Part 09: The Starlight Specter
"I see your Zoomba... and raise you a Twickie." Kira stated slyly as she tossed the two Argathin candy bars into the middle of the small table she and several other interstellar immigrants were sitting at. They were gathered around the small table playing a game of Poker, a game that Kira seemed suspiciously good at. Alex supposed that the rules regarding what young people could and couldn't do were gone by now, so there was no reason she couldn't gamble if she wanted to. In any case, she was winning their dessert for the night, so Alex wasn't complaining.
Looking around the large central living area the Argathins had given them, one would think they were just living in a hotel or something. They must've done their homework about Earth, because the floors were carpeted instead of the cold steel that coated the rest of the ship, and the chairs were lush recliners that folded perfectly to fit the human body as they sat down on them. The couches were thick and fluffy, and the beds they used at night were like sleeping on clouds.
The only thing that gave away the fact that they were in space were the stars outside the large window set on the outer hull of the ship. It wasn't visible from outside for some reason, but from in here they could see that almost the entire wall was transparent. It had been disturbing and awe-inspiring at first, but now five days later they were beginning to adjust and move on with other concerns. Like winning extra food.
"I see your Twickie, girl, and raise you a Sniz." One of the men at the pokey table grinned. The rest of the players threw down their cards except for Kira, who kept a calm, confident smile on her face.
"I see your Sniz." Kira tossed the delicious little cookie onto the table. "So, what ya got buddy?" She demanded. The man smirked and laid his hand out on the table.
"Full House." He grinned. Kira just stared at him expressionlessly, holding her cards close to her chest. The spectators all turned toward her, waiting for her to reveal her hands. Slowly she lowered her cards to the table, at which point her opponent cursed to himself and the tense spectators burst up laughing.
"Royal Flush." Kira smirked and pulled the candy from the center of the table. "Try again tomorrow night grandpa, this helpless little girl needs to fatten up a bit." She stuffed the candy in her pockets and got up from her seat. She was fairly thin now that Alex thought about it, but who wasn't after ten years of military conflicts?
Kira walked toward the outside window to the chairs where Alex was sitting. Alex put her hand up for a high-five as the teenage girl walked past to sit down in the seat beside her.
"Here, enjoy." Kira held out one of the Sniz cookies.
"Thanks." Alex took it and tore open the wrapper so she could nibble on it. The Argathins mostly provided human food like hamburgers and steaks, but it seemed they'd never gotten around to studying human junk food. But the alien junk food was pretty good anyway. Alex stared out the window into the starry darkness as she nibbled.
"It's so weird." Kira commented, staring at the stars outside. "We've been dreaming of going to the stars for so long... now here we are in first class." Alex chuckled.
"Weird is the story of my life Kira." Alex smiled slightly. "Remind me to tell you about a whacko named Macker the Safe Cracker some time." Kira smiled back and nodded before turning back to the stars.
"So how long until we arrive at our new home?" Kira asked.
"About another week I think. Apparently it takes a while to go a few billion light years even with alien technology." Alex smirked. Kira nodded.
Suddenly the teenage girl gasped. "What day is it!?"
"March fifth I think. Why?" Alex asked curiously.
"Oh..." The girl blushed and looked down at the carpet in embarrassment. "It's childish... but my birthday was yesterday." She shook her head and chuckled at herself. "I know, it's stupid for someone to worry about that in this day and age but... it always helped me keep track of myself... you know? Like where I go in life... where I've been..."
"It's not strange at all. Happy Birthday." Alex smiled. "Just think, next year you'll be living in a peaceful home with no wars or conflicts. Maybe with a hubby." Alex winked and nudged her teenage friend in the side. Kira blushed slightly. "Heck, maybe you could even have a kid. If you want one. Like anyone's gonna stop ya." Kira blushed again and giggled.
"I guess you're right." Kira replied. "I never thought of what to do with myself without having anyone to fight. I could get married... have a family... or just sit around and eat all day."
"Ah, American dream." Alex raised her cookie in a sudden toast. Kira laughed lightly as Alex started nibbling on the cookie again.
