Chapter 13: Chapter Five: Bee Our Guest

Chapter Five

Bee Our Guest

 

THE BIG OVERHEAD lights buzzed to life. I Need My Space stood on four grimy landing legs, and one was caked with extraterrestrial mud and sand. Its metallic skin was tiger striped with black smudges and paint decay, and a cluster of nozzles was encrusted with exhaust deposits from an incredibly powerful engine. Also, a large parabolic antenna was deployed and appeared to be broken in half.

A man stepped onto the launchpad, typing on a Helix and never making a sound. Suddenly, mechanical noises emanated from the spacecraft, and external parts moved up and down, sending slivers of light out into the desert. Then a metallic clink rippled away from the aft end, and the cargo doors slowly moved into the open position.

            The exterior had been decontaminated and inspected and was free of all those dangerous space rays. Good thing too, because there was life inside the spacecraft, but not even the researchers knew what had been collected by the planetary rover. Only the digital images on the three hard drives provided them with clues as to what had been brought back to Earth. Photographs of alien planets boasting enchanting landscapes complete with oceans, rivers, and snowcapped mountains. Extraterrestrial fauna and flora too, and the insects always won the oddest-looking creature contest.

            The man turned to Doctor Stryker and Doctor Stratton. “Well, um, it looks as if all life aboard I Need My Space has survived interstellar travel and a flight through Earth’s atmosphere and is beginning to stir out of hyper sleep.” Then he returned his attention to the cargo compartment. “Whew, welcome to planet Earth!”

            He wasn’t new to Galactic Research; he’d been employed by the company longer than any of the Astrophel children had been alive. He was a middle-aged propulsion engineer and wore long salt and pepper locks to prove it; kept all those curls combed back and gelled in place. He was wearing black leather boots and Khaki pants, and the black Polo shirt he wore that day was embroidered with the space company’s logo. But what helped him appear more like an actor in a science fiction movie than a pioneering engineer was the way both his arms moved, and if you listened closely, you could hear artificial mechanisms constricting and dilating. This engineer’s name was Claudius Copernicus.

            He used a Sky Machine VR backpack to inspect the cargo compartment, as the researchers were not allowed to approach the spacecraft until the Boomerang was deemed harmless. The reason for the precautions was that no one knew what was waiting inside; but that was part of the fun. Believe it or not, during every expedition, life was carefully plucked from an alien world and stowed away inside a rover’s collection hold to await a rocket ship ride to another world, planet Earth, and then their new home on Fossil Crater.

            “Well, um, the pods are now ready to be transferred.”

            Madison Reynolds approached Scotty with three white lab coats draped across her arms. “This is part of your personal protective equipment. Oh, and there are gloves in the bottom pockets. And you must wear gloves when touching anything.”

            They took the lab coats in their hands and gave them a once over, appreciating the embroidery and how clean they were, and then they pulled them on over their clothes.

            “So, where is Diego and, and…well, we met him back in Sydney,” Scotty said.

            “Jerold?” 

            “Yeah, where are they at?”

            “They’re at the laboratory playing genius. I came out tonight because they’re getting on my nerves by attempting to confuse me with lamebrain theories of the extraterrestrials. Jerold seems to believe that an extraterrestrial cannot be stronger here on Earth. I say they can be.”

            Scotty and Joseph tensed at that and watched her return to a range vehicle.

            “This is, I Need My Space. It was sent to the TRAPPIST-1 system, planet d,” Copernicus said, smiling warmly and gesturing with his hands for everyone to begin offloading the hyper sleep pods.

 An awe inspired rumble flowed out from the research group. Scotty raced Jasmine across the concrete pad, and Joseph, not as impressed with the hyper sleep pods, fell way behind. Scotty extended his arms to Jasmine and took her shoulder in his hands, but she shoved him away and bolted forward to the Centaurus Boomerang.

            “Wow. This has been on another planet.”

            “One that has a lot of mud too.” 

Scotty and Joseph pulled a pod away from the cargo compartment, and it took them both and two others to load it onto a floating cargo dolly – it surely weighed over one hundred pounds. They dragged it all to where Copernicus stood, and Scotty didn’t return to I Need My Space; he hung around to help load the pod into the range vehicle.

            “So how do we load them?”  

            “Um, like this.”  

Copernicus took the pod in his right hand and moved it from the ground to the back of the range vehicle in one smooth motion, as if it was light as a pillow.

            “Oh, okay,” Scotty mumbled. Stirred by the engineer’s feat of strength, he returned to the spacecraft to help unload pods.

