Chapter 17: Chapter One: The Children Are Rescued

Chapter One

The Children Are Rescued

 

AS THE SUN rose on the backyard gardens along Piccadilly Avenue, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson woke up to the sounds of roosters and church bells. Think what you want, but their down-to-earth lives were absolutely perfect, and they were used to living without junk that was luxurious and futuristic.  

Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were old-fashioned luddites who feared technology, and they both had decided to never support any company whose business was to manufacture gadgets that were complex and hard to understand because that stuff would only fall into the wrong hands. Mr. Robinson was a thin man who wore bifocals and kept his salt and pepper hair combed neatly in place. Mrs. Robinson was a bit taller than her husband, but she did keep her long, black hair tied up in a bun atop her small head.

Mr. Robinson was an artisan who crafted gold and silver jewelry. He owned five handmade suits and five pairs of handmade shoes, and he drove a green fourth-generation station wagon. Mrs. Robinson was a dressmaker who handstitched dresses, gowns, and robes, and she had a knack for peddling the unfashionable and passé. Her interior design style was a mix of atomic age décor and mid-century modern, as she’d inherited her parents’ estate years ago, and she was happy to host a show and tell for anyone who was willing to listen to her toot her own horn.

            The Robinsons held strong convictions regarding their old-fashioned lives too. Convictions that crafted a desire to volunteer as foster parents, so as to nurture children who they believed could learn from their teachings and grow up to be just like them. After a lot of happy thoughts and very little deliberation, they took in two foster children and garnered tremendous success. Mrs. Robinson believed that neither the boy nor the girl would ever leave the small suburb and quite possibly live without electricity. They instilled their own fear and dislike of big companies into both of those kids, and Mr. Robinson convinced them both to believe his most cherished motto; callously crafted and pieced together in much the same way as his jewelry: Electronics and gadgets create nothing but trouble.  

            Fortunately, the children were adopted, and a month later Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were once again called upon to foster, so they took in a trio of orphans. Yes, three siblings were living with the Robinsons, but this time around nothing was going as planned. The problem was quite easy to spy too, as the orphans were teenagers who loved electronics and gadgets, and all three could repair and develop things that were complex and hard to understand.

Mr. Robinson never forgot the day when Scotty Astrophel explained how he designed his own video games on a computer, with no help from an adult too! He simply could not understand how anyone could be such a brainiac at the young age of fifteen. Mrs. Robinson was thrown for a loop after catching Scotty’s younger brother, Joseph, using his laptop to control Sydney’s giant voice civil defense siren; she worried she’d have her name sullied if the mayor discovered the truth. But when Scotty’s baby sister, Jasmine, showed up one day with a video game tournament trophy that was almost as tall as she was, the Robinsons figured she’d used her computer inventions to cheat and steal first place.

            As Mr. and Mrs. Robinson started their morning ritual on the peaceful, sunny Saturday, they were both utterly in the dark as to the complex and hard to understand events that were blossoming into existence all around them. Mr. Robinson was enjoying a cup of his favorite tea and solving a crossword puzzle, and Mrs. Robinson was untangling knots in a bit of thread she’d hand-sewn into a bath robe the night previous.

            If they’d been sitting outside, they might have spied the reentry plasma trail that was forming over Sydney as a spacecraft zipped through Australia’s airspace.

            After Mr. Robinson polished off his third cup of tea, he crossed the house to his workshop to put the finishing touches on the set of gold earrings that he was crafting for the mayor’s sister. The sound of silence hit him terribly hard, so he went to check on his foster children, and he discovered that they were not where they should have been; in their bedroom, sitting quietly, and playing his old board games.

“Ah, must be at the library for study hour.”

            It wasn’t until Mr. Robinson spied the neighbor’s family pet standing on his front lawn that he suspected something strange was developing. Taxi, a three-year-old golden retriever who’d been a brown color his entire life, was alien green, and the spots on its face were missing. He leaned to the window to look again and verified that the dog’s coat had undoubtedly changed from brown to green. Mr. Robinson walked to a different window for a better view and received another surprise. As he stood with his nose pressed against the glass, gawking and snorting, the green color darkened; and Taxi was digging in Mrs. Robinson’s flowerbed too. No, dogs don’t change colors and their spots don’t disappear. It was the early morning light playing tricks on his eyes and that was all. Mr. Robinson yanked the curtains over the window and returned to his workshop. For an hour or so he kept his back to the windows and focused only on melting down old gold jewelry and making new gold jewelry.

            But when he walked into the kitchen to refill his teacup, the morning once again grew weird. As he approached the little fishbowl, he couldn’t help noticing that the three little fish were not an orange color but green. A green golden retriever and now green goldfish. Mr. Robinson was not a fan of change, and he despised practical jokes, so he would not tolerate being made to look foolish. He imagined these little green fish to be new pet fish. Yes, new pet fish. The goldfish had been moved to a different part of the house. He leaned to the fishbowl for a detailed examination and discovered that each one was missing a portion of its dorsal fin. Probably starting to get old, so they must be Mildred’s goldfish, thought Mr. Robinson. But why were they a green color? How could they morph into a different color? He could have explained all of it away as something perfectly natural; similar to the way we will turn red if we get too much sun. But there was nothing natural about Taxi and his green fur. Probably nothing natural about the goldfish too.

