Chater Fifteen ~ Escape

Fifteen minutes into the auto-pilot journey back to earth, the ship started to slow down. Carolyn had been hanging onto the controls, not needing to do anything but stare out the window and watch earth get bigger. She started looking frantically at the control panel while she listened to the engine getting slower and slower.
"Why does it sound like we're stopping?" Ethan called out.
"I don't know," she said. "I didn't touch anything."
George, who had been comforting Jilly who was curled up crying in his lap, looked out the window. "The other ships are passing us," he noted.  "We were all going the same speed before."
"I know." Carolyn said, trying not to sound too worried. She didn't want to touch anything for fear of making the situation worse.
The engine finally came to a halt and they were completely stopped, hanging in space. A red light on the front panel started flashing and a low monotone alien voice began speaking.
Both Ethan and Kyle got out of their seats and stood behind Carolyn.
"I don't know what to do. I can't understand what it's telling me." she said.
Ethan leaned over and touched one of the screens that had alien writing scrolling by. A pop up window appeared with a long list of languages on it. He scrolled down until he saw English and touched it.
The voice changed and a lady with a light British accent began talking. "Autopilot has lost contact with the source. Please reinstate  connection to the mother ship to continue."
"Oh no." Carolyn said "The station must be shutting down and that's how the ship was getting its route information."
"I'm guessing you can't fly it?" Kyle asked
"Not anymore than you can." she said
"But you fly jets. Can't you improvise?"
"I wouldn't even know where to start" she stared at all the buttons, screens and knobs. "I'm afraid to touch anything in case it opens a door or hatch, or something equally as bad."
Ethan reached out and started tapping things on the screen. Another pop up window appeared with very small writing and he squinted at it, nodding as he read.
"This looks like a help menu. It’s got troubleshooting options."
Carolyn leaned in close trying to decipher the tiny writing.
Ethan touched the screen again and an English keyboard appeared.
He typed in "how to fly ship" and then hit enter.
Several options appeared. "We've got 'how to take off', 'how to land', 'how to set coordinates', 'how to takeover if pilot is non responsive', 'how to...'"
"Wait" Carolyn said "That one, about the pilot being non responsive."
Ethan touched that. "I wonder how often that happens if they actually have a tutorial for it."
The screen changed to an ordered list of instructions accompanied by several illustrations.  Ethan gestured at it "Here you go."
Carolyn started reading "Well the first thing it says is to engage autopilot but since that isn't an option.... I'll try to do 'fly manually' following the directions."
She started moving levers, touching screens and turning knobs in the order instructed until they could all feel the engines beginning to hum. She reached under the dashboard and slid a lever aside and pulled up and out something that looked like a steering wheel and clicked it into place.
"This is supposed to be like training wheels if you aren't an actual certified pilot. I can hopefully maneuver us back home. Go sit down in case I make a mistake."
They went back to their seats and crossed their fingers for luck.
As the engines wound back up again, Carolyn pulled back on the wheel and they started moving forward and gaining speed. "Well, here we go."
There were still some ships in the general area heading towards Earth so she fell in behind one of them and hoped for the best.
As they got closer each ship in front of them headed in different directions. She just kept aiming for the general area that they had taken off from.
She was just starting to feel like things were going to be OK when the computer voice piped up "please set landing protocols."
"Oh great. I forgot that I had to land." She went back to the tutorial screen. "Ethan, can you help, I can't fly and read and figure this out all at the same time."
"Here I come." He slid into the chair next to her.
He scrolled through the "how to land" screen.
"It's asking what sort of landing we will be attempting."
"I don't know, one where we all survive?"
"It wants to know if we will be setting down vertically or coming in horizontally?"
"I have no clue. Last time I was in a ship it set down vertically without wheels and it was on autopilot. I've seen the other ships come in low over the runway and set down on wheels. I have no idea what this ship has."
"Your best guess?"
"Let's say it has wheels, I think I remember seeing wheels on it when  it was parked."
"OK," Ethan said, "Let's go with that." He began reading the instructions to her and she followed what he said carefully.
They got closer and closer to home and she was starting to feel pretty good about their chances.
"I think I can see the air base," she said. "I've landed here a number of times in my own plane so I'm familiar with the area."
The people in the back of the transport all had their faces pushed up against the windows except the affected who were still in a daze and talking amongst themselves trying to figure out why they hadn't been fed yet.
"Are the landing gears down?" Ethan asked
"I think so," Carolyn said "I did everything you told me too."
"What's that blinking light?" Ethan said pointing to a small red dot flashing furiously on the top of the dashboard.
Carolyn touched it and a voice said "Please change landing protocols. Landing gear is not currently available."
"What?" Carolyn started looking panicked all over again "What do you mean not available? How is it not available?"
 Ethan started frantically typing on the screen trying to find the answer but they were moments from landing and there wasn't a quick solution.
"Oh god, everyone hold on," Carolyn called out.
The transport swooped down onto the tarmac and Carolyn tried to pull up to avoid hitting nose first. It ended up belly flopping hard, bouncing back up into the air before twisting sideways as it landed and began sliding, fast and hard towards the fuel depot.
Carolyn fought the controls to try to straighten it out but it was too late and the rear end of the ship clipped one of the fuel storage barrels, breaking it open, sending gas spilling everywhere.
Sparks were flying as the ship spun and bounced along the tarmac setting fire to the wake of gasoline.
The affected were sitting in their seats, hands in the air screaming and laughing. Everyone else was screaming and crying.
The ship kept going until it crossed the runway and ran into the blast fence with a tremendous crash.
George leapt from his chair, still holding Jilly under one arm and wrenched the door open with his free hand.
"Come on," he shouted "we have to get out of here!"
He lowered Jilly to the ground and then jumped after her and turned to help others.
Sylvia and Pat started grabbing the affected by the hands and shoving them towards the door. Ethan and Kyle were both trying to help them sit down and slide into George's outstretched arms but they kept pulling away and running to the end of the line.
