one of tremendous fun.

Gary felt the power of Lizzie, as a rider would feel the strength of a race horse beneath him or a biker would feel the throb of a Harley motorbike.

He could only feel the limitations as they came close to them.

They couldn’t go too far into space away from the Earth’s gravity.

They could be detected by human technology and they could be shot down out of the skies.

Apart from that, Martin and Lizzie had been almost invincible, playing like Gods.

Gary felt the dreaming was slowly transforming into a nightmare.

Something had gone wrong.

Uncle Martin had left Lizzie and had not returned.

Martin’s death had been reported on the radio and Lizzie had heard it.

Lizzie spoke aloud “So that’s about it, that’s the whole story”.

“No it’s not” said Gary.

He knew now that he must solve the mystery of uncle Martin’s death, and discover their shared destiny.
  
“Where do you come from ?. Who built you ?. Who owns you ?”

“You own me now” replied Lizzie, “As to the other questions, it’s a long story, how long have you got ?”

Gary was beginning to feel hungry and just a little bit suspicious that Lizzie was avoiding giving straight answers, and somehow controlling him.

“Do you always answer the last question first ?” he asked.

“Nearly always. Where do you want to go to eat?”

Gary chuckled.

“OK, we’ll ask the difficult questions later. Take me somewhere warm and sunny”

He smiled to himself, “Beam me down, Scotty !”.

“Your uncle used to call me Lizzie, not Scotty.” said Lizzie questioningly.

“Yes, yes I know”. Gary looked out of the window as the marble got bigger again.

He wondered what had happened to his uncle, and then remembered the strange letter.

He took it out and started to read it again.

It began to make some sense.

Beached

The flying saucer was settling down nicely on a warm sunny beach as Gary read the last page of the letter.

“I don’t think he had time to finish it” Gary said out loud.

“Lizzie, do you know if Uncle Martin wrote anything else ?”

“I expect he did manage to put pen to paper a few other times in his life, but he left nothing here. Perhaps you might try the beach hut”.

Gary started.

“Beach hut!”.

He looked outside, although afterwards he wondered how he’d done that, as there were no windows.

“I can’t believe it, sunshine at last, after days of dreary rain”

He suddenly felt rather hot and sticky inside the wet-suit.

Hurriedly he removed it, leaving only a pair of shorts and his knife.

The door opened onto a gorgeously warm empty beach, with the kind of sand normally saved especially for the brochure photographers.

Forgetting himself, Gary strode outside through a rippling doorway into the

“SUN!”.

“I don’t know what you’re so exited about the sun for,” said Lizzie a bit puzzled, “We were much closer to it a few minutes ago, and all you wanted to do was be sick.”

A second later Gary felt like the turkey in the oven at Christmas, and looked around for some shade.

In the distance he saw some straw beach huts, and some fishing boats.

Quite a change from sitting at a desk in an office job.

Gary had a twinge of conscience when he  remembered he’d be expected at work by now.

He chuckled, as he thought about arriving at work in a flying saucer.

His daydreams faded slowly.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t just fly around the car park with a flying saucer, the Army or Air force or whatever would soon confiscate it for testing.

They’d declare it a national secret or something.

He understood why his Uncle never mentioned it to anyone.

Or had he ?.

Gary remembered Uncle Martin’s rather dubious business partner, Mr. Lambert.

Perhaps he was the person called John, mentioned in the letter, thought Gary.

Uncle Martin always seemed to be furtively discussing money and some deal or other with him.

Gary always needed money !.

In fact his credit card limit was probably completely blown by now, after buying the diving gear.

His bank manager would be unpleasant to him again, and if he lost his job … Better not think about it.  

He gazed at the blue water.

It looked so inviting. He had intended to look in the beach hut Lizzie had mentioned, but…it was time for a swim instead.
There was plenty of time.
He quickly strode into the water.

Brilliant !.

Sun  Surf!  Blue skies above…
.. with a small black dot that was rapidly approaching the island.

Suddenly the scream of a jet shook the palm trees, as it rolled into a tight turn, and started to circle back.
Gary saw all the wheels and flaps were out. As they continued to fly slowly around the island, he could see the two pilots examine the ground below and pointing excitedly.

They were looking at the very neat ring designs that were imprinted into the fine sand.

Gary momentarily tried to breath water. He realised that the flying saucer had landed at that exact spot…
but was now gone!.

UFO sighted

The jet’s pilot eased into a slow circle of the island.

His passenger was one of these intelligence types who usually annoyed him by constant stupid questions.

This time it was actually quite interesting, as they had managed to follow a UFO to this island.

The circles on the sand were one of the few times that he’d seen proof that a UFO had been there.

He had often seen the things flying in the distance, but like all the other pilots he rarely reported the fact.

It was common knowledge that they could not be caught, unless they crashed like the one at Roswell had.

The intelligence officer got out his digital camera and started taking photos.

What would Robinson Crusoe do ?

The jet circled for several minutes.

Probably taking photographs, thought Gary.

He stayed in the water watching until they finally left.

Gary quickly walked onto the beach.

It was quiet now, and just a bit disturbing.

The design in the sand was starting to blow away.

He was alone.

Gary briefly wondered what to do, but quickly came to a decision.

He’d explore this little paradise, starting with the beach huts and fishing boats.

Surely there must be someone else on the island, otherwise the boats wouldn’t be here.

