Chapter 61: More than Expected

Lonnie Corrigan POV:

I’d just met my ‘Project’ partner, Glenn, and we’d hit it off nicely. Then suddenly, my ‘shipmates’ Max and JB got talked into taking our entire new ‘Family’ out on a ‘spaceship’ ride!

It’s frigging crazy!

I was hoping to have a nice, relaxing conversation with Glenn about his experiences so far, since I’m a bit nervous about my part in this spaceship building thing. And I discover, to my delight, he’s excited about doing that too. However, now he’s saying how thrilled he is about his first ever spaceship ride! All the while, I’m trying to tell him about how all these different systems work.

Thankfully, he recognizes our predicament and together we’re trying to fill each other in on what each of us wants to learn the most. At one point we were both laughing so hard at the absurdity of our situation all we could do was give each other a bro-hug!

At least he had the chance to tell me about his new pixie, (soon to be girlfriend?) Amy. She’s only 17 years old, but is a verified genius! Her IQ is more than 20 points higher than Albert Einstein’s! And, she graduated with a doctorate in Physics, Applied Physics and Quantum Physics from MIT!

He also told me how these two arrogant older scientists were too damn proud to even listen to her. The more he told me the more I found myself wanting to be protective of her too. I told him that those two idiots were lucky it was him there instead of me, since I might’ve been tempted to give them both a knuckle sandwich.

That’s when I realized just how much my new friend’s heart was hers already. You see, Glenn is not a very big guy. Not that he’s a pussy or anything, but he’s certainly not the type to throw his weight around. Just the idea that I wouldn’t think twice of stepping up to protect her made him very emotional. I told him that one thing I’d learned over the last several months was that I would always stick up for my family. I also told him that my friends, Tiny, Max and JB would all feel the same way. That’s when he told me about his little family of nine, three girls and six guys. Then, how our new family had taken them in and protected them when a bunch of thugs tried to confront them. When he told me what Monte did to this one huge bully I really had to laugh.

I told him how I’d already seen Monte in action a few times and I didn’t care how big that other dude was, that bastard never stood a chance! He just nodded and said, “I still can’t believe how Monte stopped that guy’s punch mid-swing with so much force it broke his frigging arm!”

I, of course, had to tell him how I was there when he was joined with JB and made JB’s lightning bolts so powerful the sandy soil the guys were standing on turned into glass! He said that somehow he had seen that up at Ibera’s place. I confessed that I’d only seen Ibera in person once but couldn’t wait to meet her again. I told him that between her and Linda that’s how our little group came to be known as the Changelings. He hadn’t actually heard about that and couldn’t wait for us to have more time so I could explain it to him better.

Which brings us back to why we were both somewhat chagrined at our unannounced little spaceship trip.

I guess that one of Monte’s friends, a guy named Rex, had commented about how cool it would be to land and walk around on the moon, just like the Apollo astronauts did back in the late 60s. And of course, that was exactly where we were headed. They even managed to find the exact spot that the first landing and moonwalk took place.

We wouldn’t find out till later that it was a good thing our ship remained cloaked during that whole operation.

Anyway, when Braitak told everyone we only had eight spacesuits, this one guy, named Greg, said all we had to do was create a super-oxygenated bubble and we wouldn’t need one.

So, sure enough, the second we landed nearly everyone on board teleported to the surface and began running around and jumping up and down like a bunch of little kids. They were even having contests to see who could jump the highest! And, with gravity way less than our old planet, some were jumping well over 10 feet high.

I have to admit that they were all having fun teasing each other about who couldn’t jump for shit. Then, Monte challenged JB! All eyes were on them, wondering whose ‘modified’ physical strength would prevail.

When Monte easily jumped over 20 feet, JB motioned to watch him, acting like that was nothing. With Monte laughing and playfully scoffing, our JB managed to leap over 30 feet high! Then, it was ‘game on’! Monte playfully grabbed JB and moved him to the side then jumped even higher! It was at this point they began leaping side by side so everyone could see the difference.