The fire was getting closer and hotter and George was shouting that they had to hurry. Carolyn finally walked up behind the affected standing at the opening and started shoving.
"I'm sorry," she shouted "but we don't have time for this."
George did his best to keep them from hitting the ground hard. The smaller older ones were an easy catch but the bigger heavy ones knocked him on his rear.
He helped each one get their bearings then pushed them away from the fire and yelled "RUN!"
They stood there, looking around, not moving.
Jilly had recovered enough to grab one of them close to her and started pulling his arm. "Come on!" she yelled. "We can go eat but we have to move quickly."
This got the first few moving and as she pulled and yelled the group started following her.
Once all of the affected had been pushed out the door, George helped the rest of the group down and they all started running.
One of the oldest in the group fell behind, tripped and fell. George ran back to get her, scooped her under his arm and double timed it to get away from the impending explosion.
Pat and Sylvia, who were in the lead, reached a transport parked along the runway and hid behind it.
"NO!" George shouted "Keep going. The explosion is going to be big! BIG!"
They pushed off the backside of the ship and continued to run. Kyle looked over his shoulder just as the flames reached the leaking barrels of gas.
The explosion threw the canisters 50 feet into the air and sent a shock wave rippling in every direction knocking everyone off their feet.
The group lay on the tarmac, hands over their ears waiting to see if it was over. The fire was still burning intensely but it seemed the worst was over.
They began to stand up and survey the damage. The affected were blinking and looking around as if they had just woken up from a very long nap and didn't know where they were.
The lady who George had rescued asked in an incredibly panic stricken voice "What's going on? Where are we?"
Another one started screaming and, hands over head, started running, stumbling, then catching himself until he reached one of the buildings, turned right and disappeared.
An older man asked "Who are you people? How did I get here?"
Ethan leaned over to Carolyn and whispered "I think the explosion sobered them up."
"It would seem so," she whispered back
She stood up, shook herself off, wiggling her finger in her ears to try to  stop the ringing. "It's a long story," she said, a little too loud "But all you need to know right now is that you are safe and very shortly we will explain everything to you."
Sirens were blaring as fire trucks approached the scene. As the red vehicles came to a screeching halt and firemen tumbled out of the truck and started to hook up hoses to put out the fire, the group  began to gather together, congratulating themselves on still being in one piece.
Suddenly there was a flash of light from the sky and they all looked up and saw what looked like an enormous fireworks display going off from behind the moon.
"Oh my God, Oh my God!" Jilly started crying all over again. "The space station blew up! We left Lucas there and now he's dead!"
She collapsed back onto the ground sobbing. George went to her and scooped her up.
"You don't know he's dead. He most likely escaped. There was plenty of time. Joe stayed to rescue him and they probably stole a ship and are half way home by now." As he said it, he knew chances were slim.
"Neither of them could fly a ship. There was no way they got off of there. I lost my brother, my only brother." And she buried her face into George's chest and cried.
He held onto her feeling completely useless.
Everyone stood helpless, as the light show went on above their heads and the fire burned across the runway. A few more of the no longer affected had run off but most were looking around in fear and confusion.
Another vehicle, a large white van, was approaching with some speed from the main buildings. It came to a screeching halt. Carolyn assumed it was some personal who were coming to help. She began walking in that direction when half a dozen military police burst from the side doors and leveled their guns at all of them.
"Put your hands up!" one of them shouted.
One of the "no-longer affected" fainted dead away and Ethan ran over and tried to help her. The others threw their hands into the air screaming.
Everyone else stood staring at the soldiers, mouths hanging open. Jilly started crying even harder.
Carolyn walked towards them "It's OK, we're the good guys. We're not the aliens." And she laughed nervously.
The man in front waved his gun at her. "Put up your hands, I said."
Carolyn put her hands up but continued to try to explain who they were.
"We know who you are. You're the ones who blew up the station. Now keep quiet and get in the van."
"We don't even know what's going on" one of the no longer affected wailed.
"Not you ma'am. You'll be escorted to one of the barracks where the doctor will take a look at all of you." He turned back to the others. "All of you, get into the van, NOW!"
The entire group stared at him without moving.
"NOW before I start shooting" He shouted and all seven of them dove for the van.
They piled in, filling the back two rows of seats, followed by two armed men who kept their guns aimed at them.
"I don't understand," Carolyn started "We aren't the bad guys here. We're actually the good guys."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" the man in charge asked as he got into the front passenger seat. No talking until we get to headquarters."
Ethan looked at Kyle frowning. Pat reached out and took Sylvia's hand. George cradled Jilly in his lap and put his other arm around Carolyn. They all rode in uneasy silence as the van headed back towards the main building.
They pulled around the back of the main terminal and stopped outside a row of barracks that had military police stationed out front. There were people running back and forth, in and out of the building all looking very worried.
"I don't know why everyone looks so upset," Kyle whispered to Ethan as they got out of the van. "You'd think they would be doing a happy dance because the nightmare is over."
"Nothing is what you would think anymore." Ethan whispered back.
They were led inside, armed guards on both sides of them and bringing up the rear. Two hallways later they were ushered into a large room with barred windows and when the door was closed behind them they heard it lock.
"This isn't good," George said. "They are treating us like prisoners."
"Why aren't they giving us a parade? I think we deserve one Hell of a parade." Pat said.
The door in the far corner of the room opened and four high ranking men came in.
"I guess we're going to find out." Sylvia said quietly
Generals McCabe, Macintyre and Major O'Dell came in and sat down at the table that was on one side of the room.
"Sit down," General McCabe said, gesturing to the chairs  that were facing the table.
"We'll stand, thank you" Carolyn said defiantly.
"That wasn't an option," the General said. "Now SIT!"
The group reluctantly lowered themselves into the chairs.
"Why are we here?" Carolyn asked
The General put his hand up. "You aren't here to ask questions," he said. "You are here for us to explain what is going to happen to you due to your reckless and unprovoked attack on the space station."