There were two boats, one with a large hole in the bottom, and a second which looked OK.

Lying inside the good boat was a jacket, which was similar to one Uncle Martin used to have, thought Gary.

Perhaps Uncle Martin had sailed here and then left via flying saucer.

The first beach hut was very ramshackle. It had been hit by numerous winds and sand covered everything inside.

There was a camping bed, a small chest, a table and a chair.

All around the edge of the room were bits of fishing net.

Gary looked into the chest.

This was a bit like an adventure game, thought Gary. expect that instead of dungeons and dragons, it was desert islands and flying saucers.

Unlike an adventure game, this one had no treasure.

And no food.

His stomach growled at the thought of a juicy beefburger.

The chest wasn’t empty though, because in the bottom there was a small package.

Gary picked it up.

It felt like a bag of flour or something.

Trying to be careful, he opened it with his diving knife.

White powder fell all over the floor.

It was like in the movies, thought Gary.

Cocaine, he suspected, but he wasn’t about to taste it.

He certainly had no use for it.

He was getting very hungry. With all this excitement, he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten.
What would Robinson Crusoe do in a situation like this ?.

Go fishing.

Certainly it looked like the only thing to do. Gary didn’t expect a Man Friday to come strolling along the beach with a couple of pina coladas.

Nor did he expect the soldier who was now stood in the doorway.

Prisoner

The room had the kind of paint scheme favoured by hospitals and schools, a sort of institutional two tone yellowish colour.

This particular yellow was more of a khaki colour.

It matched the yellow-orange all in one boiler suit they’d given him.

The windows had bars on them, and Gary was certain he heard a guard just outside the door.

For the first time since the dive into the sea, Gary had time to reflect on what had happened to him.

He remembered the strange feeling on finding a flying saucer, and the sheer wonder of floating above the Earth.  

At the time he had seemed a bit stunned by the view, but from now on it would be his most wonderful memory.

He felt a need to see it again, like a drug addict looking for his next fix.

Gary’s captors had roughly grabbed him and threw him into this prison, all the time pointing their guns at him..

Immediately his heart had started pounding away and his legs had felt weak, but now he’d had time to examine his surroundings he was feeling better.

The few that had spoken to him couldn’t speak any English.

It sounded like some kind of Arabic.

He’d been locked up now for hours.

He’d always hated authority, and all bullies – especially extremists.

He sweated uncomfortably just thinking about it.

Where was the flying saucer ?.

Why was it called Lizzie ?.

It had spoken to him with his uncle Martin’s voice at first, and then in a woman’s voice.

But, thought Gary, it must really be a robot or a computer or something.

Something alien.

Or something secret form Area 51 ?

Gary was sure that the soldiers didn’t know about the flying saucer, but he wondered whether they’d searched the hut and found the cocaine powder on the floor.

If they hadn’t then maybe they would release him.

If they had, then they were probably selling it by now to supplement their income.

But, he didn’t know what crime he had been locked up for.

Gary remembered the letter from uncle Martin in his pocket.

It was too much like evidence.

It didn’t actually say flying saucer, but it came close, Gary now realised.

He quickly put it into the only hiding place he could think of. Under his sock in his right shoe.  He must remember not to walk with a limp. It felt a bit like having an annoying stone in his shoe.

He almost panicked, when the door was briskly unlocked and five of the meanest soldiers he’d ever seen, marched in.

Oh my God, what now. Gary swallowed hard and more sweat trickled down his brow. He must look as guilty as hell to them.

The soldier in charge said something to him, but it was a language that he didn’t understand. Gary replied somewhat meekly that he couldn’t understand.

The officer seemed slightly surprised. He took a photograph out of his pocket and compared it with Gary. He nodded to other soldiers and turned to leave.

Gary cried out “What’s going to happen now ?”.

The officer briefly said something to one of the soldiers, and Gary found himself being searched. He didn’t have anything in his pocket except his wallet, which they took.

The officer looked through the wallet and found Gary’s driving license. He grinned and said something that sounded like ‘Anderson’.

“Yes, I’m Gary Anderson. And I want to leave. I want to speak to the British Embassy” Gary demanded.

The officer, turned and spoke slowly in English.
“Do you know Martin Anderson ?”.

“Yes, he’s my uncle”

“So, tell me where he is now ?”

“He’s dead, he’s been buried in Salisbury. He died a few weeks ago.”
“Do you have any proof of that ?”

The officer seemed skeptical.

Gary thought of the letter from uncle Martin’s will, but decided against showing it.

”..No”

“You lie” said the officer, “you’re just covering up for him”.

“No I’m not, he’s really dead”.

“Then you must have come here instead, which makes you as guilty as he was”.

He laughed. “In any case, we’ve caught an Anderson, and you won’t be doing your filthy trade here again.” He turned to leave.

Gary shouted after him. “Wait, what’s going to happen now ?”

The officer looked back coldly. “Execution, but here we are civilised, we will wait until after the trial.”

The door slammed and once again Gary was alone in the cell.
His hands were clammy with sweat. He could feel himself starting to shake. He looked at the windows. They were solid.

No way out. Welcome to Paradise Island.

Planning to escape

He must escape.

Through the window he could see the beautiful beach and clear blue sky.

He was trapped in paradise and soon to be executed for some terrible crimes committed by his uncle.

The letter had said to keep clear of strangers.