            Mr. Robinson never once looked out of the windows for the rest of the morning. Good thing too, because there were more plasma trails forming over Sydney. Several spacecraft had sped over Australia to who knew where and to do who knew what. He wouldn’t have paid them much attention anyway, even though the local news team was; a crew had arrived near the Sydney Opera House and was preparing to broadcast a news show. He’d had a nice morning free of all things complex and hard to understand. The gold earrings that the mayor had commissioned Mr. Robinson to make for his sister’s birthday were a work of art. He’d prepared his workbench to begin crafting a gold ring for the primary school principal, when he thought he’d check the mail.

            He strode down the concrete walk to the street and opened the tiny mailbox. The local newspaper and three envelopes were there, and each envelope had the same return address printed on the front: Galactic Research, 3210 Orbit Circle, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia. That was the last thing he wanted to see, more mail from that big, fancy company, and it was addressed to Scotty Astrophel too. As he turned to walk back to the front door, he spied a group of adults huddled together and talking loudly. He saw a bald man point to the western sky while the others mumbled out loud; each man attempting to be the first to explain something complex and hard to understand. It was when he stepped out onto the street, peering at the western horizon as he went, that he heard some of what they were saying.

            “It’s a spaceship, and it’s heading west toward Perth-”

            “-no, those UFOs always land in the Outback-”

            “-I saw one land at the airport yesterday. It made the news-”

            “-It’s impossible to watch those things land-”

            Mr. Robinson grunted angrily. He unrolled the newspaper and saw the headline: “Locals Watch Unidentified Flying Object Land At Sydney Airport!” Mr. Robinson grunted again. Why was everyone in such an uproar? Spaceships are a product of the movie business, and the only unidentified flying objects flying over Australia were airplanes.  

He stomped up the concrete walk to the veranda and moved his gaze to the flowerbed.

            “Go on you mut, scram!”

The golden retriever raised its head from the hole that it was digging and meowed. Then it suddenly lunged forward and hissed loudly.

He took a good long look at Taxi, and once he verified that it was indeed a dog, he speed walked to the door. He went straight to his workshop and sat on the metal chair. He had worked himself into a frenzy for nothing. What did anyone know, anyway? Besides, it was Saturday; the day the brainiacs entertain themselves with their hobbies. He recalled reading about a group of kids launching model rockets in the desert for entertainment purposes. Yes, that was it, those people out on the street heard the whoosh of a homemade rocket. It didn’t matter that a neighbor claimed to have seen a spaceship, he was only acting like a know-it-all, after all, and it was pointless to go back out and have a discussion with them as to clarify what he’d heard. No, it was in the past. However, the green goldfish and the green golden retriever.

            His workshop was silent for the most part during the lunch hour, but when he crossed the living room to return his dinner plate to the kitchen, he discovered a strange-looking man standing on the stoop before the front door.          

            “Who are you and what do you want?” he growled, after yanking open the door. Mr. Robinson immediately noticed that the man was wearing gloves, sunglasses, and of all things – a white space suit! The scene there only became more awkward when Mr. Robinson realized the stranger wasn’t bothered by the rude greeting. The expression on his face never changed from a stern and professional appearance. It appeared to be welded in place.

“Spacecraft with expedition one hundred and twenty-six are returning to this astronomical object! A Centaurus Boomerang has landed ahead of schedule. We continue to extend an invitation to Michael and Sarah’s progenies to participate in the spacecraft recovery assembly, and we need all the help we can get. This is for Scotty Astrophel. Be sure to allow him access to his archaic electronic equipment. Have a great Galactic Research day!”

The strange-looking man also had a voice that was without distinguishing features and just a little peculiar. He placed the parcel on the veranda and walked back to the street.

            Mr. Robinson took a good look around and spied three additional white space suits, and the men behind the sunglasses were staring at his house and attempting to hide behind big cardboard boxes. He scooped up the parcel and eased the door to, engaging all three locks and pulling the window shade down. That company was recruiting his foster children. Had sent mail, and actually had the nerve to approach his home. But how did those people know where they had been moved to? The man said something about spacecraft too. No, he would not allow his foster children to be involved with a company that had anything to do with space exploration because he didn’t like the subject; it was complex and hard to understand.

            As he walked through the kitchen he glanced at the goldfish, their original color hadn’t returned, and growled at the sight of them. How was any of it happening? How on earth could animals change colors? There was a simple explanation for the phenomenon, of this he was certain.

            “If I swam around in fish poo all day, I’d be green too.”

            That had to have been the reason the goldfish changed colors, and the golden retriever, well, the dog must have gotten into some old cat food, thought Mr. Robinson. He sighed and walked into his wife’s sewing room.

