Thank you for taking interest in my fanfiction Circle of Fire: Aftermath. It is based off of the cartoon Dinosaucers that aired on at least two channels during the wonderful1987-1992 era. The cartoon's storyline is this: war has ravaged the home planet Reptilian, and to finish the fighting between the Dinosaucers (good) and the Tyrranos (bad), they must go to Earth. There the Dinosaucers equip the help of Secret Scouts, who happen to be between the age of 13-17. There, on earth, they obliterate any plans that the Tyrranos attempt at.
Of course, the writers of Dinosaucers left out obvious facts: Warfare equates death. Since this was aimed for kids of the age 5, this element was taken out. Everything was made harmless. The Tyrranos were made stupid and clumsy. Both sides' main weapon was the bloodless fossilizer – turning anything organic into stone.
My fanfic Circle of Fire: Aftermath takes place during 2015 supposing that the actual time period of the Dinosaucers and Tyrranos coming to earth was 1987. It details Allo's (the leader of the Dinosaucers) son's life in the wake of the supposed defeat of the Tyrranos. His son is left with the rumor, scorn, and bad blood of his good-turned-traitor/murder father. He is kicked out of the Dinosaucers and ejected to planet Earth, where the narrative begins.
But my story isn't complete. First off, it has several parts where it needs revision; particularly during parts detailing the socio-political background of Reptilian, and of Allo's demise; and the whole plot needs to be better connected together and have more substance. And secondly it needs to, well, be finished.
This is the first revision. Thus said, it needs much work.
All elements of the Dinosaucers cartoon, including the names and character Reptilian, Allo, Demetrio (or Dimitrio?), Bronto-Thunder, Ghengis Rex (or Genghis Rex?), and all other related characters/names/elements are © 1987 Coca-Cola Telecommunications.
The characters Khalon, Ethan, Simon, Darien are Copyright me.
Happy reading.Heh, if this is even worth reading... Ahhh. Needs work horribly. But anyway.
And thanks Mike O'Brien for input and ideas, particularly Allo not being "perfect" as portrayed by the cartoon.
CG
A loud crash ripped the silence open like a knife through warm butter. Or in the lone farmer's case, a transmission end. Growling and uttering, he quickly sets down the plasma cutter and swiftly stands up. In his haste he clips the edge of the protective mask on the rear tire fender, making him twist about in an odd fashion and fall on his buttocks. He mutters some expletive again. The dog resting near the dilapidated tractor pulls his head off the comfortable earth, from a comfortable sleep, and cocks his head.
"Shaddup."
Whine. The snap sends the dog back to the interrupted sleep. Or a forced sleep, at least, to hide from all doubt. Ripping the mask off, the farmer looks out to where the noise came from. And down to the mask. He snorts.
"Blasted. Now it got my shield an' it got my good fer nuthin' camshaft! I'm not gonna let those Worthfields get away with this this time. No sireebob, not in my fields and on my time."
The reddened face farmer was about to walk off towards the barn but was quickly met by someone.
"Harold."
A hurried, heavily forced sigh flushed from his lips. "Now, Christine I -"
The motherly looking figure placed both hands on her hips and set herself in mood. Heavy, but gentle. "Don't give me that. We've talked about this before haven't we?"
A long pause showed his concern. He went around her to the barn and commented lowly. "Yeah. And this'll be the last time, I promise."
She sighed. But it was far from his sigh. It was more frusterated than anything. "Just let them do what they will, just don't-"
Rattle, click. The doubled barrels were raised into place. He tested the strength of the mechanism and commented on his departure. "Do what?"
"...Just don't..." She motioned with a hand. "You know what their parents could do."
He stopped. His words bit with sarcasm. "Yeah, I know, and I'm sure they'll love me even more after this."
After a few minutes of walking through a freshly plowed field, the farmer eventually came closer to the cause of the noise. A low depression dipped into the ground, and a chaotic meandering of earthly debris were spewed all around.
"Dangit, you blasted boys better git outta here afore I show you two what the meaning of..."
The depression was more than a depression. Percieved when closer, it was a crater. And not only that, but a large, plated looking, metallic colored orbed shaped object lay in the crater.
