Hidden

Chapter 1

Max trained his gun on the buck. He shut one eye and aimed straight at it. "Now I've got 'ya!" he quietly exclaimed. he slowly made his finger to the trigger, and.... 'CRASH'! the deer ran, startled by the loud disruption that even made Max jump. "what in the heck was that?!" demanded Max to no one in particular. As he stomped through the foliage, looking for the source of the disturbance, he came across what he suspected was just that.

it was a silver, pill-shaped thing, that was about the size of a person. a portion of the object seemed to have collided with something, making it scratched up, and dented. surrounding the whole thing was a small crater, and based on the steam coming off the strange item, it appeared that the thing had crashed there!

it looks alien! thought Max. he pulled out his shotgun and started to poke the object with it. nothing happened. Max pulled out his cellphone, so he could call the police, and tell them that he found some government-related, area 51 doohicky of theirs, and that he also expected reward, but he had no signal this deep into the forest. Max decided that the area 51 thingy wouldn't pull anything while he was gone, so he went looking for a signal.

With a hiss, and a release of cold air, the pod slid open, revealing a cold, starving Lydia. Lydia opened her eyes, and inhaled deeply. she had no idea where she was, but she was grateful to have been spared from her previous fate.

however, this gratitude didn't make her any less hungry or thirsty, so she got up from her pod, and started searching.  everything around her was so green. what surrounded her resembled the plants on Xyclosia, but a large difference was color. whereas she was used to blue trees and shrubs, the place where she had landed was green. she figured she was on another planet,which made her excited, but also scared. she had never been to another planet before. she never had enough money. what kind of things lived on this planet? did they at all resemble her? what if they were purple blobs with orange spots and tentacles? what would they do with her?she pushed these thoughts away, and focused on trying to find food. what kind of sustenance did they have here? would it be compatible with her digestive system?

As she wondered about these things, and walked about the woods, sure came across a small house. it was made of stone and thatch, with a bit of smoke coming from the chimney. well at least I know there's civilization here. she thought. she stumbled toward the cottage, still weak, and absolutely starving. Her stomach growled at her, as if trying to prove this.  she leaned against a tool shed, trying to get her balance, but the world all around her was spinning. 

meanwhile, Mrs. marsey grabbed the sack lunch she'd prepared for her husband. he'd forgotten it, so she was going to go to the office to give it to him, which meant going into town, so she decided that she would also use the opportunity to run some errands. Mrs. marsey  walked outside, and to her surprise, found a pale, young girl with straight brown hair  and a strange black jumpsuit leaning against her tool shed, breathing heavily. " are you oka-" started Mrs. marsey, but before she could Finnish her sentence, the girl collapsed. Mrs. marsey gasped, and almost dropped the lunch. she set it on the car hood and ran to the girl laying  in front of her tool shed. " miss? are you okay?"  Mrs. marsey started shaking her ( which, in the girl's fragile state made her feel as if she might break her), but got no reaction. because the girl was so underfed, Mrs. marsey was able to easily lift her up, and lay her gently across the backseat of her  old convertible.

Mrs. marsey sped to the nearest hospital, which, unfortunately, was not very close, but in the town in which her husband worked.

when they reached the hospital, Mrs. marsey lifted Lydia out of the car, and carried her into the hospital, with Lydia's arm around her shoulder.

Lydia woke up in a small white room, that held the stinging smell of clean, and alcohol. she was laying in a bed with very white sheets, and  her arm was attached to a small clear tube, which in turn was connected to a clear bag filled with a whitish substance, which was strung directly above her head. she also felt much less famished. is this how the inhabitants here receive sustenance? she wondered. she heard voices in the hallway outside her door, in a language that she had never heard the likes of. luckily, her Calcypher was sitting in her head, waiting to help. "language detected: Earthen English. would you like translation?" it asked in her head. "yes" she confirmed to the Calcipher. the voices suddenly tuned to Xyclosian Calimarish, the language she had grown up with. "where did you find this girl, Beth?"asked a deep male voice full of authority. "I found her outside, the poor dear collapsed outside my house, from, I suppose, hunger. I just hope she'll be okay." responded a gentle, feminine voice.

Lydia heard footsteps approaching her room. she was curious to see the inhabitants of this planet.

in walked two people. one of them was a female in maybe her forties or fifties. she was chubby, but in a ' sweet old lady' way that suited her nicely, with her greying light brown hair and her cream dress with roses and lace. 

the other was a man close to the woman's age. he had short brown hair with a twinge of red, and a dignified look about him. he was also wearing rectangular spectacles, and a white lab coat. they looked just like the inhabitants of her own planet.

" look, she's awake!"  exclaimed the woman cheerfully.

"Beth, look at her eyes..." marveled the man. he looked in curiosity at Lydia, whose eyes were in fact, a dark purple.

" I apologize for Adam's rudeness.  I'm Bethany Marsey. I drove you to the hospital. and this is Doctor Adam Burkhardt." Lydia nodded. "where am I?" asked Lydia.  Mrs. marsey replied, "Lickwish, a small town just outside of London."  Lydia nodded, seeming to understand. "is that what this planet is called? Lickwish?" asked Lydia, who was able to speak English to them, because the Calcipher translated automatically both ways. Dr. Burkheardt raised an eyebrow at this. "um, Earth." he answered. hmm. Earth. i think that's somwhere in the Milkyway Galaxy.... thought Lydia. Mrs.Marsey's smile didn't waver. "might you tell us a bit about yourself, dearie?" she asked. Lydia wondered if it would be safe for her to tell her real name. Surely they would have heard about the emporor's assasination, right? that kind of thing traveled all across space. "uh, Lydia. Lydia Sari" she responded. she figured a false last name would be fine for now.