Journey to the Belt

The day had started normally. It was a bright sunny day. People were walking along the road without a worry in their minds. One particular man was taking the trouble of walking to work. With his black suit and pants newly ironed, his briefcase swinging at his side, Nathan Lawrence strolled along, nodding and smiling at others as they walked past.

The countryside was nice. It was cool and breezy. Lawrence took a deep breath of the fresh spring air, the scent of flowers, and all of the various life forms that had begun to emerge.

He made his way into the city. The city was in much contrast to the countryside. It did not smell like fresh air, but more like sludge and grime. Lawrence grimaced at the smell. It always made him sick. There was a disadvantage of working in the city. The unhealthy air must have affected his health and his way of thinking.

It was along Main Street, as he was passing an alley, he was suddenly seized. He dropped his briefcase, his hat was knocked off, but he struggled against the unknown force. This force was much stronger than him and soon, he was tied up and blindfolded.

Then a low, husky voice said, “Now, follow me. ;”

He felt himself being pulled and began to reluctantly walk. He had no idea where he was going, but it seemed a while. He could tell they were turning down different alleys. Then he was going up a flight of stairs, through a door, and into a room where he was forced to sit in a chair. Then the blindfold was removed.

He found himself in a filthy room. There were many bookshelves against the stained white walls. The books were torn and piled everywhere. In the middle of this mess was a nice clean desk with nothing on it. And behind the desk was a man.

The man was sitting in a nicely furnished, black leather chair. He observed Lawrence with cold blue eyes. He was clean-shaven, with short black hair. He was not very skinny, but was nowhere near fat. He appeared to be about thirty. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, with a black shirt and black pants.

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Then the man behind the desk spoke. “ Hello, I’m Antonio Gonzalez. There is a reason why you are here, and you’re not in trouble or anything.”

Gonzalez’s voice was not the same husky voice that Lawrence had heard before. It was very clear, and higher pitched. Lawrence was not sure what he should do. He had never seen this man before, and his appearance scared him a bit.

“ Hello,” said Lawrence in a weak voice. “ I’m not sure why I’m here, but will you let me go?”

“ Yes,” replied Gonzalez, “ but not until I’m finished.”

“ Finished what?” replied Lawrence in a little squeak.

“ When I’m finished with you,” Gonzalez said, still with his cold eyes staring into Lawrence’s. Lawrence stood up to leave, but Gonzalez said, “ I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Lawrence paid no heed and kept walking. Suddenly, the door closed in front of him. He turned around and faced Gonzalez, who remained seated, still staring at Lawrence.

“ The door will open after I’ve finished what I wish to say,” said Gonzalez.

Lawrence sat back down in the chair and faced Gonzalez. Gonzalez said, “ You have been chosen for an experiment. But it’s not really an experiment. It is an experiment for me, and an expedition for you. You’ll be paid, of course, a total of one million dollars. I’m sure you will accept, even though there are risks involved.

“ You are to fly a jet that I’ve designed and created. It is just like any jet plane, but it should have the ability to fly at altitudes far above any other jet. It is called the Falcon 1250. It is large enough to carry about ten people. All you have to do is fly it and see what it does. I’m just checking if it is safe as designed. But first, you must choose four people to go with you. And they cannot be people of whom you know. You must find four people in the next month and take them along. On April 29 at five o’clock sharp, wait at the intersection of Main and Market Street. Someone will come for you. You’ll see me then. Goodbye.”

As promised, the door opened. Lawrence slowly stood up and walked out. He walked down a back alley and along many others until he found his hat and briefcase. He then hurriedly ran to work.

That night, Lawrence pondered what Gonzalez said. Should he accept this deal? Gonzalez seemed like one who would trick somebody. He hadn’t even shown him any money. How was he going to meet new people in a month? This was a ridiculous plan. Perhaps he should just bring some friends who he already knew and act like he didn’t know them. But Lawrence was not used to deceit, so he abandoned that idea. He decided that he would go around and see if he could meet anybody the next day, since the weekend was coming up. Perhaps he would walk around the park.

The next day he did go to the park. It was in the middle of the city. Lawrence looked at the grass in between the streets and walked into the park through the gate and along the brick roads.

His plan was to find somebody, but how was he to do that? People wouldn’t just come to him and ask to be in the test flight. He would have to talk to somebody. He sat on a bench to mull it over. He watched geese swim in a lake in the park. People sat at the bank, children chased the geese, and old couples sat on benches nearby. He must find somebody here. A woman sat on the bench opposite from him. She gave him a quick glance and then began reading a newspaper. Maybe he should ask this woman. He looked at her, but then decided against it. She was too absorbed in her newspaper.

She got up and left, and Lawrence was all alone again. He began watching the geese again. A stone came flying out of nowhere and hit the water among the geese, which began flying in all directions. Lawrence turned his head to see what the cause was. A boy was laughing, pointing at the geese flying around. Lawrence concluded that this was the source. The boy ran up to the bank and looked around for more geese. He then turned around and, spotting Lawrence, ran to the bench and sat right next to him.

“ I like to fly in airplanes,” said the boy.

“ Really?” asked Lawrence, apparently unconcerned. He didn’t know why he was wasting his time with this boy when he should be looking for people who would join the test flight group.

“ Yes. I like flying objects. I like to read about UFO’s and spacecraft. It’s really fun. By the way, my name is Harry Atwood. What’s yours?”

“ My name is Lawrence, Nathan Lawrence.”

“ Well, I wish I could fly. I probably could if I wish to. Someday I wish I can fly in a jet, through the clouds, and into the depths of space.”

A strange thought just entered Lawrence’s mind. “ You say you wish you could fly, right? Well, I’m supposed to find people to join in a group who will fly in a special jet. You know anybody who would come with me?”

“ I do.”

“ Who would that be?”

“ Me.”

“ You? You are too young. This test flight could be dangerous. People could get hurt or killed. You’re not going to go.” Lawrence studied Atwood. He could not be older than twelve. A small, skinny kid, Atwood had green eyes and dark brown hair. His lanky figure looked starving and weak.

“ I’m somewhat experienced in piloting,” said Atwood. “ I’ve played simulators and know a bit about space. May I please join?”

Lawrence thought it over for a moment. “ All right. If I can’t find anyone better, you can join. You know where the intersection of Main Street and Market Street are?” Atwood nodded. “ Good. Meet me there on April 29 at five o’clock.”

Lawrence stood up and waving at Atwood, he departed. He walked along the streets and stopped in a café for a drink. He got his drink and sat down in a corner. He looked around, hoping to find another person. But he saw only senior citizens traveling in groups. He got up and left.

He walked along Main Street, out of the city, through the countryside and back to his house. Then he thought about the ideal places to find the people he was looking for. He could search shops, restaurants, go back to the park, or walk along the streets and back alleys.

The following day, he went back to the park. He sat at the bench in the park for a long time without success. He began to walk along Main Street again. He stopped in the café to look for people but was met with the same crowd of old people. He gave up and went back home.

Twenty days passed quickly. Lawrence was getting desperate to find somebody soon. But he continued on the same routine he had been doing for days. As usually, he went to the park, left the park empty-handed and then went to the café. In the café, there was the same crowd. Lawrence got up to leave. When he got to the door, a small old man bumped into him, spilling coffee over their clothes.

“ I’m so sorry!” exclaimed the old man. “ I didn’t see you.”

“ That’s quite all right. I’m sorry for bumping into you.”

“ It’s not your fault at all.” The old man led him over to a table where other old people were sitting. “ I should fix you up.”

“ No, there’s nothing you can do,” said Lawrence. “ I’d better get going.”

“ No, please stay and meet some of my friends. This is Pauline.” He introduced an old lady sitting next to him. “ This is Timothy.” He pointed to another old man next to Pauline. “ And this is my son Robert.” A man not much older than Lawrence nodded his head. “ Oh yes, my name is Johannes Schmitz. Who would you be?”

“ I’m Nathan Lawrence.”

“ Well, Mr. Lawrence, you seemed deep in thought. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“ Not at all.”

“ Well, there must be something. Name anything. I’m in debt to you over the coffee.”

“ Okay, the only thing that I need is to get someone to join a flight crew to fly a special jet that a man named Antonio Gonzalez had designed. But I’m sure none of you will be able to. That is all.”

“ Well, I made a promise, so I’ll join,” said Johannes. “ And perhaps a few of my cronies here will join. Any takers?”