"That... don't... look like any Worthfields to me."
The farmer looked over. "Never say never, Ethan."
The rough looking teenager sniffed loudly after staring curiously at the object for a minute. He had caught up to the farmer in his slow pace to the crater. A flaking metallic piece from the ground was picked up, and flicked into the crater with a finger. "...Never's happened."
The piece rattled down the steep but shallow side of the crater and bounced off the object. The noise that seemingly resulted startled both of them.
"Rowf!"
Both jumped and looked at that-
"Blasted dog! Your no better than a pair of those Worthfie-"
The Uncle's words were cut short by a sound. An ovular seam formed from above the nose of the object back towards the middle, and met around at the beginning.
The boy retorted in a quiet tone. "...A... window or somethin'?"
And a window indeed it appeard to be. The surface of the ovular "window"smoothed over in ripples and became slightly translucent. A dark form rested inside. The farmer retorted in the negative.
"Git away. It might jump out, whatever's in there."
The boy took a few steps back from the shiny, metallic craft. Both eyed the thing; The majority of the object appeared to be constructed of shallow seamed plates with no raised indentations for rivets or bolts. Sticking out from each side was an inverted wing. Or supposedly from each side. The craft rested at the end of some shallow ditchmark, starting about two hundred feet and ending in the angled craft. The telltale signs of the missing wing were evident in the shrapnel of metal strewn from a shallow ditch to the left of the main. It suddenly ended after a few feet from the beginning of the main.
Crash, perhaps.
"Yeah..." the boy said airily, answering his question. He took a slow step forward and stood on his tiptoes. Both eyes were on the 'window'.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you..." The farmer Uncle barked. "You never know what the heck could jump out."
The boy quickly walked around to the front and crossed his arms, peering all the more. "Yeah... but if there was something in there, then it probably would have gotten us already."
Snort. "Mebbe whatever the heck's in there just wants you to think that."
The two stood there for a few moments with eyes on the thing. The dog had left. "Nothin's happenin, so get the tractor an' hitch it up to the red barn."
The boy frowned. "What's the use in hidin' it when anyone could've seen it?"
The Uncle responded as he walked off towards the house. "The thing is... they didn't. You were just shootin' off fireworks."
"But-"
"Get the tractor."
The boy's frown turned to an irritated scowl. "Always so sure..."
Note: John Deere 9320 375 HP tractor used - 8 wheels, very large http/ craft was hitched up by wrapping wide nylon belts and chains around the wing and rear portion. The wide nylon belts wrapped around the wing and the rear and the chains finished the rest off.
The large John Deere 9320 tractor roared to life, its eight cylinders pumping out a whistling whine. Clutch, Shift. Ethan looked over his shoulder. The dragging of the craft was messing up the freshly tilled field. "Great. There goes my morning."
He could only nudge the diesel beast up a few gears. An attempt yielded only in an engine spurring and the tachometer going crazy. So the beast was kept tame. A few glances back were given every now and then; but confident that the bonds were holding, he gave up on glancing back. But suddenly, the craft suddenly jolted. The chains clanged loudly against the metal hull, all the more forcing Ethan to peer back. Double glance.
"What the..."
The "window" of the craft went ajar.
This took Ethan's breath away. He immediatly reached down for the trusted double-barrel, but instead of moving it, he simply held on to it in fear of being noticed. The hand slid from the front to the side of the "window", and an arm protruded to the elbow. A resounding dull thunk issued from somewhere behind the glass.
Ethan sat there motionless. Both eyes watched the craft until he was forced to blink from dust in the cab several times. He let a few minutes pass by as a precaution. But by the sixth minute curiosity overwelmed him and drove him to venture out of the cab and take a peek at the creature. He opened the cab door slowly and waited to see if whatever is in the craft would move again. Thankfully, it didn't. He turned around - shotgun close by his hand - and took the first step slowly, always taking peeks down from his feet to the craft every second or two. The second step was easier than the first. He stepped out to skip the last step but misjudged the distance. And slip went his foot, and thud went his body on the ground.
He suddenly panicked. Both eyes shot to the craft, expecting some horrible, hideous creature to jump out and send him to an untimely fate. But interestingly, nothing did. The hand did not move, no teeth appeared. There wasn't even a second thunk.
