Sept. 2
7 AM
The next morning it was barely even light before the ninja were already up and dressed. Nya checked over the damage done to the Bounty when it crashed.
"That's gonna be a week or two of repairs," she announced glumly. "At least one of the rocket boosters is totalled, so we can't fly. You guys will have to take your dragons to the crashed spaceship."
They gazed through the treetops at the twisting column of smoke rising from the distant woods.
"Well, we won't have any trouble finding it," said Lloyd.
Refusing to let them set out willy-nilly, Nya outfitted them with several cameras, a medical kit, and a Geiger counter (although Zane assured her that he could scan for radiation himself). They also brought along their weapons, just in case the aliens weren't friendly.
"Swords and shurikens aren't gonna do much against space lasers," remarked Kai, but nobody seemed to worry much about that. Summoning their dragons one by one, they launched off the Bounty's deck, dodged a few trees, and burst out into the sunshine above.
The dragons were quick; covering the five miles was a short matter. However, as they drew within a mile or so of the crash site, smoke hung heavier and heavier in the air. Far ahead of them they could see a gigantic patch of flattened and damaged trees—but it was getting harder and harder to see anything as the smoke stung their eyes.
"Guys, I think we may have to—" Cole started to cough. Abruptly his dragon vanished; Kai swooped to catch him before he could fall very far.
"Approach from the ground?" finished Kai.
"Yeah." Cole coughed again. "Smoke rises. It should be okay under the tree cover."
They landed amongst the trees (the air was indeed clearer down here) and began plowing through the woods. The leafy canopy overhead blocked out most of the sky, but the farther they went the more damaged their surroundings looked.
"The force of the explosion when the craft struck must have caused quite a shockwave," said Zane, studying the litter of snapped twigs on the ground.
"I dunno, I think they restrained themselves," said Jay. "I've heard of asteroids flattening miles and miles of forest! They must have a special ship that doesn't create a lot of damage when it hits."
"They must be really smart," said Kai, looking grim. "I hope that 'smart' goes with 'friendly'."
"By the way, Zane, if you start feeling weird or anything, say so," said Cole. "If the ship knocked you out last night, it might do it now too."
"Nothing wrong so far," shrugged Zane.
They drew closer and closer. Now small trees were also damaged, tilting crazily or leaning against other trees. The searchers' anticipation grew. The aliens could be out in the woods already . . . everyone kept a careful eye out, not keen on jumpscares.
Soon the sound of rushing water rose in the distance, and they stumbled upon a large brook cutting across their path. It didn't look too deep, but it was extremely fast; water frothed angry and white around the occasional jutting rock or downed tree. For a while they eyed this obstacle, particularly one shaky-looking log midstream that seemed their best bet for getting across.
"Hey, I'll go first," said Cole at last. "If I can make it, anyone can make it."
"You said it, not me," grinned Jay as the others backed away to give Cole room. The earth ninja judged the distance carefully, then took a running start and jumped as far as he could, landing on the nearest rock. For a moment he teetered, feet skidding, but at the last second he pulled himself together and threw himself to the log. The log groaned and rolled over slightly, but Cole was already jumping off the other end and continuing from rock to rock. He made the crossing safely.
"It's really slippery, especially the first rock!" he shouted back to the others. The others exchanged glances, trying to pick out who ran the gauntlet next.
"Ten nights of dessert says Jay falls in," said Kai, stepping up.
"Hey!"
Cole, waiting on the opposite bank, looked at the scorch marks on the ground and grimaced. In the distance he could see the beginning of total destruction . . . they were really close to the crash site now. He tuned in his ears, listening for any suspicious sounds, but all he heard was the usual array of forest noises, the rush of the brook, and the pit-pat-thump of the others jumping from rock to rock.
Kersplash!
"Called it!"
"Shut up."
Chuckling, Cole glanced back to find Zane helping a very soaked Jay out of the knee-deep water.
"It's freezing," said Jay, teeth chattering.
"Way to impress those aliens," snarked Kai, balancing precariously on a peaked stone. Lloyd, for reasons beyond human understanding, seemed to judge this stone big enough to hold both of them and jumped to join him. Kai yelped and just barely made it to the next rock in time.
"Keep it together, guys, we're almost there," said Cole.
They fought their way through the tangled wreckage where the main damage started. Then suddenly they were out in the open, flattened trees all around them, and a few hundred yards ahead of them lay the crashed ship.
They stood and gazed at it for a moment. The craft was crumpled and cracked, huge jagged fragments spreading like the petals of a silver flower, but it still held most of its original shape. It looked a little like a double-ended bullet. The pointed front was sunk deep into the ground, while the similarly pointed tail, angled towards the sky, sported three wrecked rocket boosters.
"Still okay, Zane?"
"Still fine. It must have been an effect of the moving ship; perhaps its rapid descent caused it to emit electromagnetic waves."
