Chapter 16
Funnily enough, I was the first one awake in the morning. Well, that wasn't strictly true… I didn't sleep, so I never truly woke up.
Dad had returned later that day, and as a family we sat down over a game of Ludo, something that we always used to do when Danny and I were kids. It wasn't often that Danny smiled and seemed to enjoy himself, but that game of Ludo did the trick, and he was brighter than the full moon.
In the morning, however, he'd returned to normal. Dad made a comment about how it was approximately nine-hundred-and-thirty-two days until he became 'an actual person'. He would be as old as I was on the day that I actually felt the urge to make my own bed once I'd gotten up. Apparently, that's when the teenage days are done.
We had bacon baps for breakfast, and the scent of it was the triggering factor for Danny's weary appearance. My parents and I were around the table, each with a fresh cup of tea and our own breakfasts clutched in hungry hands. We ran through the plan for the day, which would culminate in a family film in the evening. We were going to hold a vote on which film to watch, but that got delayed because democracy clearly wasn't working.
And then we left home in Dad's big shiny SUV that he cared for so diligently. On the way to the museum, we stopped by the home of my Mum's parents who would be joining us. They were travelling in their own car, but Mum wanted to make sure that they'd remembered. The remainder of the journey was frustrating, made so by the slow speed of an elderly driver who had to follow us for directions. It took more than an hour, and we were highly relieved when we rolled over the big speed bump that demarked the museum's car park.
The air of the city was thick and dry, and the hot sun that cut through it made me wish I'd put on lighter clothing. I craved the air conditioning of the museum, but not the smell of ancient antiques and peculiarities. My grandparents were slow to pull themselves from their little hatchback and wanted to spend some time moaning about the bumpy roads, and how the city council should be changing priorities.
"Oh, shut up you old git," Mum told Grandad. "Honest to God, you never stop moaning."
Grandad waved his walking stick. "I'm waiting for you! It's too hot out here."
Dad laughed. "So why are you wearing a tweed jacket? You must be roasting in that thing."
"Bloody kids…" Grandad tutted. "Come on, let's get going before they bloody close."
"After you." Dad offered with an open palm. He looked to us with a hidden smile when the grandparents shambled past at minimum speed. We slow-marched behind them, glancing at our watches both genuinely and with amusement.
"There's loads of ants…" Danny mentioned, slouched in his walk so that his eyes were forever scanning the cracks of the tarmac.
"Let's hope we beat them to the ticket line," Dad said. "Doesn't look good right now."
"Don't wait for us," Grandma insisted. "We'll only slow you down."
"Really? Didn't notice." Dad laughed.
We made it to the ticket line, which, at this time of day, was just coming down from its busiest time, so it was a while before we were ready to head into the exhibits. The grandparents already looked fed-up and exhausted, and their not-so-subtle hints at the café hadn't aided Mum's mood, as she also had Danny's groanings to deal with. Dad remained the delegated optimist, and made the occasional off-colour joke about whoever happened to walk past, whether it was a fat person, a Muslim or a blonde. His brashness was enjoyable.
The museum was a grand old hall in the centre of the city, built way back in the days when the monarchy still ran the kingdom. The rooms were tall and wide, large enough for huge dinosaur fossils and the largest ancient artefacts. These, however, were separated into different sections of the museum, dedicated to certain specialities within the bounds of science and history. I'd never been too fond of the place, because that sort of stuff didn't really appeal to me. Dad was definitely into Space exploration and physics, and Danny had once been partial to dinosaurs. Mother was like me, but she'd long ago learned to sacrifice her own pleasure for that of the family, which became a pleasure in itself.
Grandma and Grandad… I think they were there just so we could take advantages of certain discounts. They weren't too interested in any of the exhibits.
Danny started showing interest the moment were entered the ancient creatures exhibit. His slouch vanished, and his eyes shimmered with intrigue. When greeted with a Diplodocus skeleton standing guard in the centre, under three glorious spotlights, he was pulled over like a magnet. I joined him beside the beast's enormous foot. I felt much more in awe of it than I did the last time.
"It looks like the Loch Ness monster." Danny speculated.
"Sure does." I replied.
The bones of the creature were brown and held the texture of stone. To think that such creatures lived all those years ago and grazed from trees, to be hunted and chased by the infinitely ferocious T-rex. Such powerful animals that put most modern ones to shame. I reached out a hand, leaned over the railing and brushed my fingers against its leg. I could almost sense that power.