Ethan waited in his sprawled position, only eyes moving - looking at the ship, and glancing at the gun. A moment or two passed of this. He finally had enough. He shifted his waist so he could grab the gun with his good-aiming arm, and did so successfully. With a new lid of courage, he looked back to the ship -
To find a hideous shadow of some creature standing atop of the craft's glass. Teeth bared, in a crouched - possibly ready - position. Ready to what? No, no, it couldn't be. No it can't. Thoughts shifted to the gun. But he just lay there in shock, awed at the site. If he moved, would it get him? If he didn't, would it pounce on his chest, doing unduly damage to his lungs or even more - killing him instantly?
Silence enveloped between the two. A tail lifted behind from the creature and a rough, raspy breathing sound started from the beast. The tail quickly dropped next to his right leg in a slightly curled fashion. And then after the dull sound of the tail against glass, silence entered the field.
"Who... Who are you?"
The boy didn't respond. It was too scarred. The shotgun just lay in his hand and he didn't move an inch, possibly thinking over some horrible fate that was to befall on him. And of running.
The monster stepped down from the craft with a result of chains clanging and the hitch squeaking.
"I said..." The beast's cut of its own sentence. His sentence. It was a deep voice like a male, with a slight, odd accent; yet clear and easily heard. So well in fact, that the boy just lay there motionless still.
The beast took a step forward. Eyes darting. From the glass hull, to the boy, and back to the glass. "What in the... Eh... Great... No."
He twisted from the waist up and opened the glass hull. He rummaged about in whatever is in the craft. "Gun. Canteen. Pack. Messy. I didn't pack this!"
Meanwhile, the boy did gain enough courage to do one thing. Take out a flashlight from his pocket and shine it at the thing. The result was the dinosaur-like beast - being a he - shielding his eyes.
The beast stood at least seven feet tall, skin reddish blue, legs and arms and the rest of a body like a human. Except it had a tail and claws for fingernails, and a snouts and no hair for a head. And teeth. Sharp. A few offcenter, but otherwise a decent dental job. If, of course, aliens who look like human/dinosaurs had dentists. And a tailor. The creature wore short-like pants with some light-looking metal armor on its shins, with metal cuffs of some sort around its forearms. A knife appeared hastily tucked into a wide-spread toeless boot, tight fitting yet looking strangely comfortable.
"Ah... kid... turn off that light! It's blinding my eyes!"
Kid didn't do as commanded. It was looking at the fairly large pistol-shaped object in its paw. The pistol looked old and worn but several, small bright lights suggested it was functional. So off went light, and darkness presumed the area. Except for the off-shoot of the tractor's front beams.
Footsteps. Closer. And yet, closer. The shotgun was lifted from the boys hands with a commanding tone. The boy didn't fight the tugging.
"You could hurt yourself with this."
The dinosaur-like creature kneeled by the boy. Close enough to get a good look at his face, but not close enough to breath on him. Might make the boy pee his pants, for all's sake.
The creature looked like it was about to say something, but it quickly snapped its mouth shut. Two emerald slitted eyes scanned the boy's face. The boy was ruddy in appearance and rough. Boy in turned blinked once and stared back. Silence again.
"David?"
A slight, quick furrow of the brows, quickly returning to a feared expression. At least it's some form of acknowledgment.
"Well... David. I'd never guessed I'd see you alive."
The boy did more than frown this time. This time he spoke. "I'm not... D-david."
A confused expression from the beast. "...What?"
The boy retorted. "...E-ethan."
The creature shifted part of his weight to the hand with the shotgun on the ground. "Well. You sure look a whole lot like... David. Do you... Are you a relative of him?"
A nod. "Alright... Hmmm. Ethan. I'm Khalon." A hand offered... to shake? The boy stared at it oddly. Those five claws were sharp and menacing. "Well. Whatever you want." The hand retracted. "I thought that's how you Earthers greet one another."
The boy bit his lower lip, and opened his mouth after doing so. "Well... in this country. Yeah."