Gary spoke out loud.

“Help”

Oh hallo, said Lizzie, I had been wondering where you’d got to. Sunbathing no doubt !.

Gary listened to the voice inside his head.

“Where are you ? How come I can hear you ?. Is this telepathy?.”

No, replied Lizzie, not quite, but its works in a similar way. You actually hear me though your fingers. At the moment, I’m swimming on the sea bottom, avoiding those jets.

“They’ve gone now. But I’ve been locked up in a cell by some soldiers, and they’re going to kill me.”

Oh that’s a shame. I was so looking forward to getting to know you better. Lizzie sounded almost sad.

“I don’t want to die. Can’t you do anything to get me out of here ?”

Of course, you just have to tell me what to do, and I’ll do it if I can. Didn’t Martin teach you anything ?.

That annoyed Gary.

“There are many things that uncle Martin didn’t tell me. How to escape from prisons certainly wasn’t one of them”

It’s easy. I’ll just remove the wall and you can climb aboard. Just don’t stand next to the outside wall.

The wall slowly started to vibrate making the bricks crumble.

Soon the whole wall and window turned into a dusty smoke screen as their very atoms lost all cohesion and floated about.

The guard outside gave a startled gasp before he began shouting.

Gary didn’t wait to see who he was shouting to, but dashed through the dust cloud into the bushes.

The guard was right behind him.

Gary turned a corner just as he heard a loud bang and a bullet hit a tree nearby him.

Slivers of wood hit him in the face, and the noise of the gunfire was incredibly loud, like a hammer hitting an anvil beside his head.

If he stayed around here too long he would be deaf as well as dead.

The soldier ran forward but tripped on something.

His machine gun was still firing.

Spent cartridges were flying.

Bullets were going into the ground and dirt was flying everywhere.

Gary ran for several minutes, before coming the beach once more. He crawled under dense vegetation and lay still, catching his breath. They were all around him in the jungle. Laying motionless, he dared not look up.
A soldier stood less than 1 metre away from his fingers. Gary’s heart thumped away in his chest, and he was sure the soldier would hear it. Eventually the soldier moved on, and Gary could breathe once more.

“Lizzie” he whispered.

Are you out yet?, He heard Lizzie speaking in his head.

“Yes, which way are you ?”

I’m still in the water, tell me when it’s clear and I’ll come to the surface. I don’t want to be seen by those soldiers.

“Nor do I” replied Gary. He sat up and looked around. There were shoots in the distance, but the island hadn’t looked very big, so they would be back soon.

“Lizzie, It’s OK right now”.

Gary looked down at the beach. He watched in fascination as the flying saucer came to the surface of the blue water, like a giant grey jellyfish, until it was completely sitting on the sand like a beached whale.

The door was open, and Gary didn’t hesitate to run across the sand and jump in.
There was much shouting behind him, and bullets started to ricochet all around him.

“Get us out of here quick” shouted Gary.

It was so quick that he was thrown across the inside of the flying saucer and hit the ceiling, before sliding down the wall. The chair managed to grab him and soon he was comfortable.

In front of him the view outside showed a vast expanse of the ocean. They skimmed just inches over the top of the waves. Just like watching one of those speeded up travel films, though Gary.

But this was real.

He was inside a flying saucer, after a dramatic rescue from his Uncle’s enemies, and heading who knows where.
What he needed now was some peace and quiet back home.
A couple of pints of Harveys beer down at the Jolly Smuggler pub and time to decide what to do next.

“Take me back home please Lizzie, and don’t spare the horses”

Horses ? Lizzie replied, what horses ?

The Jolly Smuggler

The road was dark as Gary walked up the hill to the pub. The Jolly Smuggler had never seemed quite so welcoming before. He ordered a beer. The landlord asked him where he’d been.

“Oh, nowhere special” Gary replied, thinking about his incredible trip in Lizzie. He couldn’t tell anyone the truth, they’d never believe him.  ”Why do you ask?”

“Well, you’ve got a terrific suntan. I thought you might have been to Spain as well. I was at Malaga last month. Too bloody hot to do anything it was.” The landlord pulled a pint for another customer and Gary went to sit by the fireplace. He looked around the bar to see if any of his colleagues from work were there.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

It was Mr. Lambert, Uncle Martin’s friend. He was as shifty looking as usual, wearing a grey striped city suit.

“Hello, Gary” Lambert smiled. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you. What are you drinking?”

Gary felt slightly uneasy. “Thanks, but I’ve got one already”.

Lambert sat down next to him. “I’m sorry to hear about Martin. Sad, very sad. He was your uncle wasn’t he ?”

Gary nodded, thinking that Lambert knew the answer to that already.

Lambert continued, “He and I were very close friends you know. Business partners you might say.” He paused,
“What kind of work do you do Gary ?”.

“Insurance, I check policies and things like that”. Gary wondered if he knew about Lizzie.

“Do you get paid enough ?”

“More or less”. More less than more, thought Gary, becoming interested.

His bank account at the moment was at the bottom of its credit zone as usual.

The bank was sending him its usual expensive letters to move him further into financial misery.

That’s how banks make so much money he mused.

The image of a bank vault door evaporating flitted lightly through his mind.

Lambert brought him out of his brief daydream.

“Well, Martin and I did a little importing and exporting now and then, he paused,
.. and now he’s gone I want you to replace him. I’ll pay you more than you’re getting now. Interested ?”