            Mrs. Robinson was placing the last mile of thread into a green evening gown. After putting Mr. Robinson to work cutting patterns from a vintage fabric, green with orange atomic starbursts, she informed him of her intentions of expanding her flower garden, but the afternoon’s special project would be confiscating all of Scotty’s computer equipment. Mr. Robinson agreed with everything that was proposed and tiptoed to the living room to listen to his favorite radio news show: South Wales Live.

            “Well, whatever it is, its speed is remarkable, but it’s definitely not a meteorite. Sky watchers in Sydney and Brisbane have confirmed that it was a spacecraft conducting atmospheric entry and was traveling on a westward heading. I’ve also been informed by a group of UFO enthusiasts, that small spacecraft are spotted this same time each year but normally at night,” the reporter said, and the Sydney Opera House was behind him. “The plasma trail is still visible even though it has drifted to the north a lot. Apparently three spacecraft have entered Earth’s atmosphere and flown through the Sydney airspace in route to a secret base in the Outback, but I wish I knew where just so I could see one of them land. It looks like our space agency or someone has a lot of explaining to do, but we’ll probably never discover the truth.”

            Then the reporter walked to a large stone lying innocently in a shady area of the parking lot.

            “In an unrelated story, and I’m sure this has nothing to do with the UFOs, a funny-looking beetle has decided to join us this afternoon,” the reporter said. “I believe it’s one of the alien species that we’ve been hearing about. A biocontrol to combat pests. Extremely large and colorful, and it has a hearty appetite. Oh, and they can change colors if they need to, and if they’re ever in danger they can deploy wings and fly away. Also, they can carry over six thousand times their own weight, and…”

            That was all Mr. Robinson could take. He took the radio’s volume knob in his fingers and turned the thing until there was only silence in the living room, and then he rocked back in the armchair to relax and to think. Small spacecraft flying over Australia? Alien beetles inside Sydney? The pets morphing into a comical, green color, and the man at the door inviting his foster children to attend a spacecraft recovery assembly. It was all too much.

            Mrs. Robinson walked into the living room carrying a potted plant. She plonked it on an end table and took her place on the sofa. Mr. Robinson would have to continue a conversation they’d started a week or so previous, and it was one he did not enjoy, not one tiny bit. “Well, Mildred, we received more mail from that space company today.”

            She got to her feet and took a look around the living room, and the first thing she spied was the parcel. “Ugh…why do they keep sending mail to us. I thought you put a stop to that weeks ago.”

            He chuckled at that. “That’s the last package we’ll get from that company, I promise. Trust me, we won’t be bothered by those people ever again.”

            “Is that so?”

            “Yes, the only way we’ll see them is on the television.”

            Mrs. Robinson stared coldly at Mr. Robinson and wrapped her arms across her shoulders. He considered telling her all about the men in the space suits, and the possibility of the house being surrounded, but decided that that was a bad idea. “They’re still demanding that Scotty, Joseph, and Jasmine attend something. A summer camp, I’m sure.”

            “A spacecraft recovery assembly. Silly waste of time and money.”

            “Ah, that’s right,” Mr. Robinson said, his head swirling a bit. “Well, we’ll just have to put our foot down.”

            “Where are those three, by the way?”

            “Oh, well, I’m sure they’re at the library studying our country’s illustrious history and reading something about New Zealand.”

            Mrs. Robinson ended the conversation by switching the television on. She turned the channel to her favorite cooking program, but Mr. Robinson returned to the kitchen to peer into the fishbowl. He pressed his nose against the glass and took a good long look at the goldfish; all three were alien green. They were swimming around as if nothing was bothering them. It appeared as if everything was perfectly normal.

            He didn’t want to believe that he was overreacting. How could any child who he was cultivating want to do anything that was complex and hard to understand? No, he would not tolerate his foster children having anything to do with a space exploration company, especially one whose name was Galactic Research. Well, at least they hadn’t changed colors.

*

Scotty, Joseph, and Jasmine were at Mrs. Astrophel’s computer repair shop in Sydney. All three were playing video games, eating sweets, and of course, building new top-of-the-chart computers and repairing those that had gone haywire. It was business as usual for Compu Monkey until an unhappy customer arrived. He walked in through the out door – dragging a cat on a leash – muttering angrily and appearing just as angry; and Scotty knew exactly who this customer was.

            “Hey, Aldrich. It’s really good to see you today. You know I-”

            “No patronizing, Scott. I’m not having a good day. Pepper’s fur never turned green, as you can see, so I’m here to collect my refund.”

             Scotty smiled, a big happy businessperson smile and gestured for him to enter the workshop. Joseph pulled the half door open because he knew Aldrich would be tempted to kick it open and then dare them all to say something. He yanked the cat up from the floor and placed it on a workbench and was sure to hit Scotty with a dirty look. The aroma of hot chocolate and doughnuts floated through the air, and Aldrich moved his gaze to the snack bar. Without asking, he grabbed the largest apple fritter and greedily bit into it.

            “Well, you left just a little too early. But I can install everything again if you’ll pay me an extra thousand dollars.”