The brow ridges on Khalon pressed down over his eyes. Slitted eyes, looking almost kinda. Almost warming. And then the boy noticed the rough rash mark across the creature's cheek, and another red-indentation across his forehead.
The creature touched where the boy was looking. "Is there something on my head?"
The boy nodded. Khalon looked back at the ship. Run Ethan, screamed his gut. But he stayed. "Must've been a harder landing... than I thought."
Khalon sighed loudly and stood up. The same paw to shake was offered again. The boy stared at it again. The response from the creature was matter-of-fact. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know. You probably can't do anything to hurt me."
"...Ok." The boy lifted an unsteady, shaky hand by the elbow up. The creature finished the distance and pulls the boy up quickly with a strong arm and firm grip. And even while standing, the boy still held a horrified expression. Khalon just stood there looking a bit awkward.
"Well. Ok. So... David. Uh. Where are you from?"
No answer. Just a horrified expression, and eyes glancing from the big muscles to both guns in his hands. That lighted pistol in one, and the shotgun in the other. "Well then. Uh. Let's get my pod in hiding so..." He glances around. "Your neighbors won't find it, hmm?"
A quick, jerky nod. Khalon looks to the ground momentarily while motioning to the tractor. "I don't know how to drive that thing so..." The boy just nodded but stood there, arm still outstretched from the elbow. Khalon looked at the boy, to his arm, and back up again. He pressed the latch on the stock and the barrel broke down. To free his other hand, he shoved the pistol into his belt and, with the freed hand, plucked the two shells from the barrels. All the while the boy watched in absolute horror. All color had drained from his face, so perhaps a gun would help. Just mebbe.
"Here," Said Khalon, handing gun to the boy. But the boy just looked at it oddly and looked back up to the creature's face. So the monster placed the gun in the still outstretched hand. And nothing happened. "Ok, I don't want to hurt you. In fact, I don't even want to touch you or anything. But if it takes me holding you at gun point, then..." And that made the boy move. He made his way over to the tractor with a few glances back. Just like a baby looking back at its mother. Except the mother was a humanoid dinosaur, and the baby was a frightened teenager. The baby teenager climbed into the cab with the gun in hand and the mother dinosaur stood on one of the footsteps. "Ok... lets go." Pause. "No wait. I better hid in the pod. I might frighten your... family. I don't know if your father remembers me or anything..."
"They arn't my folks."
Khalon just stood there, hand hanging onto the support bar. "What?"
Ethan swallowed hard. "I said... They arn't my folks." An odd look from Khalon. "My dad's dead."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
With the tractor rolling at a very slow pace, and Khalon nestled back into the pod again, they were off. In the meantime of wait Khalon rummaged through whatever was in the pod. "Ok. Canteen, lighter - " Snap. A bright, blue and white flame lit up the small pod. He continued to look. "Map. Of somewhere..." He tossed that over to his left side with other checked things. "A... watch." The chains rattled and the pod shuffled a bit out of the sudden. He lost grip of the lighter and it landed over in a far corner behind the composit-plastic seat. His shifting to reach for the lighter caused the seat to shift. A frown, a squished wrist. But the wrist was not of his concern for the moment. He shifted over to the other side to relieve pressure and felt along the bottom of the affixed chair. "Reptilion Air Force brand. But no bolts?" He felt around on the boltless holes and down by the floor. A rough groove of metal on the floor of the pod, and a few shavings. He then reached over to get the lighter, careful of his position on the chair in the cramped pod. Once the lighter was in hand, he shifted to the left from his torso up so he could reach his hand into the nose-shaped end of the pod.
Snap. The cool blue illumination revealed two curious marks along the from of the pod. The lighter was moved over from the front to the two extensions from the seat. He felt the ends of the extensions idly, and then leaned back in the seat. A glance up to the bar across the front part of the transparent glass, and a pass across his forehead.
Khalon shook his head with a sigh. Both eyes idly looked up through the wavy depiction of a nighttime sky. Stars abound spread across the black expanse... He traced from the Great Dipper to Orion, and to his belt.
"Middle star up high, lead me from Earth to sky, make my path true, and follow me, and you." He then traced from the center star to the tip of Orion's arrow. "From this place of center come and join me - across the great Bow of time, and to the End of the world."
