Over the Moon (19 page)

He drove in silence. Things started to look familiar. We were
climbing to the top of LaVerkin Hill. We were approaching the
overlook, the site of my first near-death experience. He pulled off
the road and parked facing the glittering lights of the small city
below. He got out and removed a blanket from the trunk. He spread it over the hood of the Mustang. He opened my door, pulling me out
and lifting me, as if I were a fragile china doll, onto the blanketed
hood. Then he sat beside me.

"The view is magnificent from here." He pointed to the lights
on the hill. "There's my home over there." Then he pointed to the
houses that were just barely visible on the golf course. "And there
is where the most beautiful, clever, and exasperating girl in the
world-no, in the whole universe-lives."

"I'm sorry you think I'm exasperating. I don't mean to be difficult. You are the one who turned my whole world upside down. I
think I'm entitled to be a little obstinate." I lay back and looked up
at the stars. "You can't just waltz into my life, tell me you're from
another planet, and expect me not to have a gazillion questions."

"You almost figured it out all by yourself," he reminded me.

Ignoring that, I asked, "Can we see your planet from here?"

"No, but you can see the star that is my planet's sun. Astronomers call it Vega. You can see it there, directly south of the North
Star. Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the harp.
Can you see the Summer Triangle directly above us? It is the brightest star. The other stars are Deneb and Altair." He pointed them out
to me. "There is a Japanese myth that Altair is a peasant boy who
is in love with the beautiful princess Vega. On the seventh day of
the seventh month, he is allowed to cross the river of heaven. See
it there? It looks a little cloudy. That is the most distant part of our
Milky Way galaxy. He unites with the princess. Vega is the third
brightest star in the Earth's night sky."

"I like the romantic story of the princess and the peasant boy. It's
kind of a reverse Cinderella tale with an interesting twist in the plot.
What is your planet like, and why did you leave? How did you leave?
Why did you choose Earth as your final destination?"

"My planet is called Helam. It is twenty-five light-years from
Earth. It was being taken over by cannibalistic barbarians. Our family group escaped the day before they invaded our country. My father
was a space exploration scientist who was working on two spaceships with the capability to travel nearly the speed of light. He had a vision of what was coming. He alerted our country's leader, who
didn't believe him, so he alerted his family and friends. They met
together and packed the ships with provisions. He divided us into
two groups. We left like thieves in the night.

"In his vision, he saw the Earth and how to get here. It took
about four months. I was born onboard the ship. This was in the late
eighties. We landed in the desert near Roswell. Our landing created
a deep crater. We covered the ship with dirt and brush. There we
intercepted communications and learned your language, your history, and the mores of your society. We sent scouts into nearby cities
to learn more. Eventually, we were able to find jobs and create lives
for ourselves. We learned quickly and adapted well to your culture.
Our sister ship landed in the Australian Outback and did essentially
the same thing."

"How did your parents die?" I was trying to take all this information in without completely freaking out.

"We were living in Sydney, Australia, at the time. They were
coming home from a Star Council conference. They were killed
in a car crash similar to yours." He turned toward me then. "No
more questions now, please." He kissed my neck and traced my chin
with his fingers. He then kissed my forehead, my eyes, and my nose
before he turned his full attention to my lips. I had felt the electricity
before. This was fire, and I was about to combust spontaneously. It
took every ounce of self-control I had to pull away.

"No fair! You are way too good at this."

"Really?" He was extremely pleased with himself. "I've never
wanted to kiss anyone before."

"I find that impossible to believe."

"It's true. I've had a few girls kiss me before, but I never really
kissed them back," he insisted.

"Right! And I'm the queen of England."

"Well, Your Majesty, how many boys have kissed you?" He
brushed my long bangs away from my face and anchored them
behind my ear.

"Let me think." I pretended to be counting on my fingers.
"Jimmy Larsen kissed me in kindergarten, and I never spoke to
him again. In third grade, Michael White chased me home from
school and kissed me on my front porch before I could get the door
open. I told Mark, and he beat him up. In sixth grade, Jared Alder
ambushed me in the girl's bathroom. I tattled, and he had to go to
the principal's office. That's about all until I met you, and I actually
wanted you to kiss me."

"I know. I read your mind." He kissed me again, and I kissed
him back with maybe just a little too much enthusiasm. He pulled
away this time and jumped down off the hood of the car.

"You forgot Jordan," he prompted. "I'd still like to break his jaw
for that."

"Oh yeah. I think I made him suffer enough. There's no need
for jaw breaking." I grinned up at him. He pulled me up and held
me close.

"This is the place where I almost lost you," he whispered. We
walked to the edge where Jordan's car had rolled. I shivered at the
realization that my life could have ended here. Instead it had taken me
in a whole new and unusual direction. I never could have anticipated
this ludicrous, life-changing development. I was in way over my head
in completely unknown and uncharted territory. This world I lived in
wasn't at all the way I had always believed it to be. I had no idea what
my future held. It was frightening, exciting, weird, and wonderful all
at the same time. I had a lot to sort out and think about before I could
accept and feel remotely comfortable with this alternate reality. Who
needs fantasy when reality is so impossibly insane?

"I have something more to show you," he informed me as he opened
the car door for me and threw the blanket in the trunk. "Don't ask. I
won't tell you. It's something you have to see with your own eyes. It's
something I can guarantee you have never seen before."

