"Sarah-Jane!" said Mr Smith coming out of the wall. "I have detected an alien presence that has just entered planet earth's atmosphere."
"What!" exclaimed Sarah-Jane. "Do you know what the species is?"
"I'm sorry Sarah-Jane, there was not enough time for me to get the sufficient data." he replied.
"OK but look out for it." she said. Sarah-Jane turned around to see Rani, Luke and Clyde stood there. She smiled it was good to see her friends with her.
"So what's up?" asked Rani.
"Oh nothing, Mr Smith just picked up something alien but it's gone now." replied Sarah-Jane, not wanting to discuss the matter any further.
"Are sure it's nothin-" started Rani, but she was interrupted by Sarah-Jane.
"Yes Rani! It's nothing!" she said shortly. Rani looked down at her feet feeling a bit offended. "You guys better be off home your parents will kill me for keeping you hear this late!" she said ushering them out of the attic and out of her house. When Rani and Clyde got to the end of Sarah-Jane's drive they stopped.
"You still on for the movie?" asked Clyde, turning to Rani.
"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world." she replied grinning. Clyde smiled at her and for a moment something went between them that felt amazing but as quick as it came, it went. They looked away awkwardly.
"Yes well, um... Luke will be there too, so it should be interesting." said Rani breaking the tension.
"Yeh, well I ur... should be getting home now!" he said and started walking away.
"Bye then..." she trailed off but he was already gone. She turned and walked to her house.
"What do you mean 'you can't make the movie'?" Rani shouted down the phone.
"I'm sorry Rani, but mum says that she needs me to help her out with something. She said that she needs to talk to someone who could have possibly seen aliens and she needs me to come and help her sort things out. Sorry." replied Luke sadly.
"Fine, at least Clyde will be there! Have a good time Luke!" she replied and then hung up.
Rani walked across her room to her mirror and table. Spread across the table was a lot of make up. She looked at it trying to decide what to put on. She finally decided on: foundation, mascara and some lip gloss. Then she went over to her wardrobe and picked out a green and blue halter neck and some skinny jeans. Then she went down stairs and put on some high heeled shoes, to perfect the look that she wanted to portray. As she was leaving she called to her parents to let them know where she was going and then headed into town.
She had been waiting for about an hour when she started to get worried. Rani had arrived at the cinema early so that she and Clyde could get something to eat before they went in but now it was half an hour into the movie and Clyde had not turned up. She had tried calling him but had got no answer. She waited there a little longer. Thinking of all the things that could have happened to him. Finally she gave up and walked to his house to find out what had happened. On the way she started to feel angry. What if he has backed out of seeing me because I scared him last night. Maybe he thinks that I'm obsessed with him! She started to worry. She didn't want it to be like this.
She finally reached his house and rung the doorbell. Shortly after Carla, Clyde's mum, answered the door.
"Oh hello Rani. Is something wrong?" she asked seeing Rani's worried expression.
"Where's Clyde?" she asked sounding more annoyed than she wanted to sound.
"He left about 1:00pm, he was meant to be meeting you at the cinema. Why?" she replied worried.
"Oh, he never showed!"
"What? Why would he do that, he was really looking forward to seeing y-" she faltered looking at Rani and seeing her confused expression. "Look, maybe he just stayed at a friends house!"
"Yeh maybe, I'll be going then, if he does come back tell him that I was looking for him." she said starting to walk away. She tried thinking that he had just gone to a mates but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was in trouble.
She went home and sat on her bed until she heard the sound of a car engine. She jumped up and practically ran across to Sarah-Jane's house. Luke and Sarah-Jane were just getting out of the car when she got onto their drive. When Luke saw her he went over to her.
"Hey Rani, how was the movie?" he asked cheerily.
"I don't know, I never saw it! Clyde never showed." she said angrily.
"What?" Luke said. "But he would never miss a movie! Have you tried calling him?"
"Yeh, several times, he won't answer." she replied her own expression mirroring Luke's. "Something is wrong! I can feel it!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know but something is wrong!" she insisted.
"Why don't we go up to the attic and we can think about this." she suggested. When she nodded, he escorted her to the attic.
When they got up to the attic, they found Sarah-Jane already there talking to Mr Smith.
"What's happening mum?" asked Luke.
"Mr Smith picked up the alien trace again, around 1:00pm. It last a little longer this time, for about 5 minutes." she replied.
"Where was this alien?" asked Luke.
"Just down the road from where Clyde lives, actually." she replied casually. At this Rani looked up.
"Just down the road from where Clyde lives? At around 1:00pm?" she asked. Sarah-Jane nodded. "Oh god!"
"What?" asked Luke confused.
"As you know me and Clyde were mean to be watching a movie at 2:00pm, but we agreed to meet at 1:15pm so that we could get something to eat."
"Yeh so...?" prompted Luke.
"Yeh well, he never showed, and Carla said that he had left at around 1:00pm. What is this alien has got him. It would make sense!" she continued.
"Rani! There is nothing to suggest anything of the sort." Sarah-Jane said bluntly.
"Yeh well, if he was just at a mates then why won't he answer his mobile! He never switches off his mobile." she snapped back.
"Maybe, he feels guilty for not showing a doesn't want to answer to you!" she retorted.
"Fine then!" started Rani, then she turned to Luke. "Give me your mobile!"
"Why?"
"I'm going to call Clyde! There is no reason why he shouldn't answer to you! You called him this morning and told him that you wouldn't be there so you wouldn't be angry with him!" she explained. "If he doesn't answer then there has to be something wrong!"
"Of course he is going to answer to Luke!" snapped Sarah-Jane. Luke handed Rani his phone and Rani called Clyde. There was no answer. Rani gave the phone back and turned to Sarah-Jane.
"Still convinced nothing has happened?" she sneered, starting to get angry with her. Suddenly Mr Smith cut in, stopping the argument.
"Sarah-Jane! I'm getting an incoming message, from an unknown source. It is aimed at us specifically." he said calmly. Then a video link opened up on the screen. All heads turned to the screen. There was an alien on the screen. He had green skin but otherwise looked human. He was wearing a black skin tight suit and strapped to his sides were 2 alien guns.
"Miss Smith." it snarled. "I am Mylox, and I wish to make you an offer which you can't refuse!"
"Oh really!" replied Sarah-Jane, her eyebrows raising.
"Yes, I need the location and blueprints of an alien ship that crashed on your planet in this area about 1000 years ago. When I know where she ship is and how to use it, I will use it to leave earth. On leaving I will let off a gas that will kill any living thing that absorbs it. That means humans, plants and animals and then my people can inhabit your planet and start a new."
"And you expect me to agree to this?" said Sarah-Jane sounding a little surprised that this alien had even suggested the idea.
"Yes I do!" said Mylox. Then he grabbed the thing that was recording all of this and turned it so it was pointing at something else. It was a body. It was Clyde! He was laid on the floor on his side, his eyes were closed, the only sign of life was a small rise and fall of his chest.
"Clyde! NO!" shouted Rani, running forward but Luke grabbed her and held her so she could not go anywhere. "What have you done to him?"
"Don't worry the boy will live...as long as you do as you are told. If you fail to do as you are told, I will use a machine that will put him through so much pain it is unbearable eventually he will die from the pain, but it will take along time, that's a lot of pain! I expect what I need by 6:00pm earth time at this address." Some writing appeared on the screen and then Mylox turned off the link.