"Well, I should get ready for bed." Kira stood up. There wasn't really any indication as to day and night here in space except for the clocks that were set up in various areas. They'd all been synched up despite the fact that a lot of people here came from different areas of the Earth, and thus different time zones.
"Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes." Alex said. Kira nodded and turned to walk toward the bedroom they shared. Alex turned back to the stars with her hands cradled in her lap, watching the shining spots of light pass by the window. Suddenly a purple haze appeared in front of the stars, moving into view. It looked like a manta ray swimming through space beside the massive Argathin space ship. In fact, it was the SIZE of the space ship.
"Whoa..." Alex muttered in surprise, pushing herself up to a standing position. The purple haze paced them easily, almost looking like it was moving toward them. Alex stared in curiosity and wonder, walking toward the window to meet the sparkling see-through energy halfway. The haze floated up toward the window, almost as if to greet her.
Alex raised her hand and placed it against the cool glass. She watched in wonder as the purple energy haze moved closer, a small tendril of energy reaching out toward the window to form the exact shape of her hand. Alex stared past the tendril, deep into the swirling violet essence. It was the same energy that haunted her dreams twice before... the same energy that had shown her the images of Mandy.
Suddenly, it vanished without a trace. Alex blinked and pressed herself against the glass, trying to look around for it, but it was simply gone. She searched the stars outside, but didn't see any sign of it. Maybe it left... or maybe it had been killed somehow? Whatever it was...
"Are you well Alex?" Alex jumped in surprise when she heard one of the Argathins speak from behind her. The little alien blinked as Alex turned around, panting slightly. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay... not your fault. I just saw something that kinda creeped me out..." Alex replied.
"What was it? Is there something wrong with our ship?" The alien replied. Alex tried to figure out who the little person was exactly, but truth be told, they all looked alike to her. She wasn't about to say that though.
"No... not on the ship. Outside." Alex pointed to the stars outside the window. "A purple mist or something... it followed the ship and reached out to touch the window... then it just kind of vanished." She explained as best she could, leaving out the part about how familiar it had seemed to her. She didn't want to sound completely insane.
"Ah, it must have been a Starlight Specter." The little alien nodded wisely.
"A what?" Alex asked.
"A Starlight Specter. Well, that's not their scientific name, but it is what they have come to be known as among my people."
"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful creature." Alex smiled slightly. "What are they exactly? Some kind of ghost?"
"Some think so. They think that they're the imprint of a person who died with a strong heart... the stronger the heart, the bigger the Specter." The alien looked out the window with a slight smirk on his lips. "Of course, others think they're bursts of energy forming into random shapes with no other way to be expended."
"What do YOU think?" Alex asked curiously.
"I think they're pretty." The alien smiled up at her calmly. "You must be tired, it is getting late in human time." Alex shot a glance at one of the clocks and found that it was already 11:42 PM.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll see you tomorrow." Alex nodded and turned to walk toward the hallway that led toward the bedrooms. The little alien waved after her as she made her way down the hall to the back, where she turned into the room she and Kira had been sharing. It had two extremely comfortable beds side-by-side, with a view of the stars through a window and various other furnishings more for atmosphere than to serve any real purpose.
Kira was already sleeping soundly, so Alex slipped out of her clothes and climbed into the other bed, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. She fell asleep quickly, and rested for the remainder of the night without any interruptions or, thankfully, nightmares. She'd almost expected another dream about Mandy... but none came.
She awoke to find Kira sitting on the other side of the room, strumming her fingers lightly over a small acoustic guitar. She obviously had no idea what she was doing, but her touch was firm and sure, so it sounded gentle even if the notes didn't flow very well.
"Imagine there's no Heaven..." Kira sang softly under her breath. Alex sat up slightly to watch her. "It's easy if you try. No Hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people... living for today. Imagine there's no country. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too. Imagine all the people... living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one."
"I've always loved that song." Alex said. Kira jumped in surprise, her hand banging against the guitar with a sharp clang. They both winced at the noise as Kira blushed.
