It starts as a tingle in the palm of my hand, a strange fizzing sensation that seems to seep into my veins. Then this dizzying rush floods right through me. It feels like my body is pulsing with flashing colours, but this light is all on the inside. The Quintessence is reprogramming my biology – changing me back to what I was before. I feel different, but the same. I’m becoming me again.
As the lights on the Quintessence slowly fade into darkness, I stare up at the Cosmic Authority.
‘What do your scanners say I am now?’
With a puzzled glare, the space squid flicks its tentacle towards me again. I watch as another ray of light ripples across my skin, but this time the light doesn’t stop changing, the shimmering beam constantly flickering between the colours of the rainbow.
‘I . . . I DON’T KNOW,’ the Cosmic Authority blinks.
‘My dad comes from another planet, but my mum comes from Earth. So what does that make me?’ I half smile as I remember what Amba said when Damon asked this same question. ‘Half human? Half alien? Am I infected or in need of protection? Should I be inside or outside your stupid Zone of Exclusion?’
In reply to my question, the creature’s body turns completely transparent. It doesn’t seem to want to answer me, but I’ve got to make it understand.
‘You say my dad is “infected” by Earth’s primitive ways, but he really just fell in love – with its songs, with its music, with my mum. If he hadn’t trespassed on planet Earth, then I wouldn’t be here. I used to feel like I didn’t fit in sometimes and wondered why this was, but now I know exactly who I am.’ With my hearts thumping in my chest, I take a deep breath. ‘Jake Jones of number twelve Ashcroft Road, Pendleton, Manchester, England, Great Britain, Europe, the Earth, the Solar System, the Milky Way, the Universe.’
I glance across at my dad and see tears shining in his eyes.
‘The only crime my dad is guilty of is being a bit embarrassing sometimes, but that doesn’t mean he deserves to be dumped on the edge of a black hole. I used to think I wanted an ordinary dad, but now I know why I’m lucky to have a dad who’s out of this world. It’s not because he’s an alien, it’s because he’s always told me that you can be whatever you want to be – a gymnast, a Jedi Knight, even a rock star!’
‘That’s right, Jake,’ Dad says, reaching out to take my hand. Mine’s still pink whilst his is green, but I know we’re both the same.
‘Keeping Earth in a Cosmic Zone of Exclusion is wrong,’ I say, raising my voice so everyone can hear. ‘We’re part of the universe too and it’s cruel to keep us alone. I know you think the human race is primitive – and maybe it is sometimes – but there’s so much more to the people on Earth than the things you hear on the news. That only tells you what’s going wrong in the world, but there are so many people trying to imagine a better world too. You’ll find this in the stories we share and the songs that we sing. These are the things that show what it really means to be human.’
Suspended in the air, the glowing shape of the Cosmic Authority still looks like solid glass. I look around the Chamber of Judgement, strange alien faces peering down at me from every gallery.
‘If you listened to these, you might learn something . . .’
My voice trails away. I don’t know what else I can say. How can I make them see that I’m telling them the truth?
Then I realize, I don’t need to make them see – they just need to listen.
I turn towards my dad, holding up the Quintessence in my hand.
‘You said this was the heart of your spaceship,’ I say. ‘Does that mean it will have a record of the signal you received that brought you to Earth twelve years ago?’
Dad nods his head, a sudden gleam appearing in his blue-green eyes. ‘Play communication channel records,’ he says, talking to the Quintessence like it’s the smart speaker at home. ‘Message received T-minus twelve Sol orbits ago.’
Strange lights flicker across the surface of the pebble-shaped device, like tiny black stars in the night. Then I hear the familiar sound of some strummed guitar chords.
‘Full volume,’ Dad says with a twinkle in his eye and the sound from the Quintessence swells to fill the Chamber of Judgement.
‘WHAT IS THIS?’ the Cosmic Authority demands, its tentacles flashing red in warning.
‘A song,’ I shout, raising my voice above the rising chords and the martial beat of a snare drum. ‘A song that shows you what it means to be alone.’
Then I hear David Bowie start to sing, telling the story of Major Tom as he lifts off into space.
I look around the vast chamber as ‘Space Oddity’ rings out. The strange alien faces that fill the endless galleries seem transfixed, swaying in time with the chiming melody as the Quintessence’s circuits translate the singer’s words into an infinity of alien languages.