"Unprovoked?" Sylvia blurted out
"Silence!" the General snapped. "Your actions have broken the agreement we had with the Oday Ursue. They are up in arms due to the destruction of their station and the death of their people and they are threatening to rain all Hell down on this planet. If you had left well enough alone we all could have gone on about our life as soon as they were gone."
"Are you out of your mind?" Carolyn jumped to her feet. "You think they are just going to go away and leave us alone? You don't think they'll come back? And why leave anyway? With the unending supply of "merchandise" they have here? Not to mention how we could possibly go back to any semblance of normal! I don't see how you all can live with yourselves?" She threw her hands up in the air.
"Lady," the general said. "If you don't sit down this instant I am going to have a guard remove you."
"And what? What could you possibly do to me that would be worse than what those damn alien slave traders are doing to the millions of people they have stolen?"
The general sighed deeply. "If you don't shut your mouth, I may just let you find out. The Ursue want someone to blame for this. And if we don't give them the individuals responsible for what just happened they are going to, how did their leader say it? 'Blow our shiny pink skinned asses into the next galaxy'? So we have a problem Missy that I am trying to fix and your indignation is making me less and less inclined to save your shiny pink skinned ass."
Carolyn stood staring at him.
"Now if you will sit down so we can discuss our next course of action I would very much appreciate it." He said.
Carolyn slowly lowered herself back into her chair.
"I am supposed to deliver the individuals who planned and carried out this attack to them in exactly two hours.  If we do not deliver you and your cohorts, well, as I said, they will blow us back into the stone age. Now I need to decide if I am going to comply with their demands and hand you all over to what is certain to be the end of your lives, or figure out some way to save your idiotic rear ends."
There was an uneasy silence in the room.
"What if we hand them over, but don't really hand them over?" Major O'Dell asked.
"And how exactly would we go about doing that Major?"
"We send them out to be picked up, but we blow them up before the aliens can collect them."
"Wait, no I don't like that idea," Sylvia said.
"I don't either," Kyle and Ethan said in unison.
"No, we don't REALLY blow you up. We pretend to blow you up."
"How do you pretend to 'blow us up'?" Carolyn asked.
"We send a decoy van out to the meeting place, then blow it up and act shocked."
"I personally think we should hand them over instead of risking our own lives to save them." General Macintyre said
"I don't like him." Pat whispered to Sylvia.
Sylvia nodded in agreement.
"Things could get a lot worse if we try to fool them and they find out." General McCabe said.
"That's what I'm saying," Macintyre said
"We've already done so much damage to this world" O'Dell pointed out, "trying to save our own asses. These people risked everything to try to save everyone so maybe we should at least try to do the right thing by them."
"I agree!" Ethan said enthusiastically.
General McCabe sighed deeply. "I'm not in favor of this at all. But I will give you one hour to put together a plan and show it to me and if it looks solid we'll go ahead with it. But if I think even for a minute that it will make things worse than they already are then it's a no go and we turn this lot over to the aliens and save ourselves."
"OH, Thank you General" O'Dell said, "You won't be sorry, Thank you!" He stood up in such a hurry he knocked his chair over backwards. He turned and bent over to pick it up, shoving General Macintyre half off his chair with his rear end.
"Oh, I'm so sorry sir," O'Dell said, righting his chair and reaching out to help the General to recenter himself, but accidentally swiping the paperwork off the table. As he reached out to grab it, General McCabe grabbed him by the arm "Major, stop. We'll take care of it. Just go do what you have to and have it ready for me to look at in exactly one hour."
"Yes sir," O'dell said, backing away from the table. "Yes sir. Thank you again sir. You won't be sorry."
"I already am." The General said as O'Dell hurried out of the room.
George leaned over to Carolyn and whispered "I have a bad feeling about this." And Carolyn nodded and sighed deeply.
                                             ******
An hour and forty five minutes later Major O'Dell burst back into the interrogation room where everyone else had been left sitting.
"We are a go," he announced. "Everybody follow me."
The whole room leapt to their feet and followed him out the door.
O'Dell was already power walking down the hall and taking a left. They all scrambled to keep up with him. They wound their way through the building until they reached a door that led into a garage.
"The Alien commander has made an uncharacteristic trip to the planet and is waiting on the tarmac to supervise your transfer to their custody." He explained. "General McCabe will call when they are ready for you. You will go out the front door with guards who will load you into a van that will drive you to their ship. On the way there the van will be out of their sight for just a moment as it passes behind one of the out buildings. As your van goes out of view an identical van that has been hidden there will drive forward and continue towards their ship. It will be driven remotely so there is actually no one inside. Right before the van gets to their ship, an explosive will go off, not a huge one but big enough to set fire to it. We will all appear shocked and blame it on a few rogue people in our ranks. Hopefully they will just accept the fact that they can't take you home with them for trial and they will just leave."
"Let's hope so," Carolyn said nervously. "There wasn't exactly a lot of time to put this whole thing together but given the simplicity of the plan it just might work."
"I don't care if I die," Jilly said, wiping her eyes. "Lucas is dead and I don't have anything to live for."
George pulled her close. "Don't talk like that. Lucas would be very upset if he heard you talking like that."
"But he can't hear me talking like that because he's dead."
"He did what he did to keep you safe," Pat said, reaching out to touch her arm. "He would want you to have a good life, even if he wasn't here to share it with you."
Jilly sniffled "Maybe."
O'Dell's phone rang. He answered it, nodded and said "On it" and hung up.
"Show time people," and he headed towards the far door crossing his fingers for luck.