Gary was, but somehow he got the feeling that Lambert didn’t really want him as an employee.

He wanted something else.

“Yes, sure. What would I have to do then ?”

Anything was better than filing insurance policies.

“All you have to do is act as a courier, carry a few things for me, things like that”

“Is it legal ? You’re not talking about drugs or anything ?”

Lambert coughed, “Of course, its legal” He took out his wallet and counted out 20 fifty pound notes.

“We have a deal then ? Here is your first weeks wages. What do you think of that ?”

Gary was impressed.

It was more than twice what he took home at the moment, and he could most definitely do with the money and it was time for a change.

Perhaps he could use Lizzie to make some money.

“OK, when do I start”.

He took the money, and quickly put it in his pocket.

“and where do I work ?”

“Oh, you will work from home. I’ll call you when there is something to do. Until then you can just enjoy yourself. OK ?”

“Yes, sure. What about a contract or something ?. Pensions and so on ?”

“I’ll get my secretary to arrange it with you tomorrow.”

Before Lambert put his wallet away, he took out a business card.

“Here’s my card, if you want to call me I’ll be at this number”

Gary took the card. It just had a name an number printed on it.

Lambert continued,
“By the way, at the reading of the will, Martin left you a letter. I’d like to read it. Do you have it ?”

This is what he wanted all along, thought Gary.

The letter was still in his shoe.

“Yes, but its not here” gesturing with his empty hands.

Lambert looked disbelieving.

“Well perhaps you can bring it round to my office later, OK. And we can sort out your contract at the same time

Gary knew then that his new job depended on showing the letter, but he wasn’t sure whether to show it to Mr. Lambert yet.

He wouldn’t mind sharing his discovery of Lizzie with someone, but could he trust Lambert?.

Uncle Martin had, so maybe he should.

“Yes, OK”

After that, Lambert continued drinking and started talking about his most exciting international business deals, and all the exciting places he’d travelled to.

Gary wasn’t really listening.

He’d just noticed that the business card said John Lambert.

There was a John mentioned in uncle Martins letter.

Gary didn’t remember what it said, and needed a chance to get his shoe off and read the letter again.

Just business

Maloney was also in the bar, quietly watching Lambert and Gary ever since they’d entered the pub.

He had managed to telephone O’Donnell over half an hour ago.

This time the Andersen kid wouldn’t give him the slip.

And that Lambert character was going to be a bonus, O’Donnell would be very pleased.

He glanced through the window at the sound of car tyres on gravel.

O’Donnell’s Mercedes had arrived.

Time for action.

as he thought it would.

Michael Maloney

Michael O’Donnell climbed out of the car and silently gestured to another man, in the direction of the side door.

A girl joined him and together they entered via the front door.

Gary stared at the beautiful blonde haired girl that had come through the door.

O’Donnell was at her side.

Lambert followed his look.

“We’ve got to leave” He said, “and quickly”.

He started to drag on Gary’s sleeve, but slowed when he saw more of O’Donnell’s ‘business’ partners coming from the other direction.

“Too late” He said.

“What’s wrong ?” asked Gary, still staring at the girl, bewitched by the smooth leggy curves and long seductive blonde hair.

“These are my business partners” replied Lambert, “and unfortunately they’ve come to collect”.

Michael O’Donnell and the girl sat down next to them.

“Hello, John. How are you ?” asked O’Donnell. “Not sick or something I hope ?”.

“Hello Michael. I’m fine thanks” said Lambert, “But business is slow. Delivery problems and so on.”

He turned to Gary. “But, before we talk about that, let me introduce you. This is Gary Andersen, Martin’s nephew.”

O’Donnell smiled at Lambert’s delaying tactics.

“Of course, I could see the resemblance immediately. Pleased to know you Gary.”

He held out his hand and Gary shook it.

It was a strong grip, and the accent was unmistakably Irish, thought Gary.

O’Donnell indicated his companions. “This is Philip. That is Kevin is over there, and this beauty beside me is Linda”

Gary felt himself blushing slightly as his eyes met Linda’s.

“I’m pleased to meet you all. Were you friends of my Uncle ?”.

He felt his tongue was twisting as he spoke. Linda’s eyes seemed to twinkle.

“You might say that.” replied O’Donnell.

He glanced at John Lambert.

“We had some business arranged and your Uncle was dealing with the transportation. Only the last package failed to get to its destination. I think you might me able to tell me something about that.”

The hairs on the back of Gary’s neck rose up as he remembered the package of white powder that had spilled all over the floor of the beach hut.

Surely that wasn’t the missing package, he thought.

But as he watched O’Donnell indicating the size with his hands, he knew that it was.

“No, idea” Gary croaked. He was getting that scared feeling again.

“He does know” said Linda, “See, he’s wearing the ring”.

Lambert quickly said, “He was given that after the Will was read. It doesn’t mean anything”.

“Then what was he doing on the beach in scuba gear then”  Kevin Maloney said.

Lambert was surprised, and looked in amazement at Gary, who was also surprised that anyone would know about his scuba trip.

O’Donnell smiled again. “Its not only you boys who know everything is it ?. I think I would like to see that ring now Gary.”

Gary felt a little trapped. He didn’t know the significance of his uncle’s ring, but he was certain that he shouldn’t let O’Donnell have it.