Ancient Earth was like travelling to another world. The further back in time we looked, the stranger the creatures became in form and function. Insects were monstrous abominations several feet in length. Early dinosaurs were grown with cutting claws and a body built for speed and strike, with teeth like well-worn knives.
We travelled back beyond dinosaurs, and beyond insects. Beyond fish and flowers. Beyond the earliest, most primitive living things. As we walked deeper into the museum, the world devolved into its larval form, a cocoon of rock and mineral. The hallways became dark and spotted with twinkling stars, the paths illuminated by faint white lines.
The new exhibit was a monument to the wonders of Space. A deep, soothing voice spoke to us from overhead speakers, alluring us to the mysteries it wanted to haunt us with: Where did we come from? What caused our existence? What started it all?
"Our scientists work day and night to uncover the secrecies of the stars. Maybe you will be the one to discover…"
"This is it?" Grandad moaned. "This is what they spent all that money on? Some Einstein wisdom crap?"
"Christ, we've only just entered," Dad said. "I tell you what, why don't you both get a drink? We've just passed the café."
"Never thought you'd ask…" Grandad replied. "Come on, Martha, I saw sticky buns."
"That's all you ever see." She said. The pair ambled back toward the entrance of the Space exhibit where the café was waiting.
With the more able-bodied members of the family remaining, we could continue on at a more satisfying pace. The dark corridor opened out, after some sidewinding, into a two-storied hall, decorated like the vast colourful blackness of Space. The walls and ceiling moved in slow rotation with stars and sparkling galaxies, worlds infinitely far from home. Something large loomed in the very centre of the hall, starting at the ground and stretching up to almost scrape the ceiling. In what little lighting was granted to us, we were able to scoot past other visitors to begin the circular route.
"Why did we bother bringing them?" Dad asked, referring to the pair we'd left behind. "All they ever do is moan."
Mum retorted, "And you're moaning right now. We got them in for free, so what's it matter?"
"Maybe we could shoot them into Space." Danny suggested with an unusual striving for humour. Mum and Dad chuckled lightly. I failed to force myself to.
The new exhibit was okay. I was never into Space stuff, so most of it barely interested me. The presentation of big planets and swirly lights was enough to keep me involved, though, and when the enormous object in the centre of the room lit up, revealing itself as a transforming Earth, from birth to modern day, I was beginning to enjoy it. That enjoyment could not last, though, as a rather sensitive topic approached when we stepped onto the ground floor.
The board began to glow as we pressed the appealing yellow button made to look like a burning star. A mosaic of images became visible, a collection of cultural images and front pages. The voiceover returned from what little rest it got to ask us a very simple but frightening statement: "Are we alone in the Universe? Scientists don't think it likely. Though we haven't found anything out there yet, it is said that the chances of another kind of life out there are close to a certainty."
I almost blurted it out. Suddenly, I was finding no enjoyment in the experience, and a part of me was disturbed enough to want to sit down with Grandma and Grandad for a coffee. My emersion destroyed, I was incapable of taking any of the rest of the exhibit seriously, and I wanted nothing more than to leave. However, Danny was, for the first time, showing some real interest and was trying to engage me with it. I had to stay.
"What do you think aliens will look like?" He asked me as we stared at the image of an old newspaper headline that flashed up.
"Well…" I began, feeling a twitch curse my head, born of the images that were instantly conjured. "Small and green. Duh."
He turned to face me. "You don't sound too sure about that. I think that's stupid. Real aliens would be big and smart. They might even be dangerous." He grinned, almost devilishly like it were some threat in a horror story.
"Maybe. No more dangerous than a grumpy teen, though."
He swung away with a groan and a stroppy face "I'm not a grumpy teenager!"
He dragged himself away to the next lie, leaving me with the previous.
Was it so?
Roswell was there. Area 51. Tall tales long lived, but nothing that I'd come to know. Not a sniff of it. What had been legend to before was then a pathetic myth, a parody of the truth. And was that known by the creators of the epic hall with the transforming Earth and the wonders of Space? Was any one of them taken by the Yeerks and insistent on hiding any signs of their invasion?
It made me wonder. If the Yeerks were truly here in force, how many times had the truth been suppressed? What lengths would they go to in order to do so?
I imagined any length. They were the shepherds, and we were the sheep. What are sheep but a walking profit?