Codename Alpha

Chapter 16

It was turning out to be surprisingly harder to stick to farmland than I thought. Although they weren't too close together, there seemed to be houses in every direction I looked, many with their lights on. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone was just watching out their window and could see us, or at the very least, our outlines, inside the car as we passed under a streetlight. The profile of our heads from the side would be more than enough to get across the fact that we were aliens, if what we had seen of them so far held true.

"I think we should probably pull over," I said, relaying my concerns. "I may be remembering incorrectly, but I feel cars at night are far easier to see into. Plus, there's not many other cars out, so the police could spot us from a mile away." I looked up ahead to see if there was anywhere I could pull over at. If anything, there was going to be even less space, as it seemed like we'd be coming up into another town.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. See those hills out there?" Max said, pointing past the town. I couldn't see it all too well, but could make out the vague outline of it. "There's a forest we could probably hide in until morning."

"Alright. Just gonna go around this town, to be safe," I said, as I took the next turn I could see. For the most part, I had no actual idea where I was driving; my strategy had just been to go in as straight a direction as the twisting roads allowed. It was no small miracle that I hadn't run into a dead end yet. Nonetheless, I eventually came upon another fork in the road. Both ends looked like they'd take us up another one of those hillside farm type areas, which I was entirely okay with.

The seemingly ordinary scenery outside was surprisingly nice to look at. The night sky seemed clouded by lights from nearby towns, or possibly cities, but the sheer amount of greenery and actual farms present felt good. The town I was avoiding looked welcoming, too. After a while, the concrete road came to an end, intersecting with an actual asphalt road, with lines painted on it. Down this street and to the left, I could see another intersection where a concrete road went in the direction of the hills we were trying to get to. I was just about to turn on to it when I spotted a pair of headlights coming up the road, also from the left. Immediately, I became worried that it was the police, but once it passed I realized that it was just a normal white sedan, albeit in the very boxy look the alien cars seemed to have.

"You know, I saw this thing on the Valiant and I've been wondering what it is since," I said, while turning on to this road. "This computer in the stellar cartography lab had a screensaver with, like... some dude in an orange jumpsuit, with a wolf phasing through a stop sign in the background. Either of you have any idea what it's from?"

"Wow," Marine said. "Sounds interesting, but can't say I've ever heard of anything like that."

"Same. Wish I had, though, because it sounds like I'm missing out on something," Max added.

"Well, damn. Seeing as how we're stranded 12 light years away from any method I could use to find out, I doubt I will any time soon," I said, while turning the car onto the other concrete road. I could see the forest a bit better now, thankfully.

"Even if we're nowhere near home, you could ask whoever the computer belongs to once we're back."

I continued going straight to the best of my ability until coming across another intersection, which ran alongside more hillside farms. I turned right, then left, going up a short path which got us onto the first level. This road eventually curved and went upwards, bringing us directly into the forest. As I entered, I turned on the truck's high-beams, keeping watch for anywhere I could pull over and hide the truck.

Thankfully, this didn't take too long to find. I eventually came across a break in the trees, and immediately pulled within it, slowly continuing for about fifteen seconds before coming to a stop.

"Here we are, in yet another forest," I said, while looking around at the dashboard so I could actually figure out how to turn it off. I realized that they likely didn't have any crazy pheromone-activated type controls, and just turned the key to the off position, shutting it off. I took the key out and put it in one of the cup holders, just to be safe. We were left in darkness, with the only sounds being crickets chirping.

"Man, it feels like lunchtime," Max said. "Oh, speaking of, now would probably be a good time to do just that." He opened his door and climbed out.

"Where are you going?" Marine asked, beating me to the punch.

"To the back!" He exclaimed, enthusiastically. "Now would also be a great time to stargaze, no?"