Suddenly the spacecraft jerked to the right. Bobby quickly turned to John. Gone was the air of confidence. Now the concerned look on the young navigator’s face worried Bobby, as John grabbed onto the control stick tightly while it vibrated. The craft veered up and then to the left. John turned to Bobby.
“Grab onto the control,” John ordered.
Bobby, looking startled, was puzzled by this command, but all he did was do as he was told and grabbed the control stick in front of him. With both hands holding tight, the control stick vibrated violently.
“Do as I do,” John instructed.
Both men worked in unison. Bobby struggled to hold the stick tightly. He could feel the direction John was pulling and assisted as John coached. When the craft slowed down to a crawl, it was more manageable to control.
The two were able to keep it under the radar except for the one time when the craft shot up into the sky. But John quickly pressed some buttons and pulled on some knobs and then got the craft to a manageable altitude.
The radar room at Area 51 had been on high alert for two days now. Where one person manned the station, two were assigned to keep watch over the chamber of screens. The screens depicted various locations around the desert. The men had spent the better part of their shift reading girlie magazines because, no matter which alerts they were on, sitting in front of the monitor screens was a boring job. The only way it was bearable was to bring some reading material along with you. The job paid little above minimum wage, so the caliber of men signing up for the job was of low qualifications, with most getting their high school diploma through the mail.
The sudden little beep coming from the radar screen caused both men to jump up from their chairs and drop their reading material, but before either man could get a fix on the bleep, it was gone.
“Did you hear that?” the senior man on duty asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” his partner said in a voice that did not sound convincing.
The two men looked at each other for the longest time. If it were indeed what they heard, it would not have disappeared from the screen so fast.
“Must be a glitch. There’s no way a craft could have vanished off the screen so fast.”
Although both men had been in Area 51 for some time now, no one felt there was credible Intel on aliens from outer space. The Cammo dudes tended to just go through the motions of keeping the area safe.
CHAPTER 13
By the time John and Bobby had the spacecraft safely tucked away back in the tool shed, a UPS truck pulled up the long driveway. Bobby walked out of the shed with John at his side and quickly shut the shed door when the driver stopped near where they were standing. The driver hung out the side door and handed Bobby the small next-day envelope.
“Got a delivery for Elmer Judd,” he said looking at the two, puzzled as to who John was.
Bobby stepped forward. “I’ll take it.” He looked at the envelope and wondered what could be so important to have it delivered that quickly.
As fast as the UPS truck came up the drive, it was down the driveway and disappearing in a cloud of dust.
“What is that?” John asked, curious why a truck delivered a package in the first place, given how things were done on their planet.
Bobby shrugged. “Something Gramps ordered yesterday. Must be important,” he quickly added and then noticed the return address. “From some pharmaceutical company. I wonder if he is sick.”
After they walked into the house, John goes upstairs while Bobby walked through the house with the envelope in hand looking for his grandfather. It was not until he entered the kitchen that he finally found him. Jenny and Elmer were sitting at the table. Elmer was drinking coffee while Jenny had her hands wrapped around a glass of iced tea. Bobby walked up to Elmer and handed him the UPS envelope. Jenny looked at Elmer with concern after quickly looking at the return address.
“This came for you,” was all Bobby said as he looked at Jenny and rolled his eyes.
Elmer accepted the package and just glanced up at Bobby innocently.
“My medicine,” he said, with no other explanation.
Jenny looked puzzled because it was her duty to make the monthly run for his maintenance medicine for his cholesterol and high blood pressure. It was not like her father to order anything online, let alone medicine.
“Since when did you get your medication through the mail?” she asked.
“It’s more economical to do it online,” was all Elmer mustered up to say as an explanation.
Bobby walked over to the sink. He took a glass out of the cupboard and poured himself a drink of water. The kids in school only drank bottled water and turned their nose up at water from a faucet. Nevertheless, Bobby always enjoyed drinking the fresh water from their well. It beat any bottled water you could buy, and Bobby guessed that bottled water came from some well down the road in the first place. Bobby finally turned to Elmer.
“A friend of mine at school said Widow Megal from down the road had been seen in the town lately.”
Elmer frowned as he looked up at Bobby. “Melons are in season. What does that have to do with my medicine?”
“No, Widow Megal,” Bobby corrected.
It had become increasingly difficult to communicate with Elmer recently. His age caused his declining ability to hear, and his inability to seek help for the problem was causing havoc on the family front.
Bobby just stared at Elmer, shook his head, and then yelled for all to hear, “You tell me who you’re watching with your binoculars.”
“Birds! Can’t a man watch birds anymore?”
Bobby just laughed while Elmer got up and walked over to the door with the envelope in hand. He quickly stormed out of the room.
Jenny slowly got up and walked over to the stove. She opened the oven door to check on what was cooking. Once she assessed the meal, she turned to Bobby.
“Tell your friends we will be eating in twenty minutes.”
Bobby turned and quickly left the room before Jenny could ask him about school. It was a subject he never liked discussing with her, and he wondered why she even cared. His mother never took an interest, so he was confused that his aunt would not let the subject rest. Moreover, given what happened in school that afternoon, he was sure that the principal would be calling her to fill her in on the fight after school. It would not seem as innocent as it was. Bobby knew he would have to deal with it eventually, but for now, he did not want to think about it.
After the ride with John earlier, all he had on his mind was helping him get the spacecraft operational. Not so they could leave, but he wanted to see what the craft was capable of. And, given the distance, John said they traveled, Bobby knew it was unlike anything on Earth.
By the time Jenny finished setting the table, Elmer and Bobby entered the kitchen, followed by John and Jane. They all sat down and waited for Jenny to serve up the food. Tonight’s menu consisted of Jenny’s mother’s favorite baked dish. Every family had their name for this dish. The Judd clan called it goulash. It consisted of ground beef, fried bits of bacon, tomato soup, mushrooms, onions, corn, and macaroni noodles. The baked dish was topped with a layer of buttered breadcrumbs that were toasted for the last fifteen minutes of baking. Along with this, they had a fruit salad with toasted garlic bread covered in mozzarella cheese.
Once the food was on the table, all sat just looking at the dishes. Jenny, Elmer, and Bobby waited for their guests to serve themselves before they did. Jane and John, on the other hand, had no clue as to the proper etiquette or knew why the three watched them so closely.