Fast Cars and Intergalactic Speed Dating

18: Getting Stripped by Aliens

They were standing on the edge of a vast crop circle. Every stalk of corn had been flattened from the center outward, making of the broken crops a gigantic star burst. In the exact center of this circle stood a ship unlike anything Richard could have imagined. He'd pictured something out of a space adventure movie, all silver sides and sleek lines and blasting guns, or perhaps something built for tunneling through the earth like he'd joked about with Garth.

Instead, it was a smooth, sleek vessel shaped like an oval ibuprofen tablet. It stood on graceful legs in the center of the crop circle, a bright white egg in a nest. There were no blinking lights or illuminated panels or thick, space-proof windows; the entire thing was softly glowing.

And it was big. It was the size of...what to compare it to? It was like—

"Woah," said Garth. "That's almost as big as a Super Walmart."

Aialo-El stood a short distance ahead, watching them intently. She fixed Richard with her serious gaze, and then her attention shifted to Garth. "This is our ship," she said, her tone calm and neutral. "It is our home."

Richard had had a very trying day. From the heights of thrilling success after months of trial and error to the terror of being chased by impossible creatures that wanted him dead, his emotional state, if charted, would have been a very exciting zigzag.

And yet, as Richard gazed at Aialo-El's ship, watching it gently pulsate with light, he relaxed.

It was the strangest thing he'd ever seen, and it was beautiful.

Gentle burbling sounded from behind him. Pey-Daika and Jalala-Ko moved past him, carrying Garth in their sling as they headed toward the ship. Richard could hear Garth talking, his voice soft, hoarse, and animated, but he couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Come, Richard Arthur Campbell," said Aialo-El. "The barrier prevents the Chorodonians from locating us here. It is how the Karra have remained safe for so many weeks. You need not fear discovery now that we are here."

"Seriously?" Richard breathed.

"Seriously," she echoed. She reached out a hand to him.

Feeling peaceful and numb, Richard took her hand. He allowed her to guide him toward the ship.

As the two Karra bearing Garth approached the egg-shaped vessel, an aperture appeared in the side of it, like an eyelid opening. Then, a tube emerged, gracefully extending down and along the ground. Pey-Daika and Jalala-Ko stepped into it.

Aialo-El followed them, and Richard followed her.

***

The spaceship's jetway was long, sloping gradually upward. After they stepped inside, Richard's hand slipped out of Aialo-El's.

Inside, it was bright and white; there was no flooring that Richard could see, no carpet or tile, although the whole tunnel was ridged like the bendy part of a straw. There were no doors or embellishments on any of the walls; indeed, had they not been walking along the bottom of the tube, it would have been impossible to tell up from down.

At the end of the jetway was a circular portal. When they passed through it, they entered a long, brightly-lit hall. The ceiling was rounded, the floor carpeted in soft blue. There were portals leading off at intervals along the walls on either side of the hall, some of them open and some of them closed. The place gave Richard the impression of a hospital: institutional, quiet, and sterile.

Richard and Aialo-El followed the other Karra and their chattering burden down the long hall.

"So now what?" Richard asked.