'Sacmis' (formerly 'Alien Abduction')

Chapter 64: Return

The view of space from the lounge had changed overnight. 

Where before the starfield had been evenly composed of billions of tiny points of light, now there was one that outshone all the rest, visibly blue in colour, and very much larger. 

But this one was not a star, it was a planet. 

Earth.

The four women stood close to the curved glass mesmerised by the sight.

“It’s hard to believe that’s where we come from,” said Kate, “that everything down there is continuing just as before.”

“Yoo-hoo Mum!” called Amisha, waving, “Put the kettle on.”

“It will be a while yet,” said a voice behind them.

Turning, they saw that the four alien men had joined them.

“Later today,” continued Irvn, “we’ll make orbit with the Moon. Then tomorrow, you’ll be going home.”

The women turned to each other and smiled. 

“How are you going to get us back?” asked Gemma, “and - more to the point - where?”

“We’ve been thinking about that - and we have a plan.”

“I remember the last time you said that,” said Amisha, but her smile showed there were no hard feelings behind her comment.

“It’s going to be a bit strange when we just pop up,” added Laura.

“Agreed,” said Teo, “which is why we thought that the best excuse for your…sudden disappearance…would be an invitation at very short notice to attend a friend’s wedding….”

“…and because it was somewhere nice, you had decided to make  a holiday of it,” added Matias.

“I hate to think how that would have gone down with my chambers,” said Laura, “I’m not sure they actually believe in holidays.”

“So where was this wedding?” said Kate.

“Phuket, Thailand.”

“Not Bromsgrove then,” said Amisha. “That’s a relief.” 

“Phuket…that’s one of the classiest resorts on the planet,” said Laura.

“Yes,” said Matias, looking at Kate, “we hoped you’d like the idea. And we’ve chosen what appears to be the very best hotel there.”

“Seriously,” added Teo, “we thought you should have a proper rest after everything that has happened.”

“Er, sorry to be a killjoy,” said Gemma, “but Phuket’s a bit out of my league.”

“Everything has been arranged,” said Irvn, smiling at her, “reservations have been made and all expenses taken care of. You just sign the bill and leave.”

“And how do we get home?” asked Kate.

“Your flights are booked. First class.” 

The girls stood in stunned silence until Laura broke it:

“Much as I’m loving this fantasy, how is this possible? We’re still in space.”

“We’ve actually been in signal range for some time now,” said Teo, “so we just logged onto the internet and made all the arrangements.”

“And paid for these…how?”

“From our bank account,” said Irvn.

“You have a bank account?” said Gemma, “What, you mean one day you just…walked in somewhere and opened one?”

“Not quite,” said Teo, “it was all done remotely. Some time ago, we made a deposit in a discreet bank in Switzerland and we just send them instructions when we need to. They’ve never met us, of course.”

“What kind of deposit?” asked Laura, “I doubt any bank would accept whatever you use for currency on Sacmis.”

“You’re right of course,” said Irvn, “so we just deposited gold and they extend us credit against it when we need it. Your Swiss seem very…relaxed…about such matters.”

“So you guys are seriously rich?” said Amisha, hooking her arm through Cymon’s, “Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?”

The others laughed.

© Adriana Nicolas 2015