Kai paused to fasten a small camera headband onto his head, and Jay clicked on a handheld. Then the ninja approached the wreckage, breaths bated.
"Hello?" called Cole. "Anyone there?"
No reply. Zane tilted his head studiously, listening, but seemingly registered nothing.
"Can you scan for lifeforms or something?" asked Jay, gesturing at the wreck. Zane shook his head.
"I can, however, scan for radiation." His eyes flickered briefly. "Nothing above normal ambiant levels. It should be safe."
A brief pause as everyone considered what they should do next.
"There's an access hatch or something," said Kai at last, pointing to an open area near the tail. With only a second's hesitation, Cole stepped over and made to climb up the side of the ship. Immediately he cried out and yanked his hands away.
"Still hot," he said ruefully. Pulling back, he whirled into a Spinjitzu tornado and skip-hopped his way to the access hatch, landing on the edge. For a moment he shifted from foot to foot, hissing irately as the hot metal nipped at his soles; then Zane sent a wash of ice over the surface he was standing on. It melted almost instantaneously, leaving the edge cool enough to stand on.
"Thanks," said Cole. "Come on up, you guys."
He peered into the interior of the ship, eyebrows raised, then dropped through the access hatch and out of sight.
Burning with curiosity, the others followed him up. There was only room for three to stand at the edge of the hatch, so Zane was left teetering on a crumbling rocket booster. The heat didn't seem to bother him.
"It's amazing," whispered Jay, forgetting his frustration with his wet clothes. They weren't able to see much, since the hatch led to a small and unimpressive airlock, but what they could see through the opposite airlock door looked just like a spaceship interior straight out of Starfarer.
"Anything down there, Cole?" called Kai. Cole's shaggy head appeared below them.
"Everything's sideways!" he announced. "I think I'm standing on a control panel. And a lot of stuff's broken and tossed around and everything."
"Any signs of life?"
"Nope. But there's this weird slimy clear goo all over the place."
"Don't touch it! It could be toxic."
"Great, now you tell me? I'm coated in this stuff!"
"Honestly, Cole!" Jay slid down to crouch in the airlock, peering into the main chamber and tilting his camera about. "Don't you know the first thing about exploring alien constructs? You don't know what any of this stuff could be, so you don't touch it!"
"Ugh. Well, if I grow an extra head, I guess we'll know why." Cole scraped slime from his arms ruefully and poked a toe at a pile of mangled electrical components. Then he stiffened. "Holy—there's something under here!"
Before anyone could react, he was fervently digging aside the jagged chunks of metal. The others all crowded down into the airlock, leaning over the entryway and watching eagerly. Finally Cole pulled aside one last sheet of metal, and his target was revealed: a small, transparent-blue lump of a creature. It didn't move. Two dark bulges by the top, each covered by a cloudy membrane, seemed to indicate closed eyes.
Silence; nobody even dared ask if it was alive. Cole knelt carefully down among the wreckage and stretched out a hand to the puppy-sized alien, hesitating as if it would burn his skin.
"It's warm," he said amazedly, his voice hushed. "I . . . I think it's alive!"
As if on cue, the lump of blue shuddered, the movement traveling in ripples along its surface. Gently Cole scooped his hands underneath the creature, lifting it slowly. As it came away from the floor, trails of slime seemed to drag up behind it—then these trails of slime turned out to be tentacles, six stubby ones. They sprouted from one end of the creature's oblong body, dangling limply.
"It resembles a cuttlefish," said Zane, fascination clear in his voice. "But I do not think cuttlefish are semi-transparent . . . "
"Let me hold it, let me!" Lloyd sounded like he was about to climb out of himself with barely contained excitement. He reached down, and Cole carefully handed the alien up to him.
"It is warm," said Lloyd wonderingly, cradling the little creature in his arms. "And squishy. Like a plastic bag full of water."
"There's another one!" cried Cole meanwhile, and began to dig again. Abruptly there was an earsplitting squeal, and the second lump of gelatinous blue leaped up entirely on its own power. Cole gave a startled yelp and fell backwards; meanwhile the alien darted up through the air like a fish through water, plunging into the airlock and circling the others with furious shrieks.
"They can fly?!" cried Kai, as the alien caught sight of Lloyd and made a beeline for him. Still spewing a flurry of angry peeps and yowls, the alien began to drag at Lloyd's arms with its tentacles, trying to pry its unconscious fellow out of the green ninja's hold.
"Put him down, Lloyd, he thinks you're hurting him!" said Jay. Looking a little dazed, Lloyd carefully set the alien down and backed away, spreading his hands placatingly. Ignoring him, the conscious alien began to fuss over the unconscious one, giving soft warbles and hovering around the motionless form like an anxious nurse.
"Unbelievable," whispered Jay. "Aliens. We're witnessing real live aliens."
For a moment they watched. Cole, unable to see much from his position down in the main body of the ship, ran another check of the wreckage to make sure he hadn't missed any other crewmembers.