“ Space travel? It’s utter nonsense. Besides, I’m too old for that stuff,” said Pauline.

“ Yes,” said Timothy, “ I’m sorry, but I agree with Pauline on this matter.”

“ I’ll go,” said Robert.

“ Really?” asked Johannes in a surprised manner, “ that’s great. That’s my son all right. When can we get ready for this?”

“ Well,” began Lawrence, “ we’re supposed to meet on April 29 at five o’clock at the intersection of Main and Market streets. You think you can make it?”

“ I think so,” said Johannes.

“ Good. Now I only need one more person.” Lawrence muttered to himself.

“ One more person? We’ll help you find that person,” said Johannes.

“ Oh, thanks, I really ought to get going now. Will you be here tomorrow?”

“ Of course. We’re here most of the time. We practically live our lives here,” Johannes added with a chuckle. “ Goodbye.”

Lawrence took leave of them and headed back for his house. Now he had three people. He just needed one more person.

He cheerfully strolled back to his house. He was in much better spirits now that he had found two more people just now and they weren’t kids. He looked forward to the next day.

The next day he walked back to the park. Once again, he had no success. But this didn’t get him down. He walked to the café and met Johannes and Robert having a drink. He sat down with them.

“ If it’s okay with you, I think we should go to look for the last person?”

“ How do we do that?

“ Let’s try to bump into somebody and then talk to the person. You might get lucky. But I prefer not to pick kids. I’ve already got one.”

“ All right. Let’s go outside and split up.” The trio got up and left. They split up, walking in different directions. Lawrence walked along Main Street, stopping to look in shop windows for people. He often stopped in the middle of the street to look around. He also sat on benches and looked around unsuccessfully. After daylight had begun to fade he gave up. He found his way back to the café and saw Johannes and Robert waiting for him.

“ Did you find anybody?” Lawrence asked hurriedly.

“ No, we looked everywhere,” said Johannes.

“ Well, we’ll try again tomorrow. I’ll see you here at the same time tomorrow?”

“ Yeah, whatever,” said Johannes.

They searched for the last person for five more days in the same way. Lawrence was now very vexed. He had better find somebody. On the sixth day, they came up with different tactics. Lawrence no longer went to the park. Instead, he spent his time walking around the city with Johannes and Robert. They then decided to split up once again.

Lawrence walked along the streets slowly, taking in all the faces he saw. He decided he must get someone to come to him or he must start talking to someone. He suddenly thought of asking a storekeeper. He walked into the store he just came to. The man looked up and smiled. Lawrence walked directly over to the counter.

“ Do you mind doing me a favor?” he asked.

“ Not at all,” replied the storekeeper. “ What can I do for you?”

“ Well, I’m trying to form a group that will test a jet plane that is to fly at very high altitudes. Could you perhaps join? It’s not that scary.” Lawrence said in a hopeful voice.

“ Join a jet plane group?” the storekeeper asked in an aghast way that made Lawrence’s stomach sink into his shoes. “ I think that is a bit too much for a plain storekeeper. I know nothing about jets.”

“ Well, neither do the rest of the group. Why, we have a little kid, an old man and two amateurs.”

“ I’m sorry, but I can’t join. The shop business is my destiny and I won’t put it off to join a jet plane crew. I’m sorry. Good luck, though.” The storekeeper went back hiding behind a computer.

Lawrence walked out, very much despaired. He slowly walked around and did not care about looking for people anymore. If that was how one man would react, the others, if he asked, would react in a similar matter. Lawrence sighed and sat on a bench for a short while. He then stood up and walked back to the café. Johannes and Robert were waiting for him. They shook their heads when he approached them. Apparently they hadn’t found anyone either.

The next day was the last day they could look for the fourth person because the following day would be the deadline of April 29. Lawrence got up early on the morning of April 28. He quickly got dressed and went to the café, where he met Johannes and Robert again. They quickly split up to find someone.

Today, Lawrence tried harder than ever to find somebody. He randomly asked people, who all refused his request. He became frantic and began asking almost everybody who came in sight. Some looked at him in a confused way; some just ran right by him. Lawrence grew more and more irritated and annoyed. He then sat on a bench, very disgruntled.

Presently, he heard noise on the street not too far from where he was sitting and turned his head in the direction of the commotion. Robert was holding a woman by her arm. A few bystanders looked at them but ignored them. Lawrence ran over to see what was going on.

“ Here’s someone who can join you,” said Robert in a happy voice.

The woman struggled to free herself and glared at Robert and then at Lawrence.

“ Let her go,” said Lawrence.

Robert released the woman, who looked at both of them with abhorrence. “ What do you think you’re doing?” she screamed at Robert. “ It appears that you’re trying to kidnap me, but now I’m not so sure. You know this man?” she asked Lawrence.

“ Yes,” replied Lawrence, “ in fact I do.”

“ Well, he was trying to kidnap me or something. He just grabbed me and ran off with me.”

Lawrence looked at Robert as a teacher looks at a disobedient student. “ You’re not supposed to grab a lady by force.”

“ Look, at least I got somebody,” said Robert with his hands swinging in the air.

“ Yes, but she won’t join us with the way you’ve treated her.”

“ What are you guys talking about?” asked the woman in a perplexed voice.

At first, Lawrence was not going to tell her, but he changed his mind. “ We’re trying to form a test flight group to fly a newly designed jet.”

“ Well, that’s great. I’m not joining.” The woman quickly said and walked away. Robert went pelting after her.

“ Robert! What are you doing? Leave her alone!” Lawrence went running after Robert.

“ That woman may be our last chance,” Robert yelled behind his back. He ran up and caught the woman at the corner of the street.

Lawrence ran up to the two of them. The woman no longer struggled. She just sat there and glared at him. “ Are you going to force me to join?” she asked, her eyes flashing.

“ No, but you see, we only need one more person, and the deadline is due tomorrow. If we don’t make it, I don’t know what will happen,” Lawrence said with a sigh.

The woman thought it over. “ Okay, I’ll join,” she said.

At first Lawrence couldn’t believe his ears, then he smiled and asked, “ You really mean it?”

“ Of course I do,” the woman snapped.

“ Thank you very much,” Lawrence started to jump up and down. “ I’m Nathan Lawrence. This is Robert Schmitz, who is also in the group. Who are you?”

“ I’m Ellie Johnson. I don’t know much about jets, though.”

“ That’s okay. Neither do the rest of us,” said Lawrence awkwardly.

“ Okay, when do we meet?”

“ Five o’clock tomorrow, at the intersection of Main and Market Streets. You can make it, of course?”

“ Yes, I’ll be there.”

“ Excellent. Goodbye.” Lawrence and Robert walked away. They walked back to the café, where Johannes was sitting at a table, looking somewhat frustrated.

“ Well?” he asked.

“ We’ve got the last person,” said Lawrence.

“ Who?” asked Johannes.

“ A woman...” said Robert.

“ ...by the name of Ellie Johnson,” completed Lawrence. “ So now we’ve got the whole crew, I’ll be heading home.”

Lawrence walked out of the café into the city, through the countryside, and into his house. He sat down and smiled at himself. He had completed his task. It was amazing that he had done it. He just hoped everyone would show up tomorrow.

So on April 29, at quarter to five, Nathan Lawrence stood by himself at the intersection of Main and Market Streets. He looked at his watch. He had been standing there for the past fifteen minutes, and no one had shown up. He tapped his feet impatiently.

When he began to pace around the block, Johannes and Robert ran up, panting. “ We almost forgot. Luckily I happened to mention it,” Johannes gasped.

Lawrence thought it over. If the Schmitzes had almost forgotten, and they were the ones who were most involved, then surely the others would completely forget. But at least he had two with him. Five minutes to five, still no others showed up. Four, three, two, one...At about thirty seconds before five, Ellie Johnson showed up. She was not panting, but seemed content with herself.

“ I remembered I was due here. I just took my time,” was her explanation.

It was five o’clock. Harry Atwood had not turned up. Lawrence regretted even trusting that kid. But still, no sign from Gonzalez or anyone mentioning Gonzalez. Five minutes past five, nothing happened. Ten minutes past five, Harry Atwood came sprinting up the street, almost crashing into Lawrence.

“ I’m sorry I’m late. I almost forgot,” said Atwood.

“ That’s okay. I’m going to introduce everybody. This is Johannes Schmitz and his son Robert. This is Ellie Johnson, and this is Harry Atwood,” Lawrence said.