Dad squeezes my hand as we listen to the song and I glance up to meet his gaze.
‘This is our song too, Jake,’ he says with a smile. ‘Fancy joining in?’
Staring up into Dad’s blue-green eyes, I hear the song start to lift off. There’s no time to be embarrassed any more. The only thing left to do is sing.
I nod my head.
‘Let’s do it.’
As the aliens watch we join in with David Bowie, Dad throwing his best rock star shapes as we sing about floating in space and how different the stars look today. From the galleries I see a forest of tentacles and antennae, all swaying in time with the song. Dad always wanted to be the biggest star in the universe and it looks like he’s finally made it.
The song is spiralling to a close, the singer telling us about this blue planet called Earth and how there’s nothing left that he can do. I realize now why Dad thought this was a distress call. It really sounds like the loneliest voice in the universe, begging to be heard.
And as the last notes of the song sweep into silence, I stare up at the Cosmic Authority. A flickering pulse seems to flow through its tentacles. Then I hear a strange ringing noise. It sounds like the chimes of some strange kind of alien bell, the sound of this coming from every corner of the chamber.
‘What’s that noise?’ I ask, turning to Dad in alarm. ‘What’s happening?’
But Dad just grins back at me. ‘They’re cheering, Jake.’
As the cheers ring out the Cosmic Authority descends, its tentacles shimmering with the same chiming light. It’s floating right in front of me now, its huge silvery eyes seeming to peer right inside my mind.
‘I’M SORRY,’ it begins with an apologetic flicker of its tentacles. ‘I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND BEFORE, BUT THIS SONG HAS SHOWN ME HOW WRONG I HAVE BEEN.’
‘So you’ll set us free?’ I ask, a new hope fluttering in my chest.
The shimmering space squid raises a single long tentacle, an emerald pulse of light flashing to the very tip of this.
‘YES,’ it replies. ‘I WILL RETURN YOU BOTH TO PLANET EARTH, BUT ON ONE CONDITION.’
‘What’s that?’ Dad asks, scarcely able to believe what he’s hearing.
Another firework display of lights pulses through the space squid’s body.
‘YOU KEEP PLAYING THE SONGS.’
‘I don’t understand,’ I say, but the Cosmic Authority starts to explain with a wave of its tentacles.
‘FOR US, THIS IS A NEW FORM OF COMMUNICATION. THE SONG THAT YOU PLAYED SHOWED ME SO MUCH ABOUT THE HUMAN RACE. IT TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR COURAGE AND KINDNESS, THE WAY YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER AND HOW IT FEELS TO BE ALONE. BUT IT DID SOMETHING ELSE TOO. IT MADE US FEEL CONNECTED TO YOU.’
As the Cosmic Authority fluoresces, I hear the echo of Mum’s words as she told me why Dad loves to sing: Everyone’s connected when they hear the song. Even across the universe it seems.
The space squid’s glowing tentacles draw an imploring pattern in the air.
‘PLEASE PLAY US MORE OF THESE SONGS.’
Dad’s eyes goggle in amazement. ‘You’re making us intergalactic DJs?’ he splutters.
The Cosmic Authority lights up like a neon bulb.
‘THE SPHERE OF SILENCE PLACED AROUND THE EARTH WILL BE MODIFIED AND A SINGLE CHANNEL PROVIDED FOR YOU TO TRANSMIT ON. IF THINGS GO WELL, IN TIME, THE TRANSMISSIONS WILL BECOME TWO-WAY. WE WILL SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE WITH THE HUMAN RACE, WHILST YOU SHARE YOUR SONGS WITH US.’
The Cosmic Authority turns its gaze towards me, the silvery moons of its eyes shining bright as rainbow pulses of light shimmer across its tentacles.
‘SO WHAT DO YOU SAY, JAKE?’ the alien asks. ‘WILL YOU HELP US LEARN WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN?’
I stare into these silvery moons and see my own reflection looking back at me. Human? Alien? It doesn’t matter. It’s what you do that counts.
‘Of course,’ I tell the Cosmic Authority with a grin. I glance up at the glowing balconies to see the aliens, all peering back at me. ‘And I’ll make sure the songs we play get you dancing out in space.’