                                               ******
General McCabe stood at the top of the stairs that led to the alien spacecraft. The Alien commander stood next to him. He was quite tall with hawkish features, translucent skin, and long rope-like hair pulled back from his face that fell half way down his back. He was wearing a dark blue floor length coat, with buttons running from top to bottom. He had at least half a dozen items that the General took to be medals fastened to his left side and a large sidearm tucked into some sort of holster on his right. From this vantage point they could easily see the garage and the van waiting outside to transport the prisoners. The General nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was not used to feeling uneasy and he just wanted this to be over with so he could go back home to the life he had before where he walked his dog every morning then sat on the porch and smoked an after-breakfast cigar.
He held the translator tucked under one arm in case he had the need to say something to the creature standing next to him, but the commander didn't look like he had any interest in interacting with him.  The general was going over and over in his head the speech he had prepared for when  the van blew up and was trying to make sure he was able to convey something that looked like believable shock.
The front door to the garage slid open and they could see the group of prisoners being led out in handcuffs and loaded into the van. The commander stood up taller and clasped his hands together in a gesture the general thought looked like excited anticipation. As soon as everyone was loaded, the van pulled away from the garage and headed their way. The general thought he might faint from the stress.
The van took the pre-planned route and headed towards them slowly. It turned right and took the road that led directly behind one of the outbuildings. It disappeared for a few seconds then appeared again and took the first left and on the road that would take it to where the ship was parked.
The General could feel himself sweating and was hoping the Commander didn't notice. But the tall Alien was too fixated on the approaching van to see anything else. If the General didn't know better he would swear the thing was positively giddy with anticipation. As he watched and waited for the expected explosion the general heard what sounded like an approaching aircraft. He glanced up just as a small alien ship swooped towards them from behind, leveled off and headed directly for the van. As it passed over, it fired half dozen small lasers, turned sharply and accelerated away at breathtaking speed.
The van exploded, not once, but twice. The laser fire causing the explosives that were strapped to the undercarriage to blow up as well. The General grabbed the handrail to keep himself from falling over in shock. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left except smoldering rubble.
The Commander clapped his hands together and hopped up and down, laughing. The general watched in horror, forgetting for a moment that the prisoners were safely tucked into the outbuilding. At least he hoped so.
"What did you do?" the general stammered into the translation device which immediately spit the words back out in the Commander's language.
"We have exacted justice on those who sought to harm us."
"You told us you were going to take them with you and have a trial."
"We lied." And he turned and walked back into his ship, stopping for a moment to say "Thank you general for your hospitality while we were visitors here. As promised, we will not be back in your lifetime. You may now continue with your meaningless lives."
And he slid the door closed.
The General stood staring at the door, before shaking himself back into reality and hurried down the stairs. He could feel the heat from the still burning van as he made his way towards his car
The Commanders craft lifted off from the tarmac behind him, hovering for a moment before turning and rocketing skyward, creating a blast of wind so hard it almost knocked the general off his feet. He grabbed the door handle and fell into the passenger seat telling the driver to get the hell out of there.
                                                 ******
The group had just taken refuge in the building and slid the door closed when they heard the explosion. Everything inside the building, which looked like it was a storage room for supplies, rocked back and forth, two windows on the side of the building shattered and a tall metal shelf on the opposite wall toppled over, spilling boxes and tools everywhere. Several small tires hit the floor and rolled towards them like bowling balls heading for the pins. Everyone scattered out of the way. A second explosion hit and they all ducked and covered their heads.
"It wasn't supposed to be that big," Carolyn said
"There wasn't supposed to be two of them," George added
They stayed crouched down, waiting to see if there were going to be any more explosions until they heard the sound of the alien ship leaving.
George got up and hurried to the window. "I can't see anything from here," he said and headed for the back door.
"Don't go out there," Jilly said in a panicked voice. "It might be a trap and someone is waiting to shoot you."
"I don't think so" George said "Anyone who was close is either dead or deaf right now." He pulled open the door and cautiously peeked out then went a little further until he got to the end of the building and slowly looked around the corner. He saw the van, or what was left of it still smoldering about 50 yards away.
"Holy crap!"
Everyone rushed out and stopped in their tracks.
"No way the bomb they put under that van did that!" Carolyn said
"What happened? Who blew it up?" Sylvia asked
"I don't know," George said, "But this doesn't look like anything a regular explosive could do."
The General's car came screeching around the corner and pulled to a hard stop.
"Oh thank God!" he said, opening his door and hurrying over to them. "I was worried the whole switching thing didn't work and maybe you all were still in there when it blew up."
"If the switching thing didn't work, we'd be all over the tarmac right now," Carolyn noted. "What happened?"
"The Aliens sent a small ship in and blew up the van. And then the laser fire blew up our bomb."
"They did what?" Sylvia almost yelled "They were supposed to take us back with them and give us a trial."
"In the words of their Commander," the General said "They lied."
"I'm not feeling very well." Pat said.
"Me either," Kyle said leaning against the building
"If you hadn't agreed to the plan," Carolyn said "We'd all be dead right now."
"I know," the general nodded. "You have no idea how relieved I am."
"What's going to happen to us now?" George asked
"As far as I'm concerned you are all free to go and go back to your meaningless lives."
Everyone looked shocked at his choice of words and he immediately explained "That's what the commander said to me right before he left."
                                              ******
Just outside the airport hangar, the entire group climbed into a large van that O'Dell had gotten for them from the auto pool. Just as the General had said they were free to go and they all wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible before someone changed their mind.
With Carolyn driving they headed for the freeway and turned back towards the city where they were going to go and check on Natalie and Manny. They sped along, completely silent, all lost in the thought of how close they came to being turned into a pile of burning ash. As they neared the city limits they started seeing random people wandering around. Once they pulled off the exit and were nearing the hotel they saw more and more people standing on the street, or sitting on the curb looking confused.
"How are we ever going to recover from this?" Sylvia asked
"I don't think we ever will," Pat answered
They pulled up to the hotel and everyone got out. Carolyn went straight inside and called out for Natalie.
Natalie came hurrying from the kitchen and grabbed her and hugged her tight.
"OH my goodness Child! You made it! When I saw the explosion in the sky I knew you all had done it but we didn't know if you made it out!"