He slouched down in the seat. A hand wiped across his face and down his snout. "No electronics. No controls. Just a mere pod with a few basic supplies, and a lone Reptilion on a planet that no-one should ever end up on..."
He wiped his face again with his hand. But this time, he noticed something... A note. Scribbled into the glass above his head. The lighter instantly went up by it. Snap.
"Safe home. LD." He flicked off the lighter. "Safe home... LD. What's that supposed to mean?"
Forty five minutes later, with tractor in its shed and the pod in an empty barn, Khalon stretched on the hard earth and took a rest from the cramped pod. "I never thought this place would be like this."
Ethan closed the barn door and turned on heel. He eyed the craft and Khalon curiously. "The barn?"
Khalon chuckled. "No. Earth."
A silence grew between the two. Khalon continued to stare aimlessly into the trusses of the barn cieling, and Ethan stared aimingly at Khalon. Khalon eventually met the late teenager's stare after a few more dull moments. "Yes?"
Ethan shook his head and looked away. "Nothing."
Khalon frowned. "Nothing what?"
Ethan cleared his throat and turned to the barn door slightly. "Well... don't worry about it, its nothing."
"Oh." Khalon looked at the barn door and back to Ethan. "I'll sleep in the pod."
"But... Its open. Someone will -"
"It was closed." A nod. "There's got to be a way to keep it shut. If however I got in there and it so happened to shut, then it's got to shut." Khalon sighed. "But though the darned thing can shut... Bah. No rockets. No solid rockets, or even liquid fuel." He resumed his aimless staring at the cieling.
Ethan fidgited with his hands. "So. Ah... Where are..."
"Where am I from? Not here." He forces a laugh and places both hands behind his head. "Far away. Let's just say... very far away."
"Well. How far, though?"
Khalon gave Ethan an odd look, which made him look to the ground for a moment and fidgit all the more. "I mean. What's your home planet called?"
He just shook his head and closed his eyes. Ethan remained silent and still for a moment before going to the door. Before unlatching it, he asked another question. "Are you hungry?"
Khalon shook his head. But he was. His stomach was growling, and his movements before had seemed somewhat weak. Weaker than a beast his size should be.
"I'll be back in the morning. You... you like eggs?"
Khalon didn't answer.
Ethan sighed softly and left. "Good night."
Khalon opened an eye and placed a hand on his stomach. "I thought I just ate." He shook his head and shut his eyes. And suddenly opened both and sat up. "I did. No. I couldn't have." He looked at his arms and hands. Both hands were turned over. "Mebbe I do need some protien." Snort, and he got up. "Nighty night, sleep tight. Yeah." A frosty sigh escaped his lips as he jumped into the pod. He didn't bother figuring out a way to lock the glass. He just closed his eyes and was quickly off to sleep.
The morning sun poking through the cracks in the side of the barn woke Khalon up. A knothole streamed through the grey glass and onto Khalon's eye. He breathed in the cool morning air deeply and yawned loudly. Him bumping his head confirmed the presence of the pod. And that he was on earth. On earth? "Great." With a thrust of both hands, the heavy glass top flew open and out he stumbled. He had barely enough time to get in a large stretch and another yawn before the door of the barn opened. Ethan appeared with a plateful of eggs, fresh bacon, and buttered toast. In his other hand were utensils.
"Uh. Good morning..."
Khalon's grip on the pistol relaxed and he shoved it away before Ethan spotted the gun. Ethan turned around from closing the door and stood there a moment. Perhaps he too was surprised that Khalon had fallen on earth still.
"You... slept well?
Khalon scratched the back of his neck and shook his head. "Could be better but... I got to sleep fine."
Ethan looked down at the steaming eggs. "I brought this for you. I guessed you might be hungry." A glance at the pod. "Unless you have.. your own food or rashions or whatever."
Khalon clasped both hands behind his back and pulled them up. Stretch. "...Ahh... No. I don't have any."
Ethan shrugged and walked over to Khalon. The plate and utensil were handed up to him. "Oh. Well, how'd you survive all that trip then?"
Khalon took the plate and the fork and knife cautiously. "Thanks." He leaned himself up against he pod and held the plate in the right and the fork in the left. "I dunno. Slept most of the way I guess."