It reminded me of when Chen and JB had their ‘lightning bolt’ contest except, these two weren’t mad or jealous of each other’s abilities. They were just having fun and giving the other shit before trying again. And, everyone was captivated, betting on who’d jump higher the next time. Soon, Greg got between them, indicated a ‘tie’ and motioned that our oxygen was probably getting low. We all ported back to the bridge and, now that we could actually hear each other, the final ribbing took place.

And it was just that. Playful teasing and talking smack.

Monte ended up giving JB a bro-hug and many of the ladies kissed both of them as their rewards for the entertainment they provided. Not one angry word was spoken. The love this family had for each other was palpable and even deeper than my old Island Family.

And, I was looking forward to being a part of it.

When I noticed Braitak staring intently at one of his monitors, I suggested to Glenn to follow me over so we could stand behind him. Nobody else had noticed his concerned expression yet, but, I whispered to Glenn that I thought something might be up. When he saw the monitor, I was stunned that he immediately realized what Braitak was scanning for!

He asked Braitak, quietly, “Why are you scanning for spent Trilithium residue?”

Braitak gave him a wide-eyed, crooked grin, “Wow! How did you figure that out!?”

Glenn shrugged, looking a bit guilty, “Um, well, I saw the formula you entered for what you wanted it to scan for?”

“I’m impressed! Your knowledge of chemistry and physics is quite remarkable. Lonnie, did you figure it out too?” He asked, looking at me knowingly.

I could tell he wasn’t surprised when I shrugged, grinning, “Hell no! I just dragged my new friend over to ask what had captivated your attention?”

Braitak pointed at two thin trails on the monitor, “What I THINK we have is two unknown spacecraft’s exhaust trails. They are quite possibly Gromorik ships, since that formula I used was what I knew was standard for most Gromorik’s propulsion systems. They are obviously cloaked, but, when you guys were on the surface, I noticed they’d uncloaked for just a second for some reason. It wasn’t long enough to get a full reading on the exact type of vessel, but, it was enough to tip me off they were out there.”

By now several others had come over and JB looked at Monte before asking, “Can we follow it? Do you think they know we’re here?”

Braitak grinned, “No, they have no idea we’re here and yes, we can absolutely follow them! Now that I know what to look for. Since they uncloaked just as you guys were teleporting back on board, my guess is their scanners picked up the fact that there was life where obviously there shouldn’t have been any. You see, on most Gromorik spaceships, to do an in-depth scan, they have to uncloak. It’s just that all of you were back on board so quickly as soon as their scanners showed there was no life they immediately re-cloaked. That was probably so that the Greyzarian ship that’s been up here all this time wouldn’t spot them. JB, do you and your friends want to follow them and see what they’re up to?”

Monte was grinning at JB and nodding, then said, “Can we do that without them knowing we’re up here?”

Braitak nodded, “Of course. One thing to understand however, is that I’m going to have to modify the little program I put into the computer or it won’t know exactly how close to them we are. Imagine it like following breadcrumbs. The trail will last for at least 30 minutes or more but we don’t want to get too close where we accidentally crash into them.”

Glenn tapped him on the shoulder, “I think I know how we can modify that program, if you’d like my help?”

Braitak grinned at him and winked, “Why don’t you pull up a seat? You can do that while I continue to follow these clowns. Just don’t exit the screen until I can check your formula, okay?”

Suddenly a chair appeared right next to Braitak and my new friend took a seat. He was feverishly typing away as nearly everyone was now crowded around us watching everything that was going on. When I looked over at Monte, JB and some of the others, I could tell they were just as amazed at what Glenn knew as I was.

We’d already lifted off the moon and were in hot pursuit. Annie was sitting at the main scanning seat and said she was going to keep an eye out for where the Greyzarian ship might be. When she announced it was on nearly the same course that we were, it became obvious our two unknown vessels were following it.

I was glad we managed to get everyone to settle down so Tiny, Braitak, Glenn, Annie and JB wouldn’t get distracted. Tiny was still flying the ship but, carefully following Braitak’s orders while he was assisting Glenn in finalizing the formula. Less than two minutes later Braitak patted Glenn on the back then said, “I couldn’t have done better myself! I take it you’re the one who is going to be working with Lonnie?”

