The Light That Shines From Above

Chapter 5

I tried to count the hours that I was in the cell but after three I got confused. I kept the main hours on my fingers but counting to sixty, sixty times became hard after a few attempts.

I knew, because of the alien doctor guy, that the sun was already up in Seward. With that information I knew my mother had already called. I could all but guarantee my cellphone had dozens of missed calls and the landline was probably ringing as I sat here.

I wondered if she called our neighbor Cooper yet. Or maybe his wife. I didn't think she would call anyone else. She has a horrible impression of police because they never believed her. She will swear up and down all day long about how they don't help people, they only do basic things to make it seem like they are reliable.

In a way I understood her stance now. But at the same time, how can you really convince someone that you had been abducted by aliens? There was never any trace of their visit, never any marks left on her. It was one of the reasons I stopped believing her as I aged. I would always ask, how could they take her and I not see them? How could I not hear it? We were rarely two doors away from each other in the night.

So it was safe to say the police would not be called.

I stared at the blinking lights. My mother would want to come home. She would probably break into a rambling fit with her boss when he told her they still had two more days until the flight. I knew from that point on she would have her phone on her the entire time. She would be texting and calling me any chance she got.

I wish I had a way to tell her I was okay. Sure I'm stalled in the middle of space but I'm alive. I haven't been injured. It wouldn't calm her much.

My hands shot out to stable myself and the cage rattled intensely. In the same instant a loud groaning echoed through the area, the sound of a large metal wheel picking up speed following.

I guess that was the engine.

Before the shaking could stop the woman was back at my door. I rose immediately.

"Commander Cencan will see you now," she informed me as I she opened the door again.

I walked to the door. "What time is it back on Earth?"

"Which continent are you from?"

"North America. The far west side."

She stared at me blankly. I wondered if she knew where that was. I mean they knew where I lived but perhaps they used a different way to determine location. My way of telling the location was by a compass, they might have something completely different.

"It is sunset in your location."

Sunset. So no actual time for me but I could guess. I was certain everything I had thought my mother did had happened. I wondered if my neighbor had come over to check already. If so it would look like I just disappeared. All my things were there. My mother's car was still in the drive.

I followed the woman without resistance this time. The alien doctor had said I would need to see their leader to discuss my punishment for damaging the engine. I would try what I could to get out of it. To get him to drop me back home.

I paid attention to which ways we were turning, figuring out last time not to look for markers. This time I counted. First hall left. Third hall right. Second hall right. Seventh hall left.

I was led to another metal door, she pressed her palm to the wall and it pushed open.

The room inside was made of the same metal material in the halls. This time there was one large table in the middle. It was welded to the floor with smooth seems. On the table was a series of buttons. There were red and yellow ones like near my cell but this one had square and triangle ones with colors of green and purple. There were no wires attached to them so I assumed they ran through the table. Though it was incredibly thin.