"Sorry... I didn't mean to wake you up." Kira told her. "I just remember my mom singing that to me when I was younger... it was always my favorite lullaby." She smiled. "It was the only message of hope we had... everything else we knew or were told was how to fight or reminding us why we fight. Aside from those times the Reverend's preaching got to us of course."
"Sometimes when you're busy fighting you forget how important it is to hope I guess." Alex replied thoughtfully. "I mean... if you don't hope for a better future, what are you fighting for?"
"Yeah." Kira nodded and set the guitar aside. "We should go get breakfast before Big-Butt Billy wolfs it all down." She stated. Alex chuckled and nodded. They both got dressed in their normal clothing, which for Alex was her yellow WOOHP uniform, while Kira was dressed in a pair of camouflage pants that were a little too big for her, a black tank top, and black leather boots.
They walked back out to the living room, where several silver trays full of lunch had been pushed into the room and left for the occupants to enjoy. Every breakfast food one could imagine was present in fairly great quantities, and only a few people had woken up before them to grab some. They fixed themselves two fairly full plates and moved to their favorite table by the window.
They ate in companionable silence, listening to the other Argathin guests go about eating and talking among themselves. Alex glanced periodically at the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the purple form she'd seen last night, but it didn't appear again.
"You look like you're waiting for something." Kira commented around a forkful of eggs. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." Alex smiled. "Just saw something interesting last night, and thought maybe I'd see it again."
"What did you see?" Kira asked.
Alex chuckled and shook her head. "A ghost." Kira blinked, then chuckled and shook her head as well, waving the comment aside so she could go back to eating. Alex sighed and shoved a piece of sausage in her mouth, munching idly and staring out at the stars.
She blinked when suddenly the purple haze appeared outside of the window again. She sat up straight to get a better look at it. It looked smaller than the night before, and this time it wasn't moving just outside the window. It flew up past the strong glass, toward the front of the ship and up toward what Alex was pretty sure was the bridge.
"Kira... excuse me for a few minutes." Alex stood up.
"Where are you going?" Kira asked in surprise.
"I'm going to go ask how long before we reach our new home." Alex lied. She didn't wait for Kira's response before jogging out of the door of the living room, emerging into a science fiction world of steel corridors and turbo lifts. It was pretty cold out here, forcing her to hug herself to keep from shivering. Maybe the Argathins were cold blooded or something?
She moved through the ship toward the bridge, occasionally looking through one of the windows to see the Specter waiting for her, only to move beyond the window up toward the bridge yet again. It was trying to get her up there... but why? Was there something Alex had to see?
Alex moved up to one of the turbo lifts and took it up toward the bridge, stepping out in the hallway just beyond. Alex crept up to the entrance of the bridge. Looking inside, it was pretty sparsely manned for such a large vessel. Come to think of it, she'd never seen many Argathins around ever since they arrived at Earth.
"The humans remain comfortable, Captain Ay-Leex." One of the other aliens said through slightly chattering teeth. Peeking through the door, Alex saw that he was shivering from the cold. Why on Earth would they want to keep the ship so cold if it made them uncomfortable? "And thus far, we have not been detected by any scans."
"Good, let's see if we can keep it this way." Ay-Leex replied from the seat in the middle of the bridge. "Keep constant scans of the surrounding area... we can't afford to have anyone see us."
"What about the humans that chose to remain on Earth?" The second Argathin asked. "Shouldn't we help them as well? After all, we ARE..."
Ay-Leex cut him off. "I know, but we can't force someone to come with us. We can't do everything... we can only try to atone for what we did by giving what little assistance we can." He sighed deeply. Alex stared in confusion. Atone for what they did? What did they do? Alex was sure they'd never been to Earth before the crash-landing in the early zeroes during their first encounter, and supposedly hadn't been there since...
Alex jumped when a hand touched her lower back. She whirled to see one of the little green aliens looking up at her curiously. "Are you okay Alex? You look troubled by something."
"Troubled? No... just..." Alex looked into the bridge again, to find Ay-Leex and the other alien staring at her. She also saw the Starlight Specter still floating just in front of the ship. It was back to its full size. "Following the Specter. I didn't get a very good look at it last night." All the aliens on the bridge looked out the front window to see the creature in front of them.