It seemed to tingle again on his finger. It seemed as if time stood still for a moment.

Lambert spoke breaking the sudden silence, “I think we should make a deal O’Donnell. Gary works for me now, and I won’t let him give the ring to anyone without my permission.”

O’Donnell gestured to Philip, who moved his jacket slightly to reveal a shoulder holster.

“I think we must continue this discussion in my house. It’s too noisy here, don’t you agree ?”.

Lambert felt the hard barrel of a pistol in his back.

“I think Gary..” He said, ”..that we must accept Michael’s invitation”.

Gary knew he should be panicking again right now, but he felt quite calm.

Linda was nodding to him to do as O’Donnell suggested, and he was powerless to struggle.

Maloney pulled him to his feet, and in the same moment O’Donnell reached forward and wrenched the ring off Gary’s finger.

“That’s a nice ring. It looks good for you.”

With O’Donnell and Linda following behind Maloney and Philip, O’Donnell marched them all out of the pub.

Outside O’Donnell reached his Mercedes and threw the keys to Maloney.

“Kevin you drive and I’ll sit in the back with Gary. Philip, you take John in his car and follow us.”

Linda sat in the front seat next to Kevin. “Don’t be hard on him, Michael”

Gary’s finger no longer tingled. Martin’s letter had said that it was the means to achieving his desires.

But that hadn’t made sense at the time.

A dreadful thought filled Gary’s mind.

What if it was a key to get into Lizzie ?.

If that was true then he must get it back as soon as possible.

And that meant staying with O’Donnell.

“I want the ring back please” Gary suddenly demanded.

O’Donnell laughed, “I’m going to keep it as a ransom until I get my package back.”

“But I haven’t got any package” said Gary.

“Well in that case you’ll have to persuade Lambert to help you look for it, won’t you?”

O’Donnell examined the ring.

It appeared to be a simple design but had the warm yellow colour of antique gold.

The two cars joined the motorway and were soon travelling at 90 mile an hour down the outside lane.

As soon as I can speak out loud, I’ll call for Lizzie, thought Gary.

She’ll know what to do.

Linda turned around and smiled at him with her full red lips parting just a little.

Gary decided to gamble a little.

“Do you know Lizzie ?” he asked.

“Was she a friend of Martin’s ?” asked Linda in reply.

“It’s just a name I heard, One of Martin’s business colleagues perhaps”

They don’t know about the flying saucer, he thought to himself.

Uncle Martin must have been flying packages around the world for these crooks.

And John Lambert was probably the middle man arranging the deals. The last delivery must have run into trouble and never arrived.

“Do you know how uncle Martin died ?” Gary asked.

“If I knew that, do you think I’d be bothering with you ?” O’Donnell said.

“Martin’s caused us a lot of trouble since he disappeared and someone’s going to pay for it !”.

“What did Martin do for you exactly, then ?”

O’Donnell was irritated.
“I ask the questions” he said. “I want to know what you were doing under water late at night ?”.

So you’ve been following me, thought Gary.

He smiled, “Just practicing my diving”

“According to Philip, you were down there a bloody long time.”

Philip joined in “I reckon he was hiding the stuff down there”.

“No I wasn’t. I told you I don’t know anything about a package”.

“What about the reading of the will” said O’Donnell, “Did he leave you the package then ?”

“I told you, NO !” Gary shouted.

Philip spoke again “Lambert was there, Michael. He’ll know what the lad was given”

“True. How soon do we get home Phil ?”

“About 5 minutes now. We’re almost at the exit.”

“OK, we’ll wait until then” said O’Donnell.

Gary looked again at Linda. She was giving him a sensual smile that said don’t worry.

Thanks, he smiled back to her, trying not to worry.

He wished that Lizzie was close by again.

He might need another fast getaway if this turned out as badly.

It certainly didn’t look good so far.

Driving to Maloneys House

John Lambert and Kevin Maloney were following closely behind as they pulled in to the long driveway to the old manor house.

Just as they drove over the cattle grid, the car’s engine suddenly stalled.

“Bloody hell” cursed Maloney, “We haven’t got any cows, I don’t know why we have this thing in the road.”

Lambert smiled to himself as he watched a black shadow pass silently over them and settle on the large lawn hidden behind the tennis courts.

He had been surprised earlier by Gary, but now he knew for certain he had to manage this kid carefully indeed.

The Perfect Cover

The two cars pulled up in front of the house.

Looking at the building, a sense of deja-vu struck Gary.

“I’ve seen this place before” he said.

“It was used once in a movie” said Linda, “about spies and such”.

“The Perfect Cover” laughed Philip thinking about the film.

O’Donnell cast them a silencing stare. “Everyone into the lounge” he commanded.

The lounge was full of large leather sofas and wood panelling.

Gary always thought that you could judge a person by his furniture, but somehow it didn’t seem to match O’Donnell’s character.

He had expected something modern.

O’Donnell must be an old fashioned crook, he decided.

John Lambert entered the room and quickly moved to Gary’s side.

“It’s outside” he whispered.

“What is?” replied Gary.

He gave John a quizzical look.

“Enough of that !” O’Donnell said briskly, “Now I want some answers from you two”.

Philip said “I’d better check them for wires first” and began to frisk Gary when O’Donnell nodded.

Kevin searched John Lambert.

“On a buying spree ?” said Philip, as he discovered the £1000 Gary had in his pocket.