“ That’s great. But now it’s twelve minutes past five and I’m wondering when this jet thing is going to start,” Johnson snapped.

“ All in due time, Ms. Johnson,” said Lawrence. But he was beginning to worry. Was Gonzalez just joking? What would the others think if nobody showed up? They would detest him. Lawrence all at once became nervous and began pacing the street.

Suddenly, a man punched him right on his face and dragged him into a nearby bar.

“ What do you think you’re doing? It looks very suspicious. A man standing at an intersection meeting other people. It’s as if you’r waiting for someone. You know, I could get you into trouble for this,” said the unknown man.

“ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Lawrence as he struggled against the man. “ I’m not waiting for anybody.”

“ Yes you are. I bet you are. That’s very suspicious. It looks like some gang.“

“ Who are you?”

Antonio Gonzalez ripped off his mask and smiled at Lawrence. “ So we meet again.”

“ You. What’s the big idea? Why do you have to punch me and all that? You could have just walked up and said hello.”

Gonzalez smiled again. “ Just trying something new.”

“ Never do that again. The people are probably scared. Let me go to get them.”

Lawrence walked out of the bar. The Schmitzes, Johnson, and Atwood were looking at him confusedly. “ Who was that jerk?” asked Johnson. Gonzalez stepped out into the street.

“ Let me introduce Antonio Gonzalez, the designer of the jet, Falcon 1250. He has decided that we are to test this high-altitude-flying jet. Antonio, this is Johannes and Robert Schmitz, Ellie Johnson, and Harry Atwood.”

Gonzalez passed his cold eyes over the group. His eyes hesitated on Atwood a bit, and yet he approved of the group with a nod.

Johnson stepped forward. “ Of course, Mr. Gonzalez, you must realize that none of us know how to fly a jet.”

“ That is okay,” said Gonzalez, “ I’ve taken care of that. Let me introduce my bodyguard and friend Claus. Claus is an expert of flying a jet and will be traveling with you. But I must warn you not to make him angry. He is very muscular and will make you suffered badly.” A large, blonde man stepped out of the bar. Muscles bulged through his shirt. His small, beady blue eyes scanned the group.

“ And now,” began Gonzalez again, “ if you will follow me, I will take you to the place where we keep Falcpm 1250.”

He began strutting hastily along the sidewalk. The others followed. They were walking down Market street. Lawrence saw Gonzalez nod to a few people in the street. They turned onto another street and walked for a while down the street. Gonzalez stopped suddenly and looked around. He then crossed the street. The others followed again.

Gonzalez walked down into one of the cellars. In it Lawrence spotted nothing but mops and other household cleaning items. Gonzalez walked to the middle of the room and opened a trapdoor. He descended down. The others followed. They were descending a circular flight of stairs that kept going down, down, and down. It was many minutes before they reached the bottom. At the bottom was a door. Gonzalez pulled out a key and unlocked the door. He walked through the door with the others. They were in a small metal corridor. They walked across the corridor to the other side. Gonzalez slid a card that he pulled out of his pocket into a slit on the door. The door slid open. The group walked through.

They were in an enormous room. There were workers dressed in white everywhere. The walls, the ceiling, and the floors were white. There were rows of computers arranged around the room. But that was not what had caught Lawrence’s eye. For, in the middle of the room, was the Falcon 1250.

It was a gigantic jet. It looked more like a passenger plane. It had many smaller windows than those of the passenger planes.

Gonzalez beamed up at the jet. “ Many years of work has gone into that thing. And now it’s in the hands of you guys. I’m not sure if I should trust you guys. This is the most diversed group I’ve ever seen: a young man, an old man with his son, a snappy woman, a kid, and a bodyguard. How did you find such people?”

“ By luck, this is the group I found,” Lawrence said proudly. “ Now if you don’t like us, go ahead and find your own group. Why don’t you?”

“ No, no, the group is fine. Well, let’s take a look at it, shall we?”

He walked around to the front of the jet. It had a sleek aerodynamic nose and it is plain without much decoration. It was basically all gray and metallic. A long sharp needle came out of the front of the jet. The wings were folded back. The cockpit could hold at least two people.

“ Is this thing ready?” asked Lawrence.

“ It can take off right now, if you wish it to,” replied Gonzalez.

“ Exactly when will we fly this thing?”

“ Oh, in a matter of time, most likely tomorrow.”

“ Well, in that case, shouldn’t we leave now?”

“ If you wish.”

“ Yes, but when should we meet?”

“ Well, now, that’s a problem. I think you should fly it before tomorrow. People have less chances of seeing it in the dark. So I’ve decided that you fly it tonight. But first, we must have a discussion for what you guys will do.” Gonzalez led them to a table in the corner of the room. The group sat around it. “ Okay, first you take off. Claus will be the pilot. The rest of you are just crewmembers. After that, you can just cruise around. It doesn’t matter how long you fly. There is sufficient amount of food and fuel. You could probably fly around the Earth if you wish to. I’m not sure, but with the altitudes at that thing can fly, you could probably fly into space. You never know. There’s a communication system that you can contact me anytime you wish. That’s pretty much all I can tell you now. So we’ll have a small meal, and then you guys can take off in the Falcon 1250.”

After the meal, the group walked back to the jet. They were now wearing uniforms that Gonzalez had provided them. They ascended ladders that had been put on the sides of the jet and boarded it. Claus immediately sat in the pilot seat. The rest explored the jet. First, the cockpit was equipped with large, comfortable, felt chairs. There were all kinds of controls of the jet, a large monitor full of buttons and switches. The next room had a set of couch and a dinning table with a TV framed into the wall. The next room was a kitchen attached to a bathroom. The back room was full of supplies and random objects.

Lawrence sat in the copilot seat next to Claus. “ When do we take off?” he asked.

“ When we’re supposed to. I suppose that will be in a couple of minutes,” Claus replied in his husky voice. Lawrence recognized his voice. It was the same voice that had belonged to the man who kidnapped Lawrence on that peaceful day he set off to work.

Soon, they were clear to lift off. Lawrence wondered how they would do it. They would crash right into the wall of the room. But, to his amazement, the wall slid down, revealing a long runway. Claus pressed down on the accelerator, and the jet taxied forward. Lawrence looked out the window as the people rushed past them. He’d sworn he saw Gonzalez waving to them.

For a few seconds, everything was a blur. Presently, they were on a clear runway. To Lawrence, the sky looked far away and they were in a canyon deep in the Earth. Claus pulled back on the joystick and the jet’s nose moved up. They began their steady climb up towards the clouds. At the same time, Lawrence looked down at the runway getting smaller and narrower.

They finally came out of the canyon. Now they were above a grazing field for cows. For miles around, there was nothing but farmland. They must be above the countryside, Lawrence reasoned. The jet continued to ascend. Now they were flying through the clouds at an altitude of about forty thousand miles.

“ Where is the radio? I want to contact Gonzalez,” said Lawrence.

“ It’s those buttons,” Claus pointed to a separate array of buttons.

Lawrence turned the radio and the speaker on. It was Gonzalez’s voice. “ So, how are you doing?” it asked.

“ We’re okay. Now we’re about sixty thousand feet above sea level. We’re still climbing.” Lawrence checked the altitude gauge.

“ Falcon 1250 could move very fast,” said Gonzalez. “ It probably could move faster than a rocket.”

“ That’s not possible,” said Lawrence. “ Right now it’s moving at 2,000 miles per hour. Now we’re at 65,000 feet.”

“ And Claus,” Gonzalez addressed the bodyguard, “ don’t stall the aircraft and keep it flying higher and higher. It might even be able to break the ozone layer, but don’t count on it. I did store oxygen tanks and astronaut suits just in case. And don’t worry. The metallic material that Falcon 1250 is made of is extremely durable.”

“ All right. When should we return?” asked Claus.

“ When you’re quite content,” replied Gonzalez. “ And Lawrence, if you wish, you can go in the back and watch TV or play games. I have a lot of entertainment systems there. And make sure you fly the jet for a while. I want to see if it can travel around the Earth.”

Gonzalez disconnected, and the radio was turned off. Lawrence sat back in his chair and looked out the window. They were way above the clouds. He checked the altitude meter. They were flying at seventy thousand feet. The speed was still at 2000 miles per hour.

“ Exactly at what altitude does this thing fly the fastest?” he asked Claus.

“ I was told it flies fastest around 100 thousand feet,” replied Claus.

