The Travellers

Cards on the table

Thea sat down, head in her hands. “Here!" Tyrone said handling her a bottle of water. She took the bottle and downed the content completely. “Whoa! You are that thirsty huh?!" He said sitting on the chair that was close to her and turning it to face her

“So tell us, why are you here?" Drew asked, standing opposite her, arms crossed.

She looked up at him and sighed “Because of the commander" she replied.

“Oh he sent you here?" Tyrone asked.

“No. I escaped" she stated. She saw the confusion on their faces

“What do you mean escaped?" Drew asked

“Bartem is the one ruling Arcturus now" said Thea

Surprised by what he just “You are joking right?" Drew asked in disbelief “He can't, when the king is still alive" he added

She looked at both of them with sadness, knowing what she was about to say will hit them pretty hard. “I'm sorry guys" she said slowly shaking her head sideways “Your dad is dead and your mom too. He killed them" she broke the news.

“What!" They both shouted simultaneously. Drew crashed to floor on his knees, staring intently into the ground. “This is why he didn't want us to come home" he said to himself.

Tyrone sat still, not uttering a word as tears rolled down from his eyes.

“I'm sorry guys" Thea said feeling their heartbreak. Tyrone suddenly turned the chair around facing the controls of the ship, he switched it from manual to automatic

“Welcome on board" Spiria said. Drew stood up immediately

“what are you doing?" Thea asked

“I'm going home to kill that son of a b***h" He said with all signs of seriousness on his face"

“You can't go there. He has the soldiers, the kings guard and the citadel, Which is like a fortress. You won't make it to where he his and even if you do, he will kill you. You can't defeat him one on one" Drew explained.

“Well I'll at least try!. I'm going with or without you guys!" he shouted in anger. “Spiria set course for planet Arcturus" he ordered. “Setting course for planet Arcturus!" Spiria replied. “Permission to launch?" Spiria asked. Thea stood up from her seat, wincing from the sharp pain she felt from the injury on her head. She walked up to where Tyrone was.

“Look, I Know you're in pain, you feel like having vengeance and you will. All we're saying is, we've got to do this right, so we won't have to lose anyone else or die in the process." she said to him, hoping he'll listen. Tyrone looked at her and then at Drew. He sighed and rubbed his faced with both palms

“Permisson decline, Spiria." He said. The machine whirred down and the tension among them reduced with it. “So what are we going to do?" He asked

“What about the council? They won't allow him to rule" Drew said

“They are all dead too, he killed them all" she stated

“Damn it!" Tyrone exclaimed

“That's when I realised the need to get out of there. He's a tyrant and he'll stop at nothing to gain unopposed power. I headed straight for Earth to warn you guys of the danger ahead and come up with some plan to stop him." She replied “For now I think what we should do is to protect the vessel" she added.

“Protect the vessel?" Drew asked confused

“Yeah. I don't think he wants to harvest Earth for the purpose of saving ours. I think he wants to harvest all the energy for himself. He would have known by now that I have escaped here to warn you, which means he'll be sending soldiers to secure the vessel and he mustn't get his hands on her or we are all doomed, this planet and ours" she explained “Have you made contact with the vessel or at least seen her?" She asked.

“Yeah, we've made contact" Drew replied.

“Good, we have to bring her here fast, so we could keep an eye on her. We don't know how much time we have before his soldiers arrive to come get her" said Thea.

***

“Hey!" Emily shouted as she waved at Anna who was at the door to the hallway with Alexa. She walked up to them.

“Hi!" Anna said hugging her. She turned to Alexa and introduced her to Emily “Alexa, this is my best friend Emily....and Emily this is Alexa a friend from my dad's work, she's staying with us for a few days

“Wow! You're pretty young for a scientist" Emily said as she shook hands with Alexa.