Gary just looked at John.

“So, John. trying to bribe him onto your side eh?” O’Donnell asked Lambert.

Lambert smiled as Kevin finished searching him, “Just good business.

Gary works for me now, so you have to deal with me if you want anything”

“Just like always, John ?” said O’Donnell, ”..but, this time I don’t think so.

The old deal finished when Andersen died”.

He turned to Gary. “I can get you much more than that thousand, Gary if you tell me the whole story. But if you keep quiet and then I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to a few tried and trusted techniques to loosen your tongue.”

He pointed at Gary’s knee with his forefinger, thumb cocked in the air.

Gary’s imagination made him shiver. “I don’t know much” he said, thinking that his kneecaps were worth keeping.

“Let’s start with the reading of the will”

“The will didn’t say much. Uncle Martin’s house goes to his sister. I got a ring, and all the rest went to pay his debts, death duties and so on.” Gary replied.

Philip added “And he left you a letter, what about that ?”

“Oh, yes and a letter” Gary felt uncomfortable.

If they read the letter they might soon guess that Lizzie existed.

“So where is this letter now ?” O’Donnell demanded, looking at the pile of things on the table.
“Nowhere, I lost it”

“Philip, Kevin strip search him” O’Donnell looked at Lambert.

“Or have you got the letter ?”

“I think he’s still got it. I’ve not seen it either.” John replied gently.

He’s on their side thought, Gary.

“The letter’s here” he said quickly, and started to remove his right shoe.

“OK, at last were getting somewhere. I knew we could work together Gary.”

O’Donnell smiled and took the letter. He sat at his desk to read.

The tension eased and Gary sat down in one of the comfy leather sofas.

Linda came and sat next to him. John Lambert winked at him.

Philip and Kevin also relaxed.

The victory was theirs and they opened the drinks cabinet to celebrate.

“Drink anyone ?” Kevin asked.

They all nodded in agreement, expect for O’Donnell who was still absorbed in reading the letter.

Gary felt the touch of Linda’s shoulder against his.

Just to be sitting next to her aroused him. The smell of her perfume drugged his senses as he listened to her speak.

“Did you know your uncle Martin well ?” she asked.

“No not really, we only saw him at birthdays and Christmas, up until my mother died, and after that hardly ever. He was always off round the world somewhere. Did he work for Mr. O’Donnell ?”

“He was Michael’s main courier” she said, as they watched O’Donnell stride quickly out of the room with the letter.

She leaned close to Gary’s ear and whispered, “That’s why he’s so annoyed at the moment, he needs someone to replace your uncle otherwise he’ll loose a lot of business”.

Gary nodded.

Across the room Lambert and the other two were chatting together.

Apart from O’Donnell they all seemed friendly enough.

He wondered whether Linda was O’Donnell’s wife or girlfriend. Kevin came over and thrust a glass of whiskey into his hands.

O’Donnell came back into the centre of the room as if he was taking the stage.

He was looking calmer but perplexed.

“This letter’s a mystery” he announced. “That Andersen knew someone was after him and dreamt up some cryptic clues. See if you can work it out”, he said, handing the letter to Lambert.

He turned to Gary.

“But it’s bloody obvious that you were meant to find something down on that beach. And equally bloody obvious that you found it. What was it, something lying on the seabed ?”

Gary relaxed, “That’s what I thought, but I couldn’t find anything down there. It was all dark and I got a bit lost”.

He was certain that they didn’t understand about Lizzie.

Except perhaps Lambert.

He suddenly remembered he’d said that ‘it’ was outside.

Did he mean Lizzie was outside ?

He thought that he should be able to hear her talking in his head, but there was nothing.

“Lost, I thought so”, O’Donnell laughed and gave Kevin an ‘I told you so’ look.

“And we looked as well and also found nothing. We’ll help you find your uncle’s secret and in return we’ll cut you in for some of the profits. What do you say ?”

“Sounds OK to me” said Gary.

“Good, that’s settled. We’ll all start in the morning. In the meantime you’ll sleep in the Blue room. Philip will show you”. The audience was over.

Philip nodded and gently took Gary’s arm.

“Wait, my stuff” Gary said, as he quickly picked up the thousand pounds and the rest of his things from the table.

Linda smiled and said good night to him.

O’Donnell turned to Lambert. “Now we can discuss our new deal” he said. “As I see it you still owe me for the package that Andersen lost”.

Gary didn’t hear Lambert’s reply.

Philip was almost marching him up the long wooden stairs.

The Blue room really was Blue, a kind of Mediterranean colour, and it was dominated by a large four-poster bed.

Without the ring

As soon as Philip had left, he immediately thought of secret passages.

Houses this old always had them in the movies.

He searched the walls but they were solid.

The door was solid as well and Philip had locked it.

Once more Gary was a prisoner.

At least this time the jailers weren’t so threatening.

John Lambert seemed at ease with them and so had uncle Martin.

Gary thought of the large wad of notes in his wallet.

Here perhaps, was a way to earn some good money at last, even if the business was a little dubious.

Uncle Martin had lived as a playboy for most of his life.

Gary looked out of the windows over the tennis courts.

Was Lizzie out there, he thought.

Had uncle Martin used Lizzie to transport illegal goods for O’Donnell and Lambert.

It certainly looked like it.

Gary undressed and climbed into the four-poster.