“ 100 thousand feet! Are you joking? That is extremely high.”

“ Well, the Blackbird can fly that high, too. It’s easier to fly at high altitudes. There’s less gravity and wind pressure. There’s not much oxygen up there.”

“ Stay at seventy thousand feet. I’m going to talk with the others.”

Lawrence walked into the room behind the cockpit. Everyone was sitting on the couch, watching the news. Lawrence stood there looking at them.

“ Well,” began Johnson, “ what’s happening in the front?”

“ Right now we’re at seventy thousand feet above sea level and cruising at 2000 miles per hour.” Lawrence waited for it to sink in.

“ Wow,” said Atwood. “ Few jets can fly at seventy thousand feet. And at Mach 3, that’s very fast.”

“ Yes indeed,” said Johannes, “ can it fly faster or higher?”

“ Yes. But I prefer we stay at the level we are now,” replied Lawrence.

“ No, let us go higher,” said Atwood.

Lawrence walked back into the cockpit and sat next to Claus again. “ Should we fly higher?”

“ I think so,” said Claus. “ Air friction is heating the sides of the jet. It’s getting pretty hot. I’m going to fly up to eighty thousand feet.” He pulled back on the joystick, and the jet began climbing again. Soon they were at eighty thousand feet. Lawrence noted that the jet was now moving at 2200 miles per hour. He stood up and walked into the kitchen.

The kitchen had a microwave and a refrigerator that ran on electric power generated from the engine. The kitchen pantry was stocked with assorted foods. The adjacent bathroom was a one-person bathroom, with a toilet that flushed things out of the jet. Lawrence then headed into the backroom.

There were oxygen tanks and astronaut suits, as Gonzalez had said. There were also extra clothes, rags, a mop, a pair of binoculars, and a pistol. Lawrence looked at the pistol in surprise. He wondered why it was there. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.

He then walked to the cockpit and sat in his seat. Claus was slowly ascending the plane. It was near eighty-five thousand feet. The speed was now 2300 miles per hour. Lawrence sat and looked around. Below them, he saw the lights of another jet flying below them. It seemed to be moving very slowly, but that was just because the two were separated by about fifty thousand feet.

Lawrence felt the jet move upward again. Claus had pulled back the joystick, and the plane was in a steep climb. They were at ninety-five thousand feet before Lawrence yelled for him to stop. The speed of the jet was now at 2500 miles per hour. Lawrence couldn’t see the ground nor could he see the clouds below. They flew on like this for about half an hour until Claus came into his sight.

“ Look,” he said, “ we’ve picked up something on the radar. It looks like another jet.”

“ Another jet? How can there be another jet this high up here? You know, I think it’s a little hard to breathe. There’s not much oxygen up here.”

“ There plenty of oxygen in the jet. But anyway, there’s another jet. It’s moving towards us. It should be directly in front of us shortly.”

“ What’s its altitude?”

“ I’d say about ninety-five thousand feet also.”

“ And its speed?”

“ About 2000 miles per hour.”

“ How long will it take to reach us?”

“ In a matter of minutes, I suppose.” Claus looked worried. “ If we keep on like this, we’ll probably have a head-on collision.”

“ You think it picked us up on its radar?”

“ I’m not sure. Gonzalez put a coating of paint that should reflect the radar energy. It probably won’t detect us.”

The two sat there, staring straight ahead. They still could not see any other jet in front of them even though, on the radar, the other jet was approaching.

“ You think maybe we should change direction, so we don’t crash right into them?” asked Claus.

“ No,” replied Lawrence, “ I want to see what it is.”

They sat there in silence, waiting for the minutes to tick by. The other jet was moving closer and closer. Any moment they should see it now. Claus looked over at the radar. “ We should see it in about a minute,” he said.

They sat there. Lawrence was counting the seconds. In the darkness, he thought he could see lights and something moving towards them. At first it was far away, but it came steadily closer. Then, they could see the outline of the jet.

“ That’s what I thought,” said Claus, “ a Blackbird.”

The Blackbird still was heading right towards them. Lawrence looked at Claus, waiting for him to pull into a dive to get out of the way. But he just sat there, staring ahead. “ Claus! Get out of the way!” yelled Lawrence.

Claus sat there and then looked at Lawrence. Suddenly he came to himself, he pulled back on the joystick right before the Blackbird collided with them. Lawrence went tumbling back against his seat. He heard screams from the back. The jet went flying up into the sky. Lawrence looked at the altitude gauge. They were at 100 thousand, 110 thousand, 120 thousand, 130 thousand...the jet was getting extremely warm. Lawrence looked around him and then went off into a doze.

When he woke up, everything was dark. He could not see. He looked at the pilot’s seat. Claus was not sitting there. Lawrence looked at the altitude gauge. To his surprise, it said zero.

Lawrence stood up and walked into the entertainment room. Everybody was resting on the couch. Johnson was muttering to herself. Atwood was looking around hastily.

“ What happened? Where’s Claus?” asked Lawrence.

“ If you want to know what happened, take a look outside,” said Atwood.

Lawrence looked out the window. It was dark. He could see small lights all around. But wait a minute, he had only seen lights like those when...

“ What time is it?” he asked.

“ Hard to tell out here, Pal,” said Johannes.

Lawrence walked into the kitchen. Claus was walking on the ceiling. But that wasn’t possible. He looked up again. Claus was standing on the ceiling, looking down at him.

“ How you get up there?” Lawrence asked.

“ I jumped up,” replied Claus.

“ How could you do that?” Lawrence jumped up. Instead of falling back down, as he had expected, his head crashed right into the ceiling, and he went spinning around the room. “ There’s no gravity!” he exclaimed.

“ Yeah,” said Claus, “ that would be because we’re in space.”

Lawrence stared at him for a long time. “ Are you serious?” he asked.

“ Well, judging by the fact that you saw stars outside the window, I would say what I’m saying is true,” said Claus, studying Lawrence’s face.

“ I thought this thing couldn’t fly through space.”

“ Gonzalez said it might be able to. You remember feeling that heat? That was the intense speed and later the ozone layer. So we’ve ended up out here. I turned the engine off, but we’re still cruising away from Earth at a very fast speed. We’ll probably crash into something soon.”

“ Exactly what direction are we traveling?”

“ We’re traveling away from the Earth, more towards Mars.”

“ Okay. Are we going to land on Mars?”

“ I largely doubt it.”

“ Will we land anywhere?”

“ I’m not sure. It would be bad if we just kept cruising through space. Luckily we have a lot of food. Aren’t you hungry? You’ve been asleep for several days.”

“ Really? I don’t feel hungry. I just feel empty. But I’ll eat.” Lawrence got crackers out of the pantry. He then thought of something. “ Why are the others in the room not floating around? Why aren’t the refrigerator and microwave oven floating around?”

“ All the items are glued to the floor. I guess they are actually holding on to the couch. That’s how Gonzalez made it in case we ever got stuck in space. He’s a true genius.” Claus began rummaging through the refrigerator.

“ Not a true genius if he let’s innocent people go floating into space. I’m going to talk to him.” Lawrence walked out of the kitchen, through the entertainment room, and into the cockpit. He turned the radio on and got nothing but static. He checked the frequency, which was correct.

“ Hello, can you hear me?” he said into the speakerphone. He got no reply but static. “ Hello!” he yelled. “ Can someone answer me?”

“ Hello, someone can answer you,” the voice of Antonio Gonzalez came out of the speaker.

“ Guess what? Guess where we are?”

“ Where we are.”

“ Wrong. We’re in space. What do you say about that? It’s all your fault.”

“ It’s not a bad thing. It’s excellent. Now I know that it can travel through space.”

“ It may be good for you, but how are we supposed to get back?”

“ That’s easy. You just turn the jet around.”

“ I don’t know how to do that.”

“ Claus knows. Is he with you?”

“ No, I’ll get him.”

Lawrence walked back through the entertainment room, and into the kitchen. Claus was still standing on the ceiling.

“ Get down here,” said Lawrence, “ Gonzalez wants you to turn the jet around.”

“ Well, he’s going to have a problem with that, isn’t he?” said Claus as he jumped back down to the floor and followed Lawrence to the cockpit.

“ Claus,” said Gonzalez, “ I need you to turn the jet around.”

“ Well, you see, sir,” Claus stammered, “ the joystick is stuck. I can’t move it. So the jet is unable to turn around.”