Glenn nodded, “Yep. I can’t wait to get started with him. I can’t believe all the things I’ve learned already and can’t wait to help him fill in some of the blanks in his knowledge as well.”

Braitak pointed at a new screen that appeared on the console showing us the twin unknown vessels and the lone Greyzarian vessel that seemed to be headed toward Mars. Now, however, it was showing the distances between the four of us.

I was pleasantly surprised when Glenn’s icon came into my head, indicating a private conversation.

“I hope you don’t mind that I stepped in the way I did, Lonnie. I’m sorry if I stepped on your toes any?”

I just smiled at him and winked, “Not at all my friend. Like you told your little girlfriend, that’s what being on the same team is all about! I was just amazed at how much more thorough your knowledge of physics was than mine. Don’t mistake that for my being upset, okay?”

“Thank you Lonnie. You don’t know what a thrill this is for me to actually be able to be up here on this ship and experiencing all this firsthand. Trust me, the first chance we get we’ll both go and visit Miss Ibera if we have to. I think some of the reason I understood that formula so easily was that I’ve always been interested in math. Then, after everything Ibera taught me it’s like suddenly whenever I see any formula or equation, I can completely understand them even though I never could previously. Was that how you felt after everything you learned using Tumrik’s ‘teaching hat’ thing?”

All I could do was nod and grin at him, “Yes, it was exactly like that. It’s like all the things I had always been interested in I suddenly understood everything about them. Hopefully, before we leave the ship, I can finish showing you more about all of this ship’s different systems. We hadn’t even scratched the surface before all this excitement started.” I chuckled.

I noticed that we were going fairly slowly, only about one third impulse power. Suddenly, the twin trails we were following split and then accelerated rapidly passing very close to both sides of the Greyzarian vessel before coming back together at what I had to guess was three-quarter impulse power.

Braitak looked back at Monte, “Do you want us to continue following the two unknown ships?”

Monte nodded, “Yes, I’m very curious now about just what they’re up to and possibly, exactly where they came from. How sure are you that they are Gromorik vessels?”

Braitak shrugged, “Just based on the type of exhaust, I’d have to say about 90 percent certain. And, just to let you know, if they jump into hyper-warp, following them will be much more difficult. However, since it appears they’re headed toward the asteroid belt, it’s possible they might be going there for target practice. And if that’s the case, they’ll have to uncloak before they can fire any of their lasers. That’s the one advantage we have with this ship. We can fire our weapons while remaining cloaked.”

Monte’s forehead furled, “But if they do that, won’t the Greyzarians know they’re out there?”

Braitak shrugged, “At the speed we’re going, by the time we get there we’ll be more than half an hour ahead of the Greyzarians. That would give them 5 to 10 minutes before the Greyzarians would be close enough to actually identify them. Even more if they go deeper into the asteroid field. If they go almost all the way to Jupiter, it’s possible that old Greyzarian ship wouldn’t even try going in that far.”

My other new friend, Eddie, was now up by us and asked, “Can we monitor the Gromorik’s frequency to see if it’s really them? Wouldn’t they be talking to each other?”

Braitak grinned, “Annie, monitor all Gromorik channels and let’s find out, shall we?”

Sure enough, after Annie pushed a few spots on her screen, we all heard what sounded like two pilots making fun of the slow moving Greyzarian vessel they just blew past.

It was obvious they had no idea that we were right on their tails.

Monte chuckled, “I know you guys would like to have fun with them, but, I’d really appreciate it if we could stay quiet and just follow them back where they came from? I really don’t want to give them any idea this ship even exists, you know what I mean?”

Braitak grinned, “No problem. I also don’t want to give them any idea that I was able to follow them while they were cloaked, either. Besides, from what your friend Rex was talking to me about, we definitely don’t want to give anybody any ideas that could make it more difficult for me to sneak into their compound.”

We followed them as they skirted around the edge of the asteroid belt where they did indeed engage in some target practice.