Did Lambert know about Lizzie, he thought.

And if the flying saucer was outside, how come he couldn’t hear anything?.

He spoke out loud. “Lizzie, are you there ?”

He could only hear the wind in the trees.

And then he knew what was wrong.

When the will was read, Gary had not just been left the ring, he’d been instructed to wear it.

It must be a telepathic radio or something, tuned in to Lizzie’s computer brainwaves.

Without it he was unable to call for help.

And even worse, never again be able to view the moon from space, rising like a bubble over the edge of the earth’s captivating landscape.

O’Donnell still had the ring.

Gary knew that he had to get it back somehow or other.

Moonlight

Gary couldn’t sleep.

He thought of the film that had been made at this house.

It had been a spy film called The Perfect Cover.

The hero had crept around the roof to get the microfilm back form the baddies.

The roof !.

Suddenly he was at the window.

It opened onto sloping tiles. If only he could get around to O’Donnell’s room, he may be able to get the ring back.

He could see the lawn, but it was dark and there was no sign of Lizzie.

He could smell the pine trees, and somehow the smell was inviting him out onto the tiles.

Like a hot cat.

What would the spy in the film do ?, he thought.

First check the door.

It was locked.

Then bunch up the pillows so that it looked as if he was asleep.

This was exciting.

With great care he stepped out of the window.

There seemed to be plenty of grip.

It reminded him of his student days, when he’d put a couple of blow-up rubber dolls locked in the missionary position on top of the university building for a dare during rag week.

The breeze brought the sounds of music to his ears.

It was coming from the other side of the building.

He crossed over the top of the roof to find there was a wall around the edge, complete with false windows.

He could see the front driveway through one of them.

There was also a small terrace and a door. It was open.

He was through the door and down the stairs before you could say black magic!.

What would 007 do now ?.

Follow the sound of the music, of course.

He gingerly opened the door to the unmistakable smell of Linda’s perfume.

Of all the rooms in the building, he had to walk into this one !.

The door clicked shut behind him, as the CD player stopped.

Linda called through the door from the bathroom, “Play it again will you, I’ll be out in a minute”.

Gary pressed play and the music started once more.

Instantly he regretted his actions.

Was she expecting him ?.

No of course not, any second now O’Donnell would stride in and catch him.

He was riveted to the spot when Linda floated out of the bathroom in the skimpiest see-through.

Woof, woof!

“Oh, its you. How nice” She smiled and Gary felt himself turn to jelly.

Her arms caressed his shoulders and she placed a gentle kiss on his neck.

Gary was mesmerised.

He felt her nipples brush his chest.

They were hard. They weren’t the only things hard.

Their silence was broken by the sound on O’Donnell climbing the stairs and talking in the corridor.

“Quick” Linda pointed under the bed. “Hide”.

Gary didn’t need to be told twice and was hidden  just as O’Donnell entered.

Under the Bed

His view was obscured by the duvet on the bed and a big box of tissues.

Odd that nearly all the girls he’d met had had a box of tissues in the bedroom, and he’d never found out why.

“Mmmh, you’re hot tonight, Lindy” said O’Donnell, “Are you ready for your Teddy Bear ?”

“Come here and let me stroke your fur, and you’ll find out”.

They collapsed on the bed, almost crushing Gary underneath.

This was going to be a long night, thought Gary as the bed creaked above him.

He listened to them meowing at each other and making little cries.

The sounds were quite erotic, and were keeping him hard.

The light was switched off, and he heard the sound of metal on the sideboard.

Straining, he could see what it was.

A watch and a ring.

The ring !.

But he couldn’t reach it without showing himself. He needed a diversion.

Various plans started to work themselves out in his mind only to fail miserably before they got past the starting post.

The grunting and sweating above him was reaching a crescendo, and then stopped with a final shudder of the bed and an annoyed groan from Linda.

Moments later all was quiet.

A slender hand reached down to grab at the tissues.

It touched his arm and lingered for a second.

The ring had been knocked to the carpet !.

Instantly Gary had it on his finger again.

Immediately his head was full of a deafening noise.

He almost cried out in surprise, but managed to stifle it in time.

To Switzerland

The sound of snoring soon reached his ears, a sure indication that O’Donnell was fast asleep.

Gary slowly crept sideways from under the bed and along the carpet to the window.

He looked back.

O’Donnell was now making awfully loud and unpleasant snorting sounds.

Linda was awake and sensually smoking a cigarette.

She smiled as she watched Gary step out the window and blew him a smoke ring.

“Next time bring some chocolate” she whispered.

Gary winked goodbye.

The breeze on the roof was a bit colder now, and everything was dark.

Creeping along the tiled roof, he came across an old metal ladder set into the wall and climbed down it to the lawn.

Lizzie, which way are you ? he thought.

Can you see the hedge ? answered Lizzie, as a door opened in the foliage shining a pale pink light onto the tennis courts.

Great disguise, thought Gary as he found the door.

“Let’s fly”, he said, settling into the snug alien leather chair.

“Your wish is my command”, replied Lizzie in a slinky voice, “I’m glad to have you inside me again Gary”.

Uncontrollably, he blushed, remembering the recent activity on the bed.

“Where shall we go Gary ?”

“Hmmm, I think Switzerland. They have the best chocolate there !” he said, smiling to himself.