            Once the cargo compartment was emptied, the Astrophel children got back onto the shuttlecraft and rode with Stryker and Stratton to the laboratory, and then were escorted to the exoculture room; a top-secret area in a subterranean level. It was a climate-controlled wing where the extraterrestrial guests were first introduced to planet Earth, examined for injuries, and then prepped to be moved into the biodome.

            As a rule, the newbies did all the heavy lifting, and the Astrophel children were working hard that night. The researcher chief was Aldrich Thompson. His father was the owner of Spaceomatic, an aerospace manufacturer company based in Sydney. Spaceomatic made the tires for the exoplanet rovers. Aldrich was a seven-year veteran in Galactic Research and was quick to let everyone know his titles. The only work he did was shouting orders, telling on everyone, and stealing food from the dining facility. Those things he did when he wasn’t grooming his hair or supervising the polishing of his black leather boots.

‘Use a cotton ball and water to make the toe glitter under the big lights,’ he would always say. ‘And don’t mess it up.’

            No messing up. Nobody was allowed to mess anything up, unless that nobody was the chief.

            Aldrich walked across the tiled floor, talking to Stratton and attempting to explain why his hair was green.

            “Go get the TRAPPIST equatorial pods,” he shouted at everyone. “Put them on the worktable.”

            After a Centaurus Boomerang returned from a voyage across the Milky Way, its cargo compartment chockfull of life from another planet, Aldrich would insist that the equatorial samples be inspected first. Those would normally contain items that could be eaten, sometimes immediately but usually after a fruit or vegetable was harvested. If it took a week or a month – even if he had to wait a full year – it didn’t matter to Aldrich, and it could have been argued that he was there for the food.

            Seven pods had been readied by the time Aldrich decided to energize his Helix. That was partly due to the fact that Doctor André Amherst had walked in to check on the progress. He was an astronomer and the director of astronomy at Fossil Crater.

            He was a fastidious-looking man who did fit the mold of pioneering scientist. He was bald, thin, white as paper, and had no facial hair; even his eyebrows were missing. He was wearing a long white lab coat and black pants that flowed over his black synthetic pull-on boots. It was cool on that night, so he was wearing a dark blue zipper jacket over the lab coat. His eyes were blue as a mountain sky, and he wore ultramodern gold rings on two fingers. He’d been employed by Galactic Research for twenty years.

            “I hope I’m not late. If the rover collected everything, we’ll unlock the mysteries of another planet in the TRAPPIST-1 system.”

            Joseph wrenched open the number seven pod and peeked inside. Aldrich heard the metallic pop – knew exactly what had happened – and turned all of his anger on the researchers.

            “Don’t do that!” he said, sneering at everyone scattered around the stainless steel worktable. “I decide what gets opened.”

            Most of the upper echelon was there, huddled together, talking, and trying to decide what pods to open first, but the scientist who was steering the conversation seemed to be as excited as Jasmine. Her hair was as white as her lab coat and pulled back into a short ponytail that cradled her glasses. She wore small, spherical pearl earrings in each ear – the pearls from an Earth-like world in the Epsilon Eridani star system. She was a bundle of energy and had an enjoyable sense of humor. Samantha Slade was her name, and she was in charge of the biodome.

            “Al, just be sure no one opens one that’s marked for quarantine,” Exozoologist Slade said. “And make sure everyone has their protective equipment on. Have you conducted a safety briefing yet?”

            Aldrich tensed at Slade’s voice, and his eyes opened big and wide as both embarrassment and fear swept through his body. “No…I mean, yes Mrs. Slade. And if I catch anyone touching any of this stuff without their gloves on it’ll be paperwork.”

            Slade cringed at the researcher’s overbearing attitude. “And one other thing, be sure to enter all the data correctly, I don’t want to get embarrassed again.” Then she smiled and turned her attention to the researchers. “Oh, and last but not least, what’s the rule about extraterrestrials that crawl and fly?”

            The seasoned researchers answered in unison. “If it has bright colors, it can sting or bite, and if it doesn’t run away, I run away.”

            That brought a smile to Slade’s face. She patted Aldrich on his shoulder and walked to the far side of the worktable.

            “Well, what are you waiting for?” Aldrich groaned. He extended his arm and pointed to one of his henchmen, Julian Rowe, who was standing before the pods. Both his parents conducted research work for a private company and spent a lot of time overseas, and his father volunteered a lot of his time to the National Underwater Transiting Species Society – also known as NUTS – a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing the spread of invasive species within the world’s oceans. Both his parents were wonderful, hardworking scientists. However, Julian was a two-faced snitch, and the only person he was scared of was Aldrich. He was way too tall for his age and his legs were built like sausages. Of course, Aldrich teased him every day. “Go on, Beanstalk, do your job.”