He drove down the hill and turned on a deserted road that led
to Hurricane's small industrial park. The first and largest buildings
had signs indicating that they were Martin Pharmaceutical Labs.
There were three structures. He explained that one contained the
main office where all the ordering, packing, and shipping took place.
The second building was a factory, which produced many medical
supplies, and a testing facility. The third was a storage warehouse. It
was much larger than the other two and was about four stories high. Andrew parked in front of this building. He glanced at me, took a
deep breath, and exhaled.

"What I am about to show you is absolutely top secret. No Earth
person has ever seen it and lived to tell about it." He was watching
my face intently. I was sure he was focusing on what was going on
inside my brain. Of course I was intrigued. Whatever it was, I was
eager to see it. I'd come this far into this absurd alternate actuality. I
might as well jump into the center of this crazy blaze. I was already
certifiably insane by all my previous standards.

"Do you want to see what's inside? Or would you like me to take
you home?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I do!" I blurted. I was feeling like a
kid who had just been offered a year-round pass to Sea World, Six
Flags, Disney World, and all the rest of the most awesome amusement parks around the country and then asked if I really wouldn't
rather stay home and read a book. There was no way to go back
to my former reality. I knew this had to be exceptionally cool and
probably better described as phenomenal. Who wouldn't want to see
something that was labeled top secret? If I was the only Earth person to get to view it, I couldn't possibly turn down the opportunity
now, could I? I would boldly go where no Earth person had ever
gone before.

"Tiana, this is very serious. I may be putting you in jeopardy by
showing it to you," he chided and frowned sternly, trying to relate
the significance of this momentous event.

"I understand," I responded, trying not to sound quite so exuberant. It was difficult for me to remain calm. I willed my heart to
be still. I stopped fidgeting and tried to stop bouncing in my seat.
It was nearly impossible for me to sit still when I was so eager and
excited to be the first Earth person to see this unknown, top secret
something. Bring it on!

"This could change your life and mine. Are you sure you want
to do this?"

"Absolutely! Let's do it." I sucked air and slowly let it out. What
the heck? My life had already changed beyond my wildest dreams. I wasn't going to turn back now. I thought I realized the magnitude
of what he was about to share with me. I had made up my mind,
and nothing was going to change it. I was ready for anything he felt
like sharing-the stranger, the better! All this new bravado made
me giddy.

We exited his car and approached the building. He punched in a
security code and pressed his thumb on a metal plate to be scanned.
The door slowly opened to reveal another door. This time he leaned
close to a tiny window that read his iris. Again, the door opened
slowly, and there was still another door.

"Sheesh, this is ridiculous," I mumbled. "Where are we? Is this
Helam's own version of Fort Knox? Do you have the priceless crown
jewels from your planet stashed in here? Are there little, flying, purple people climbing the inside walls? I know! You must be hiding a
bunch of mangled alien corpses in some oversized freezer compartments, right?" My imagination was marching all kinds of odd possibilities through my mind.

"You'll see why the need for security is so important and necessary. Be patient." He punched in a password on a keypad by this
door. It swung open to reveal a long hall. We walked to another
door, and he took out a small key and opened the final barrier to our
entrance.

Holy crap! This was unthinkable! I could hardly believe what
my own eyes were viewing. I closed them and opened them again
several times. It was still there. Was I hallucinating? I pinched myself
more than once to make sure I wasn't dreaming. There it was a real,
honest-to-goodness flying saucer! No kidding! I knew it shouldn't
exist! I expected it to just go poof and evaporate into the air like a
giant, shimmering mirage.

The spaceship was made of a polished metal that I had never
seen before. It gleamed and sparkled and changed colors in the
lights: gold, silver, bronze, and blue-green. There appeared to be
three long rows of windows that were highly reflective, glittering,
mirrored glass. Large, red, oval-shaped lights ran along the top and
the bottom of the smooth, shiny, disc-shaped vehicle.

"Incredible!" I was completely overwhelmed by the impossible
scene in front of me. This was not your average pharmaceutical
warehouse. "This is freaking awesome!" I exclaimed. There were no
adequate words to describe how I felt. This was huge! It was monumental. Here was unequivocal proof that intelligent extraterrestrials had landed on our planet, survived that landing, and now lived
among us. Here was the irrefutable evidence that my boyfriend was
indeed from outer space. He was born aboard this celestial ship as it
traveled at light speed from the planet Helam to Earth.

"Would you like to see inside?" He grabbed my hand and pulled
me around the fascinating ship.

"Unbelievable! This is beyond amazing!" I thought of all the science fiction movies I had ever seen, and this was about a thousand,
no, a million times better. "Where's the door?"

"It's hidden." He touched a button next to a window. The window instantly and magically became a door with stairs flowing down
to our feet. The astounding aircraft seemed to be about the size of
half a football field, and it was three stories high. He pulled me
inside with elated enthusiasm.

The first story or deck contained the engines and maintenance
systems. The second deck had the command center, the kitchen,
dining room, and a large open area where everyone could meet and
mingle. The third or top deck contained small staterooms with bathrooms and sleeping quarters. It reminded me of the luxury cruise
ship that my family spent a week aboard traveling the Caribbean;
only this ship swam through space instead of the boring, old ocean.

He gave me the grand tour of every astounding room and feature. The design was minimalist, sleek, and modern. Everything had
a purpose or multiple purposes. It could generate enough power
for about two hundred people to live, work, eat, and sleep comfortably while traveling near the speed of i 86,ooo miles per second. He
explained that at top speed, this ship could fly us over the moon and
back in a little over three seconds.