Chapter 9

At last, they got to the location in the desert where the ship was waiting. Bill opened the back door and lifted Ralph out of the back seat, trying not to move any broken limbs. He picked up Ralph and walked into the light beam. As usual, he awoke on the table in the white room. Ralph was gone. Bill went to the door and walked into the room where the stasis chambers were along the wall. He could see Ralph in one of the chambers wearing just his boxers-the green guys had removed the suit. Little lights were flashing and flitting around Ralph's body.

As Bill watched, the head green guy walked up and stood next to him. He said, "His injuries were quite extensive. It may take a full day to heal him."

Bill shook his head, understanding, and asked, "Can I call Pam-uh, Mrs. Hinkley-from here and tell her what is happening?"

"We have enabled you to receive cell service on the ship." The head green guy answered.

Bill punched in Pam's number and told her that they made it to the ship and Ralph was being worked on, but fixing everything would take a day or so. He would call her when they were on their way back home. Again, she was crying over the phone with joy to hear this.

Bill watched Ralph through the stasis chamber portal. Lights flashed and twinkled across his body. As time passed, Bill saw Ralph's broken leg and arm straightened, and the bruises, cuts, and scratches on his face and body disappeared. He wandered around the control room and watched the Earth from the large screen. He sat on the floor, leaned against the wall, and eventually fell asleep.

The head green guy, who had the suit hanging over his arm, awakened him. He told Bill, "The suit has been purged of the foreign entity and is now ready for Ralph to wear." Bill stood up and took the suit. At that moment, the door to the white room quickly opened, and Ralph stood there in his boxers with a confused look on his face.

Bill briskly walked over to Ralph and asked, "How ya doing, kid? The green guys seem to have fixed you up real good."

Ralph looked questioningly at Bill and asked, "What happened? The last thing I remember is talking to you in the alley and … and the pain, the incredible pain … and then I woke up here." Ralph shook his head, trying to make the memory of the pain go away.

"I did what you told me to, or really what the green guys told the suit to tell you to do, and came here."

Ralph said, "What?" not understanding what Bill was saying.

Bill continued, "They gave me a ray gun, or something like that, to shoot the suit and knock it out. I found you, shot the suit, and brought you here. You were in really bad shape, Ralph. I thought we were going to lose you. But you look great now; here's the suit." He held it out to Ralph. An immediate look of fear and aversion washed across Ralph's face; he started to shake and backed up against the table in the white room, trying to get as far away from the suit as he could.

"Bill, take that away! I'm not wearing that thing ever again! I'm not touching it, EVER!" he shouted.

"Kid, it's okay; they got the other thing out. It's clean," Bill said reassuringly.

"No! No! No! I never want to see that thing again. Take it away, Bill. Please, take it away," he pleaded, backing away around the table the whole time as the fear and panic on his face grew.

Bill held the suit up with both hands by its shoulders and explained again, "Ralph, kid, it's good. It's clean. The thing inside it that did all those terrible things to you is gone. It's okay. You have to wear something when we leave here."

"I'll go naked. I don't care. Take it away. Take it away," he said, on the verge of tears. He headed for a corner and squatted in the corner with his arms over his head. His whole body shook, and he cried repeatedly, "No, no, no…I won't wear it."

Bill didn't understand what was wrong. He thought the green guys had fixed Ralph, but they hadn't.

The head green guy came up to him and said, "We were afraid this might happen."

"What? You knew he might be like this? Why didn't you fix this too?" Bill shouted.

"Some humans can handle the extreme situations that Ralph went through better than others and would not get what you call PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. We hoped Ralph was one of them, but he is not."

"Oh, I've heard of that. Some guys from the Korean War got it. Is there anything we can do?" Bill asked, with concern in his voice.

"The only thing we can do is remove all his memories of the last three days. He would remember nothing from those days. However, he may occasionally have some emotional memories and feelings, as you call it. But the feelings will eventually dissipate if you and Mrs. Hinkley do not remind him of what happened. He may also sometimes have bad dreams."