            “Absolutely,” Julian said, and took the pod Scotty had opened in his hands and slid it across the table. “Might as well see what this kid is so interested in.”

            Slade hit Scotty with a smile, and then turned her attention to Julian.

            “Open it slowly and listen for movement. No yelling if something crawls out.”

Stryker’s Helix buzzed out of hibernation, and he crossed the room to listen to the message while the researchers watched Julian remove four standard soil samples, a vial of what was surely a water sample, a beautiful feather, a large assortment of seeds, three seashells, and an extra-large flower. Aldrich updated the inventory system while the others admired the silver petals on what he labelled a TRAPPIST-1d sunflower. Suddenly, Stryker returned from the message, and he appeared a little concerned.

            “We have to relocate, everyone. Claudius has found something in the old rocket assembly building. Says it may be extraterrestrial.”  

He gestured to Julian that it was time to close the pod.

            Scotty and Jasmine had trouble containing their excitement, but the seasoned researchers – with all their wisdom and experience – did not exhibit as much enthusiasm. Every year Orion-Cygnus Arm fauna is discovered somewhere inside Fossil Crater: A hangar, the laboratory, the dining facility, and most fun of all – the residencia. Every year someone is sprayed with a foul smell or bitten by something colorful, hairy, and a little scary; all from the depths of the Milky Way. Slade did not like the extraterrestrials roaming around without supervision, and everyone believed that the biodome offered the safest environment for alien life.

             “But we just got started,” Aldrich huffed, and counted the pods stacked around the worktable; he immediately turned his attention to Scotty. “The equator pods need to be inventoried tonight, but if I leave everyone has to leave.”

            He actually agreed with Aldrich. The hyper sleep pods should have priority, but it wasn’t everyday you’d get to interact with something from another planet.

            “We can stay late tonight if we have to,” Stratton said. “It’s the first day for the new researchers after all.”

            Both Aldrich and Julian hit Scotty with dirty looks.

            Normally those two were hitting the other researchers with dirty names and sometimes they would just hit. A sharp punch to the arm was sometimes needed to keep researchers in their rightful place.

            “Researchers!” Slade shouted, and then lowered her tone. “Al, I need you to get the butterfly net, Julian, find the terrarium.”

            “And don’t drop it!” Aldrich said, hitting him with an especially dirty look. “Or it’ll be paperwork.”

Stryker’s Helix crackled to life again, and it was Copernicus letting him know that he needed to get the lead out. “Galactic Gurus, we must depart now. We will take the range vehicles to building seventy-two.” 

*

Twenty minutes later, the entire research group was standing inside a spectacular facility that was twenty-two stories tall and over two hundred feet wide. Extraterrestrial creatures were in there too, had made it their new home for reasons only they understood.

            Slade shared scientific facts and theories with Stryker and Stratton. However, Aldrich, given to plotting and scheming, quickly sized up the situation. He took Julian and Jerold aside to lay out his game plan and to explain the rewards.

            “Listen, Jerold, I’m offering you the deal of a lifetime. Go with Julian and find whatever it is that’s not supposed to be in here, and you’ll get an early promotion.” Looking at Julian, he said this, “If they don’t sting or bite come and get me.”

            Julian and Jerold shook their heads to agree and carefully slipped away from the group to a darkened hall on the east side of the enormous facility. Aldrich watched them disappear into the looming darkness, and he fully expected to be the one who saved the day.

            Chances were though, this would be another negative interaction with insects from an alien planet.

            Several years previous, the Stargazer Dining Facility had been invaded by a strange-looking insect – strange looking and strange acting. Its coloring was a mix of reds and yellows, and it boasted short, fuzzy antennae above a set of large eyes. They had been spotted on the floor, the ceiling, and the lava lamps, but it was the ice cream station that attracted the big ones. For reasons unknown to Slade, those insects loved eating ice cream. The researchers understood completely, but they didn’t want bugs crawling around on their favorite dessert. The ice cream loving extraterrestrials were rounded up and relocated to the insectarium.

Then there was the celebrated Groombridge 34 giant butterfly incident. Near the end of expedition one hundred twenty-three, the residencia had been invaded by the extra-large flying insects. They were the size of dinner plates, and just as spectacular, their wings were neon blue and glowed in the dark. During the extrication process, one landed atop Slade’s head to the amusement of everyone, but she allowed it to fly away on its own, after about five minutes. 

