Aliens Have Landed: Part 2

Laoren thought that Jeremy was going to punch Trenavass.

“So, you’re a fugitive.”

“Yes, technically …” started Trenavass.

“So you are, in all senses of the word, an illegal alien.”

“I’ll leave you think-“

“Oh, I think you’d better,” spat Jeremy.

“Leave it,” said Laoren softly.

“Look at yourself, girl!” Jeremy shouted. This scared Laoren – he was normally so passive, so diplomatic. “You’re being taken in by this scum’s lies. Everyone knows about these aliens. World leaders are talking about it. And they’re looking for an alien we’ve known about for half a week.”

“Don’t worry,” said Trenavass. “By the time they find-“

“But that’s not the worst thing,” said Jeremy. “Fact is, if we’d known you wanted assylum, we’d have given it. You didn’t need to lie to us.”

“I couldn’t be sure. I couldn’t-“

“So you treated us like cattle. Mocked us with your knowledge. We were completely open with you about our culture, from Doctor Who to purple Starburst, from sports to drawing. And you even lied about the way your spaceship works.”

“Actually, it DOES work like I described, it just didn’t happen to need charging when-“

“Just shut up,” sneered Jeremy. “And get out.”

“You can’t,” said Laoren quietly. “Give him a bit more time.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Laoren, I pay rent on this house too,” said Jeremy. “So that means it’s a fifty-fifty vote. You want to keep him here? Fine. Go and ask Greg and Mel for their votes. See how long it is before the whole world knows we’ve got him.”

“I’ll go,” said Trenavass, and headed for the door.

“Wait,” called Laoren, but he kept going, so she followed him.

Trenavass cloaked himself outside, and Laoren tried her best to appear as though she wasn’t speaking to thin air.

“Where will you go?”

“I need my spaceship,” said Trenavass. “I’m going to the school.”

-10001-

Ffion, Karen, Liz and Dylan were being led around a school by a platoon of alien police and their interpretor.

“You must us to broad, open order take,” said the interpretor. “The spacecraft is too large most of be appropriate the doors, but your double doors it are able be able adapt.”

“Right,” said Ffion, clearly and slowly. “We will start outside. We will check fields and playgrounds. Then we will take you to our large buildings.”

“No,” said the interpretor. “We these will separate places tezelfdertijd and check. The intelligent little girl and the boy will come with me. The other little girls will go with the police force.”

Karen and Liz were nudged forwards by the police. The interpretor spoke to them directly.

“Take them to areas and speelplaatsen,” he told them. Seeing their bemusement, he clarified, “Stay outside.”

The girls led the policemen away, and the interpretor turned his attentions to Ffion and Dylan.

“We will check within,” he said. “You will lead me.”

As they walked, Ffion talked to Dylan.

“You don’t speak Dutch at all, do you?”

“No,” said Dylan. “Why?”

“It sounds like they’ve confused English with Dutch,” she said. “Zoeken, tezelfdertijd, speelplaatsen … Like how when we start to learn German, some French words can creep in if we’ve already been learning that.”

“He wants us to go inside,” said Dylan. “If we start in the Modern Languages department, we might be able to find a dictionary.”

“Good thinking,” said Ffion encouragingly.

-10001-

“This is such an amazing experience,” said Liz. “We’re guiding the first alien platoon to ever land on Earth.”

“Aren’t you scared?” asked Karen.
”Nervous,” Liz admitted. “But they’re not aggressive.”

“They shot Stacey and Stephanie, though …” said Karen thoughtfully.

“They seemed no worse for wear,” said Liz. “And the interpretor seemed panicked when they did. I think we’re safe as long as we help them.”

Karen nodded fervently.

“You must be right,” she said firmly. “Definitely.”

They reached the tennis courts. They were run down and hadn’t been used in years. Karen suspected that it’d be a good place to hide a spaceship, but she could see from here that they were as barren as ever.