Ethan finally said something after Khalon stared at the fork for a moment. "You can use that to scoop up the eggs. And stab the bacon... and eat it." Khalon twisted the fork in his hand. "Or... just your hands."
He took a large mouthful of eggs. "I know." Ethan placed his hands in his pockets and walked over to the pod to look at it. "Its just... I'm half-surprised to see something my own kind uses." He glances over to Ethan. Ethan ran his hand over the smooth metal. Khalon just took another mouthful of egg.
The two talked while one ate. "Are you from here, Ethan?"
"No. I'm not from Iowa. I'm from South of here... Texas."
A nod. Khalon took a cautious bite from the bacon. "Salty. You add a lot of salt to this stuff?"
"The bacon? Yeah. Help preserve it and it just tastes good."
"So... Texas. Where exactly south of here is Texas?"
"It's over ten hours away. By car. By airplane it's much shorter."
"Okay, ten hours away. Why did you move up to a farm?"
Ethan didn't respond immediately. He looks off towards the knothole that shone on Khalon's eye. "I... well my father was killed and my mother... She was a big mess and died from drinking."
The alien stopped eating for a moment. "Oh. I'm sorry..."
Ethan thrust his hands in his pockets again. "S'okay. It's been a while now. Well my father wasn't killed, just presumed to be. He dissapeared and was never found."
"Hmmm. Any clues to who got him or his whereabouts?"
"No. I mean yes. Just some random piece of some red fabric... I found it stuck on a bush that was outside our home."
Khalon took a bite of the last piece of bacon and chewed slowly. He looked up at the cieling of he barn, over to the door, and at Ethan. Ethan just stared at him. Khalon had an unusual expression on his face. "What?"
Khalon finished the bacon. "Oh. Nothing. What are your relation to those who live at this farm?"
"Aunt, Uncle."
"Huh. My second Aunt and Uncle are people that have a high position among my people... They're leaders in a sense. But they're not really my second Aunt and Uncle I guess. I just look up to them like that, though my father never told me that they are." He finished up the eggs and the rest of the bacon. "I'm about ninty-percent sure they are. Hunches. And just rumors and such, and my first Uncle said they are but... You never know."
Ethan just sort of stared right through him. "Ethan? You alright?"
He just shook his head. "I dunno. I just got here from the south... And my father. He..."
The door opened to the barn. Ethan sucked in his breath and turned around. It was his Uncle.
"Who are ya talkin' to in here?"
Ethan look worridly towards Khalon. Except he wasn't there. He must've jumped into the pod. With the plate and fork. He left the knife on the ground.
"Oh no one Uncle... Eh, no one..." He went over to the knife and picked it up. "Just talking to myself. Yes... looking for this knife."
A frown and a narrowed eye. "That thing came out?"
Ethan just about interrupted him. "No."
"Ok. You better git offta school, y'hear?" Ethan left immedietly. "'S almost time for the bus t' get here."
After Ethan had left, the Uncle looked the pod over and shut the door. He slipped a padlock out of his pocket and looped it through the rusting holes of the hinge. "No one's gettin' at my findin'!"
A lock, and a click. Footsteps away from the barn. Khalon peered out from the pod. "Gosh. That was close..." He opened the glass all the way and looked up the ladder to the overhanging attic. "Mebbe I should stay up there from now on."
Meanwhile Ethan gathered up his backpack and lunch and grabbed an apple off the kitchen counter. He headed out the door without saying goodbye. True to his Uncle's words, the bus drove up right as he close the screen door. Lucky for him the bus driver opened the bus door and looked to see if anyone was there.
"Hurry it up!" Yelled the driver.
Ethan ran to the bus and hopped on. The door closed and he got a look down the bus. A few were already picked up; some girl fixing her eyeshadow, a geeky looking kid cleaning his oversized glasses, a Jock staring out the window, and a dark-dressed person in the back. Ethan decided to take a seat in between the Jockish looking kid and the black-dressed kid in the rear of the bus. The diesel engine roared and off they went. He began to eat his supple breakfast and stare out the window.