Braitak was surprised when he saw what their ships looked like.

“WOW! These must be brand-new fighters. I had a feeling that’s what we were following. Fighters I mean, just from the way the two pilots were talking to each other. I’m not sure, but, the one guy who was called Hondo I may actually know. When we were in military school together, he always said that would be his moniker if he ever got to be a fighter pilot.”

Monte asked, “Do you think he would recognize you if you ran into him in the compound?”

Braitak shrugged, “I really don’t know. I haven’t seen him for nearly 15 Sun cycles, or what you call years. I’ll have to come up with some kind of a story if he does, but it really shouldn’t be too much of a problem. We were very close back then and he’ll be so happy to see me I’m pretty sure I can keep him quiet enough that he won’t give me away.”

That seemed to make Monte happy.

As we watched, unlike the Greyzarians we’d watched earlier, these guys were pretty good shots. They were nailing targets as fast as the other one could light them up for them. Afterwards, we heard them say they were heading for home and followed them. We noticed they stayed visible as they orbited around Jupiter before heading back toward Earth, using a somewhat circuitous route.

When our scanner picked up the Greyzarian’s vessel, it was obvious to us they were far enough away that it’s doubtful they would have picked them up. As we approached Earth, they re-engaged their cloaking device and began descending into Northeastern Russia. We watched as two huge panels slid open into what looked like a massive deep underground hanger. The second they entered, the roof slid closed and couldn’t be detected visually since it blended in with the surrounding area.

Monte asked Rex if this was anywhere near where the compound was.

Rex shook his head, “No, the main compound is much further west and north from here. Either this is a completely separate compound or it’s connected by some kind of tunnels.”

Braitak chuckled and began pushing a few buttons on his screen. I saw Glenn grinning before Braitak told everyone, “Watch the monitors my friends. You see all those red lines? I just scanned for the material that our automated tunneling devices use to reinforce the tunnels so they don’t cave in. I’ve also marked all the locations with GPS coordinates so you can look them over more closely later. Rex, at any point along those tunnels, is that where your compound is located?”

Rex grinned, nodding his head, “Yes, it is! You see where several of those red lines intersect? That’s where the compound is located. It appears they’ve done the same things as the Greyzarians have done in the US. I don’t know if the rest of you are aware of it or not, but there are now dozens of very deep underground tunnels that stretch almost all the way to the West Coast. I’m guessing that just like the Greyzarians, the Gromoriks must have some kind of high-speed train that runs in those tunnels?”

Braitak nodded, “That’s true. Whenever we use our automated tunneling machines we always have a train that follows it, collecting all of the usable materials, ores and crystals, then hauls it out of the tunnel to be sorted. The tunneling machine automatically lays down tracks as it moves forward. It’s a very efficient system.”

Monte asked, “When we head for home, can you scan our country to get a layout like this for me? I don’t exactly trust that our Greyzarian friends are always telling us the truth about things like that. And I would like to know for myself.”

Braitak chuckled, “I can if they use the same type of reinforcing material that we do, otherwise, you’ll have to get me a scraping from inside one of the tunnels and then I certainly can do it for you. I’m glad to see that you don’t trust those little, bug-eyed, grey fuckers any more than I do!”

Monte was laughing when he patted Braitak on the back, “And I’m glad to see that you and I are on the same page!”

As we passed over the United States Braitak began scanning for the same type of tunnels as what we found in Russia.

He and Glenn were talking when they didn’t find any at first and Glenn began entering a new formula into the computer. Then Braitak pushed a couple more buttons on the screen and presto-digito, a huge network of red lines began appearing all over the superimposed map of the United States. Now Braitak was patting Glenn on the back before saying, “I may have to have you teach me a thing or two! I can’t even begin to guess how you managed to modify that formula so quickly and get it to work.”

Glenn blushed at the praise then said, “Well, I could tell from the formula you entered for the Gromorik’s tunnels based on the different types of materials that are deep underground in Russia vs. the United States. I simply modified it to account for that difference. That machine you guys use must create a substance that is similar but far stronger than what we call soil cement. I just modified the formula to take the difference in deep underground materials into account.”