Carolyn hugged her back "We did make. Well, most of us made it" she said, glancing towards Jilly who was hanging back leaning against the wall looking completely devastated.
"OH no! OH no!" Natalie hurried over to Jilly and scooped her up in a motherly embrace. "Oh you poor baby," Jilly began sobbing into her shoulder.
Everyone stood quietly until Jilly looked up sniffling and rubbing her eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do now," she said "I don't have anyone left."
"You'll go on living a good long life," Natalie said rubbing her back "Just like Lucas would want you to do. And you have all these people who are here for you."
Everyone crowded around the two of them and agreeing and assuring Jilly she was not alone.
"What are you both going to do now?" Carolyn said. "Do you want to come with us?"
"Oh goodness, thank you, but no Manny and I are needed here to help all the people who have no idea what happened to them. We have so much food in storage and places for them to stay until they all figure out what they are doing. Once we feel like we have done all we can, we'll find our way back to our farm and continue on where we left off. If any of you need anything, I'll write down how to find us. We owe all of you our lives."
Carolyn hugged her tightly. "Thank you for all you both did."
"Oh we just did what anyone would do. Always trying to help. Where are you all heading out to?"
"Well, we're going to head back to Frankie's place. Then we'll see. I don't know how this world is going to heal from this but we'll do whatever we can."
They all turned and walked back towards the truck.
They all climbed in after saying their goodbyes and made their way back to the freeway. They saw people everywhere wandering along the side of the road all looking lost and confused.
"I feel so bad for them," Sylvia said. "Can you imagine suddenly waking up and finding yourself lost and unable to remember what happened to the last few months?"
"It's better than waking up and finding  yourself on some other planet having been sold into slave labor." Kyle pointed out.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The truck was mostly quiet after that, everyone wondering what was going to happen now. Jilly was curled up in a ball next to George who had his arm protectively wrapped around her.
They took the off ramp and wound their way through the back roads until they reached the dirt road that led to Frankie's place.  As they approached the compound, two of the guards that Carolyn recognized from before came hurrying up the truck as they slowed down at the gate.
"You made it! We knew you succeeded when we saw the explosion in the sky but we didn't know if you all survived!"  The smaller one yelled, throwing his hat in the air and doing a little foot stomp.
The other guard pulled open the gate and let them drive through. He radioed Frankie on his walkie so as they pulled up to the first building people were already hurrying out the door.
The truck pulled to a stop and everyone piled out of the truck. Sylvia hurried forward looking through the people hurrying towards them, all smiling and yelling congratulations. She suddenly stopped as she locked eyes with Rob who was shoving his way through the mass of people. He broke into a run and practically knocked her over as he scooped her up and swung her around and kissed her so long she had to gasp for air when he finally stopped.
"OH MY GOD!" he cried "I was so worried I would never see you again!"
"Me too" She sobbed into his shoulder "I was afraid I'd never make it back home to you."
Frankie pushed her way through the crowd and found Carolyn who was being crushed by adoring fans.
 "Oh my Goodness!" Frankie gushed "I just can't believe what you did. I knew you could do it, but I still wasn't sure if it would work. What a success! I'm so very proud!"
Carolyn smiled, but then looked sad, glancing towards George who still had Jilly tucked against him. "We lost Lucas." She whispered. "And Joe. Lucas got caught and Joe went back to help him and we had to leave in our ship because they were shooting at us. We don't know what happened to them but I'm afraid they didn't make it off the station. Jilly is devastated."
Frankie looked crestfallen. She hurried over to Jilly and peeled her away from George and folded her into her arms and walked her inside. George stood trying not to look lost but only managed to look confused as to what he was supposed to do now. Carolyn slid her arm under his, squeezed his hand and steered him inside.
Everyone else stood around answering questions about what they saw and what they did. They slowly started filing inside until they made it into the rec room where they could sit and breathe deeply for the first time in a long while.
Frankie took Jilly with her to her room where she got her situated on the couch then put on some tea. She brought her a cup of tea with some little cookies and sat down next to her. "Tell me about how you're feeling," she said, putting her hand on Jilly's leg.
Jilly started crying all over again. "Lucas is dead. I know he didn't make it off the station and it's all my fault. I messed up and if I hadn't insisted that he take me he'd be coming home with everyone and I'd have him back just like Rob has Sylvia back. This is because I'm selfish and was only thinking of myself. Now I'm going to be alone the rest of my life."
"There, there" Frankie said. "You don't know if it would have been any different if you hadn't gone."
"That's the problem, I'll never know." With her lip quivering, she took a slow drink of tea.
"I think I just want to lay down and be myself for a while if it's OK."
"Of course, you poor baby" Frankie reached over and pulled a blanket off the bed and tucked it over her. "You rest here as long as you need to."I'll go and see about everyone else. And don't you worry, you will never be alone."
She stood up and headed out the door. As she closed the door she saw Jilly curl up in a ball and pull the blanket over her head.
Frankie took a deep breath, steadied herself and  headed down the hall. She had helped people under her command deal with death numerous times but it never got any easier, especially this time when the person was just a kid who had lost her only brother.
By the time she got down to the rec room, everyone had made it inside.  Rob and Sylvia were sitting in the far corner of the room wrapped in each other arms with their heads touching and eyes closed.  Everyone who stayed behind wanted to hear the story in detail of what happened so Pat, Ethan, and Kyle were each taking turns telling what it was like to ride in the ship and see the moon close up and what it was like on the space station. Carolyn was standing in the group when she noticed George hanging back from against the wall with hunched shoulders and the saddest look she had ever seen on his face.
She went up to him and touched his arm. George looked up and if she didn't know better, she would have sworn his eyes looked slightly damp.
"I couldn't save Lucas," he said. "If I would have gone back for him they would have gotten Jilly too. But now I wish I would've had more time to think of something and maybe I could have found a way."
"You did the only thing you could," Carolyn said, rubbing his arm.