There was nothing but static coming from the other side for a minute. Then Gonzalez’s voice came slowly from the other side, “ Try as hard as you can to turn the joystick. If you can’t do that, then I’m not sure what to do for you. I would put on those astronaut suits and try to land the jet somewhere. There perhaps you can turn it around and launch it back.” Gonzalez disconnected.

“ Wait a minute,” said Lawrence, “ can’t you use brakes on this thing to stop?”

“ Yes, but those are only air brakes and there’s no air here,” replied Claus. “ we wouldn’t be able to stop. Plus I’ve got the engine off, so nothing would happen.”

The two of them sat there and stared out at space as stars zoomed by them. Lawrence looked around. He could see Mars out in the distance. It was moving closer to them. It wouldn’t be long before they could pass it. But they wouldn’t land on it. It was not directly in front of them.

Lawrence stood up and walked back to the entertainment room. The rest of the group was still clutching onto the couch and watching the news.

“ So, what’s the situation now?” asked Johannes.

“ Quite the same,” replied Lawrence. “ We can’t head back towards Earth. We’re still heading away from Earth at a very fast speed. We won’t be able to land on Mars.”

“ Well, how long will we be stuck like this?” snapped Johnson.

“ We may be like this forever. Hopefully we’ll crash into something.”

“ I’m going to eat,” said Robert. “ We haven’t eaten for a while, but it’s hard to tell the time when you’re out here.”

“ Yes, let’s go to eat,” said Johannes.

The group moved into the kitchen, where they began heating frozen macaroni and cheese. After they finished eating, they put on the astronaut suits, which had been stored in the back room. Then they moved back to the entertainment room, where they allowed themselves to float around the room, still watching the news.

And so, for the next week, month, year, they continued with this, not really knowing when to sleep. They ate sparingly, for fear of running out of food. They had passed Mars. Lawrence hoped they would land on something soon. He had not talked to Gonzalez for the past year. They had no idea what time or what date it was. Everyday was the same. Lawrence spent much of his time in the cockpit with Claus. The two of them would just stare out into space.

They had no way of knowing how many years had passed, until something different happened one day. It had started as usual. Lawrence woke up from sleeping on the chair, which he had to strap himself in every time so that he would not go floating around. Claus also did the same. In the entertainment room, the rest of the crew slept floating around the room. Often they would bump into things or one another. But now they were awake.

“ Okay, what do we do today?” asked Lawrence.

“ I don’t know. What can we do?” asked Johannes. “ Everyday has been the same. You wake up, you sit and watch the news, you eat, and you sleep again. Why, we’re so dirty. I think none of us has washed in years. It seems like years have passed. How long you think it’s been?”

“ I don’t know,” said Lawrence. “ It has certainly been a while.”

“ Do we have a chance of landing somewhere?” asked Johnson.

“ Well, we are approaching the asteroid belt. Maybe we’ll land there. There are a couple of asteroids that are almost directly in front of us. But of course you must take into consideration that asteroids do move.”

“ How long is it until we reach the asteroid field?” asked Johnson.

“ I would say very soon. We’re so close, they’ve been picked up on the radar.”

“ There are at the edge of the radar screen,” Claus shouted from the cockpit.

“ Yes, but we’re pretty close.”

The group landed on the couch and buckled themselves up. Atwood then turned the TV on. After watching the TV for a while, they heard triumphant cries from Claus. Everyone rushed to the cockpit. Claus was jumping in his seat and pointing forward. “ Look, we’re going to land on that big asteroid,” he yelled. “ Finally we’ll land somewhere. There’s hope now.”

They were not far from the asteroid. They should reach it in just a few minutes. A new idea came into Lawrence’s head. “ Wait, aren’t we going to crash head on into that thing? We better land it safely or else it might explode. Is it rock or sand on the surface of that?”

“ At the angle we’re going,” said Claus, “ we’ll lightly slide along the sand on the belly of the jet. I think it’s sand on the surface, but there are areas of rock.”

“ And I take it there’s no oxygen on the asteroid,” said Lawrence.

“ I don’t think there is,” said Claus.

“ So, if we’re going to explore this asteroid, we must wear our oxygen masks,” said Lawrence.

“ Yes, precisely,” said Claus hurriedly.

The jet collided with the sand and slid many feet along the ground. Everybody was thrown forward against the controls. The jet slid to a stop. Everybody was thrown back.

“ Excellent landing,” said Johnson sarcastically.

Everybody was now pulled back down onto the ground. “ That’s good,” said Lawrence, “ gravity is back in effect.”

He walked out of the cockpit and into the back room. He attached an oxygen tank onto his back and put the mouthpiece to his nose. “ I’m going to explore.”

“ I’m coming with you!” yelled Atwood as he too strapped on an oxygen tank.

The two of them climbed out of the side of the jet, dropping upon the sand of the asteroid. The first thing they realized was how still it was. There was no movement, no sound. It was like a desert. They could see the sun in the distance, a large red dot.

Lawrence began walking away from the jet. It was easy to walk. There was no resisting force. Lawrence jumped and soared to about fifty feet in the air and fell back to the ground with a light thud.

The two walked on for a while, seeing nothing but sand and barren ground. They often jumped forward to gain more speed. But even after what seemed like hours, nothing was discovered. Lawrence had hoped to find some sorts of life, but none were discovered. Of course they had only covered a small portion of the asteroid, and it was a huge asteroid about five hundred miles in diameter.

After several hours, the two turned around and began following their footprints back to where the jet was. They climbed back in through the side and took off their oxygen masks. Everyone was waiting to hear what they had found.

“ What’s out there? Anything strange or unusual?” asked Johannes excitedly.

“ No, nothing besides sand, if you find that exciting,” replied Lawrence.

“ Why don’t we think about getting back now?” asked Johnson. “ There isn’t much here as compared to Earth. Why, there are so many things to do and see in Earth. There’s nothing here for us.”

“ We will in time get out of here,” said Lawrence. “ But I would like all of you to explore the asteroid for yourselves. But one person should remain behind, and that’ll be me. I’m going to talk to Gonzalez for a minute.”

Lawrence walked back to the cockpit and turned the radio on. It was static. “ Gonzalez!” Lawrence yelled into the speaker. “ Antonio Gonzalez, do you read me? This is Nathan Lawrence calling in from asteroid. Do you read me?”

Nothing but static answered him until Gonzalez’s voice came through, even though it was a bit unclear. “ Nathan, is that you?”

“ Yes, it’s me,” replied Lawrence, “ how have you been?”

“ I’m fine. Where are you? I haven’t talked with you for years, I think.”

“ We’re on an asteroid in the Main Belt. I think it’s Ceres. It is a huge asteroid. We’re planning to come back soon after we’ve explored around. How are we supposed to get back?”

“ Did you land on your landing gear?”

“ No. Your stupid bodyguard Claus forgot to land on the landing gear.”

“ Well, get the jet on it’s landing gear and take off.”

“ Okay, but the joystick’s stuck. Will that affect how it takes off?”

“ Most likely. It’ll probably stall, but it may have the joystick back as no direction change. But wait, that would mean you wouldn’t be able to take off, unless the ground sloped downwards, which probably wouldn’t happen for a while. Let’s just hope that it makes a steep incline upwards and doesn’t stall. It would probably stall, but that’s okay. You’ll just be moving very slowly. Fly up around at high altitudes to get the speed up, and then launch it out of the atmosphere towards Earth.”

“ Gonzalez, this is an asteroid. I don’t think asteroids have atmospheres.”

“ Okay, whatever, just fly the thing towards the Earth, and try to land where I am. I don’t need you to land in China. That would be a bit inconvenient.”

“ Okay, I’ll try. Oh, and are there any walkie-talkies in the jet?”

“ Claus keeps a pair. You can ask him. Anything else?”

“ No, I might call you later to keep you informed. Are there any life forms on asteroids?”

“ Not that I know of.” Gonzalez disconnected.

Lawrence stood up and walked to the entertainment room, where everybody was watching the news once again. Lawrence walked into the kitchen, where Claus was sitting at a table.

“ Do you have walkie-talkies?” asked Lawrence.

“ Yes,” said Claus. He reached into his pocket and took out the walkie-talkies. Lawrence grabbed one and walked into the entertainment room. He turned the TV off and faced the crew.

“ So, now you will go out and explore the area on your own. And stick together. I don’t want any of you wandering around by yourself. I’ll be staying here. If anything happens, tell Claus to contact me with the walkie-talkie. Good luck, guys.”