I was just staring at Glenn in awe and shaking my head. I know that Glenn said he loved being a carpenter, and no offense to carpenters, but, with knowledge like he has it would be a total waste for him to continue doing what he used to do.

Somehow or another Braitak managed to get the ship’s computers to print out two large-scale maps showing the lines and the GPS coordinates of all the bends and intersecting points. Monte was ecstatic and said he planned on keeping these for our team’s use only.

JB announced that he had just talked to Darren and received the ‘coast was clear’ message so Tiny could land back where we started from. Many of the family were thanking us for including them in this adventure. Monte assured everyone that this wouldn’t be the last time that trips like these would be taken. But, he did remind everyone that most of the time from now on only a select few would probably go each time. But, that he would keep track to make sure everyone got another chance.

Since it was dark outside now, Braitak and Juules were invited to join the family for some refreshments and conversation. They were hesitant at first, but, in the end, couldn’t pass up the chance to experience what life was like on Earth.

I had Lucy remain behind so she and I could both get to know Glenn a little better. Especially since I knew Glenn had a few more things he wanted me to show him about the ship and some of its systems.

Max POV:

I could already tell that life here with Linda’s family was going to be fun if not both sexy and interesting. The way they accepted Braitak and Juules like they were just two other people surprised me. I knew before they came over that Braitak and Juules were both nervous about how they would be accepted. Now, after only a few minutes and a couple of good drinks, both of them were having a blast telling stories about us. Linda was sitting on my lap with her arm around my neck while Greg’s wife, Jamie, was sitting on Braitak’s lap and egging him on to tell us some more. Wanda had her arm around Greg and was stealing kisses from him every chance she got.

It was like an old-time family reunion.

Even Tiny, who was normally very shy around other women, had this tall redhead named Charlene on his lap and seemed to be enjoying the occasional make out sessions they were having. At the same time, JB and Annie were mixing it up with Monte and his friends.

I was just thinking about having Lonnie, Lucy and Glenn join us when suddenly both Greg and Linda seemed to freeze in place for a second.

Both of them appeared to be very nervous just before Greg blurted out, “Holy shit! Something is happening on Melody’s ship! She just started saying that they were under some kind of an attack when all of a sudden I lost her! Now, Linda can’t hear her sister, Jessica or her boyfriend Mike, either. We’ve got to help them!”

I would have had no idea what they were talking about if not for being joined with Linda. I heard her sister desperately calling for help when she too suddenly seemed to disappear from our thoughts.

I looked at JB and while I knew it wasn’t possible, couldn’t help but think they came under the influence of a psychic nullifying device of some kind. When both of us looked at Monte with raised eyebrows, we knew there was only one thing left to do. We had to try and help them!

Greg was freaking out and I could feel Linda’s heart racing.

Monte said he and Maggie were going to immediately teleport directly to Melody, since they both knew who she was. Nearly every guy and some of the women were also volunteering to assist us. Greg asked Charlene and Sarah to go and relieve Darren from watching the kids, who were all in bed, so he could help us if needed.

I told everyone that we needed to be careful since something was definitely off with the way all three of them had suddenly gone quiet.

Greg wanted everyone to go invisible, but, I had a bad feeling. Unfortunately, before I could say anything the majority of them had already teleported to wherever it was that this girl, Melody, was located.

Since JB was connected with both Linda and me, I suggested that he go with Eddie and that both of them go hand in hand, invisible and in their bubble. Eddie didn’t really understand why and I just said I had a bad feeling and they needed to trust me. I had Wanda, Annie and Gracie teleport Braitak and Juules back to the ship just in case something happened that we might need them.

Now I was glad that Lonnie was still on the ship with Lucy and Glenn. At least they could help Braitak, Annie and Juules fly the ship if we needed it.

When Darren came racing out wondering what to do, I suggested he go up to Ibera’s to see if he could get eyes on what was going down on that ship. As much as he wanted to join the rest of the crew going to the boat, I breathed a sigh of relief when he said that sounded like a better idea.

