Earth to Emma

The Deal

"MARS?" I shrieked, launching out of my make-shift chair. I started to pace the room as my hand made its way to my mouth, and I started gnawing on a finger nail. A habit I hadn't managed to break, no matter how many times I painted them.

"What, did you really think we were just floating in space? In this economy? Besides," Zig added, setting his notebook down on the empty bed, "normal Agvets like us aren't allowed on ships headed for outside the atmosphere."

"Yeah," Kio snorted. "And good thing. I mean would you want to go hurtling through space for some unknown amount of time?"

"I mean, I guess..." I muttered, pausing in the middle of the room. "Still, you can't blame me for not knowing where we are. There aren't any windows in this place."

"Is it true humans have windows on all their buildings?" Zig asked excitedly. "I remember that from our household unit. And do you really have feral animals running around?"

"Um, yeah? I don't know how I would survive the winter without windows." I shuddered, finally taking my finger nail away from my traitorous teeth. "And I don't know about feral animals, but we certainly have domestic."

"But aren't pigeons feral?"

"Well, I mean—"

"Give the poor human a break." Kio broke in. He burrowed under the covers of his bed-like-thing until all that poked out was the top of his head. "How would you feel if you were suddenly dropped on Jupiter?"

Zig shuddered, hugging himself as if a cold breeze blew through the room.

"Stars above, don't even joke about that."

Sighing, I resigned myself to the chair and sat back down. "I've never left my home state, let alone the planet! And what's wrong with Jupiter? It's such a pretty color."

"Think of Jupiter as our 'Detroit'. Did I use that right?" Zig looked towards Kio's form for confirmation. It was starting to become obvious that one of them did a lot more studying than the other.

"Ok." Taking a deep breath, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Ok. So. I help you with your studying, and you get me home? To earth?"

There was a beat of silence, almost unnoticeable, before Zig spoke.

"Of course! That would be the least I could do to make it up to you."

Oh, to be home. The thought of my cozy armchair by the fireplace of my tiny apartment flashed across my mind, and my heart rate slowed. Maybe I would treat myself to a sandwich and chips from Sam's Subs right across the street. My order was always the same. Lettuce, cheese, and ham on whole wheat with pretzels. Sometimes when I was feeling especially risky, I would throw in a Pepsi.

"Ok," I repeated, looking Zig right in the eyes. "Let's get this exam over with."

............

"It's not that hard!"

"Yes, it is! How am I supposed to know what the capital of Maine is? You didn't know what the capital of Massachusetts was until you looked in my textbook! And to think you're the teacher."

Glaring at Zig, I slammed the book shut.

"We've been studying for who knows how long. I'm bound to forget some things. Besides, it's not my grade that's at stake."

"Exactly. We should take a break." Zig glared right back at me.

"No. I want to get home. My neighbor is probably worried sick about me. She's this nice old lady who I bring the newspaper to every morning. Not that you would know what a newspaper is."

"I know what a newspaper is!" Zig spluttered, waving his stylus around. Apparently they don't use pencils here. "And besides, no one even knows you're gone. They use Erasure these days."

"What do you mean no one knows I'm gone?"

"Will you two please shut your dust holes! Someone is trying sleep here." A very angry Kio threw the covers back, sitting up.

"Hey, it's not my fault—"

A deafening siren echoed overhead, and I threw my hands over my ears.

"What is that?" I shouted over the screaming alarm.

"It must be an air leak drill!" Zig shouted back, looking frantic. "We need to hide you somewhere."

"Air leak?" I shrieked back. "Are we going to die?"

"No, it's probably just a drill, though an untimely one." Kio shot out of bed, grabbing my hand with a tentacle and pulling it away from my ear. "This happens every once in a while."

"Probably?"

This was not good. Not good at all. The floor spun as I was dragged out of the room and into a shiny grey hallway. No one else was in sight.

"Where is everyone?" I wasn't sure either alien heard me.

"They already got to the meeting point." Zig turned left, and we followed behind him.

These aliens sure could walk fast.

We jogged—or I jogged, they power walked—through the winding hallways, sirens blaring overhead. My breaths came in short pants as we turned a sharp corner and stopped in front of a small oval door.

"In here," Zig breathed into my ear. He smacked some of the hieroglyph things and shoved me in before the door had fully slid up. "We'll come back for you."

"Hey, wait!" I tried to push my way out of the room, but the door had already slammed shut, sending me into darkness.

The room seemed to heave a sigh, and I wrapped my arms around my torso. The sirens were almost inaudible in here, as though a heavy blanket had been thrown over me. I stood perfectly still.

"H-hello?" I whispered, blinking into the dark. Shaking my head, I snorted at myself. There's nothing in here.

A deep growl resonated through the cramped room. Stifling a scream, I whipped around, stumbling backwards into a wall. The wall rumbled, and I fell to the ground, scrambling away.

My knees ached as I pulled myself back up, my hand latching onto a pipe.

"'Ey, watch it, lady!"

This time I did not stifle my scream as I fell, scooting away blindly.

"Aw man, don't scare the poor thing."

"She started it, grabbing my arm an' such. What was I supposed ta do? Let 'er cut off my wiring?"

My eyes darted back and forth in the darkness until a small light sparked into existence. Two metallic faces stared back at me.

"Well, whadda we 'ave here?"

............