"But I was there to make sure we all got out OK and I failed." He sniffed a little bit and wiped at his cheek.
"No one blames you George." Frankie said in an uncharacteristically soft and comforting voice that he had never heard before. "Least of all Jilly. One day she will thank you for saving her. Until then just be there for her."
"I'll do my best," he said. "I think I'm going to go to my room."
He turned and headed out the door and down the hall.
 "I always knew he was just a softie under all that muscle." Frankie said. "He'll be OK. They both will. Even if neither of them believe it right now."
Carolyn nodded sadly and they both walked slowly to join the group in the middle of the room.
Ethan was explaining how he and Kyle had single-handedly shut down communications and the group was oohing and ahhing over how brave they had been when George suddenly burst back into the room.
"ALIENS!" He yelled.  "There are aliens landing out on the old runway! I saw them from my room. It landed and the door opened and 2 things came out that absolutely were not human!"
Everyone stared at him, not moving.
"Did you hear me?"
"Are you sure?" Frankie asked "Maybe it's just some stray ships from the station that got lost and the pilots are just using any airfield to land?"
"No, no, NO!" George continued to yell emphatically. "Not unless we have pilots with light blue skin or are furry."
Suddenly everyone was running in every direction. Most of them heading to take cover in their rooms. Carolyn and Frankie headed straight for the back door to see for themselves.
George followed them down the hall. "Where are you going? Shouldn't we hide?"
"There is no way we went through all of that only to have some alien THINGS come and try some other crap!" Frankie said as she reached the door and shoved it open. She passed one of the guards who had come looking for advice about what to do. She grabbed his rifle out of his hand and kept marching. "We're going to  put an end to this right NOW!"
She headed down the sidewalk towards the airfield, Carolyn close on her heels. "I see them!" Carolyn said in a panic, pointing to some moving objects in the distance. Frankie stopped to raise her rifle and Carolyn ran right into her, started to fall backwards and bounced off George, who, against his better judgment, was still following them.
"Stop right there! Put your hands, or whatever you've got, up over your head!" Frankie yelled out. "I've got this gun pointed right at you and I'm not afraid to use it."
The tall figure in the distance stopped abruptly, looked around and immediately put its hands up in the air.
Frankie squinted and frowned, obviously confused that it had understood her.
"Now you stay there!" She hollered. "Or else I'm going to shoot you if you move even a single muscle."
The other creature that was further back appeared to have no sense of what it was supposed to do and continued to bound forward on four shaggy legs.
Frankie leveled her rifle. "I said STOP! Or I'll shoot!"
The creature continued in her direction and just before Frankie could react, two other figures appeared from behind the tall one, who still had its hands in the air and one of them shouted "NO Frankie! Don't shoot! It's OK, they won't hurt you!"
"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! It's Lucas and Joe!" Carolyn shouted. She started running and didn't stop until she collided with Lucas and knocked him onto his rear. She fell on top of him, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe. "You're alive! You're alive!"
"I won't be for much longer if you don't loosen your grip!" He managed to say.
"Oh Lucas, we thought you were dead. Jilly has been crying non stop." And then she started crying. Lucas hugged her back.
"Oh don't you start. It's all OK."
"I'm alive too," Joe said, smiling. "In case you were wondering."
Carolyn jumped up and threw her arms around him. "Oh Joe! I'm so happy to see you too."
By this time Oliver had joined the celebration and he was jumping up and down and shaking his head and offering Carolyn his paw.
"Who or what is this?" she wanted to know.
"Yes," Frankie cut in, still holding her rifle but not sure exactly what she should be doing. "Who are these, ah, other worldly creatures that you brought with you?"
"These are the ones responsible for us being alive," Joe said. "This is Barami. We rescued her from a prison cell on the space station, then she rescued us from being blown up by flying us out of there on her ship. And the giant fluff ball came along for the ride. Lucas named him Oliver." Oliver jumped up and down and offered his paw again. Carolyn took it and Oliver snuggled up against her and licked her face.
Carolyn wiped the slobber off and turned to Barami.
"I am pleased to meet you," Barami said. Offering her own hand in greeting.  "I will not lick your face."  
Carolyn smiled and reached out and took her hand. "I don't think I can ever thank you enough for bringing Lucas and Joe back home"
"If they had not found me, I would have blown up as well. We all have saved each other."
Frankie lowered her rifle. "I didn't think there was anything left that could surprise me but I was obviously wrong."
Oliver pranced up to her and offered his paw. Frankie took it slowly, feeling his soft fur against her palm. She smiled, then he licked her face.
"Why didn't I see that coming?" she said, wiping at her cheek.
George, who had been standing back, mouth hanging open, watching the reunion suddenly ran to Lucas and grabbed him by the arm.
"We have to get you inside. We have to tell Jilly you're OK!" And he took off running, pulling Lucas behind him who was trying to keep up with George's long legs.
They ran full speed all the way to the compound, through the back door and down the hall to Frankie's room.
When they got there George twisted the door handle and threw it open with such force that it bounced off the chair that was behind it and slammed closed again, causing him to smash into it as he tried to run forward. He yelped loudly and grabbed his nose, hopping up and down and turning in circles from pain.
Jilly, who had been laying on the couch, jumped up in shock. She ran to the door, flung it open and screeched at the top of her lungs when she saw Lucas standing in the hallway trying to comfort George.
"Are you real?"
"I am, but I'm also deaf," Lucas said, grimacing from the noise.
Jilly jumped up, wrapped her arms and legs around him and buried her face in his neck. Lucas rocked back and forth and grabbed the wall for support.
"I thought you were dead," she sobbed into his shoulder.
"I thought I was dead too," he said. "But I knew I couldn't leave you alone because you'd never get up on time, brush your teeth or eat right so I made sure not to be dead and so I could come back and nag you."
A number of  people were hurrying down the hallway, mostly to see what the screaming was all about.