The crew walked into the back room and put on their oxygen tank and masks. They attached earpieces and voice pieces in their ears and mouths, respectively, which would send electronic signals to the other’s earpieces so that they would hear them. Then they exited through the hatch and disappeared from Lawrence’s sight. Lawrence sat down on the couch and watched TV. He had a small meal by himself. He then sat in the co-pilot’s seat and turned the radio back on. Gonzalez answered right away.

“ Anything happen?” he asked quickly.

“ No. I was just wondering if there were any chances of other life forms on this asteroid.”

“ I seriously doubt it. Asteroids, in my opinion, do not support life and will never support life. They are like planets that never became quite planets. They are unfinished matter, taking the form of rocks. I don’t think creatures can live on giant rocks. There is no vegetation on asteroids. Creatures need energy. There is no energy on asteroids, except from that of the sun. Isn’t it cold up there?”

“ Somewhat, but it didn’t feel freezing.”

“ Oh yes, that would be because you were wearing those suits. I did use the materials that are resistant to cold. It should deplete most of the chill. So, as I was saying, I don’t think there can be anything living there. There is a small chance. I suggest you look around and see what you can find.”

“ Yes, I sent everyone else to search.”

“ Why didn’t you go?”

“ I’m not sure. Someone has to stay and look after the jet.”

“ That should have been Claus. He’s used to that.”

“ I wanted to give him a chance to explore, too. If anything happens, he’s supposed to contact me.”

At that moment, the walkie-talkie began ringing. Lawrence picked it up. “ Yes?” he said into the walkie-talkie.

“ We’ve found something,” said Claus’s voice from the other end.

“ What is it?”

“ It appears to be a hole. You better come down and take a look at it.”

“ Okay, send somebody up here to look after the jet. When that person gets here, I’ll set off. By the way, how can I hear you? Aren’t you in a vacuum?”

“ Yes, I’m putting my earpiece on the walkie-talkie so you hear everything that I would hear.”

“ Very ingenious,” Lawrence smiled. “ So decide who will come over.”

Then Lawrence heard a series of arguments through the walkie-talkie. Then Claus’s voice came through, “ Okay, I’m coming.”

“ All right,” said Lawrence. “ I’ll wait for you.”

“ What was that?” asked Gonzalez through the radio.

“ It appears that they have found something that looks like a hole in the ground. They wish for me to see what it is. Claus is coming over to watch the jet for me. I have to get my earpiece and mouthpiece ready for communicating with the others. Who invented that?”

“ I did, actually, but it wasn’t much. So I’ll talk to you later.” Gonzalez disconnected.

Lawrence turned the radio off. He walked back to the backroom and put on his oxygen tank and mask. Then he put on the earpiece and mouthpiece with the astronaut helmet over them. He brought the walkie-talkie with him. He then climbed out the side of the jet and waited to see Claus walking towards him.

He sat on the sand for a long time before he could see Claus’s outline against the dot in the sky that was the sun. Claus walked up to Lawrence and said, “ Follow my footprints.” Then Claus climbed in through the side hatch of the jet.

Lawrence began walking along Claus’s huge footprints, which went straight without turning or twisting far away from the ship. Lawrence was tired soon, but didn’t rest. After what seemed like hours, he came upon where the rest of the crew was.

“ So,” he asked, “ what’s going on here?”

“ We found this,” said Robert as he pointed towards what appeared to be an under-ground tunnel. “ And that foolish kid Atwood slid down it. What should we do?”

“ That kid is my responsibility, so I’m going down after him,” said Lawrence decisively.

#8220; Don’t do that,” said Johannes. “ We don’t know what’s down there.”

“ Can’t you communicate with him?”

“ Yes,,” said Johannes, “ but his signal is so weak that we can hardly hear what he is saying.”

“ I’m going after him.” Lawrence lay on his stomach and pushed himself into the hole. Immediately he started sliding along the tunnel, which appeared to also be made of sand. The tunnel twisted, turned, looped, and spiraled around. Lawrence bumped his head against different areas of the tunnel, but was not seriously hurt. The tunnel kept sliding down, down, and farther down.

It seemed a long time before the tunnel stopped, and when it did, Lawrence found himself rolling heads over heels along a hard ground. He stood up and looked about him.

He was in some kind of large confined area. The sides were made of stone, but the stone was smooth and seemed as if it had been cut. All the sides of the room connected in ninety-degree angles. The stone was grayish, but there were many green things extruded from the walls. Lawrence poked one with his glove. The thing jumped onto his shoulder. Lawrence yelled, brushed it off and ran from it. The thing pursued him no more, but jumped back onto the wall from which it had leaped.

After Lawrence yelled, Atwood’s voice came through the earpiece, “ Is someone there?”

“ Yes, Nathan Lawrence is here. Where are you?”

“ Look around. I don’t know where you are either. Look around this place. It’s pretty big. It looks as if someone had built it.”

“ Yeah, I know. How do I get out of this room with all the green things?”

“ Which room? All the rooms have green things.”

“ The room you first reached after you fell into the tunnel.”

“ At the other side of the room there is a small passageway to the next room.”

Lawrence walked around the room to the other side, being careful not to touch any more green things. At the end of the room, there was a small opening in the wall. It was four feet by four feet, so Lawrence had to stoop his head to get through the door.

The next room was a large circular cave, with more of the green things clinging to the sides of the cave. Unlike the other room, the rock was not even and was rough and ragged, like most caves on Earth. Another strange thing, Lawrence noted, was that there were lights hanging on the sides of the wall. He couldn’t tell where the lights were coming from. It looked as if the lights were from the inside of the rock.

Lawrence walked through the cave. At the end of the cave, the passageway led into an even larger circular room. It was like a smooth dome. The rock was as smooth that in the first room. There were less green things on the walls. Lawrence walked into the middle of the room, where Atwood was sitting on the ground.

There were many green things on Atwood. Lawrence backed away in horror, but Atwood said, “ It’s all right. They don’t hurt you. They just attach to you.”

“ What are those things?” Lawrence indicated the green things.

“ I don’t know,” replied Atwood. “ But they look a bit like plants. They have small green spikes like leaves. They also have a pair of legs underneath. They move around by jumping. I don’t know why, but they like to jump on me whenever I touch them.”

“ The same happens here,” said Lawrence. “ One jumped on me, so I ran away from it. But, anyway, push those things off and let’s get out of here. The others are wondering where you are.”

“ Yeah, they were too cowardly to follow me,” said Atwood as he stood up and brushed the green things off him.

“ Do you know how to get back? I don’t think we can climb up that thing, do you?” Lawrence turned to look at Atwood. Atwood was not looking at him. He was looking at one end of the room.

There was what appeared to be a creature standing in the corner of the room. Lawrence and Atwood slowly backed away from it. The creature looked very much like an old man, but was rather short. It looked even more like a walking skeleton. The skin was stretched taut over the bones. The eyes were thin, red slits. There was no nose. The creature had four, dangerously sharp teeth. Lawrence and Atwood turned and tried to run away, but the creature ran behind them and grabbed them. It looked at both of them with its eyes. Lawrence stared back at the creature. It released both of them, but their legs were too numb to move. Then, in Lawrence’s head, he heard a sound. It sounded a bit like a bee buzzing with changing frequencies, so he knew it couldn’t be a bee. He reasoned it was coming from the creature.

“ Harry, did you hear that sound?” asked Lawrence.

“ Yes, I think it’s coming from that thing,” said Atwood.

“ So do I. I think it’s trying to talk to us in its own language.”

“ It appears that it can talk directly to our brains. The problem is that we can’t understand it.”

“ If it can talk to us with its brain, perhaps we can talk to it with our brains.” Lawrence tried saying “ Hello” in his brain. In response, he got more buzzing noises. “ I think it can hear us.”

“ Maybe we should take this guy and show it to others, if it’s not dangerous,” Atwood looked worriedly at the creature.

“ I’m going to call Claus up now.” Lawrence slid his walkie-talkie into the helmet where the earpiece was. He pressed the call button.

“ Hello, Lawrence, is that you?” asked Claus.

“ Yes, listen, I want you to contact Gonzalez on the radio right now. I have something to tell both of you,” Lawrence eyed the creature.

“ Okay, hold on.” Claus turned on the radio.

Gonzalez’s voice came on, “ Lawrence, is that you?”