He barely had the apple in his mouth when the bus jolted to a halt. To his dismay the apple jolted out of his hand - almost tumbling to the dirty floor. The kid dressed in black caught it. He had come from the back for whatever reason. Metal head, Ethan thought as he examined him. Black, spiked hair, black wifebeater and black shorts. Chains and accessories included.
"Here, you dropped this." A slight smirk and the apple offered. Ethan reluctantly took it, smiled slightly, and said muttered a "Thanks".
"No prob... And don't worry, it didn't touch the floor. I'm just seein' if..." He looked down the bus towards the front. The hood was up and the driver outside. "...Our friendly neighboorhood busdriver threw a rod again."
Jockmeister said a "Great, gonna be late for class again." loud. The metal head heh-ed. "That's Scott. And her over there is Katherine, the apple of everyone's eye..."
Ethan just nodded and said his "Yes"s and went to looking out the window for a moment. He looked back after a moment. "Ethan.."
"I'm Jack. You new this year?"
"Yeah."
"Where are you from?"
Ethan shifted in the very straight bus seat and gestured limply with a thumb. "Colorado. But... Moved to Texas and now I'm here."
Jack smiled widely and asked, "Why all the way up here? You can't take the heat and hot girls?"
"Well..." Replied Ethan with a slight laugh. Forced, perhaps. "Things didn't work out with my family so I'm living with my Aunt and Uncle."
Jack kept his smile. "So your dad got into hot girls eh?"
Ethan frowned for a moment. "Well... no. He's dead."
An embarresed look flushed on Jack's slightly pale features, and he shrugged. "Ah... sorry. I shouldn't say that..." He half-stood and peered down the single row. The bus driver slammed shut the hood and got back in. He skipped using the convenient PA and just yelled.
"Sorry about that, belt came off." He gestured with his dirt and grease grimed hands and sat back down. Close of door and start of engine. Off they went again.
Khalon had hid himself up in the upper attic area of the Barn. With the only door to the barn locked, the anthrosaur was kept away - from safety yet no escape, and with his own thoughts. For the moment at least.
"Ok. First off, I get blasted in the head." He rubs his forhead. The impression of the bar running across the glass had left its imprint on his forhead, and some random bruise was located on his temple. Rub rub rub.
"...Can't be the seat. Well mebbe but... I must have been smacked around by whoever thought this wonderful joke was just... hilarious." A sigh. He looked over his few belongings. "Yep. Hilarious. Just like that time when-"
The barn door swung open and the Uncle farmer entered. A man in a dress suit, black slacks, black shoes, and black sunglasses entered - sunglasses in hand of course. Khalon noticed the handy earpiece and snorted softly to himself. Possibly, too loud though. He ducked behind the line of sight of the thick board.
He held his breath because... The board creaked. Loudly.
The suspicious man gave a suspicious look towards the attic area. "Oh, just ignore that." Uncle Henery retorted. "Just some blasted birds nesting."
Yeah, because I'm a bird, Khalon thought. He caught himself from saying it aloud at the Yeah.
"Anyhoo... Here she be." Henery gestured widely to the craft and look expectantly to the man. "So, since this piece of crap fell on my land, don't I get some reward?"
An annoyed look from the man. "After we confiscate it we'll figure out those kind of details."
Henery didn't like that. He crossed his arms and went to move in view of the man and the craft. "I want the money... I should get it! I didn't waste... waste my time and diesel to haul the thing over in my barn from my field in my tractor. I think you'd better think abou-"
Interruption. The man slid some manilla folder from his dress jacket and handed it to the farmer. Khalon gripped his pistol tighter. There's probably more than that where that came from.
"According to this, you actually should get no reward. In fact, you shouldn't even have a house. Or a tractor."
Henery went silent and stared at the folder in his hand. He opened it slowly.
"Uncle Sam doesn't forget." Henery shut it quickly and reluctantly handed it back. He nodded a few times. "...Yeah. Well. Consider this even, then? No reward 'n all?"