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            If that wasn’t amazing enough, the year exocomet Oumuamua transited our solar system, Cyborg Park was overrun with a large flying insect that looked a lot like a dragonfly. Aldrich and Julian were halfway through their second Spacecraft Recovery Assembly, and during a Saturday of studying beneath the metal art sculpture, they found themselves surrounded by extraterrestrial flying creatures. Very colorful too, with iridescent and metallic hues that one could spy a mile away. It was Aldrich who attempted to capture one to be the hero of the day, to only be frightened into running away by a little aggressive flying; but there may have been some hissing too. In only one day they were rounded up and relocated to the biodome.  

            Ever since the Alpha Centauri Expedition came to a close, Fossil Crater has been explored by extraterrestrial fauna that succeeded with its getaway endeavors at the biodome. Apparently, that particular year it was the Vehicle Assembly Building’s turn to host the annual extraterrestrial round up.

            While Aldrich’s minions were walking into unknown adventures, Stryker and his staff discussed theories concerning the renegade arthropods. Stryker argued that whatever had moved in might possibly be an undiscovered species and should be left to their own devices, as they were protected under Australian law. Stratton shook his head to disagree and assured his colleagues that termites had set up shop in a supply room and were conducting a nuptial flight. Quite understandably, Copernicus disagreed, as he knew the difference between earthly pestilence and awe-inspiring extraterrestrials.

            “Well, um, when I first saw them, I thought they were birds, but a few got a little too close, and I realized that they were Arcturus honey bees, extremely large ones too. They must have swarmed and found a way out of their enclosure.”

            Both Amherst and Slade considered that bit of information.

            “Probably have been in here for a while,” Amherst said. “Probably incredibly suspicious of humans and very aggressive.”

            “This building has been vacant for some time, so there’s probably a massive colony that will be protecting a queen and her larvae. I shudder to think about what might have happened if one of our researchers would have accidently stumbled upon the colony.” Slade said. “The zoologist robots’ research proves those bees are highly intelligent and territorial.”

            But it was Jasmine who was next to spy the bees, and several were between the second and third floor, buzzing and piercing the cool air, and they did look like small birds. Then one was descending to where the group was standing. Scary too, because no one knew if it was angry. Would it sting, bite, or just have a look around? Slade never saw it; she was too busy talking.

            It spiraled down the interior of the cavernous building until it was within the bubble of bright florescent light, buzzing and darting around as it went. She thought it looked similar to a hummingbird, if a hummingbird were painted like a bumble bee. Except this bee boasted bright metallic green and black patterns. Yes, the Arcturus honey bee resembled a terrestrial bee, but with flashy, green colors; very cool and alarming all at the same time.

            That sort of excitement was another reason everyone loved spending their summer holiday at Fossil Crater; interacting with extraterrestrial life, and the first night of the Spacecraft Recovery Assembly was off to a great start. Jasmine was careful to watch the bee as it buzzed overhead, as it was drifting towards the group, and no one had noticed the thing. It suddenly flew toward the ceiling, and for a few moments she believed it was returning to its nest or whatever it lived in.

            But that wasn’t the case.

            It nosedived back to the group, slicing through the air just inches above Slade, and entered a pattern over the researchers. The bee circled the group for a few moments, and if the adults weren’t worried enough, it chose Scotty’s shoulder as a landing zone. He moved his gaze to the green and black armor, the antennae, the big bulging eyes, and the place where a stinger might be waiting. It would be large and dripping with venom.

            Then something funny happened.

            “One of them landed on me, everybody,” Scotty stammered, trying not to sound too frightened. Plus, he didn’t want to yell and scare the bee into doing something he’d regret. “What do I do?”

            “Do not move a muscle,” Slade said, and walked to Scotty, never taking her gaze off of the bee. “This is probably a female, and she won’t hang around for long unless you taste like nectar, and even if you do, she can’t hurt you because the Arcturus honey bees have no stinger.”

            But instead of miming a statue, Scotty flinched and recoiled in both fear and wonder as the bee nipped him through his lab coat and shirt. Then it was flying again.

            “Hey,” Scotty said. “It bit me.”

            “Well, now it has a bad taste in its mouth,” Aldrich said. “I hope the thing wasn’t poisoned.”

            “Good thing it didn’t bite you,” Diego mumbled, and Madison laughed at the wisecrack.

            Then Julian’s panicky voice rippled across the concrete floor, echoing off the walls and making him appear truly terrified. He was running back to where the group was standing and talking. “Help! someone help!”

             Aldrich strode over to Julian, his eyes as wide as his.

            “Watch what you say, Juliet,” Scotty heard him whisper. “Don’t get us into trouble on the first night.”