He could remember the smell of fresh chocolate driving past the Lindt factory on the Zurisee, and the invariable stop at the next petrol station to buy some.

The saucer took off with an upwards lurch.

Was Lizzie jealous ? thought Gary, before realising that she heard everything he was thinking.

There was no reply except for the appearance of a window in the leather wall, which showed a view of fast approaching mountains in the moonlight.

In the mountains

There was something rather special about the way the tops of the mountains stuck through the cloud layer.

An island of the gods in a sea of white cotton wool.

Lizzie slowed and settled gently into the fresh powder snow.

The view down the valley reminded Gary of his school days and the geography field trips in Scotland, learning all about the ice age glacier valleys, and the inevitability of midges and rain.

It was almost dawn, and time for breakfast.

There’s no food in here thought Lizzie, you might try that house.

Some way along the ridge he could see a house with a hint of smoke rising from it.

His stomach growled at him with hunger, as he stepped outside and made his way towards the house.  

The snow was pleasantly loose and fluffy to walk in.

The house had a dark and smoky smell just like rough tobacco.

As he peered in through a grimy window the front door opened and a big heavy man greeted him.

At least that’s what Gary assumed, because he couldn’t understand a word the man said.

The man beckoned him inside.

Gary followed him inside the house. It was like a cave with a beaten earth floor.

Gary sat down at a large wooden table while the man served fresh coffee.

Revived by the warm drink, he noticed a large cauldron bubbling in the corner.

The mountain man lifted the top and the room filled with a hot alcoholic honey smell.

Gorgeous!. Instantly he was offered a taste of the potent home brew.

“Great stuff” he declared.

“You like it ?” replied the mountain man proudly, “my own recipe, 1723 years old”.

“I didn’t know you spoke English” Gary said in surprise, and wondered also about the odd age of the recipe.

He indicated his cup, “Thanks for the coffee.

Do you have anything to eat ?, I’m starving.”

The man looked about in the cupboards.

“I can pay you”. Gary waived a £20 note in the air.

“No need” his host said, “I help a fellow wraith any time”, placing a loaf of bread, some cheese with holes it it, a knife and a few gurkins in front of him.

Gary cut a thick wedge of bread. “What’s a wraith ?.

They sound like those huge black horse riders with red eyes.

You know, from Tolkien.”

His host gestured outside in the direction of the mound of snow that was Lizzie.

The History

“You don’t walk here in those clothes; too cold, eh?”

He pointed at Gary’s jeans and thin jumper.

“Came the quick way to the mountain, yes?”

He floated his right hand down to the tabletop, imitating a helicopter.

“Only wraiths can fly so”.

Wraith is such an awful word, Lizzie added, Holder of the Spirit, is much nicer.

The mountain man laughed and held up a small brown bottle, “This is a Holder of Spirit”.

“You can hear Lizzie ?” said Gary, astonished.

“Naturality, I also can hear the flying machine thinking”.

The man looked at Gary thoughtfully.

“You have a new start, yes ?”

“Pretty much” replied Gary, not knowing exactly what the question meant.

“You know the History ?”

“My uncle Martin left me a letter, if that’s what you mean, but it wasn’t a history of anything ?”

The man smiled. “You must know the History. I will tell you”.

Gary nodded and listened as the man begun a strange tale.

Our ancestors travelled across the vastness of space from a different galaxy.

The journey was many time longer than their normal life span so a special technique of reincarnation was developed.

Gary listened in silent rapt attention.

The reincarnated souls

This enabled the same consciousness to transfer to a new body when the old one was worn out.

The spaceship is like an island, and the soul from one dying body had nowhere else to go but into the body of unborn babies.

They retained almost 100% of their memories, but with each generation their bodies became more and more adapted to space.

So much so that when Earth was reached, these bodies could not survive on the planet surface.

A choice had to be made.

Reincarnate into the bodies of Earth’s indigenous creatures or stay in space.

In the spaceship, there is guaranteed immortality, but only a cerebral kind of existence, whereas on Earth there is life in an alien body with a risk of a real death.

On Earth the reincarnation technique is uncontrolled.

The dying soul can be reborn in any body and old memories are gradually forgotten.

But after centuries in space, the attraction of real life was too great and many of the ancestors came down to live on the planet.

In the beginning the ancestor souls in those alien bodies triggered many mutations, and aided by a bit of genetic engineering, Homo Sapiens was created.

Homo Sapiens became such a success that soon there were more being born than were needed for reincarnating souls.

Today most of the original ancestors barely remember their past.

Those still in space see this as a mistake and a weakening of their existence and seek a new solution.

Some want the humans without ancestor souls to be killed off. Others value the diversity and creativity of mixed humans.

Still others advocate all returning to the spaceship and starting again using the bodies of another species. So far there is no majority.

You are, of course one of those ancestors, and now must decide where your soul will go next”.

Alien from outer space

“So I’m an alien from outer space   ?” asked Gary, recovering his power of speech.

“I wouldn’t quite put it that way, but yes.”

“I’ve always thought I was a bit special though” Gary mused.

“That means nothing” said the old man, “everybody thinks that”.

“And when I die, I can go to Heaven in some old spaceship, or to Hell back on Earth in some other body ?” asked Gary.

“That’s right, except the ones who stayed on the spaceship don’t always want you back”

The man looked up to the gathering clouds in the sky pensively as if remembering something unpleasant.

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