They began to chatter among themselves in a language Alex couldn't understand. "What? What's the big fuss?" Alex asked, hoping she just didn't do something she would regret.
"The Specter... it's the biggest one we have ever seen." The alien beside her informed her. "It would take a heart as strong as a sun to create an impression that large." He sounded almost in awe of the being before them. Suddenly, as it had before, the Starlight Specter vanished, leaving nothing but the twinkling stars.
"Is that bad?" Alex asked worriedly.
"No, just unusual." Ay-Leex replied from the captain's chair. The alien had turned to look at her again. "They cannot really harm, or even touch, anything. It was just disconcerting to see." The alien stood up and approached her. "Don't worry about the Specter, even if it shows up again it cannot hurt you. They are immaterial."
"That's a relief." Alex sighed in mock-relief, grasping at the reason for being there that Ay-Leex had just given her. "I was afraid something that big would swallow us whole."
Ay-Leex smiled. "Please, return to the human section of the ship, you look like you are freezing." It told her. It also looked like the Argathins were freezing, but Alex wouldn't say as much for fear of seeming a little too curious and arousing suspicions.
"Alright..." Alex nodded and turned to leave. She noticed that the alien who'd caught her followed her the entire way back, not turning down another corridor until Alex had already entered the warm living room where the food was still sitting on the platters. It seemed obvious that they didn't want her poking around outside of this section.
Kira Approached her. "So? When are we touching down on our new home?" She asked curiously. Alex blinked, forgetting for a moment her impromptu cover story.
"Oh... in a few days." Alex guessed.
"Whew, good." Kira smiled. "This place is pretty nice, but I think I'm going kind of stir-crazy here." Alex chuckled.
"Yeah, don't worry, it won't be long now." Alex told her, though honestly her mind was somewhere else. The Argathins were hiding something... something bad... and that disturbed her. And the Starlight Specter... a shade created by the death of a strong heart... Alex was sure she knew who it was, but she didn't know how to respond. So she could only wait... and see what happened next.
TO BE CONTINUED
"I see your Zoomba... and raise you a Twickie." Kira stated slyly as she tossed the two Argathin candy bars into the middle of the small table she and several other interstellar immigrants were sitting at. They were gathered around the small table playing a game of Poker, a game that Kira seemed suspiciously good at. Alex supposed that the rules regarding what young people could and couldn't do were gone by now, so there was no reason she couldn't gamble if she wanted to. In any case, she was winning their dessert for the night, so Alex wasn't complaining.
Looking around the large central living area the Argathins had given them, one would think they were just living in a hotel or something. They must've done their homework about Earth, because the floors were carpeted instead of the cold steel that coated the rest of the ship, and the chairs were lush recliners that folded perfectly to fit the human body as they sat down on them. The couches were thick and fluffy, and the beds they used at night were like sleeping on clouds.
The only thing that gave away the fact that they were in space were the stars outside the large window set on the outer hull of the ship. It wasn't visible from outside for some reason, but from in here they could see that almost the entire wall was transparent. It had been disturbing and awe-inspiring at first, but now five days later they were beginning to adjust and move on with other concerns. Like winning extra food.
"I see your Twickie, girl, and raise you a Sniz." One of the men at the pokey table grinned. The rest of the players threw down their cards except for Kira, who kept a calm, confident smile on her face.
"I see your Sniz." Kira tossed the delicious little cookie onto the table. "So, what ya got buddy?" She demanded. The man smirked and laid his hand out on the table.
"Full House." He grinned. Kira just stared at him expressionlessly, holding her cards close to her chest. The spectators all turned toward her, waiting for her to reveal her hands. Slowly she lowered her cards to the table, at which point her opponent cursed to himself and the tense spectators burst up laughing.
"Royal Flush." Kira smirked and pulled the candy from the center of the table. "Try again tomorrow night grandpa, this helpless little girl needs to fatten up a bit." She stuffed the candy in her pockets and got up from her seat. She was fairly thin now that Alex thought about it, but who wasn't after ten years of military conflicts?