            He moved around Aldrich as if he was invisible.

            “This kid walked away from us,” Julian said, and he sounded like he was out of breath. “So, I followed him, and he actually found a giant bee nest, but he got too close, and the bees covered him up and flew him away, so I ran back here.”

            “Yes, to protect their nest!” Slade said. “That type of defensive behavior is perfectly natural. If alarm pheromones are not released, they won’t attack. It’s in their genetics.”

            “But they flew him away,” Julian said. “What’s gonna –”

What followed was so incredibly amazing and funny, Stryker and Stratton weren’t sure what they should do – they’d never seen anything like it before. Before Slade could finish her spiel, Jerold’s whiny voice echoed from above the group, and he wasn’t inside an office area or atop any of the mezzanines. He was floating three stories above the research group and the concrete floor, and he was encased in a suit of bees! A green bee suit small enough to fit an eleven-year-old boy.

“Help! Somebody, get these bees off of me!”

            “Amazing feat of strength and determination!” Slade said as she scribbled notes onto a pad of paper. “Researcher, if you can hear us, don’t do anything else to agitate the bees. We’ll find something to catch you with.”

            The other researchers did not like the sound of that. If Jerold were to be dropped by the bees it would be the end of his fun, at least.

            Jerold then descended into the cavernous building, and the bees flew him to the group. Both Slade and Stratton were studying and analyzing the extraterrestrial activity to try and learn and to understand; the researchers simply thought it was the coolest thing they’d ever seen.

            He landed safely near the group, and the bees immediately released him and flew away, surely returning to their honeycomb. “Did you see that! I was flying!” he yelled to everyone.

            Aldrich crossed the floor to Jerold, the expression of concern disappearing as he went, and grabbed what he was holding. It was a chunk of raw honeycomb dripping with bright, green honey. Without even thinking about the consequences, he took a mouthful of the bee candy, chewed a bit, and then swallowed.

            “Way to go, J, that’s the best tasting honey in the Milky Way!”

            “Jerold,” Slade said quickly, “are you injured?” She gave him a once over and turned to Stryker. “Should we take him to the clinic.”

            “Yes,” Both Stryker and Stratton said together.

            “I hope someone got a picture of that,” Jerold said, smiling and wanting to laugh.

            Slade, Amherst, and Copernicus discussed what they should do next. Copernicus complained that they could possibly take over the nearby honey bee farms, and Amherst asserted that bees of that size would do more than make a greasy spot on a car’s windshield. Fortunately, Slade decided that they’d relocate the bees to the biodome. “We have everything we need to collect them and move them, but we’ll have to expand the insectarium.”

            Both Amherst and Copernicus agreed and walked to where the researchers were huddled together and talking.          

            “Researchers, I need your attention,” Slade said. “We have good news.”

            They turned to listen.  

            “We’re going to extricate the bees and relocate them to the insectarium, because they can’t stay here.”

            Jasmine’s face lit up, and she raised her hand, wanting to ask a question.

            “Yes,” Slade said. “Do you have something to add?”

            She looked up to find Slade’s eyes. “So, I was wondering, how many extraterrestrials are kept here,” Jasmine used her excited voice because she truly wanted to know.

            “Well, the other day I counted seventeen, but after I rounded them up, I had twenty,” Slade said, and laughed at her own wit.

            But Amherst and Copernicus folded their arms across their chests, and Amherst shook his head to say no way, Jose. “You’ll soon see what’s at the biodome, researcher. A lot of what is there is top secret.”

            “And above top secret,” Aldrich said. “So, mind your beeswax.”

*

Doctor Stratton escorted the Astrophel children to their private rooms at the Stardust Inn later that evening. Jasmine watched the moon drift across the desert sky and wondered if she could count the stars in the heavens. Her first day in school, her learning her ABC’s and 1 2 3’s seemed like more than eight years ago.

            Scotty sat on his bed, staring at his Helix, and writing another build that he could broadcast with the Geneware. Something he’d use to help his brother and sister with. Against Aldrich he supposed, but he wasn’t sure about that. The teenager was a bully, and he would definitely try to get him and his siblings kicked out of the Cybernetics program. But no, he was working hard to help develop this technology for a bigger and better reason. He wasn’t too sure about it, but for reasons unbeknown to him, he believed Galactic Research was on the cusp of the most exciting and promising era, and the new cybernetic technology would be put to good use by the researchers.

            Joseph was asleep on top of a Fossil Crater blanket. He would dream of flying through space and of walking on alien planets located inside distant star systems. He would dream of exploring ruins and discovering treasures under a night sky that was red and green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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