Strangely, though, the guards stepped forwards, and marched around the courts, reaching out with their arms, and occasionally consulting some handheld devices.

“Thought so,” said Liz. “The ship must be invisible. Had to be, really, or we’d have noticed.”

“That’s amazing,” said Karen. “They’ve mastered invisibility.”

“They’ve mastered significant space travel too,” Liz reminded her. “And that’s far more impressive. Remember, it’d take four years for LIGHT to reach us from the nearest solar system to us. It shouldn’t be possible for a ship to travel that distance in a lifetime.”

The guards returned, looking expectantly at the girls.

“Let’s try the rugby pitch next,” said Liz. “Probably won’t be there, since they’re used quite often, but if it’s invisible, it might be parked overhead or something.”

-10001-

Dylan and Ffion had been left alone while the interpretor went to search for the spaceship.

“You’re doing well,” said Dylan bashfully. “I’d have been a wreck if you weren’t here.”

“Just think of them as policemen,” said Ffion. “Policemen can be scary, but they just want to get their jobs done. If you help them, they’ll like you, and they stop being scary.”

“Brilliant,” said Dylan, attempting something approaching a smile. “I, um …”

The interpretor entered the room.

“The spacecraft is not here,” he said. “We must try elsewhere.”

Dylan nabbed a Dutch dictionary from a nearby shelf – a pocket Collins one, unfortunately, rather than anything more comprehensive – and they moved on.

-10001-

“I understand your concern, Miss Lucas,” said the headmaster. “But we’ve got plenty of worried parents going insane out there, and there’s very little we can actually do for her.”

“Understandable,” said Zoe reasonably. “But she’s currently being led around the school by aliens, with no adult supervision. Human adult, at least.”

“And what do you think we can do about it?” he asked.

“Become the adult supervision, man!” she said. “It’s your school. They’re trespassing on your property. Allow them to continue their search, by all means, but they shouldn’t be doing all this purely on their own terms.”

“All my staff are busy enough dealing with the remaining children,” said the headmaster. “And I’m being swamped with phone calls from television networks and newspapers …”

But Zoe had grown impatient, so she walked out.

-10001-

“[It seems we have run out of places to search,]” said one of the guards.

“[We must meet up with Garnoff,]” said another. “[He will be able to decipher the language.]”

Liz and Karen had been trying to mime their message for some time – that they were unable to get to the area behind the canteen without a key. Nothing had worked, especially since the guards seemed unwilling to pay much heed to their gestures.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long before the interpretor returned with Dylan and Ffion, ready to check the canteen themselves.

“[We believe there are no more exteriors to check,]” a guard told the interpretor. “[Would you ask the girls to confirm this, Garnoff?]”

Garnoff turned to the girls.

“Is this where?” he asked. “Is there outside no longer places?”

“There is one more,” said Liz clearly, taking her cue from Ffion. “It is behind this building.”

“We will check.”

Garnoff retrieved a key from a pocket in his suit. Dylan and Ffion had already seen this key in use – it was like a master key, fitting most locks in the school. He opened the canteen, and they headed inside. Garnoff stayed indoors, checking the canteen itself, while the police guards headed through the kitchens, eagre to search outside.

At that moment, Zoe arrived.

“Ffion!”

Ffion turned and saw her sister.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, but she sounded grateful to see her.

“Thought some adult supervision would be handy,” said Zoe.

“Where were you thinking of getting that, then?” asked Ffion with a grin.

“Quiet, you,” said Zoe.

Suddenly, they heard a commotion from outside. Garnoff dashed towards the sound, and the others followed.

Ffion was surprised at the size of the back of the canteen. Particularly because, with so many people present, there was a large empty area in the middle.

“This must be the spaceship,” said Liz.

“And there is the traitor,” said Garnoff.

And there, on the other side of the empty space, was another alien. This one was more finely dressed, and accompanied by a girl a few years younger than Zoe.

Dylan shuffled his feet.

“Ffion, remind me to tell you something afterwards.”