"Okay, if that is the only way, then let's go ahead and do it. I'll think up some story to tell him. Let me call Pam to tell her."

Ralph's cowering body disappeared.

Bill called Pam and told her about the PTSD. He told her the story he would tell Ralph about the last three days, and she needed to go along. She said, "Okay, anything, as long as Ralph will be all right."

Ralph popped back into the white room, looking confused and looking down at his body, clad only in boxers.

"Bill, what is going on? Why are we here on the green guy's ship, and I'm only in my underwear? The last thing I remember was picking up that computer at the hacker's lab."

"Yeah, that's right, kid, you got a big electric shock, and it knocked you into some chemicals and drugs on the counter. You fell on the floor, and the drugs spilled all over you and into your mouth. You swallowed a bunch of different kinds of drugs. The hacker had his own drug lab there."

"I don't remember any of that. Wha. What happened?" Ralph held his head and closed his eyes, trying to remember.

"You were out of it for a few days, saying weird things, seeing things that weren't there. Pam and I thought the drugs would wear off. When you weren't getting any better, I brought you here to the green guys. They were able to get most of the drugs out of you. I guess the drugs messed up your memory."

"Oh, okay," Ralph said, unsure what to think.

"Here's the suit; get dressed, and we'll get out of here," Bill said in a rush to get off the ship as usual.

"Why did they take the suit off me?" Ralph asked, still feeling confused.

"They said it was contaminated or something, so they cleaned it."

"Okay," he said slowly. He reached for the suit and hesitated for a second, a little twinge of fear in the back of his mind. He shook his head and said, "I guess those drugs did mess with me; I feel a little afraid of the suit."

"Yeah, they did a number on your noggin. Come on, let's get out of here. You know how I hate being here."

Ralph quickly dressed, and they were beamed beside Bill's car. Ralph started to get in the car's front seat but changed his mind and got in the back seat. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a nap on the way home. Wake me when we get there. I guess I'm still feeling some effects from those drugs."

"Sounds good, kid. Relax and take a nap."

Ralph lay down across the back seat and fell asleep instantly.

Bill called Pam and told her they were on the way home and the green guys had fixed everything. She understood and couldn't wait to see her husband.

Ralph was running, and something was running after him. He looked over his shoulder, but it was dark, and he couldn't make out who it was, but it seemed to be a man. He was terrified but didn't know why. He tripped and fell, and the man caught up to him. He could now see that the man pursuing him had no head or hands; it was the red suit with no one inside. He started to scream and woke up in a sweat. Bill was calling him, "Ralph, kid, we're home. Wake up."

"I'm awake; I'm awake. I was having the weirdest dream that the suit was running after me," he said groggily as he sat up.

"Oh, it must still be those drugs affecting you a little. "Don't worry about it," Bill tried to sound casual as though nothing was wrong, but the green guys said Ralph might have bad dreams.

Pam ran out of the house and hugged her husband and kissed him. Ralph smiled. Pam said, "I was so worried about you." The three of them walked into the house.

Once inside, Pam asked, "Do you remember anything? Bill told me your memory was messed up."

"No, nothing. It is a blank slate. At least it was only a few days and not longer. I wonder if my memory will return like when I got amnesia from hitting the train. I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

Pam said, "Okay, hun." She turned to face Bill, facing away from Ralph, and mouthed, 'Let's hope not.' Bill shook his head, agreeing.

Bill told Pam loud enough for Ralph to hear, "He slept the whole way back. Those drugs must be making him tired." Pam shook her head, knowing what Bill was doing, reinforcing the missing three-day drug exposure story.

Ralph entered the bedroom, took off the suit, and laid it on the chair. He got into bed and stared at the suit across the room, looking like it did in his dream. He shivered a little and said to himself, "Stupid dream," Then he turned over and went to sleep.

The next morning when Ralph got up, it was a good day.

After Bill and Ralph left the ship, the head green guy went into the next room and asked the green guy scientist, "Do you have the entire program? Was it from our missing scout ship?" The scientist nodded his head in affirmation.

"Good, at last, it is where it should be, and we can restore it to its proper functionality."

The End