“Oh, no!" Alexa replied smiling, breaking the handshake “I'm just an intern at the lab" she replied

“Oh, great" said Emily “Alright let's go in, the bell is gonna ring soon" she added

“You guys go ahead, i'll catch up with you" Alexa said feeling her phone vibrate in her pant's pocket

“Okay, we'll be in chem lab. You can wait for me at the library, they'll allow you to wait there, when you tell them you are with me. We'll meet you at lunch break or you can ask around for chem lab if you need me" Anna instructed.

She nodded and waited for them to go in before bringing out her phone and answering the call. ”Hello!" She said

“Where are you Alexa? I just got home and you are not here!" Dr Glass said at the other end of the phone.

“Relax, I'm with Anna at her school" she replied

“You are deviating from the mission Alexa..." he said

“And sitting at home all day is pursuing the mission?!" She said sarcastically “Don't worry, the mission will be completed and besides who knows what one might find at a highschool" she added.

“Just don't blow your cover and keep an eye out...."

“For some blue eyed aliens?! Got it!" she interrupted him and end the call.

**ARCTURUS**

Bartem paced about in the throne room, looking angry. The four soldiers on duty at the station of the ships when Thea escaped, knelt in front of him, heads down and hands cuffed behind their backs.

“You allowed her to escape. You were dumb enough to believe her fake distraction. If there was an attack wouldn't it have been communicated to you through the comms?! But no, You cleared the path for her to escape. Do you know what this means?! You have altered a perfect plan, reduced the possibility of me having the vessel, made me lose our best operator and made three enemies for me on Earth, making me open to attack at anytime." He quarrelled still pacing about. The soldiers stood there silently, afraid of what might happen to them if they uttered a word. Bartem stopped pacing and turned to face them “I hate having enemies that aren't close to me, enemies that I can't see....seeing as you have created this problem, you'll clean it up. Get to the control room for briefing and get ready to go to planet Earth to secure the vessel. Secure her and protect her with you lives until her print is fully developed. Only the should you bring her here. Is that understood?! He Shouted.

“Yes sir!" They replied simultaneously.

“Go. You'll leave at 1100 hours" he concluded. He walked to the throne and sat on it, watching them hurry out of the room.

**EARTH**

“Your school is quite nice, I had fun" Alexa said, walking alongside Emily and Anna as they made their way out of the school building, having completed their schedule for the day.

“Yeah, visiting a highschool is fun but attending a highschool is hell" Emily said as they all started laughing. “But it was fun having you around" She said

“Yeah. Maybe we should have a girls night, like a sleepover" Anna suggested

“Yeah that's a pretty good idea" Emily said

“Yeah sure why not" Alexa accepted..

“Great!" Anna exclaimed. They became silent for a while. Turning to Emily “They didn't show up again today, do you think something is wrong? Shouldn't we try to contact them or something" Anna complained.

“How? We don't have their contacts, their address and we don't know anyone else they know" Emily replied shrugging. “Wow! Saying that out loud just made me realize we actually don't know anything about them" Emily added as they got to the road in front of the school premises. She was still surprised at the realization of this truth.

“Who are you guys talking about?" Alexa asked as she was lost in the conversation. Just then a car hastily hit brake in front of them, tires screeching. This startled the girls. Tyrone and Drew stepped out of the car.

“Speak of the devil" Anna said.

They walked up to them “Hi!" They both greeted the girls simultaneously

“Hi!" The girls replied too. Alexa couldn't believe it when she noticed their blue eyes. “What a plot twist" she thought.

“Hey! Can we talk for a moment" Drew said to Emily

“Yeah sure" she replied. They walked away from the group.

“Hi!" Tyrone said to Anna

“Hi!" She replied

”Sorry I didn't reach out after the party, we had some home related troubles and that's also why we haven't been to school since then. Still haven't gotten a new phone, so I couldn't call. I'm Sorry!" he apologized.

“Its all good, don't worry about it. So is the issue resolved, I mean with home?" She asked

“Not entirely but we are getting there. So who's your friend?" He asked, staring at her as though he recognized her.