Kira walked toward the outside window to the chairs where Alex was sitting. Alex put her hand up for a high-five as the teenage girl walked past to sit down in the seat beside her.
"Here, enjoy." Kira held out one of the Sniz cookies.
"Thanks." Alex took it and tore open the wrapper so she could nibble on it. The Argathins mostly provided human food like hamburgers and steaks, but it seemed they'd never gotten around to studying human junk food. But the alien junk food was pretty good anyway. Alex stared out the window into the starry darkness as she nibbled.
"It's so weird." Kira commented, staring at the stars outside. "We've been dreaming of going to the stars for so long... now here we are in first class." Alex chuckled.
"Weird is the story of my life Kira." Alex smiled slightly. "Remind me to tell you about a whacko named Macker the Safe Cracker some time." Kira smiled back and nodded before turning back to the stars.
"So how long until we arrive at our new home?" Kira asked.
"About another week I think. Apparently it takes a while to go a few billion light years even with alien technology." Alex smirked. Kira nodded.
Suddenly the teenage girl gasped. "What day is it!?"
"March fifth I think. Why?" Alex asked curiously.
"Oh..." The girl blushed and looked down at the carpet in embarrassment. "It's childish... but my birthday was yesterday." She shook her head and chuckled at herself. "I know, it's stupid for someone to worry about that in this day and age but... it always helped me keep track of myself... you know? Like where I go in life... where I've been..."
"It's not strange at all. Happy Birthday." Alex smiled. "Just think, next year you'll be living in a peaceful home with no wars or conflicts. Maybe with a hubby." Alex winked and nudged her teenage friend in the side. Kira blushed slightly. "Heck, maybe you could even have a kid. If you want one. Like anyone's gonna stop ya." Kira blushed again and giggled.
"I guess you're right." Kira replied. "I never thought of what to do with myself without having anyone to fight. I could get married... have a family... or just sit around and eat all day."
"Ah, American dream." Alex raised her cookie in a sudden toast. Kira laughed lightly as Alex started nibbling on the cookie again.
"Well, I should get ready for bed." Kira stood up. There wasn't really any indication as to day and night here in space except for the clocks that were set up in various areas. They'd all been synched up despite the fact that a lot of people here came from different areas of the Earth, and thus different time zones.
"Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes." Alex said. Kira nodded and turned to walk toward the bedroom they shared. Alex turned back to the stars with her hands cradled in her lap, watching the shining spots of light pass by the window. Suddenly a purple haze appeared in front of the stars, moving into view. It looked like a manta ray swimming through space beside the massive Argathin space ship. In fact, it was the SIZE of the space ship.
"Whoa..." Alex muttered in surprise, pushing herself up to a standing position. The purple haze paced them easily, almost looking like it was moving toward them. Alex stared in curiosity and wonder, walking toward the window to meet the sparkling see-through energy halfway. The haze floated up toward the window, almost as if to greet her.
Alex raised her hand and placed it against the cool glass. She watched in wonder as the purple energy haze moved closer, a small tendril of energy reaching out toward the window to form the exact shape of her hand. Alex stared past the tendril, deep into the swirling violet essence. It was the same energy that haunted her dreams twice before... the same energy that had shown her the images of Mandy.
Suddenly, it vanished without a trace. Alex blinked and pressed herself against the glass, trying to look around for it, but it was simply gone. She searched the stars outside, but didn't see any sign of it. Maybe it left... or maybe it had been killed somehow? Whatever it was...
"Are you well Alex?" Alex jumped in surprise when she heard one of the Argathins speak from behind her. The little alien blinked as Alex turned around, panting slightly. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay... not your fault. I just saw something that kinda creeped me out..." Alex replied.
"What was it? Is there something wrong with our ship?" The alien replied. Alex tried to figure out who the little person was exactly, but truth be told, they all looked alike to her. She wasn't about to say that though.
"No... not on the ship. Outside." Alex pointed to the stars outside the window. "A purple mist or something... it followed the ship and reached out to touch the window... then it just kind of vanished." She explained as best she could, leaving out the part about how familiar it had seemed to her. She didn't want to sound completely insane.