Jilly continued crying into his shoulder until there were no more tears. She lifted her head, wiped her nose back and forth on this shirt and dropped to the floor.
"I thought I'd never see you again. Not ever. I didn't want to live without you."  Her lower lip was still quivering.
Lucas was grimacing at the wet spot she left on his shirt but managed to smile. "You didn't think I'd leave you alone so you could just go and do whatever you like without some sort of adult supervision did you?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't realize how much I would miss you if you weren't here."
"You just keep remembering that next time I tell you not to do something and I think it will all work out."
He pulled her in close for another hug "I love you, you little rugrat' he whispered.
When he looked up he realized the hallway was crammed with people staring at them. He blushed slightly and pursed his lips.
He took Jilly's hand and started working his way through the crowd.
"I want you to meet the person who is responsible for me making it back to you."
They wound their way back down the hall into the main room.
Barami and Oliver had made it inside and were standing among a bunch of people who were surrounding them in awe. Barami was carefully and thoughtfully answering all their questions and Oliver was getting his ears rubbed which was making his back leg quiver.
Jilly came to an abrupt halt. "Woah!" Was all she could manage.
Barami looked up and Lucas motioned for her to come over.
She smiled broadly as she approached and held out her hand towards Jilly.
Jilly slowly reached out and took her hand, staring at the difference between her pink skin and Barami's bluish tone.
"This is Barami," Lucas said by way of introduction.
"You must be Jilly. I am so pleased to meet you" Barami said. "Lucas talked about you the whole trip back."
"She's the one who saved me. Saved both Joe and me actually. She flew us back home in her ship."
Jilly started to say something, stopped, thought about it for a moment, then wrapped her arms around the tall alien and started crying all over again.
"Thank you, Thank you! You didn't just save him, you saved me too!"
Barami looked slightly startled, not sure about what she should do as she glanced around at everyone staring at them. She breathed in deeply, nodded her head, then put her arms around Jilly and pulled her close.
"I am so glad I could do this for you. Your brother doesn't say it when he tells the story, but if he had not released me from my prison on the space station, we all would have died, so he is the real hero here."
"I knew it! I just knew it" Jilly said, pulling back and looking up into Barami's eyes. "I knew my brother would save the world!"
Barami smiled at her. "He is so lucky to have you."  she said.
As Jilly was wiping away the new tears, Oliver sauntered over and licked her face. Jilly screamed and stumbled backwards, bumped into Rob who was standing behind her, who in turn lost his balance and fell against Sylvia who staggered backwards into a table knocking a number of glasses off onto the floor with a resounding smash.
Oliver startled and rolled over onto his back and covered his eyes with a shaggy paw.
Lucas immediately knelt down next to him and rubbed his shoulder. "It's OK, big guy, no worries. Jilly's just never seen anyone who looked like you."
"What is that?" Jilly asked when she got her composure.
"This is Oliver, '' Lucas explained, helping him get back on his feet. "We also rescued him and he in turn kept us from being arrested by the station security. He's very friendly. As you can tell." Lucas motioned to Jilly's face that still had some Oliver slobber on it.
Jilly took her shirt and wiped at her face. "Yes I see that."
Oliver looked at her with his big brown eyes and offered her his paw.
Jilly took it and smiled hesitantly. Oliver smiled back and started wiggling.
"Good boy" she said "You're a good boy"
Then he licked her again and rubbed against her.
"We're going to have to teach him not to do that" she said wiping at her chin, then reaching down and ruffling his fur.
Everyone laughed and for the first time in a long time the whole room felt relaxed.
                                              ******
 
Later that evening everyone gathered in the large common room. No one knew exactly what was going to happen now. How the world was ever going to get back to what it once was. Though as Rob said "There is no way anything will ever be the same. Now we know we're not alone in this universe. But we are woefully unprepared to join the masses of other living beings out there."
Frankie stood up and looked at each and every one of the group who had a hand in the events that had taken place.
"There is no way either I, or anyone else can thank you all enough for what you did. Putting your lives on the line and risking everything instead of doing what most would do which was hiding away until the danger was gone.  I don't know what is going to happen now or how this planet is going to move forward but the very fact that we can, rests completely on your shoulders. If each of you doesn't receive the highest medal of honor from whatever government is left running things then I will have a thing or two to say to them. And our new friends," she motioned towards Barami who was seated in an overstuffed armchair with Oliver stretched out on the couch next to her, "you have shown us all that not all life out there is evil and dangerous."
Barami smiled and nodded gently. "Most life is good and peaceful. But as I'm sure you have learned from your experiences it doesn't take many bad beings to do a lot of harm. In my travels I have seen a handful of the worst kind devastate worlds full of uncountable good  because no one stepped up to stop them. It is a rare kind that will stand up and fight even when the odds are against them."
Oliver lifted his head and nodded. Barami ruffled his ears.
"We may have stopped the bad guys but not before they took probably millions of people away for them to go and spend the rest of lives in slavery or torture." Jilly said.
Everyone in the room nodded solemnly.
"Isn't there a way we can rescue them?" she wanted to know.
"And exactly how would you do that?" Lucas said. "We don't know where any of them went. Not to mention there is this little problem that we don't have a  vehicle that could take us to the moon in less than 3 days let alone millions or billions of miles away."
Jilly twisted her mouth to the side and scowled. "All I can think about is that we are sitting here all free to do whatever we want and all those other people are going to be slaves forever."
The entire room looked uncomfortable at that thought.
"I know it's hard, sweetie" Frankie said, "But I don't see how there is anything that we can do about it. It won't do you or them any good if you let it wreck the life that you fought to save."
"I don't know how I can be happy unless I try to figure something out,"
Barami leaned forward in her chair. "I will be returning to my home world tomorrow" she began. "Once there I can see if I can get any information about where some of your people have been taken. I can relay any information that I find back to you."
"How will that help?" Rob asked. "We don't have any way to go after them."
"That's not true" Caroline suddenly realized. "There are dozens of ships that flew back from the space station. Maybe some of them have the capability to fly into deep space."