            While chewing his food, Aldrich said, “So, you want me to pay extra for something that didn’t work the first time. I hope you’re joking. You know I’m way bigger than you are, right?”

            Jasmine didn’t appreciate the way her brother was being treated, so she got to her feet and readied herself to charge into action if anything bad was to materialize. Joseph was slowly tiptoeing to Aldrich and Pepper.

            Scotty didn’t want to lose this customer, as he was unwittingly helping him learn new technology that Mr. and Mrs. Astrophel had invented, so he added this, “I apologize for what happened. You should know by now that this is alien technology and it’s really complicated, and I’m trying to figure everything out. But I promise you’re gonna have a cat that will look like something from outer space, and it will be the center of attention at the costume party.”

Aldrich scooped up the last two doughnuts and started eating the one covered with chocolate. After a few moments of considering everything that had been explained, he said, “Okay, and Pepper’s gonna be alien green, right?”

            “Absolutely,” Scotty said through a polished grin. He stood next to Aldrich and extended his arms to the back of the workshop. “Picture your creature from outer space, green and mysterious, sending out cosmic death rays from its eyes and purring and meowing in some secretive extraterrestrial language, but most importantly, hogging up all the positive attention. And, girls will be there, right?”

            Aldrich shook his head slowly. “Yes, but this is the last chance I’m giving you. Get it right this time or else.”

            Joseph and Jasmine exchanged expressions of concern and crept a little closer to Scotty and Pepper.

Aldrich’s cell phone made a whooshing sound, and he took the call while Joseph and Jasmine approached the cat to get reacquainted. Pepper was a wary little moggy, so they offered it a slice of banana to sit still and relax. Aldrich spied what they were doing and acted as if the cell phone’s battery was dying; the call was cut short.

            “Say, Scott,” he said. “Martin Easter wants his Mastiff to look like a cheetah during my masquerade party. Can you make that happen?”

Excitement welled up inside Scotty. He’d been secretly using the neighborhood pets – but sometimes the neighbors – and the backyard wildlife as test subjects for Mr. and Mrs. Astrophels’ Geneware. Only a year previous, he’d been developing his video games, but that project was put on hold; even though he’d managed to sell twenty copies of Arrian the Great, his action-packed video game that was set in Tasmania. It seemed that continuing his parents’ work was top priority.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Astrophels’ invention was allowing him to create a product that every pet owner wanted; the wealthy pet owners at least. There was the potential to make a lot of money modifying the appearance of dogs and cats, and Scotty knew he could change the colors of birds and fish too. He’d never grace the cover of tech magazines, but he would at least have a part-time income, as long as he didn’t get caught. He knew he should be concerned with the safety of the animals, but Mr. and Mrs. Astrophels’ Geneware was reversed engineered technology and designed to be helpful and harmless.

            “Sure, I wrote a Big Cat build last week, and I’ve been wanting to take it for a test drive,” he said, looking at Aldrich as if he was helping him piece together a treasure map.

            “Okay, I’ll give him your info.”

            “Tell him we have to meet here at the shop,” Scotty said.

            He had to operate with a roughish style, so his attempts at Geneware development could remain a secret. If Mr. Robinson was to discover what they were doing, he’d shut the operation down immediately.

            “So…why can’t we go to your house nowadays?”

            “We’ve moved to Corroboree,” Joseph said, sounding a little depressed, but Jasmine finished with this. “To a mid-century house on Piccadilly Avenue. Ours has a butterfly roof.”

            “Besides,” Scotty said, “I have to keep this a secret because if our foster parents find out, it’ll be bad.”         

            Aldrich took a good long look at Scotty’s and Joseph’s suits. He actually admired the blue color and how well they fit. Jasmine sported a slip skirt and cardigan that day; blue and green boomerangs print too.

            “Oh, well that explains a lot. So, does Corroboring have anything to do with your new wardrobe?” 

            “Our foster parents make our clothes for us,” Joseph said. “They’re trying to live off the grid.”

            “Because electronics and gadgets are trouble and create nothing but trouble,” Jasmine said, and rolled her eyes.

            Then Scotty placed his fingers atop the keyboard and went to typing. “Are you ready to do this?”  

 Aldrich shook his head to say yes, and Scotty made a final check of the lines of code contained in the build and pressed the enter key.

“It might take a minute or two for all the changes to go through.”

            “In other words, it’s gonna take a while.”

            Ten minutes later, Scotty, who was becoming just a little embarrassed, was trying to explain to Joseph and Jasmine why his build had not spawned anything for only the second time during his experimenting with Mr. and Mrs. Astrophel’s Geneware. Aldrich was visibly angry with them for wasting his time and money, and after he returned Pepper to her leash, he approached Scotty and his laptop.

            “I should have known you were a lousy programmer,” he said, placing his hands atop Scotty’s laptop. “If it doesn’t work this time, you’re gonna refund my money and I’m gonna break all of your computers.”

            “It’ll work this time,” Scotty said. “I put a lot of time into this build, so you’ll have party bragging rights and be the center of attention.”

            Aldrich was skeptical to say the least.