"Ah, it must have been a Starlight Specter." The little alien nodded wisely.
"A what?" Alex asked.
"A Starlight Specter. Well, that's not their scientific name, but it is what they have come to be known as among my people."
"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful creature." Alex smiled slightly. "What are they exactly? Some kind of ghost?"
"Some think so. They think that they're the imprint of a person who died with a strong heart... the stronger the heart, the bigger the Specter." The alien looked out the window with a slight smirk on his lips. "Of course, others think they're bursts of energy forming into random shapes with no other way to be expended."
"What do YOU think?" Alex asked curiously.
"I think they're pretty." The alien smiled up at her calmly. "You must be tired, it is getting late in human time." Alex shot a glance at one of the clocks and found that it was already 11:42 PM.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll see you tomorrow." Alex nodded and turned to walk toward the hallway that led toward the bedrooms. The little alien waved after her as she made her way down the hall to the back, where she turned into the room she and Kira had been sharing. It had two extremely comfortable beds side-by-side, with a view of the stars through a window and various other furnishings more for atmosphere than to serve any real purpose.
Kira was already sleeping soundly, so Alex slipped out of her clothes and climbed into the other bed, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. She fell asleep quickly, and rested for the remainder of the night without any interruptions or, thankfully, nightmares. She'd almost expected another dream about Mandy... but none came.
She awoke to find Kira sitting on the other side of the room, strumming her fingers lightly over a small acoustic guitar. She obviously had no idea what she was doing, but her touch was firm and sure, so it sounded gentle even if the notes didn't flow very well.
"Imagine there's no Heaven..." Kira sang softly under her breath. Alex sat up slightly to watch her. "It's easy if you try. No Hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people... living for today. Imagine there's no country. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too. Imagine all the people... living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one."
"I've always loved that song." Alex said. Kira jumped in surprise, her hand banging against the guitar with a sharp clang. They both winced at the noise as Kira blushed.
"Sorry... I didn't mean to wake you up." Kira told her. "I just remember my mom singing that to me when I was younger... it was always my favorite lullaby." She smiled. "It was the only message of hope we had... everything else we knew or were told was how to fight or reminding us why we fight. Aside from those times the Reverend's preaching got to us of course."
"Sometimes when you're busy fighting you forget how important it is to hope I guess." Alex replied thoughtfully. "I mean... if you don't hope for a better future, what are you fighting for?"
"Yeah." Kira nodded and set the guitar aside. "We should go get breakfast before Big-Butt Billy wolfs it all down." She stated. Alex chuckled and nodded. They both got dressed in their normal clothing, which for Alex was her yellow WOOHP uniform, while Kira was dressed in a pair of camouflage pants that were a little too big for her, a black tank top, and black leather boots.
They walked back out to the living room, where several silver trays full of lunch had been pushed into the room and left for the occupants to enjoy. Every breakfast food one could imagine was present in fairly great quantities, and only a few people had woken up before them to grab some. They fixed themselves two fairly full plates and moved to their favorite table by the window.
They ate in companionable silence, listening to the other Argathin guests go about eating and talking among themselves. Alex glanced periodically at the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the purple form she'd seen last night, but it didn't appear again.
"You look like you're waiting for something." Kira commented around a forkful of eggs. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." Alex smiled. "Just saw something interesting last night, and thought maybe I'd see it again."
"What did you see?" Kira asked.
Alex chuckled and shook her head. "A ghost." Kira blinked, then chuckled and shook her head as well, waving the comment aside so she could go back to eating. Alex sighed and shoved a piece of sausage in her mouth, munching idly and staring out at the stars.
She blinked when suddenly the purple haze appeared outside of the window again. She sat up straight to get a better look at it. It looked smaller than the night before, and this time it wasn't moving just outside the window. It flew up past the strong glass, toward the front of the ship and up toward what Alex was pretty sure was the bridge.
"Kira... excuse me for a few minutes." Alex stood up.
"Where are you going?" Kira asked in surprise.