“Oh, Alexa this is Tyrone, my classmate and Tyrone this is Alexa, a friend from my dad's work" she introduced both of them

“Nice to meet you Alexa. Have we met before, you look kinda familiar" he said shaking her hand. She smiled at him “Not sure, can't forget that pretty face and blue eyes if we had" she said jokingly as they broke the handshake.

**

“So, what's up!" Emily asked as they stood at a safe distance, away from ears.

“I need to tell you something very very important, so I need you to come with" he said

“Why can't you just tell me now?" She asked

“Because I need to show you something too. I know you barely know me but I need you to trust me please, it's very important" he pleaded. She looked at him unsure of what to do, She literally knew nothing about him save for his name. She weighed her options seeing how desperate he was. She knew going with him is risky considering the limited information anyone had of him but she was also very much interested in what he had to say and show her as well.

“Alright, I'll go with you" she gave in

”Great! Let's go" he said.

They walked back to the group. “Hey guys, I'm gonna catch up with you later, just have to do something else first" Emily said to the girls ”Really?! Right now?" Anna asked seeming a little sad. “Yeah, sorry" Emily replied hugging both girls.

“See you later ladies" Tyrone said getting into the car followed by Drew and Emily. Drew sitting in the front seat and Emily in the back. Tyrone started the vehicle and set it off to motion leaving the girls behind.

***

“Hey Dad we're home!" Anna shouted as they walked into the house, Alexa closing the door behind her.

“Hey! Girls" Dr Glass shouted from the living room. They met him at the living room, staring at some files placed on the table. “How was your day at school? He said closing the files and looking up at them.

“It was fun, Alexa is fun. I'm hungry, let me get something to eat" Anna said kissing him on the cheeks, before running to the kitchen.

Dr Glass turned to Alexa who has been standing there “Don't take such risks again" he Instructed almost whispering not wanting Anna to overhear their conversation

“Relax...and I was right about that whole highschool thing I said earlier." She said excitedly “i came in contact with the travellers" she said with a low voice

“What!" He exclaimed, standing up from the couch

“Yeah and it turns out they are friends with your daughter and her friend Emily" she explained feeling good about herself

“Interesting! I guess you know what to do?!" He asked. She nodded in affirmation.

***

“So what is it you want to tell me?" Emily asked looking at Drew through the back mirror as they drove down the highway. Tyrone and Drew looked at each other through the back mirror too. “Well?" She asked again.

Drew cleared his throat, looking for the right words to explain it to her. “Well..." He said and stopped to think again.

“Is it that hard to say?" She asked

“Well..."

“We are from another planet or as you people like to call it, we are aliens" Tyrone blurted out cutting Drew off as he turned and drove through a part into the woods. Emily burst into a loud laughter at what she just heard. Tyrone looked at her, wondering why she found it funny.

“You are joking, right?" She asked, amidst laughter

“No he isn't" Drew replied. She seized the laughter and looked at both their faces, she saw how serious they looked.

“You are both crazy! Aliens from another planet, seriously?! Is that why you asked me to come with you and why are we driving through the woods" she asked, starting to look annoyed.

“We are not kidding Emily, we are from a planet called Arcturus and we are driving through the woods to show you proof" Tyrone explained

“Your dad was right Emily" Drew added

She looked at them in disbelief, regretting why she came along “You are both delusional, take me back!" She said almost shouting. Tyrone stopped the car.

“We are here already" he said, removing the key from the ignition and stepping out of the car. Drew followed suit. Emily looked around still sitting in the car.

“We are where? There's nothing here, we are just in the middle of the woods, surrounded by trees" she complained stepping out of the car.

He held her arms and stared into her eyes “Calm down Emily! We'll show you" he said. He looked at Tyrone, still holding her arms and nodded at him.

Tyrone turned to the open space “Deactive stealth mode Spiria" he shouted. Emily looked at him confused

“Voice recognized. Deactivating stealth mode" Spiria said. The ship made a whirring sound and started becoming visible from the back to the front. Emily was taken aback by this, her mouth agape. The ship became fully visible and the door split open automatically “Welcome aboard" Spiria said.