The cameras start flashing the moment I step out of the front door.
‘That must be him!’
I feel my heart thumping in my chest, beating double time as I walk down the path. I can hear the reporters shouting out questions to me as the camera crews scramble to get into position.
‘Where’s your dad, Jake?’
‘What happened at Middlewich Forest?’
‘Did you really see a UFO?’
It’s only short walk from my front door to the gate, but every step I take seems to take longer and longer. Glancing back over my shoulder I see Damon and Amba peering through the letter box, but they can’t help me now. I’m on my own.
Opening the front gate, I squeeze past the wheelie bins. To be honest, they don’t smell any worse than Dad’s socks. As I step out on to the street, the nearest of the reporters thrusts her microphone under my nose.
‘Asha Barnes,’ she says. ‘BBC News. Jake, what can you tell us about what happened to your dad?’
I squint as I gaze up into the glare of the TV cameras. Every lens is pointing straight at me. My face might be bright green, but it’s burning with embarrassment. I can see the reporter is looking at me suspiciously, her gaze taking in the green sheen of my skin.
‘Jake,’ she says again, more softly this time. ‘Is there something you want to tell us?’
My throat feels dry, the words I’ve got to say dying on my lips. Instead I nod my head and feel the socks on my ears flop back and forth.
I look into the lens of the nearest camera, the little green light on its side telling me it’s transmitting live. The pictures it’s sending are travelling all around the world. And maybe out into space too.
I take a deep breath.
‘I’m here to tell the world the truth,’ I say, trying to stop my voice from shaking. ‘The truth is that our planet isn’t the only planet where intelligent life exists.’
I look up into the darkened sky, the stars almost invisible beyond the glare of the TV lights. I try to remember what Dad told me when we were sitting together outside the pop-up tent.
‘We’re spinning round the Sun, but every star up there is a sun too,’ I say, pointing up towards the darkness of the sky. ‘All those stars have planets spinning round them, just like this one. Millions, billions, trillions of worlds. Why should we be so big-headed to think that Earth is the only world where life got clever?’
I turn to look at the reporter, her furry microphone still hovering under my nose.
‘The universe is a very big place,’ I say. ‘And it’s full of aliens.’
There’s a moment of silence, filled only by the clicking of cameras. Then Asha Barnes coughs to clear her throat.
‘And how exactly do you know this?’ she asks. ‘Did the aliens who took your dad tell you this?’
I shake my head.
‘No. The aliens want to keep it a secret. They think we’re too primitive to mix with the rest of the universe. They’re keeping our planet locked away from the rest of the galaxy. It’s against the law to even visit Earth. That’s why they kidnapped my dad—’
‘Wait a minute,’ she interrupts. ‘Are you trying to tell me your dad’s been abducted by aliens? Looking for humans to experiment on with their probes, I suppose?’
With a glance at the camera, Asha Barnes shakes her head with a mocking smile. I can tell that she doesn’t believe a word that I’m saying, but I’ve got to make the truth heard. It’s my only chance to get my dad back. If this broadcast can make it to the stars, then I’ve got a message that the Cosmic Authority needs to hear.
‘My dad’s not human,’ I say, staring straight down the camera lens. ‘He’s an alien who came to Earth twelve years ago. He met my mum, they fell in love and then they had me. Jake Jones. Human mum, alien dad, so if the Cosmic Authority is watching this—’
The reporter makes a throat-cutting gesture, pulling the microphone away before I can finish my sentence. ‘I think we’re finished here, guys,’ she says to her camera crew. ‘It’s pretty obvious the kid’s making it all up. I mean, just look at all this fancy dress make-up that he’s wearing. I bet his dad’s put him up to this for some kind of publicity stunt.’
Shaking her head in disappointment, Asha Barnes starts to turn away.
‘No, wait!’ I call out. ‘I can prove that what I’m saying is true.’
With fumbling fingers I reach into my pocket and pull out the Quintessence. I hold the egg-shaped device up to the light, hoping that all the TV cameras can get a close look at this alien technology.
‘This is the Quintessence,’ I say. ‘It’s what my dad used to survive here on Earth. It’s the ultimate in alien technology. It can translate any language, make you invisible and even change your biology.’
I twist my fingers around the stone, listening for the click that will bring the Quintessence to life. But instead I hear the worst sound in the world.
Laughter.
Everyone’s laughing.
I look up to see Asha Barnes hiding her face behind her hand, unable to disguise her giggles. Behind her I see the other reporters and camera operators, their shoulders shaking with laughter too. And it’s not just the TV people – I can see my neighbours standing out in the street, pointing with flabbergasted grins.
Everyone’s laughing at me.
As I stand there, my skin glowing green beneath the lights of the TV cameras, I feel my eyes start to leak.
It’s all gone wrong.
The socks on my ears droop as I stare up into the darkness of the sky.
Just above the horizon I see a glowing orange beacon of light, brighter than any star. Inside my heart, a tiny spark of hope flickers into life. But then I realize what I’m looking at. This isn’t a spaceship. It’s Mars.
The tiny spark of hope flickers and fades.
I hear the TV news crews start to pack their gear away, the bright lights that lit the pavement in front of my house slowly going out one by one. I stay standing there in the growing darkness, my gaze still turned to the sky.
I can see the stars now and, through my tears, wonder which one is my dad’s.
Maybe it’s that bright blue-white star I can see in the middle of the sky. Dad said it was only four light years away. And then I realize – this star is getting bigger.
I hold my breath as I watch the bright star turn into a glowing sphere, its blue-white light shining down on me as I stare up in wonder.
This cry of surprise comes from Asha Barnes, but my eyes stay fixed on the glowing sphere. I realize now that this isn’t one sphere but three, their glowing shapes slowly separating as they descend out of the darkness. As they get closer I start to see the silvery metallic shapes hidden in the light and, with a gulp, remember what Dad told me. ‘They’re Remote Operation Bio-location Observation and Termination units!’
Killer robots.
I want to run, but my feet stay fixed to the pavement as the glowing spheres grow bigger and bigger.
‘Are we still live?’ I hear the TV reporter shout, her stunned voice incredulous. ‘Are you getting these things on camera?’
A sudden crackle of static makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I’m still holding the pebble-shaped Quintessence, the starry lights on its surface now flickering into life.
The trio of glowing spheres are hovering over my head, filling my eyes with a dazzling brightness.
And then I hear a shout.
‘Jake!’
Glancing back over my shoulder, I catch sight of my mum racing down the garden path.
‘It’s OK, Mum,’ I shout. ‘I’ve got this all under con—’
A beam of blue-white light suddenly splits the sky, engulfing me in a shimmering brightness. I can’t speak. I can’t even move a muscle as the light surrounds me, inside and out.
Frozen, I watch as flickering colours dance across my body, the shimmering light changing from blue to green to yellow to red, flashes of orange, violet and indigo travelling from the tips of my toes to the socks on my ears. I know what’s happening. I’m being scanned; my bio-data read by the Cosmic Authority. I only hope Amba’s plan works.
From what seems like a million miles away, I hear the faint sound of the TV reporter’s voice, her voice fuzzy in my ears as the static crackles again.
‘Look at that! Look! At! That!’
I stare up into the brightness, but all I can see is the light. And then the light turns green.
I remember what happened to my dad and watch with a strange fascination as the same thing happens to me. The ghostly green glow of the beam seems to be brightening, the light shining right through me now. I don’t feel any pain, but somewhere in the distance I hear the sound of Mum’s voice calling out my name.
‘Jake—’
Then I feel myself zipped out of existence.