‘These robots are sent by the Cosmic Authority,’ Dad whispers, keeping a tight grip on my arm as we hurry through the woods. ‘Programmed to detect and eliminate any alien life forms found on this world.’
‘Who is this Cosmic Authority?’ I hiss, flinching as a leaf crunches noisily beneath my feet. I glance back to see if the strange lights are following us, but all I can see are the shadows of the trees.
‘The Cosmic Authority enforces the laws of the universe,’ Dad explains. ‘Following these rules, every alien civilization has managed to live in harmony for millions of years. But if the Cosmic Authority catches any aliens breaking the law, then bzzzt!’
I shiver as I remember the silent explosion of light that engulfed the tent and wonder what it would have felt like if we’d been inside.
‘These are the things that vaporized my spaceship and they would have vaporized me too if I hadn’t used the Quintessence to disguise myself as a human being. That’s what these probes are looking for now – any biological signs of alien life.’
Peering ahead into the darkness, Dad silently motions for me to follow him as he starts to climb the track. Through the tree branches, I catch glimpses of the stars and try not to imagine the gaze of the Cosmic Authority, searching for us in the woods.
I still can’t believe that everything my dad’s been telling me is true. That aliens really exist. And even crazier than this, that he’s one too.
My heart jumps as a beam of blue-white light cuts through the trees, only metres away from where we were just standing. Static crackles through the air as we turn and run. Glancing back over my shoulder, I catch a glimpse of a glowing sphere zigzagging through the trees. Its phosphorescence fills the forest with strange shadows. It looks like one of these killer robots is right on our trail.
‘What’s it doing?’ I ask, struggling to keep ahead of the light as the path climbs even higher.
‘It’s trying to get a fix on our bio-data,’ Dad explains, fiddling with the egg-shaped stone in his hand as he runs. ‘Scanning for any trace of alien DNA.’
‘But you said you used that device to reprogram your biology. If you’ve got human DNA now, why’s it still following you?’
‘It’s not following me,’ Dad replies as another blue-white beam crackles through the trees. ‘It’s following you.’
I glance back in fear, the glowing sphere shining brighter as the path starts to clear. It’s getting closer and I feel every hair on my head standing on end. This doesn’t make any sense. I’m from planet Earth, not Proxima b.
That’s when everything Dad’s been trying to tell me suddenly clicks into place in my head. Why gravity isn’t anything to be scared of and the reason my skin turned bright green.
If my dad’s an alien, what does that make me?
The path ahead is coming to an end and I see a large sign that says, ‘FEEL THE SPHERE!’
‘This way,’ Dad says, pushing past a metal gate as the blue-white light flashes again.
As shock waves roll inside my brain, I stumble forward. I don’t want to feel the sphere, but I’ve got no choice.
Following Dad through the gate, I suddenly see several large round shapes looming in the gloom. For one terrifying moment I think these are more killer robots, super-sized and hiding in the dark. But then I realize what they are.
‘Zorbs!’
They look like giant hamster balls, squashed together behind the gate.
‘Quick,’ Dad says, grabbing hold of the nearest one and angling it towards me. ‘Climb in.’
I stare into the hole on the side of the inflatable zorb as Dad holds it steady. There’s no other way in and no time to argue as another blue-white beam cuts through the trees. Springing forward on my toes, I jump through the hole and slither inside the zorb. I scramble to my feet as Dad slides through the hole behind me, the transparent plastic squeaking as I try to stop myself from falling over.
‘What are we doing?’ I hiss, the sound of my voice almost too loud inside the enclosed space. ‘I don’t think this is a good time to go zorbing.’
Through the transparent plastic I can see the bright shapes of more glowing spheres hovering above the trees.
I glance back at my dad who’s staring down at the pebble in the palm of his hand.
‘Hiding,’ he replies. ‘The thick layer of compressed air inside this zorb should disguise our bio-data signals for a while. Long enough to get this thing working again, I hope.’
The faint lights of the Quintessence flicker with a pale pink glow.
‘When you activated the quantum flare, you drained the power cell,’ Dad explains, gently stroking the pebble as if encouraging it back to life. ‘If I can get the harmonic modulating circuit running, I’ll be able to keep you safe – but I need more power.’
I look around to see if I can find something that will help. There are rubber straps, Velcro belts and handholds for passengers to grab on to, but I can’t see any sign of a charging point for this piece of alien technology.
I’m about to ask my dad what he needs when a sudden flash of blue-white light almost blinds me. I screw my eyes shut against the glare, but when I open them again I see a trio of glowing spheres hovering outside the zorb.
They’ve found us.