"YES!" Jilly jumped off the couch. "YES YES YES! That's what I'm talking about. We could do that! You could fly one, you already did that! What an adventure! And we would be saving people! I volunteer!"
Lucas grabbed her arm and yanked her back down. "OH no you don't! Last time you volunteered you almost got us all caught. No matter what happens you're staying here."
"You can't make me," she said, pulling her arm away.
"Children!" Caroline cut in.  She turned to Barami. "Do you think it would be possible to take any of the ships we have here into deep space to find some of our people?"
Barami considered it for a moment. "I believe some of the ships I saw would be capable of that. So theoretically, it would be possible to use them to look for your people."
Jilly was jumping up and down. "Yes, that's what we need to do. We HAVE to! Say you'll do it Lucas! You have to say Yes!"
Lucas grimaced. "I just got back from more adventure than I ever thought I would have. I don't know if I can do it anymore."
"I'm game," Carolyn said. "If we have the right ships and we can get some sort of idea about where to go, I'll volunteer to at least go out on a fact finding mission."
"I think we all need to rest and not make any rash decisions" Frankie spoke up. "Let's see how we'll feel after a good night's rest."
The whole room agreed but it was quite a while until everyone wound down enough to start making their way to their rooms.
By midnight the entire compound was asleep. For the first time in months there wasn't a giant space station hanging out behind the moon, there were no zombie humans on the planet caught behind a giant invisible force field waiting to be sold into slavery,  and there was hope that maybe at some distant point in the future, life could be normal again.
There was also the hope that maybe some of the people taken could be found and brought home. That was perhaps more of an adventure than some of them wanted to undertake, but it was exactly the adventure some of the others were looking forward to.
Early the next morning Barami was up and getting ready to take Oliver and return to her home. She was standing outside of her ship talking to Carolyn and Lucas.
"Where will you go now?" Carolyn asked
"I will go back to my world. It has been so long since I have seen my family that I'm sure they must believe I am never coming back."
"I am so happy that you are free now" Lucas said and leaned down and rubbed Oliver's ear. "And you too buddy. what will happen to him?"
"I will keep him with me," Barami said. "He was taken from his kind so long ago he would not know how to live on his own if I returned him from where he came. He and I have been together for quite awhile anyway and I would miss him."
Oliver bounced up and down and licked Lucas' hand and then rubbed against Barami. "He will be well taken care of and live a long life which was not his future before you saved him. You are a true hero."
Lucas blushed.
Barami turned to Carolyn, "I will do  my best to get information about where your people have been taken. I have left a communication device with Rob and explained to him how to use it so that I may relay my findings to you."
"That would mean the world to us" Carolyn said "Even if we can't save everyone, even if we could save a few that would at least be something."
"You are a wonderful soul," Barami said. "Most would be so happy that this nightmare was over that they would not want to ever put themselves in danger again."
"I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try"
"Me either" Jilly said walking up behind them, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I wish I could go with you and get started on the rescue mission right away."
"What did I tell you about your staying here?" Lucas said
"Your brother is right," Barami nodded. "Even if you were to join the rescue effort, there is much planning that needs to be done so that it is done with the utmost care."
"Yes, that's true," Jilly said, looking slightly disappointed.
Rob and Sylvia joined the group and Rob reached out and took Baramis hand.
"Thank you for everything," he said. "For bringing my friends home and for giving us the ability to communicate with you and hopefully find some of our people."
"It is my deepest pleasure," Barami said smiling. She squeezed Rob's hand.
"I will take my leave now. I look forward to continuing to stay in contact with all of you."
Jilly ran forward and wrapped her arms around her. "You are the most wonderful alien in the whole universe"
Barami looked a little startled and Lucas thought she blushed. She returned Jilly's hug and leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Take care of your brother," she said. "He loves you more than you will ever know."
Jilly smiled and turned and hugged Lucas. "And I love him just like that too"
Barami turned to go into her ship. "Say goodbye Oliver" she said, touching him on his furry head.
Oliver ran to each person and rubbed up against them. When he got to Lucas he reached up and licked his face. "Goodbye Buddy," Lucas said, ruffling his ears. "Thank you for everything. I hope I get to see you again one day" Oliver's eyes were watering every so slightly. He blinked several times and Lucas could see his lip quivering. With a quick turn of his furry head, he raced into Barami’s ship and crawled under one of the seats.
Everyone was looking at Lucas as he rubbed at his eye.
"What?" He said "I've got monkey dog hair on my face."
Barami smiled and stepped into her ship and the door slid closed behind her.
Everyone backed away and watched as the ship came to life and lifted slowly off the ground and into the sky. It got smaller and smaller until it was so high up they could barely make out where it was. Then with a brilliant flash of light it was gone.
The group stood in silence for a while before they all turned and began walking back towards the compound.
"Do you think we can save people?"  Jilly asked.
"I think we are going to try," Carolyn said.
"I want to help" Jilly said
"I know you do," Carolyn nodded. "We all do"
Lucas put his arm around her. "We all want to help, so that's what we're going to do"
Jilly looked up at him "Do you mean you're going to let me help too?" she asked
"Yes," Lucas said. "But only if we can do it safely." I don't want to lose you."
"You won't" she said "I'll do everything you tell me too. Exactly "
Rob and Sylvia wandered along behind the group holding hands.
"Do you want to help?" Rob asked her
"Of course," she said. "I want to do all I can"
"I guess I do too," Rob said. "I'm not sure I want to leave Terra Firma, but I don't want to be apart from you so whatever you decide to do I will follow you and pretend to be as brave as you are."
Sylvia smiled "I don't want to be apart from you again either" and she leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Even though it was the end of a very difficult time in their life, it was also the beginning of something entirely different. None of them knew what the future was going to bring but they were each ready to face whatever challenges it brought. They knew if they could get through all the things that had just happened they could get through anything else. And they were all ready to face it together.