“ No, it’s me, Claus,” said Claus.

“ I’m here,” said Lawrence through the walkie-talkie.

“ Hello, Lawrence, what’s going on now?” asked Gonzalez.

“ Atwood and I are underground in the asteroid. We’ve found a creature. It looks like an old man and can talk through the mind. We can’t understand what it says though.”

#8220; You’ve found a life form?” asked Gonzalez excitedly.

“ Yes, and we’ve also found this little green spike balls that can jump around, but they don’t do much else.”

“ Nathan, this is excellent. You’ve found life forms outside of Earth. I don’t think that has ever happened before.”

“ Yes. Do you think I should take this thing back?”

“ Certainly. I want to see it for myself.”

“ But, it looks a little dangerous.”

“ What do you mean?”

“ Well, it has four large, sharp teeth and red eyes. I think it might want to eat us.”

Gonzalez started laughing. “ If it’s that dangerous, you don’t have to bring it back. I just wanted to see what it looks like. Maybe Claus can wrestle it out.”

“ I don’t think we should bring it back to Earth. It might not be able to survive. It doesn’t have a nose.”

“ Well, that doesn’t matter. But okay, I’ll talk to you later.” Gonzalez disconnected.

“ Okay, Claus, I might call you later,” said Lawrence as he turned the walkie-talkie off and put it back in his pocket.

The creature was still standing there, looking at them. Lawrence asked, “ You think it knows how to get out of here?”

“ I don’t know,” said Atwood.

As if the creature understood them, it ran back to where it came from and beckoned for them to follow. Lawrence slowly walked towards it, and Atwood followed. Suddenly, the creature disappeared. Lawrence walked over to where it had disappeared and stood on the spot. Atwood stood next to him.

Suddenly, the ground caved in and then fell sliding down a chute. It slid down for a few minutes and the two came crashing on top of a sand mound. Lawrence looked up. They were in another square room, with smoothly cut sides. There were more creatures in this room. They all looked alike. The creature that they had first met beckoned for them to follow it to a corner of the room. All the other creatures looked curiously at Lawrence and Atwood. The creature they first met seemed to be communicating with the rest of them.

The creature sat down. Lawrence and Atwood sat down at a distance. The creature pointed to itself and transmitted to their minds what sounded like Zvindizzy. Thus from this, Lawrence was able to conclude that the creature called itself Zvindizzy. So this was how they communicated: Zvindizzy taught the two of them some of its own language. Lawrence and Atwood taught Zvindizzy a little bit English. For the most part, they communicated with sign language.

Zvindizzy told them a lot about what was going on on the asteroid. It said that a long time ago, there were many of their kind (Vazzarinzzis) that lived above the ground in sand hills. But an unknown creature had come upon them and killed many of them. This creature was invisible and was not able to be hurt or killed (or so they thought). So, after many useless attacks upon the creature and many Vazzarinzzi deaths, the Vazzarinzzis retreated into the underground, where they built underground rooms and in which they lived. The green things (Zinzzisinzzis), which had been living underground for years before, had adapted to their new neighbors and now lived on the walls of the rooms. Sometimes Vazzarinzzis would eat the Zinzzisinzzis to get the energy they need. Vazzarinzzis do not require food, nor do Zinzzisinzzis. Most of their energy is absorbed from the sun. All Vazzarinzzis must go above the ground every now and then to get energy from the sun. The unknown invisible creature is known as the Zvarzzinzzi. It attacks at precise intervals, and another attack was due soon.

After learning this, Lawrence and Atwood asked how to get out of the room. Zvindizzy showed them a shaft that operates like an elevator. Lawrence and Atwood squeezed into it, and it shot straight up until they were thrown out to the sand at the surface of the asteroid, many feet away from where the others were. They rushed over to see what happened.

“ What took you so long?” Johannes asked.

“ We ran into some life forms,” said Atwood excitedly.

“ You mean you met somebody?” asked Johannes.

“ Yes,” said Lawrence, “ a bunch of green spiky things, and a Vazzarinzzi.”

“ A what?”

“ They are creatures that look like old men with four large teeth and red eyes,” said Atwood.

“ Did it attack you?” asked Robert.

“ No, it did grab us though,” said Atwood. “ We talked to it.”

“ It understands you?” asked Johannes.

“ No,” said Lawrence, “ it sends messages to the mind. But it speaks in its own language. We have to communicate with sign language.”

“ What did it say?” asked Robert.

Lawrence told them everything Zvindizzy had said. When he had finished, the rest of the group stared at him. Finally, Johnson said, “ He’s probably making it up.”

“ Who?” asked Atwood.

“ Either the Zvindizzy guy or Lawrence,” said Johnson.

“ Mr. Lawrence isn’t making it up. I was there with him,” said Atwood proudly.

“ Come on, let’s go back to the jet,” said Johannes. “ I’m very hungry.”

They all started retracing the footprints made by Claus to get to the jet. It was darker on the asteroid when the sun sank under the horizon. The group trekked on until they had reached the jet. They climbed in through the side hatch and took off their oxygen tank and mask, earpiece, mouthpiece, and helmet. Claus had already made them a meal. They sat down and ate. Lawrence told Claus what Zvindizzy had said. Claus did not say anything but was deep in thought.

After the meal, the group slept. Claus slept in the pilot seat, Lawrence slept in the copilot seat, and the rest slept on the couch.

When they woke up, they decided to adventure back to where they were before. Claus volunteered to remain behind again. They put their survival gears back on and climbed back out of the hatch. They retraced their footprints back to the hole in the ground. This time, everybody slid down through the hole. Lawrence and Atwood showed the rest where they were and showed them the Zinzzisinzzis. Only Johnson seemed afraid of them and refused to touch them after one had jumped on her.

Then they headed into the dome-shaped room. Zvindizzy was sitting in a corner watching them. “ There are more of you?” it asked in a surprise.

Lawrence nodded. It was a surprise to him that these creatures could understand what nodding meant as well as shaking head or waving goodbye. The group kept a safe distance from Zvindizzy. They were all suspicious of it. Zvindizzy led them back to the room with all the other Vazzarinzzis.

At once, the group seemed to calm down a bit once they realized there were others. Zvindizzy told Lawrence that the nearby Vazzarinzzis had alerted them that the Zvarzzinzzi had been seen approaching them. It should reach them later that day or the next day. Other Vazzarinzzis had immediately become fearful. But the Zvarzzinzzi had not sighted any Vazzarinzzis yet.

“ Why does this thing come and kill you all?” asked Lawrence.

“ I don’t know,” replied Zvindizzy with its sign language, “ but it’s always been like that.”

“ How can you see this thing? I thought it was invisible.”

“ It is. We only see footprints of it to tell where it is.”

“ What does its footprints look like?”

“ It has four claws. The footprint has one big pad in the middle and the four claws sticking out in the front. There are long nails on each of the four claws.”

“ Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow.” Lawrence used the elevator, which sent everyone flying up to the sand.

“ Well, now,” said Johnson, “ those are some freakish creatures.”

“ Yes,” said Lawrence, “ but we can’t expect to see humans living on an asteroid.”

They retraced the footprints back to the jet. They climbed back into the hatch and took off their protections. Lawrence informed Claus of their adventure. For the rest of the day, they ate and watched TV except for Lawrence who spent sometime contacting Gonzalez and telling him what they had heard from Zvindizzy.

The next day, the group headed back towards the hole that led to the Vazzarinzzis’ homes. This time, Lawrence allowed Claus to come along and so nobody guarded the jet. They slid back into the hole and crashed all together in the square room. Claus poked the Zinzzisinzzis and got about ten all attached to him. He pushed them off after one pinched him with its legs.

They walked through the cave room and into the circular dome room. This time Zvindizzy was not there. They descended to the room where the Vazzarinzzis were last time. This time, none of the Vazzarinzzis bothered to greet the group. Zvindizzy was waiting for them again.

“ The Zvarzzinzzi is almost upon us,” Zvindizzy communicated worriedly.

“ Don’t worry, it won’t find you down here,” Lawrence said reassuringly.

“ I don’t know. It might have figured out that we’re down here.”

“ I don’t think so. When will it be here?”

“ Very soon. Our neighboring groups have sighted it.”

“ I think it is time that we do some thing about this Zvarzzinzzi.”

“ No, don’t do that. It’ll kill you.”

