Danger Magellan's Invasion of Earth

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Hello there," Cerise said to us. Her purple eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "How are you doing today?"

"We're doing fine," Tanaquil said.

"Would you like to see how a nuclear reactor works?" Cerise asked.

Danger rolled his eyes. "Let's cut to the chase," he said. "You're Cerise, right?"

"I am," Cerise said. "How did you know that?"

"We have our methods," Danger said. "Cerise, tell us everything you know about the Ink. If you don't, I have a Supernova Multi-Purpose Ray Gun with me and I could..."

"Danger, don't threaten the poor woman," I said.

"Remember, we come in peace," Tanaquil said.

"Right," Danger said. "Cerise, ignore anything I said about a ray gun."

Cerise looked at us in confusion. "Who are you, and why do you want to know about the Ink?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Danger exclaimed. "The Ink has already destroyed three planets, two of which are in my system! Why wouldn't I want to know about the Ink?"

"We're trying to destroy the Ink in order to help the entire galaxy," I said. "My name is Nora, and these are my friends Danger, Raquel, Arthur, and Tanaquil."

"We're not just friends, Nora," Raquel said.

"You're right, Raquel," I said as I reached for her hand. We held hands for a moment as Cerise considered what we had said so far.

"You guys seem a bit suspicious," Cerise finally said. "Are you sure that you weren't sent by the Blue Alliance?"

"We're sure," Arthur said. "I like your thinking though."

Danger handed Cerise his intergalactic passport. "I'm from Gwydion," he said. "Arthur, Raquel, and Nora are Earthlings, and although Tanaquil's from Mars, she's loyal to us."

"I just wanted to get off of Mars," she said as she played with one of her braids. "I've never been involved with the Blue Alliance, and I was just an ordinary high school student back on Mars."

"I see," Cerise said. "Well, I suppose that I'll tell you what I know, but we have to find a better place to do it. We can't have anyone overhearing us."

"Where should we go?" I asked.

"My house isn't far from here," Cerise said. She placed a sign that indicated that her exhibit was closed on the table, and she started walking out of the marketplace. All of us followed her to her home, which turned out to be a spacious but streamlined house just outside of the marketplace. When Cerise opened the door, a boy who appeared to be around seven years old with sandy hair and purple eyes gave her a hug. When the boy saw us, he said something in Yellow Common Language, which Blaze translated. "Mom, who are they?" he asked.

"They're just guests," Cerise said. "Mikado, these are my guests Nora, Arthur, Tanaquil, and Danger. They're here on official business. Everyone, this is my son, Mikado."

Raquel kneeled down to look Mikado in the eyes. "Hi there," she said.

"Hi," Mikado said nervously.

I smiled at Raquel, but she ignored me and continued to talk to Mikado. It was adorable watching her interact with Cerise's son. "What can I say?" Raquel said when she finally stood up. "Little kids are cute."

Cerise led us into another room, while Mikado and his younger brother Cordovan stared at a black and white television set in the living room. "It all started last summer," Cerise said once we were out of the earshot of her children. "The Blue Alliance approached me and said that they wanted me to create a weapon to give them an advantage in the Oroshi War."