            Justifiable perhaps, as Scotty was a bit careless with this cybernetic technology, and several people with power and influence had witnessed the final product of his best and worst ideas.

            Only four weeks previous, the Corroboree secondary school PE coach, who’d been harassing Jasmine since their first day, had forced her to demonstrate running in place before the entire class, even though it was obvious she had trouble walking without her crutches; and she fell twice before giving up and crying before the entire class. The other students laughed at Jasmine, who hid in the locker room until the final bell rang, as to avoid reading class where the teacher forced her to sit in the back of the room and never called on her to answer questions. The following Monday the PE teacher had arrived at school with hair that was an orange color; neon and loud too. Joseph and Jasmine had taken Scotty aside and begged him to change the coach’s hair color back to its original color, but he refused to by admitting that he’d merely attempted to tarnish his face with bright red freckles, so if he was that angry, he could shave his head bald.

            However, the build he’d broadcasted to Pepper was flawless and would install correctly. Nothing bad would happen, and his customer would leave satisfied with his new alien cat.

            Scotty continued to examine Pepper for any changes to its thick, black fur, so when the cat spun around on the workbench, he watched intently as a cluster of green spots blossomed into existence.

            “What are you looking for, Scott!” Aldrich said. “There’s nothing to see.”

            “Yes, there is. Take a closer look, I’m seeing green fur.”

            Aldrich hit Scotty with another dirty look and folded his arms across his chest again and moved his gaze back to the snack bar. “I said there’s nothing to see.”

            There was a pleased gleam in Scotty’s eyes. “I see four green spots on its back. Something’s happening.”

            “I didn’t pay for green spots. I paid for green fur.”

            Thirty seconds later, Pepper the black cat was transforming into something amazing. Scotty expected the cat to morph into something that resembled a creature from deep space. Aldrich simply wanted a cat whose color was alien green. What they both got was something out of this world.

            Scotty, overwhelmed with excitement, scrambled to the other side of the workbench to get a better look. He peered deep into the cat’s fur and confirmed the build had found the host, but once again, comical results.

“Check it out!” Scotty shouted. “It’s working!”

            Aldrich approached his pet and recoiled at what he saw – Pepper’s fur was changing by the second! The green spots had grown quite a bit. The cat’s tail was completely green, and its back legs were both green but for the paws; all four were jet black. The build was in full throttle, but no one knew what to think about the results.

            “Whoa!” Aldrich said, and then moaned, “What the fudge.”

            “Pretty cool, huh,” Jasmine said.

            Scotty peered into the cat’s fur and watched as it swiftly morphed into a dark green color. That was actually not typical, as the changes sometimes take hours or even a full day to roll out, if they spawned at all. But here was a complicated build that was installing in lightning speed. Weird too because nothing in the lines of code contained anything regarding speed, but in less than three minutes, Pepper was transformed from inky black to alien green.

            “There!” Scotty said. “One alien cat. Ready to invade Earth.” 

            Pepper inspected its fur. She spied her paws, then her belly, and finally her tail; all of it solid green and hilarious. She peered into Scotty’s face and hissed.

            “Wow, you can do this with Geneware?” Aldrich mumbled.

            “He can do that and a lot more,” Joseph said, and yawned.

            As sensational as Pepper was, Aldrich’s fascination with the Alien Cat build faded quickly. “Wait. Why is her tail curly? Her eyes are green too. She doesn’t look like a cat at all. Change her back or mother and father will pay you a visit, and trust me when I say you do not want father to show here for a refund.”

            “No, nothing bad has to happen,” Scotty said. “I’ll delete the build, and she’ll go back to living life as a spooky black cat.”

            Stifled laughter fanned out from Joseph and Jasmine.

            “Shut up,” Aldrich said, and then returned his attention to Scotty. “Tell you what, Scott, since you’re ripping me off again, I’m gonna take your sister’s crutches with me when I leave.” 

You are reading story J.C. Warren: Scotty Astrophel and the Star Nexus at novel35.com

            That remark persuaded Joseph to stand between his sister and Aldrich, but Jasmine positioned her crutches for easy access.  

            After seeing what she’d done, Aldrich threw a tantrum. “And another thing, Scott, if I ever catch you at another gaming tournament, I’m gonna tell everybody what you really are!”

            “The greatest video game creator on Earth,” Jasmine chided.

            Aldrich cut his eyes to her. “No, Freckles. A worthless hack, that’s what!” Then he walked to her and Joseph, Jasmine holding down a case of the giggles.

            Scotty noticed the commotion and tried to stall by saying, “Hey, I sent the Stop All to Pepper. It’ll take an hour or so to install.”

            Aldrich walked to Jasmine. He took a good long look at her green and black crutches and recalled something important. “Funny, only a few weeks ago you had zero problems walking.”

            Jasmine smiled at his nosiness. “You shouldn’t call me names.”

            Aldrich’s face fell as more anger welled up inside him. “I’m gonna take those crutches with me when I leave, and I’ll keep them until your brother pays back my money. And something tells me that you’ll become the face of his failures as a programmer.”

