We arrived at Planet Hollywood later that morning. Jack Bruno gave the keys to a stranger. "That's a valet, they're supposed to park the cars. Every hotel and casino has them. It's a sucky job but someone's got to do it. Most of the idiots in school are either valets or worse" Becky told me. It made me wonder about hers. If she worked at all.
"Don't worry. Rebecca's work only consists of assisting others in her workplace" Sara assured me.
"Okay, how do you know that I have a part-time job as a shop assistant?" Becky asked.
"Jack Bruno told me when Seth went looking for you" Sara replied.
"Fair enough" Becky replied, shrugging it off.
"Here. Park somewhere safe and give the dog some water" Jack Bruno told the man. Junkyard barked twice, reminding us that he still wanted something to chew on. "Oh. And a meat treat" Jack Bruno added as he paid the man. Junkyard barked a thank you.
Becky let out a small, adorable laugh. "You gotta love that dog" she muttered. The man kept staring at her in a peculiar way. Becoming overprotective, I glared at him until he looked away.
We followed Jack Bruno to find Dr Alex in a boardroom, he warned us not to speak to anyone else beforehand. She had short curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a white blouse, dark trousers and black shoes. "Presentation doesn't start in an hour but feel free to take a seat, it'll be crowded later. It always is" she remarked.
"We're here to see you, Dr Friedman. I drove you here from the airport" Jack Bruno said.
"Oh. The non-believer" she replied sceptically then glanced at us. She took us to one side. "You cannot be serious!" she half yelled at Jack Bruno.
"Well I thought you of all people could help them" he defended.
"Why? Because I'm a 'nut-job'?" she whispered. Sara and I glanced at Becky. She made a gesture that told us that it was a term for the insane. I picked up the laptop. Sara, Becky and I looked at the image frozen on the screen - a starry sky and a blurry spaceship, mine and Sara's. We smiled at each other. "Don't touch that" Dr Alex demanded.
We turned to them. "This image is our spaceship" Sara told her.
Dr Alex raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Wait. You think the smudge is your ship?" she asked.
"We know it is" Sara exclaimed. Dr Alex approached us to take the laptop from me but I changed my molecular density quickly. Sara used her powers to levitate it and let it settle in Dr Alex's hands.
"They can also do all this" Jack Bruno said, used to our powers by now.
"Who are you?" a stunned Dr Alex asked.
"We are not from your planet" Sara replied, repeating the same words she told Jack Bruno.
"The only human genetically close to our race is this girl" I told her, ruffling Becky's hair. She just grinned then tried to smooth it out.
"How?" Dr Alex asked. I shrugged. Becky's grandfather, Elder Ray is the most respected extraterrestrial on our planet. He told me that he had a granddaughter who was my age. Yesterday I had realised that she was Becky. There wasn't a scientific term for what she is yet.
"Rebecca's grandfather, Ray was a participant in an experiment our scientists carried out to see if our kinds could breed. The result was Rebecca's mother, an alien-human hybrid. Rebecca carries the same DNA" Sara replied, opening her necklace. Dr Alex blinked. Holograms of the universe floated around us. The hologram of the planet Sara and I were from came into view. "Our planet is located at least 3,000 light years away from Earth. The atmosphere has become unbearable to live in. Until our leaders found a possible solution" she lectured.
"They found your planet. Earth is able to support our kind, with breathing conditions similar to what ours used to be. The simpleist solution is to relocate to your planet and occupy it" I continued. The words tasted bitter in my mouth, I still didn't like it. I never liked the choices our government made but this one was by far the worst. It involved killing existing species on Earth, which many of us are against. And it might threaten Becky's life. None of them would dare touch her. I glanced at her. I won't let any of them come near you, Becky.
"Great, so I'm helping you take over my planet" Jack Bruno groaned.
Becky turned to me. "For Christ's sake, Seth, are you serious?" she yelled. I knew Becky wasn't the kind of girl who would overreact and jump to conclusions without evidence to support her points or hearing the other side. I couldn't blame her. Neither could Sara. Underneath, she's afraid for us.
"Do not jump to conclusions, Rebecca. Many of our people were against it. Even your grandfather couldn't intervene, despite others agreeing with him out of respect and knowing he was only trying to protect you. Our parents were able to successfully conduce an experiment that will hopefully restore our planet's atmosphere so we are able to inhabit it once more" Sara explained.
"However, they were convicted before they could retrieve the data, so we agreed to come in their place" I explained.
"So, you're actually trying to prevent an invasion?" Becky asked.
I gripped her shoulders. "Yes, Becky. As intelligent and brave Sara and I know you are, even you don't understand how ruthless our government can be. They will kill anyone, human or one of us, who tries to stop them. The last thing Sara and I want is to cause any unnecessary deaths of humans. Especially yours" I told her. I meant it. Becky's mouth formed an "o" shape. I sighed and shook my head. She can be so odd. But it's sweet. If our parents weren't under house arrest and if Sara and I hadn't come, I wouldn't have met Becky. Although, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got slaughtered by Siphons. No, I won't let it happen. I made a promise to her. Father taught me a man doesn't break promises, especially those made to a woman.
"The data that will save our planet and spare yours are in these" Sara informed Dr Alex, Jack Bruno and Becky as she showed them the data files.
My eyes softened when I noticed that the holograms made Becky's eyes glow brightly, like they did last night. She blushed, pushing strands of hair from her face when our eyes locked. She's so beautiful. If we complete our mission, she'll be safe. And I want that more than anything. It's only right for me to be concerned about the girl I love.
Dr Alex took us to see the ufologist, Dr Harlan. "So you saw the spaceship? Are you sure you're not lying to me? I can always tell whether someone is lying!" he asked me, Sara and Becky. We all nodded at the same time. "Well, you were lucky not to come face to face with the aliens before they could eat your flesh" he told us. Becky was about to interject but I squeezed her hand to stop her, which made her blush for a moment.
"Yes, we are indeed very lucky kids not to have our flesh eaten by the aliens" Sara said.
Dr Harlan looked at me."Your sister and your girlfriend were fortunate you were with them. Most aliens choose not to attack young women if there is a young man with them" he said.
Becky blinked, blushing ten shades of red. "I-I'm not his girlfriend, sir" She told Dr Harlan, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"We're just friends" I corrected.
"Dr Harlan, what we want to know is where the spaceship was taken" Dr Alex told him.
"Witch Mountain" Dr Harlan replied, handing her a photograph and a map. "If you plan to go there, don't. In times like these, things get dangerous" he warned.