Hearing the knock on the door, and the telepathic message, Adam and Watch jumped up from the beds and huddled by the door. They could hear nothing outside.
“Who do you think it is?” Adam asked.
“Either Ekweel2 or another alien,” Watch said.
“I know it’s either Ekweel2 or another alien. Sally and Cindy haven’t become telepathic in the last few hours. The question is, what should we do?”
“If it’s someone come to rescue us,” Watch said. “We’ll never forgive ourselves if we don’t answer.”
Adam put his mouth close to the door. “Yeah, we’re in here. But who are you?”
The telepathic response was immediate.
“Zhekee191.”
Adam and Watch stared at each other. “Their names are kind of corny,” Adam said.
“Imagine if there are hundreds of Zhekees,” Watch agreed.
Adam spoke to the door again. “What do you want?” he asked.
“Are you Adam and Watch? The two human beings?”
“Yes,” Adam said. “How did you learn our names?” None of the other aliens, with the exception of Ekweel2, had asked them.
“Ekweel2 came on our youth network and explained that you two had been taken captive by our government, in violation of our laws. He wanted all of us to fan out and search for you. I know Ekweel2 personally. I am his friend and respect what he says. I know he would not joke about such a serious matter.”
“How were you able to get into this place?”
“My father works here. I have known for many years that we are not encouraged to visit here and it made me wonder if perhaps this was where you had been taken captive. I am pleased to find you so quickly. I have my father’s passkey. It allows me to enter and exit this section.”
“Can you open this door?” Adam asked.
“Yes. I just have to push the button beside the door and it will open.”
Again Adam and Watch stared at each other. “He might have said so at the beginning,” Adam said.
“Perhaps he’s afraid how ugly we’ll look,” Watch said.
“I know what you look like, of course. I will open the door.”
The door opened right then. Zhekeel91 could have been Ekweel2’s identical twin brother. He stared up at them with his big black almond-shaped eyes.
“You are tall.”
“We get taller, as time goes on,” Adam said. “Where is Ekweel2?”
“He did not say specifically but he must still be in space dock.”
“Do you know if he has our friends Sally and Cindy with him?” Watch asked.
“No. He did not mention them in his message. Are they female humans?”
“Yes.” Adam paused. “How did you guess that?”
“I have studied your culture. It is a required class in our schools.”
“I didn’t know we were so important,” Adam said. “Are you guys planning to invade our planet?”
Zhekeel91 seemed taken aback.
“We could not do that. It would not be possible.”
“Then how or why do you know so much about us?” Watch asked.
“Because you made us who we are. Of course.”
“Of course,” Adam muttered. He had no idea what the alien was talking about, nor did he really care. He just wanted to get home. He was starving for a real Earth dinner. “Can you take us to space dock?” he asked.
“That is what I wish to do. But we have to be careful. You are not easy to hide. I know a special way there that few take.”
“Can you get us a weapon?” Watch asked.
“What do you need a weapon for?”
“Protection,” Adam said. “We’ve already been shot by your people once today. We won’t shoot anybody unless we’re attacked. You have our word.”
“I cannot get you a weapon. I do not even know where they are stored.”
“Take us to the space dock then,” Adam said. “And thanks ahead of time for all your help.”
Watch glanced back in the direction of the captured Hyeet. “I hate to leave that hairy guy. I feel like he’s almost one of us.”
Adam nodded. “Maybe we can rescue him later. But right now we have to take care of ourselves.”
They hurried out of the cell and raced down a long hallway. Right away Adam could see they were going in a different direction from before. The hallways were all similar, but there were also differences. For example, for several hundred yards, they entered a glass hallway that looked out over a massive park area. The green area had to be a mile across. It was crowded with thousands of aliens. Some seemed to be playing games, others were just relaxing by small lakes.
Yet there was no sun in the sky. There was no real sky, actually, just a wide curving ceiling that glowed with gentle yellow light. Adam wondered if Watch might have been right. Maybe the aliens had polluted their planet so badly that they had to live in space, whether they wanted to or not.
Maybe that was why they kept coming to Earth.
To take it over. Adam didn’t care what Zhekeel91 said.
He was still worried about an invasion.
Adam was glad no one noticed them while they were in the glass hallway.
It would have been hard to outrun thousands.
Yet, before they reached the space dock, they did run into a guard. He appeared to be searching for them. He carried a ray gun and when he saw them he immediately aimed it at them. They received a strong and clear telepathic message at the same time.
“Stop where you are and put your hands over your heads.”
Where they were, fortunately, was two feet from a corner. Adam and Watch exchanged quick knowing glances. No way they were going back in that cage. They jumped for cover, behind the corner. There was a flash of green light but it bounced harmlessly off the wall behind them.
Zhekeel91 seemed taken by surprise. He remained frozen where they had been spotted by the guard. Watch started to run away, but Adam grabbed his arm and pulled him tight against the wall, right next to the corner.
“Let’s take the guard,” Adam whispered.
The alien security guard had obviously not grown up on spy movies. The guy came running around the corner without any thought that they might be waiting for him. Adam simply stuck out his foot. The guy tripped; he went down hard. In fact, he seemed to knock himself out when he hit the floor with his big fat head. Adam reached down and grabbed his weapon, which had bounced free. Zhekeel91 stared at them with a mixture of wonder and terror.
“You are an interesting species.”
“We have our good points,” Adam admitted. He showed Zhekeel91 the weapon. “How do I control the power on this thing?”
It was very simple. If he turned the little knob clockwise, the power became stronger. There were ten settings. One stood for light stun. Two was hard stun. Four and up could kill, Zhekeel91 warned. Adam left the weapon on two, where it had originally been set, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of increasing the power. They were taking a space ship to Earth, he vowed, one way or the other. Zhekeel91 was more worried than ever.
“Please do not hurt anyone.”
“We only want to go home,” Adam said.
Zhekeel91 led them on their way. Ten minutes later they reached the space dock. There was no transition. They were in a narrow hallway one second, then they were in the gigantic space harbor the next. Adam and Watch were stunned to see a crowd of aliens gathered around one saucer. The ship floated at the end of a narrow dock. The aliens were bunched up on the dock like sardines in a can. They had several portable instruments with them, and seemed to be measuring what was going on inside the ship. The vessel looked exactly like the craft they had taken from Earth to the alien station. But Adam quickly realized that this was the one that Sally, Cindy, and Ekweel2 flew.
Adam could dimly sense the buzzing thoughts of the crowd.
The aliens were worried.
And Adam planned to give them one more thing to worry about. He turned the power on his hand weapon up to ten and pointed it at the crowd. He had only been taught the rules of poker a few hours earlier but he had learned them well.
“This gun is set to kill!” he shouted. “Stand aside or I’ll fire!”