Interstellar Gold Rush

Chapter 3

It looked like a normal adult, except for the way he stumbled like he was drunk. A weird glint was in his eyes that Andrew could not identify. Strange and scary screeching noises exited his mouth in patterns that didn’t match up. The man charged straight at Steven, waving his arms and making so much noise it seemed like it was trying to scare off a bear.
Steven immediately backed up, yelping in surprise. He lifted his crowbar in defense and backpedaled all the way back to Andrew, who was poised to flee.
The man stopped right in front of the cylindrical ship and stood there, apparently trying to protect the ship. The screeching noises continued to come out, not as threatening or desperate anymore, but more trying to communicating.
Steven and Andrew just stared at the man, immensely confused. The man stopped screeching and looked back and forth at them and their facial expressions. Seeming to realize something, the man reached up to something on his throat. Once he had done that, he turned back to the two confused boys.
“Sorry about that,” the man said, his voice generic and ordinary. “Sometimes I forget to turn the translator on.”
The boys just stared at him in shock.
Seeming not to notice, the man continued. “I didn’t want you to get too close to my ship. It can be dangerous. Anyway, I have come to your planet to gain precious materials, what you call gold. My sources say there is a large deposit here. But for some reason, I did not expect to see intelligent life here. From my planet, we saw only jungles and no advanced life.”
For a second both Andrew and Steven could not respond. It was probably the shock of speaking to a live alien.
“How far away is your planet?” Andrew finally asked.
“Oh, about ten thousand light years away,” the alien shrugged. “Nothing much.”
Everything suddenly made sense. “No wonder you didn’t see any intelligence life on here,” Andrew exclaimed. “The light reaching your planet is ten thousand light years old! We humans didn’t exist back then!”
Before the alien could respond, Steven butted in. “If you’re an alien, then why do you look like us?”
The alien shrugged again. “Just some shape-shifting equipment. It makes me look like the most intelligent life forms on the planet, and that just happens to be humans.”
Andrew shot Steven a glance for interrupting his conversation with the ‘alien’. “The deposit of gold you saw and want has been run dry long ago,” he said, trying to explain. “I’m afraid you’ve come for nothing.”
“Can I find another deposit? It’s important to my planet that I find some.”
Before either of the boys could respond, a faint noise drifted into the clearing. The sound of helicopter blades.
Steven looked at Andrew, eyes wide. “I think the police decided to finally believe us.”
The alien also looked equally surprised. “What are the police? That noise sounds bad.”
Andrew looked around, trees blocking his sight as he tried to glimpse the helicopters. “They are our law enforcement – they are the security of our country.”
Alien man looked scared. “I must go! I must not let myself get caught by them!” He hurried over to his ship, then paused and turned to the kids.
“Get back a good distance,” the alien said quickly, hearing the helicopters getting closer. “My ship converts to particles of light to travel the speed of light, and it might blind you. And to go faster than light, my engine warps the space-time behind my ship to propel it forward. This is very dangerous – it could rip you apart, just like your poor green towers here.” He glanced at the torn up trees. “Now go!”
The boys, hearing the police, wasted no time getting away. Steven rushed straight into the trees, racing at breathtaking speed. Andrew looked back one final time, to see the alien gone and the smooth, cylindrical ship rumbling.
And then he was in the trees, the helicopters so loud they might have been overhead. The rumbling grew to a roar, and the repeated cracking noise started slow, speeding up as the space-time was smashed up and released repeatedly. Trees flashed past as Andrew raced after the fleeting form of Steven.
Then they were home, safe, and the ship a cylinder of light rising far into the sky.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
About a mile away, Dave cursed as the ship disappeared, leaving the helicopter carrying him behind. The ground flashed below as the pilot flew the machine in circles, uncertain of what to do. Cracking noises slowly disappeared, and the helicopter’s blades took up the silence.
Dave had been waiting nearby, thinking that the unidentified object would land nearby. When the police had dismissed a call about a landing, Dave had questioned the officer and set off on a covert mission.
But he had still arrived too late.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
“We’re home!” two familiar voices called from downstairs. Andrew jumped up from playing Mario Cart and raced downstairs. His parent stood smiling at the front door.
His mother sighed. “Oh, it looks like we have to deal with Andrew again. I had such a relaxing time without him.”
They all smiled cheerfully. Steven came racing down the stairs too, looking slightly agitated that their Mario Cart game had been interrupted.
“So, sport,” his dad started as Mother walked into the kitchen. “Did you have a good time? What happened?”
Andrew and Steven shared a knowing look. “Nothing much.” They had decided earlier not to say a word.
“Hey Andrew!” his mother called from the kitchen, sounding irritated. “You forgot to do your chore list!”