"The unconscious one," said Zane suddenly. "It's hurt. Look, one tentacle is much shorter than the others, and it's oozing clear fluid."
"C-clear fluid?" Cole looked up. "Like . . . slimy fluid?"
Zane nodded. Cole's eyes flew open wide. He stared around the control room, his breath catching, and for a moment the others were sure he was going to throw up.
"Get me out of here," he said at last, his voice deceptively calm. Jay and Kai reached down to grab his hands and pull him up into the airlock, where he sat down, still looking shellshocked. Almost compulsively he scraped at the slime—alien blood—still clinging to his clothes. He really was coated with it.
"Are you okay?" ventured Kai.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Cole lowered his head, trying to suppress a shudder. "Just . . . there was a lot of it. A lot."
Jay put a hand on Cole's back. The others sat in heavy silence, watching the two found aliens—apparently the only survivors of a much larger crew. It was a glum moment.
"At least they're still alive," said Lloyd weakly at last.
"But will they stay that way?" asked Jay, eyeing the still-unconscious first alien.
A few minutes later, the injured alien again gave a shudder. Its friend squealed eagerly, prodding at its side, and slowly the cloudy eyelids slid back, revealing two squidlike eyes just like the other's. Blinking drowsily, it gave a faint, woozy call, something like a throaty "mop!" The other alien dissolved into excited burbles, urging the convalescent back into consciousness. Cautiously Lloyd slid closer to the two.
"It might be best not to disturb them," said Zane, but Lloyd paid him no mind. Gently he reached out and stroked the injured alien between the eyes, running his hand down its back. The more excitable of the two, seeing this seemed to be helping the patient awaken, made no move to stop him. Rather it flopped down wearily, exhausted after its bout of panic, and gave Lloyd a trusting look.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Kai at last.
"Isn't it obvious?" said Jay. "We've got to get these little guys back home and heal up the injured one."
"Take them home?! Are you crazy?" Kai gave him a look of disbelief. "They're aliens! We don't know anything about them! They could be evil."
"Ohhh, of course." Jay scooped up the uninjured alien and held it out to Kai. "Look how terrifying it is. Look at those cruel teeth, those evil eyes. Does this look like the face of mercy?!"
"Meep," said the alien meekly, dangling in Jay's grip. Lloyd gave a strangled snort.
"Oh sure, laugh it up," growled Kai. "You won't find it so funny when they try to suck out your eyeballs or something."
"If they had plans to hurt us, they'd probably have done it already," said Lloyd, still petting the injured alien—which seemed more than happy with the attention. "They seem pretty harmless. And we can't just leave them here!"
"I never said we shouldn't help them," said Kai, fed up. "But we can't just be all, 'oh, cute innocent aliens!' and take them home like goldfish. We can't let down our guard; we have to remember what we're dealing with here!"
"You're a jerk," said Lloyd bitterly.
"It's called being a realist!"
"Well then, realists are jerks."
"Listen, if you want to be a naïve—"
"That's enough!" Cole raised a hand wearily for silence. He sighed, folding his arms to resist the urge to scrape at his clothes. "You're both partly right. We do have to help these guys, it's only decent after all they've been through. Besides, let's not make this into one of those lame-o sci-fi movies where the aliens start with good intentions and turn evil after some paranoid human dorks hurt them."
Kai bristled at being implicitly filed under the category "paranoid human dorks." Lloyd stifled another snicker.
"At the same time, we do have to be careful," continued Cole. "We don't know what they wanted with Earth, or if they even wanted to come to Earth; we don't know what they eat, or if they have poisons or weird alien germs or anything. We can take them home to care for them, but I'm going to expect extreme caution. Quarantine for both of them for now. No getting buddy-buddy with them just yet, no discussing sensitive information in front of them, no interacting with them unless it's absolutely necessary. And Jay, for the love of Pete, stop trying to cuddle it."
"I'm not!" retorted Jay. "I'm just holding the thing. Can I help it if it likes me?"
The little alien was indeed nuzzling into Jay's arms with soft, tired noises of contentment.
"It does like you," said Kai sourly. "It probably senses you're the best target to have your guts liquified and drawn out through a straw."
Jay rolled his eyes and made an exaggerated sucking, slurping noise. "Yummy!"
Cole surprised the others by laughing wearily.
"Yep, just like that, Zaptrap. Come on, let's get going."
One by one they clambered out of the airlock. Kai was looking sullen, but he still gave Lloyd a hand up so he could climb out without jostling the injured alien he held.
"Y'know, we've gotta name these guys!" said Jay, waiting his turn.
"No names," Cole called from outside. "No getting buddy-buddy."
"But we have to call 'em by something," retorted Jay. "It's too much of a mouthful to say 'the hurt alien' and 'the not-hurt alien.' Practical measures!" Before Cole could object further, Jay held up the uninjured alien. "This one shall be Meep! And Lloyd, yours shall be Mopp."