            “I doubt it,” Jasmine said, and lowered her gaze on him.

            Aldrich reached out both his hands and coiled his fingers around Jasmine’s crutches. Without hesitating she extended her arms and took both his wrists in her hands and gave them a squeeze. Aldrich yelped in pain and attempted to free himself, but he quickly discovered he could not move his arms; and the more he struggled, the more pain Jasmine dished out. However, in only a few seconds she released him to massage his injuries, and he had something to say to all three of them.

            “I’ve heard about what you guys are doing with your daddy’s invention, and I’m gonna make sure you get in big trouble!”

            Scotty pushed the computer chair away from the workbench and got to his feet. He walked to where Aldrich stood. “If you don’t leave my sister alone, I’ll turn your hair alien green.”

            That got his full attention. The last thing he wanted was to return home with green hair. He shook his head to show his frustration and returned to Pepper. After another quick inspection of her fur, his demeanor changed a bit.

            “Absolutely, Scott. Will you please get rid of everything you did, because I can’t take my parents’ cat home in this condition.”

            “I did.”

“And once again, refund my money.”

            “We have a no refund policy,” Joseph said.

            Aldrich scooped up Pepper and walked to the glass doors. He looked back over his shoulder and gave the Astrophel children a malicious sneer. “Not a problem, Egghead,” he said. “I have plenty of money, and I’ll soon be making a lot more.”

            “More power to ya,” Scotty said.

            “Believe it or not, Scott, we have something in common.”

            Scotty returned to the computer chair. “Oh, we do?”

            “Yes, we do. This summer holiday I’ll be at Fossil Crater, and so will you three hacks. Apparently, someone at Galactic Research has placed you three in one of their top-secret programs. I wonder why.”

            That captured their undivided attention.

            “I’ll be there for the entire seven weeks, but I’m gonna get all three of you booted out during week one. My father says your mom and dad’s Geneware is the only reason you got accepted. The Cybernetics program is in gold, and GalReach is pushing hard to get it into this beyond phase so they can use it for something that’s top secret. But you’ll probably be in the mailroom. That’s where they put all the hacks.”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Scotty said.

            “Probably because your new mommy and daddy are trying to keep you from going,” Aldrich said, and laughed at the prospect. “Another thing, Scott, I know it was you who changed the color of Noah’s teeth. Do your foster parents know about your dad’s invention and the stuff you’re doing with it?”

            Without looking, Scotty said, “No.”

            “Well, Noah is looking for you and when he finds you-”

            Scotty pushed the laptop across the workbench and got back to his feet. “I don’t care, and I think it’s time for you to go home.”

            “Whatever, just don’t pack for seven weeks because you won’t make it past week one,” Aldrich said, and left Compu Monkey.

            Scotty touched the enter key on the laptop and scurried across the office to the glass doors, gesturing for Joseph and Jasmine to follow him. They did, and as they stood there, Scotty locking the doors and pointing his hand at Aldrich, they watched the young man’s hair morph into a comical green color.

            “He’s gonna be in so much trouble when he gets home,” Scotty said.

            They cut all the lights off and snuck out the back door. At the bus stop, Scotty kept his head on a swivel, as he understood that he now had two big schoolmates angry with him and possibly looking for him. However, Joseph and Jasmine were simply happy they hadn’t been pushed down or punched in the stomach by an unruly senior.

            “I shouldn’t have done that,” Scotty said, appearing nervous. “But he’s right. I am a horrible programmer, and I should sell all of my computers and learn how to be a busboy.”

            Jasmine’s face fell, and she crutched up to Scotty and took his shirt in her hands.

            “Jaz, what…”

            “Scott, you’re the best programmer in Australia, and you’ll soon be the greatest on this planet.”

            “Ha,” Scotty said, “when lizards fly.”

*

They might have closed early on that Saturday, but there was a bit of business occurring in the lobby. A strange-looking man was sitting on a metal chair with both his hands in his lap. He’d been hanging out and watching Scotty change the color of a cat’s fur; thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Astrophels’ Geneware. Nobody knew he was there. Not even when he peered through the window to view the plasma trails forming over Sydney. Nobody heard a sound he made. Not even when he laughed at seeing a cat complain about its fur changing colors.  

            This strange-looking man was wearing a black Galactic Research uniform, tinted sunglasses, and black gloves. He comically removed those gloves and stuffed them into a pants pocket. At first glance, both his hands were quite normal and natural but for the futuristic ring and wristwatch, but the most telling indicator that something was not quite right was the mechanical movements of his fingers. His face was odd too, sculpted and geometric, as if it’d been manufactured in a laboratory. Then he took off the digital glasses to reveal a pair of eyes that shimmered wildly with an electronic light. This strange-looking man was actually not a man. He was an android whose name was Sparta. 

            Sparta was a research android, and he understood the technology that Scotty had been playing around with to simply make a little money on the side. He recognized that technology as the same cybernetic technology that Scotty’s parents had created, and Sparta was not surprised to see that he was employing its primary application with an ease of use reserved exclusively for the true masters of computer science.

