THE ALIENS HAVE GOT THESE PROBES
Amba empties her rucksack on to the kitchen table and my heart slowly sinks as the books spill out. Pictures of flying saucers and little green men stare out from the plastic-backed covers and a quick glance at the titles confirms my very worst fears:
UFO: FACT OR FICTION?
EXTRATERRESTRIAL ENCOUNTERS
MYSTERIES FROM THE SKY
SECRETS OF THE MEN IN BLACK
THE ALIENS ARE COMING!
‘What are all these books?’ I ask.
The three of us are sitting round the kitchen table, glasses of juice and a plate of home-made biscuits left out for us by my mum.
‘Research,’ Amba replies as Damon tucks into a biscuit. ‘We went to the library and asked for every book they had on aliens and UFOs.’
‘This isn’t some school project, Amba,’ I say, pushing the books back towards her. ‘This is serious.’
‘Don’t let Mrs Beale hear you say that,’ Damon says through a mouthful of biscuit. ‘She made me do my last project on “Animals of the Sea” all over again because she said it showed poor research skills. I didn’t know whales didn’t lay eggs. Can you imagine the size of them if they did?’
Raising an eyebrow at Damon’s fishy confession, Amba picks up the nearest of the books. On its front cover, I see a picture of a silvery alien with saucer-shaped eyes beneath the title: THE ALIEN HUNTER’S HANDBOOK: All You Need to Know about Outer Space Invaders.
‘I am taking it seriously,’ Amba says as she flicks through its pages. ‘But if we want to get your dad back, we’ve got to find out why the aliens have taken him. According to this book, thousands of people every year are kidnapped by aliens but the government keeps this all hushed up.’
She turns the book round so I can see the heading at the top of the page she’s found.
ALIEN ABDUCTION: THE FACTS
‘Let’s assume they haven’t exterminated him,’ Amba continues, her pointing finger passing over an image of a bug-eyed alien armed with a laser blaster. ‘Now, some alien species apparently treat coming to Earth like a trip to the supermarket to pick up some tasty treats, whilst others abduct humans to work as slaves on their remote alien ant farms.’
Across the table, Damon’s face is turning the same shade as the little green man on the front of the book. It looks like he’s going to be sick.
Reaching up, Amba twists a stray strand of curly black hair around her fingertip. ‘Most humans, though, are taken for experimentation,’ she continues. ‘It’s happened loads of times before. There are reports from all across the world. Most of the time the person is only taken for a day or two, but sometimes they can be gone for years. It says here that the aliens have got these probes that they—’
‘Amba, stop,’ Damon manages to croak.
‘I’m only reading out what the book says,’ Amba replies crossly. She turns and looks at me sympathetically. ‘I’m not saying your dad is being experimented on, Jake.’
I think about what Dad has told me. How the universe is teeming with alien life. How these aliens think the human race is primitive and want to keep us away from the rest of the galaxy. How my dad is an alien who came to Earth twelve years ago.
I take a deep breath.
‘There’s something I need to tell you,’ I say.