“ Nonsense. There has to be a way to destroy it, and I’m going to figure out how.” Lawrence took the elevator shaft to the surface. The rest of the crew came up after him. Zvindizzy also followed. So did a few other Vazzarinzzis.

“ I’ve decided,” Lawrence said to the crew, “ that we fight off this thing. Exactly how big is this Zvarzzinzzi?”

“ I don’t know,” said Zvindizzy, “ but it must be big. I’ve seen it pick up Vazzarinzzis about a Vazzinzzarzzi.”

“ How big is that?”

“ I don’t know how to describe it.” Zvindizzy made some gestures. Lawrence estimated it to be about a hundred feet.

They all stood in the sand and waited. Presently, Zvindizzy started making wild gestures and pointing with its finger. And, in the distance, Lawrence could see footprints forming on the sand and moving directly towards them.

The whole group moved backwards as one, each retreating step by step, not taking their eyes off the footprints that steadily moved towards them at a much faster pace. As they continued to back off, Lawrence just realized that the footprints were almost upon them.

Just moments as this thought entered his head, he was suddenly hit on the side by something large. He flew about thirty feet and hit the ground that knocked the wind out of him. He continued to slide along the sand. Atwood and Johnson turned and ran for it. Robert charged at the footprint and Johannes charged at the other one. They seemed to be clinging onto thin air. Johannes gave a yelp and let go. Atwood was jumping up and throwing sand at the creature. Robert was still clinging on, punching the Zvarzzinzzi’s leg. But he seemed to have been hit, because he went flying away from the creature. Lawrence stood up. He was dizzy, but he staggered towards the creature.

The footprint turned towards him. He felt a sudden anger and charged towards the Zvarzzinzzi. He got hold of the leg and found that it was actually made of fur. He held on with one hand and punched and kicked the creature until it was knocked off. He fell in the sand just a couple yards away from the footprint. He looked up and saw Claus grab what he guessed was the foot and began pulling on it, but it kicked him off.

The footprints began moving away from Lawrence and towards the group of Vazzarinzzis, who all started running away. Lawrence sat there and tried to think of how to stop the Zvarzzinzzi, but no ideas came to his head. Johannes and Robert had stood up and charged back at the footprints. Johannes was pushing on it, but Robert was trying to tackle the foot, but fell backwards. Johnson finally decided to act and began kicking one of the feet with her shoe. The foot must have kicked her, because she went flying away about twenty feet. All the defeated people turned to watch Claus.

Claus was standing there facing the Zvarzzinzzi, calmly flexing his fingers. “ I haven’t done much fighting for a while,” he said, “ but there is a reason why I’m a bodyguard.” He slowly walked towards the Zvarzzinzzi and grabbed a streak of its fur, and rammed his knee into the side of its foot. Then he slid around and lay on top of the foot and kicked the leg of the creature with his feet, one at a time. The Zvarzzinzzi attempted to kick him off, but Claus held on. He continued kicking with his feet. Then suddenly he was lifted in the air and dropped. Johannes and Robert attempted to catch him, but he crashed right into them and knocked all of them over.

“ Hey, Guys,” said Lawrence calmly, “ that’s good effort, but you’ll never kill a creature that big by kicking it.”

“ What do you expect us to do then, huh?” asked Johannes.

“ I don’t know. I’m thinking,” Lawrence sat there and thought about it.

Meanwhile, Atwood formed a large ball of sand, jumped up as high as he could, and flung it at the creature. It flew up and hit the creature. The footprints began moving around haphazardly. They were walking forward, then backward, then turning around. “ I think I blinded him,” Atwood yelled triumphantly.

The Zvarzzinzzi’s footsteps began heading towards the Vazzarinzzis, who began running away once again. Suddenly, Zvindizzy was up in the air. The Zvarzzinzzi must have picked it up. Lawrence stood up, an expression of pure furry on his face. He couldn’t think of anything to do. Without thinking, his hand plunged into his pocket and pulled out the pistol. Everybody was watching him now. Lawrence calmly cocked it, aimed at the spot where the sand had got caught on the Zvarzzinzzi’s fur, and fired.

The bullet whizzed through the vacuum, and disappeared in thin air. The footprints began sliding, and soon, a huge outline formed in the sand. The Zvarzzinzzi had fallen over and died.

For a moment, no one said a thing. Then everybody started yelling. Lawrence couldn’t understand anything. The buzzing noise was playing through his head and yells were coming out of the earpiece.

But that was not all that was distracting. For, to everyone’s amazement, the Zvarzzinzzi began to be visualized. It was a huge creature, with red fur, and large yellow eyes. Its two ears stuck up on the top of its head and were covered in fur. It’s claws were long, brown cylinders, with the sharp yellow nails at the end.

Everyone stared at the Zvarzzinzzi, and then at once, they all began talking.

“ Amazing, isn’t it?” said Johannes.

“ Yes, quite,” said Robert.

“ Never seen the likes of it,” said Claus.

“ No, not at all,” said Johnson.

“ And I hit it in the eye with sand,” Atwood said proudly.

Zvindizzy ambled over to Lawrence and nodded his head as in “ Thank you” . He then walked away and disappeared down the hole with the rest of the Vazzarinzzis. “ Goodbye, Creatures of the Asteroid,” said Lawrence quietly.

“ That was a nice move,” said Johannes. “ Where did you get the gun?”

“ It was in the jet,” replied Lawrence. “ Now let’s get out of here.”

They walked back to the jet and got on board. Then they took off their gears.

Again, Claus sat in the pilot seat and Lawrence sat in the copilot seat. Claus turned the engine on. He pushed the landing gear down, and the jet was elevated. Then he pressed on the accelerator.

At first, the wheels couldn’t move along the sand, but it overcame the friction and began moving the jet forward. Almost immediately the nose tilted up and the jet began a steep climb.

“ I hope it doesn’t stall,” said Claus.

The altitude was steadily increasing. They were already at ninety thousand feet and moving at 2000 miles per hour.

“ Well,” said Lawrence, “ I’ve learned something from that experience.”

“ What would that be?” asked Claus.

“ Even the smallest thing can greatly affect the largest thing.”

“ Yes, that would be correct.”

“ And turn the jet around. I don’t feel like heading towards Jupiter.”

“ This joystick is stuck. Don’t you remember?”

Lawrence put his head in his hands. Then he pushed on the joystick as hard as he could. It would budge. He gave up. Claus clasped his hands together and struck the back of the joystick. It popped back into place.

“ I hope its turn does not rely on air,” Claus said worriedly.

He turned the joystick. The jet turned and started moving towards Earth.

“ Well, now, that’s great,” said Claus. “ I wonder how Antonio does all that. What a genius. I’ll have to ask him.”

So they headed back to the Earth. They didn’t know how long it would take, but they did know that it would take a long time. They had almost no food by the time they re-entered the atmosphere of the Earth.

“ All right, Guys,” said Claus. “ This is going to be a little bit hot and uncomfortable.”

The jet tore through the ozone layer. The heat was unbearable. It felt as if the jet was melting.

“ Oh boy,” said Claus. “ I’ve got some good news. The engine is overheated.”

“ And that means?” asked Lawrence suspiciously.

“ That means I can no longer control the jet.”

The Falcon 1250 zoomed through the Earth’s atmosphere. Lawrence quickly turned the radio on. “ Tony!” he yelled into it.

“ What?” came the voice of Antonio Gonzalez.

“ The engine is overheated. We can’t control it. We’re trying to head towards the lake inside the park. You know where it is?”

“ Yes, what’s your altitude?”

“ About fifty thousand feet...Hurry! I don’t feel like drowning after all these years.”

Gonzalez disconnected. The jet zoomed towards the lake and crashed with such force that everyone in the jet was left jarred and breathless.

“ What are you trying to do, kill us?” yelled Johannes from the back.

“ This landing is even worse than the one on the asteroid,” complained Johnson.

The crew climbed out of the jet shakily and sat on top of it. They watched as Antonio Gonzalez pulled up to the edge of the lake in a sleek black car. He looked much older than the last time they had seen him. But he was just as surprised at the way the crew looked. They had not seemed to age at all, but they were filthy beyond description. They swam away from the sinking jet enjoying their first bath in years.

As they settled into the car, Lawrence looked back as the Falcon 1250 sank into the depths of the fresh water with its nose turning heavenward once more before vanishing beneath the surface of the crystal lake. Johannes stretched and said what everyone was thinking, “ That was the most amazing experience I have ever had, and to think we are back where we started...”

The End