             He reached out his right hand, and when he uncurled all his fingers a bright green holographic GUI blossomed into existence. It resembled a laptop, as both a display and keyboard were floating in midair at eye level but within his reach. He scrolled through a list of contacts and stopped when he spied a comical nickname: Dr. Wonderful. He touched the talk-and-go key and moved his gaze to the blue sky. “Doctor Stratton, Sparta here, what is your location?”

            Within seconds a voice was emanating from the hologram.

            “Sparta, for crying out loud! The same place you left me at, so hurry up! You know we have a critical time hack and-”

            That was all Sparta would allow.

He giggled and touched the Quantum Port Broadcast icon, and after waiting only three seconds, a small, green vortex was swirling and whipping at his feet. It swiftly engulfed his entire body, only to morph into a pinpoint of light that floated five feet above the concrete floor. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, it disappeared from sight, and with that, Compu Monkey was empty and silent.  

When Sparta reappeared, he was standing on top of a carousel in the Sydney Jungle Playground. The first thing he heard were screams of terror, as several children bolted from the playground equipment to find their parents. The sky was clear, and the sun was painfully hot. The air smelled of flowers, dirt, and water; none of which the android cared anything for. He sent a message to the Director of Technologic Development to tell him he’d arrived. But he did seem to understand who was stumbling through the grove of trees, because he smiled at the Galactic Research uniform and the green holographic GUI.

            A man strolled out of the shadows carrying a wafer cone stuffed with ice cream, and the uniform he was wearing had the niftiest of patches sewn onto each shoulder. Appearing overburdened but debonair, he too was peering into a bright, green Helix. He crossed the playground, and the swath of bright sunlight quickly revealed who this person was. His hazel eyes were hidden behind the multicolored lenses of his digital glasses. His sideburns went all the way down to his jawbone, and even though this man appeared to be well over fifty, he had a perfect, pearly white smile and dark brown hair.

            “Sparta, you’re supposed to stay hidden from view,” Doctor Roger Stratton said, as ice cream dripped over his fingers. “You just love to scare kids, don’t you?”

            “A harmless bit of fun. But what is this contraption beneath my propulsion mechanisms?”  

            “It’s a civilian form of entertainment,” Stratton said, and took a big bite of his frozen dessert. “It’s called a merry-go-round. I used to play on em when I was a kid,” he said, but it all came out in a garble.

“The same year you discovered why people yawn?”

Stratton glanced at his wristwatch and tapped his foot on the grass.  “Just tell me you’ve found Michael and Sarah’s kids, and that Scotty isn’t working for the Z-man. Listen, both his parents are missing. He and his brother and sister have moved to a different town. Chris says someone has hacked into Michael’s GalReach account and is using his Geneware, and we don’t know why. Sparta, is Scotty working for our archenemy nowadays?”

“You want to know the truth? Well, I have a detailed report,” Sparta said, and energized his Helix. “Young Scotty Astrophel has been relocated to a horrible foster home in Corroboree. There, he and his siblings live in squalor. With the help of Joseph and Jasmine Astrophel, Scotty runs an illegal business out of Sarah’s computer repair shop in downtown Sydney. He has cloned Michael’s Galactic Research account so he can have access to the Geneware servers, so as to broadcast builds to the neighborhood pets and sometimes…the neighbors. He has violated twenty international laws within the past four months, and ten within the last four hours. If the Alien Technology League were to discover what he is doing, Galactic Research would be fined, and quite a lot too, I might add.”

Stratton exhaled a sigh of comfort. “Whew, well that’s a relief, and I thought he was up to no good. Now, it’s off to the spaceport.”

Sparta locked eyes with Stratton and shook his head in disbelief.

“What?” Stratton said, and he was on the verge of laughing.

            “You should actually lower your expectations. We still have to convince his foster parents that Scotty is needed elsewhere and that the entire planet is in mortal danger.”

            “I know that,” Stratton said. “Did you deliver the hardware?”

            “No, I did not deliver the hardware. However, Corus delivered a remote Helix to Piccadilly Avenue this morning,” Sparta said, and smiled when Stratton placed his hands near his belly and pretended to laugh.

            “Love how the comedian surfaces when the pressure is on.”

“And his efforts to not alarm the foster father were a success. However, he did disguise himself as a harmless employee,” Sparta said, and moved his gaze to the sky. “Still, I am concerned that he will not place it close enough to the Astrophels’ computer equipment.”

            Stratton shook his head to disagree, and slowly began to scroll

through the files in his Helix. “It doesn’t need to be in the same room. All of the programs will download, no problemo.” Then he touched an icon in the display and broadcasted a top-secret message.”

            “Where is Doctor Stryker at?”

            “He’ll be here Monday. He’s flying on the third NextGen.”

            Sparta clumsily stepped down from the carousel and hit Stratton with a mean look. “Since when did you start using civilian words. I prefer the Galactic calendar, if you do not mind.”