The man did not take it back becayse he began to walk around the craft and examine the dull metallic surface. "I'll have to talk to my bosses, but I think something like that can be... arranged." Authoritative tone in voice. That made Khalon narrow his eyes. But though the man did take a rather high stance due to his tone, his excitement could not be contained. He cracked a slight smile. "Uncle Sam will surley be very, very appreciative. Why? Never seen anything like this in my whole life..." Two fingers tapped on the hull. He placed his ear against it the metal surface. His expression did not change. "This is going to make great news. Wait-" The man stood up and looked at Henery accusingly. "Did you say anything at all to anyone since this hit the ground? Anything?"
Henery shook his head. "N-no. No. Nothing. Only you and I know about it."
"But..." Began the man, walking over to the glass and prying it open. He tested the weight of the glass. "Help me with this, will you?" Henery did as told and they finally got the glass up. Just a lone seat sitting at an angle, and crudely fashioned ropes holding the seat to the hull. "But, does whatever was in here know too?"
Henery must have caught the look from the man because he shrugged. A slightly-nervous explanation. "Uh, I dunno... No. No, nothing was in it I think... Well Ethan came inside lookin' kinda pale."
The man cocked his head slightly. He asked quickly, "How long have you had this?"
"Just since las' night. Why?"
"You better be careful. You know what..." He suddenly stopped talking. A finger pressed his earpiece against his ear. "Yeah. Yeah. It could be loose."
Henery shuffled uneasily. The man asked another question. "Oh, and did you see anything jump out when you were taking it back."
"Actually m' nephew drug it over here. I jus' retilled the ground so no one would-"
"Where is Ethan?"
"At school." Henery stepped forward and lightly clutched at his arm. "Are you gonna take him away?"
"No. Just for a little while only to question him. He'll be safe." A pause. "A lot more safer with us, actually. Who knows if whatever thing came to earth likes to cause harm?"
The Uncle farmer nodded and backed off. "But as for now we're gonna search your premises and the surrounding fields and woods. For the thing. If anything did come. We do not want anyone to know about this, or the media to exploit any occurrences. So for the benefit of the doubt you did not see any craft, Ethan did not haul this craft here, and this meeting or anything else did not happen. Got it?"
Henery nodded. "Because. You tell anyone and I'll personally make sure your life becomes a living hell. I trust you saw why in that folder."
The man said something on his radio, and went to walk off. Henery cut him off by asking, "What are you gonna do with it once you find it?"
Find it? Thought Khalon. "Over my dead body."
Both the man and Henery looked up. Khalon bit his lower lip and shrunk low against the board. There you go again with your mouth... Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!
On one thing, it seemed, Henery and the man from the government agreed on one thing by their expressions: Something was amiss in that old barn. Henery threw up his hands with folder still in hand. "Now that was not me!"
The man looked at Henery intently. His eyesight went up to where those pesky 'bird's were. Somehow during this short surprise his hand had instintly gone to something inside his coat. He spoke as he withdrew the hand. Nothing came out - yet. The expression on his face turned to disgust and a narrowed-eye after a brief second and his eyes returned to Henery. "You better watch your mouth, farmer." An exasperated sigh permeated from his thin lips. "I would think that you would be smart enough to shut up. Farmer - you don't get it, do you?"
Khalon peered over the edge. The man's tone had a slight nervousness in it; and also that quick rush to what was possibly a pistol seemed a little too quick there. Nerved man. Perhaps the man caught on to the fact that the mysterious voice was deeper than Henery's.
Great. Caught on. "Farmer..." The man continued. His tone shifted to a hurriedness. "Uh. Can I ask you something? Are you sure you didn't exactly see anything come out of the craft?"
Farmer Henery had taken to the voice too. Nervous looks, and glances. "How 'bouts we discuss this outside?"
The man didn't respond immediately. A glance up at the attic, to Henery, to the craft. A slight forced smile formed on his face as if Fate prompted ego. "No. It's safe in here." He flashed his gun. "The Government keeps us armed well."
Henery forced a smile also and opened his mouth. "Well I'm glad the peoples - Uh, I mean, that's dandy."
Yeah right. But nevertheless... Business. "Alright. My people are going to come and take this away." He turned and went out the door. Henery followed after a brief look around at the barn. From the footsteps heard, it appeard the man and Henery were walking away.
"But remember what I said."
Responding voice an 'I know'. "Yeah, yeah..."