Her Royal Madness

Her Royal Madness Part 15

There was complete silence in the room, even from Nicholas, as the meaning of Henry's words sunk in. 

After a minute I spoke up. "Henry, do you realize what you're saying? If this is true, that means you're, uh we're, er I'm an - well we're not from - so we must be - ooh! Henry Aaron Johnson. If this is another one of your stupid jokes, I'll, I'll --" 

Henry said "I wish I was joking. I always thought you were an alien or something, but I thought I was just an ordinary - well, extra-ordinary - human. You know, this does explain a lot - no human can be as talented as me. You guys should feel better now - it's only natural that you'd be inferior to me. I mean, you're real good for humans, but you can't compare yourselves to our race. Ha ha." 

"What are you saying Hank?" said Nicholas. "We trusted you, we thought you were our friend. And now we find out you - you're an alien! What are you doing on Earth anyway? Are you some sort of spy, getting to know us, getting ready for the invasion? Or are you gonna fatten us up like cattle, to feed your planet of bug-eyed monsters? Or are you --" 

"Shut up Nick! You're even annoying me." said Martin. "You've been watching too many bad movies. Hank's just Hank, the same old egotistical jerk we've known and loved for years. If you'd been paying attention, you'd know this is all as new to Hank and Maddie as it is to us. Ain't that right Hank?" 

"I'm glad somebody around here is thinking. Don't be such a bonehead Nick. I'm still the same guy I've always been. I don't know where we're going or what's going to happen. But I'll tell you something - and I've never been more serious in my life - no matter what, my loyalty will always be with Earth. That's my home. My real home. I don't care where somebody says I might have been born. I don't live in outer space." And they say girls are drama queens. 

"Okay, so maybe you're alright Hank. But what about her?" 

"What about her Nick? She's my sister. You got a problem with her, you got a problem with me." 

"Thanks Henry. Nicholas, everything Henry just said goes double for me." No, I'm not making a habit out of agreeing with my brother, but every once in a while he accidentally gets it right. "You have to believe us. We're just as confused and scared as you are." 

"Well I never said I was scared. I just wanted to know what your intentions were, in case I needed to, you know, take action." Nervously, Nicholas changed the topic. "So what happened next Hank? Did Alvonis tell you any more?" 

"Not really. When I asked what she meant, all she said was 'Patience dear. Juna will explain everything later. When your sister has recovered from her ordeal. But right now my boss is giving you the evil eye. I think she wants you to leave the bridge now. Please follow the blue light.' 

"Then out of nowhere a little blue light popped up, just floating in midair. It slowly moved toward the hatch in the floor. I opened the hatch and climbed down, following the little blue light. It led me down the ship to this room we're in. 

I've been stuck here ever since. All by myself. Nothing to do. No one to talk to. I almost went crazy. At least the food's good. 

"Then after three days of talking to myself, guess what? The little blue light showed again. So I did what you do when a little blue light shows up. I followed the little blue light. This time it took me to the room where I met you guys." 

"When was that?" I asked. 

"Let's see. It was about, uh, three hours ago." Henry said, looking at his watch. "Nick and Mash were just getting out of their tanks. If I hadn't seen it, I never would have believed they'd been hurt at all." 

"Yeah," said Nicholas, "I felt better than I've felt for a long time. Me and Mash woke up just as the goop was draining out of the tanks. Then we got hosed off and blow dried right in the tank. As soon as we were dry, the tanks opened up to let us out. That's when Hank and Juna showed up."