            “Sure, Sparta, he’ll be here on day three hundred fifty,” Stratton said, and quickly gathered his thoughts. “You just help us pry those kids away from their foster parents. We have to get them to safety in case Captain Greybeard goes for round two. They can help us protect everything from an act of piracy.”

            “I will. However, my research has led me to forecast a seventy percent chance that he will attempt a raid on Fossil Crater, and I believe he will risk a high level of damage to the facilities. We have intel that proves he is capable of attacking and damaging the spaceport.”

            “You really know how to get under my skin, don’t you,” Stratton said. “The Z-man has what he’s always wanted, and now he can develop his own cybernetic program to compete with us. He wants to collect cartographic information, and you should know why. He wants our programs, so the spaceport is not a target at this point.”

            “I apologize, Doctor Stratton, but I must talk out of turn on this. I theorize that his endgame is to take us over, because our technology will help him take over the entire planet. Perhaps our star system as well. He declared war on us, remember?”

            “Well, I can theorize something. He’ll never sign one of my paychecks,” Stratton said, and deactivated his Helix.

            Sparta hit him with another mean look. “No, not for that reason. Have you not heard the latest news? And this bit of top-secret information was intercepted by our surveillance satellite orbiting Saturn.”

            Stratton was taken aback by the android’s zealous attitude toward Galactic Research and all of the wonderful things the scientists were creating to simply help our little corner of the Milky Way and to protect the path that has been mapped to a place only few people dare to believe can exist. Sparta definitely wanted to be sure that the director of technological development understood the information that had been intercepted.

            “Doctor Stratton, there is a man-made object orbiting Mars. One that is not supposed to be there, and there is a carbon-based life form aboard, and there should not be any biological life forms orbiting Mars.”

Stratton lifted an eyebrow. “Probably just faulty data.”

            “Our surveillance satellite never lies.”

            Stratton exhaled a sigh of aggravation. “There’s no way. Absolutely, no way. Our Beyond phase will take years, maybe decades. But he…”

            “He has Michael and Sarah.”

            “So, you believe the Z-man is a full-fledged space pirate nowadays?”

            Sparta considered shaking his head to say yes, but instead went on a tirade. “Doctor Stratton, please. Now is not the time to be attempting humor. History will not be kind to us if we fail to act accordingly. The only two people who can convert cells to computer code are missing, and someone is orbiting the Martian planet. We both know who it is and how he did it, and we must take action.”

            “Yes, and that’s the main reason we have to get those kids to the spaceport.”

            Sparta scrolled through a list of icons in his Helix and touched one that resembled a galaxy. In an instant a Galactic Chart was floating before him. It too was bright green but for the orange and yellow points of light. The most important items in this Galactic Chart were the sun and the twenty-seven other stars scattered out in all directions, but to the untrained eye it resembled a swarm of fireflies. “It will take him twenty earth days to complete his space flight.”

            “It doesn’t matter. We have two days to convince the foster parents to release Michael and Sarah’s kids to GalReach. The flights will leave with or without us.”

            “They will do the right thing, trust me,” Sparta said.

            “Listen, don’t do anything wild and crazy,” Stratton said, and hit the android with a stern look. “Don’t do anything weird.”

            Sparta moved his gaze to the blue sky. “Sorry, but I am not familiar with that phenomenon.”

            “I’m worried you’ll scare the foster parents.”

            “I am using a page from our contingency plan. It is a well-thought-out strategy, and it is foolproof.”

            After a few awkward moments, Sparta returned his gaze to Stratton.

            “We’ll talk more about the plan,” Stratton said, and gave Sparta a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Don’t approach the foster parents tonight. Let’s wait until tomorrow morning. I say thirty minutes before I show at their house. For now, I should return to Orion Sanctum. I have work to do there.”

            Sparta forced a smile.

            “We will prevail, Researcher Sparta,” Stratton said, and saluted the android. Researcher Sparta returned the salute. “Our future is out there.”

            Stratton turned and walked back to the big shadows looming in the distance. Beneath a sprawling, natural canopy, he energized his Helix and scrolled through a list of icons and touched the bug recall symbol. Within seconds an autonomous car drove away from a parking area and stopped near the grove. Looking back over his shoulder he saw a green vortex snap into a pinpoint of light and then just as quickly, disappear from sight.

            “Two more days,” he mumbled, and climbed into the back of the car, but he immediately provided instructions to the onboard computer. “To 3210 Orbit Circle, and take me there Captain Kirk style.”

            The little green car burned rubber across the parking area, raced down the side streets, and then zipped out onto the freeway. It slipped over into the righthand lane and sped away. It was headed northeast, toward the downtown area of Sydney. The exit wasn’t too far from the Sydney Jungle Playground, and in less than ten minutes the car was approaching the exit sign. But no one on the freeway that afternoon spied the little green car driving down the exit ramp, zipping under the exit sign, and then disappearing within the walls of an awe-inspiring building, because several hundred feet out from Orion Sanctum the little green car drove onto the shoulder of the highway and in a matter of seconds vanished in a tangle of traffic, steel, and concrete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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