"I'm going to go ask how long before we reach our new home." Alex lied. She didn't wait for Kira's response before jogging out of the door of the living room, emerging into a science fiction world of steel corridors and turbo lifts. It was pretty cold out here, forcing her to hug herself to keep from shivering. Maybe the Argathins were cold blooded or something?
She moved through the ship toward the bridge, occasionally looking through one of the windows to see the Specter waiting for her, only to move beyond the window up toward the bridge yet again. It was trying to get her up there... but why? Was there something Alex had to see?
Alex moved up to one of the turbo lifts and took it up toward the bridge, stepping out in the hallway just beyond. Alex crept up to the entrance of the bridge. Looking inside, it was pretty sparsely manned for such a large vessel. Come to think of it, she'd never seen many Argathins around ever since they arrived at Earth.
"The humans remain comfortable, Captain Ay-Leex." One of the other aliens said through slightly chattering teeth. Peeking through the door, Alex saw that he was shivering from the cold. Why on Earth would they want to keep the ship so cold if it made them uncomfortable? "And thus far, we have not been detected by any scans."
"Good, let's see if we can keep it this way." Ay-Leex replied from the seat in the middle of the bridge. "Keep constant scans of the surrounding area... we can't afford to have anyone see us."
"What about the humans that chose to remain on Earth?" The second Argathin asked. "Shouldn't we help them as well? After all, we ARE..."
Ay-Leex cut him off. "I know, but we can't force someone to come with us. We can't do everything... we can only try to atone for what we did by giving what little assistance we can." He sighed deeply. Alex stared in confusion. Atone for what they did? What did they do? Alex was sure they'd never been to Earth before the crash-landing in the early zeroes during their first encounter, and supposedly hadn't been there since...
Alex jumped when a hand touched her lower back. She whirled to see one of the little green aliens looking up at her curiously. "Are you okay Alex? You look troubled by something."
"Troubled? No... just..." Alex looked into the bridge again, to find Ay-Leex and the other alien staring at her. She also saw the Starlight Specter still floating just in front of the ship. It was back to its full size. "Following the Specter. I didn't get a very good look at it last night." All the aliens on the bridge looked out the front window to see the creature in front of them.
They began to chatter among themselves in a language Alex couldn't understand. "What? What's the big fuss?" Alex asked, hoping she just didn't do something she would regret.
"The Specter... it's the biggest one we have ever seen." The alien beside her informed her. "It would take a heart as strong as a sun to create an impression that large." He sounded almost in awe of the being before them. Suddenly, as it had before, the Starlight Specter vanished, leaving nothing but the twinkling stars.
"Is that bad?" Alex asked worriedly.
"No, just unusual." Ay-Leex replied from the captain's chair. The alien had turned to look at her again. "They cannot really harm, or even touch, anything. It was just disconcerting to see." The alien stood up and approached her. "Don't worry about the Specter, even if it shows up again it cannot hurt you. They are immaterial."
"That's a relief." Alex sighed in mock-relief, grasping at the reason for being there that Ay-Leex had just given her. "I was afraid something that big would swallow us whole."
Ay-Leex smiled. "Please, return to the human section of the ship, you look like you are freezing." It told her. It also looked like the Argathins were freezing, but Alex wouldn't say as much for fear of seeming a little too curious and arousing suspicions.
"Alright..." Alex nodded and turned to leave. She noticed that the alien who'd caught her followed her the entire way back, not turning down another corridor until Alex had already entered the warm living room where the food was still sitting on the platters. It seemed obvious that they didn't want her poking around outside of this section.
Kira Approached her. "So? When are we touching down on our new home?" She asked curiously. Alex blinked, forgetting for a moment her impromptu cover story.
"Oh... in a few days." Alex guessed.
"Whew, good." Kira smiled. "This place is pretty nice, but I think I'm going kind of stir-crazy here." Alex chuckled.
"Yeah, don't worry, it won't be long now." Alex told her, though honestly her mind was somewhere else. The Argathins were hiding something... something bad... and that disturbed her. And the Starlight Specter... a shade created by the death of a strong heart... Alex was sure she knew who it was, but she didn't know how to respond. So she could only wait... and see what happened next.
TO BE CONTINUED