I tried to get Linda to stay behind but she wasn’t having it. She said her sister was in danger and she was not being left behind. I told her to take my hand and make both of us invisible while I used my bubble to protect both of us. She too did not understand my reasoning, but, fortunately didn’t argue with me, either.

I pictured us being prone and teleported us to one foot above Monte’s head. When we got there, the first thing I saw was several guys brandishing what looked like Gromorik stunners and almost everyone who had just gone invisible were now visible and unconscious. Everyone else in the room also appeared to have been stunned or knocked out by something.

They were all laying haphazardly on the floor.

I called out to JB and thankfully he and Eddie were still both invisible and in their bubble, but at this point were not sure what to do.

They were on the floor standing against the wall just behind were Greg was and I told him Linda and I were also on the floor on the other side of the room. Thankfully, because I was joined with Lonnie, I could communicate with him even though I was in my bubble. I told him what was going down and that it seemed like somewhere on the ship there had to be a psychic nullifying device. I did a quick count and realized there were at least eight people in the raiding party and the bastards seemed to be speaking Russian.

I didn’t see any Gromoriks or other aliens.

Suddenly, a glowing circle appeared on the floor and our intruders began dragging Linda’s sister, a pretty brunette lady, and another guy, who I didn’t realize was her sister’s boyfriend, over to it and they disappeared. Then they started dragging some more of our friends over to it and began transporting them up to their ship.

Son-of-a-bitch, this appeared to be a set-up to trap and abduct everyone in the family!

Lonnie said that Braitak already had the ship fired up and was planning to do an emergency take off and would be over our position within seconds after Ibera gave them the GPS coordinates of where we were.

We were on broadcast mode at this point so everyone could hear what was going on.

Braitak suggested that JB and Eddie teleport directly to the bridge of their ship, right now, just to be safe.

I told everyone that Linda and I were going to teleport to just above wherever it was they took Jessica and her boss, Melody. JB tried to get me to join him and Eddie, but I told him I felt it would be better if Linda and I were on whichever ship this was so we could get as much information as possible.

And also so we could let everyone know where any psychic nullifying devices might be.

Darren told us that while they didn’t see any ship anywhere near the yacht, it could be that they were cloaked. Braitak told everyone that those transporting devices only worked if the spaceship was in the direct vicinity, so it just about had to be somewhere nearby.

Just as Linda and I teleported to just above Jessica, Braitak announced that they had picked up the trail of spent Trilithium and it had indeed ended just above this huge yacht. But that now, the spaceship was moving, heading northwest.

As I looked around it seemed that not all of our family had been abducted. Or at least they weren’t all in this room together. Linda told everyone that besides her sister, her sister’s boyfriend Mike, and Melody, it was Greg, Monte, Rex, Jeremy, Maggie and Sheila.

Darren said he was looking through the yacht from Ibera’s and saw that Tiny, Jamie, Bruce, Diane and Joni, for whatever reason, had been left behind. At least we had everyone accounted for since Sarah and Charlene were back at home with the kids.

Braitak told us that this ship was heading toward the same spot where the two Gromorik fighters had landed and wondered what to do. I asked him if there was some way he could disable the spaceship without totally destroying it. He said it would be very risky since without actually seeing the ship or knowing exactly what kind of ship it was; he wouldn’t know exactly where to target. Besides, since it was also possibly shielded, he might have to hit it several times to weaken the shields enough for a laser beam to target just the engine.

Just then, JB had an idea.

I just hoped to God it wouldn’t end up getting us all killed!

JB POV:

Holy freaking Star Wars!

A whole group of our friends just teleported into a joint Russian and Gromorik trap and are now being held captive on a Gromorik spaceship. And, my two closest friends in the world are also on that ship with them. At least, up to this point, nobody on that ship knows they are there. Unfortunately, at this time they are somewhat trapped in their bubble and can’t do much to aid our friends.

I am currently piloting our spaceship with Braitak at the weapons station and Lonnie is helping Annie monitor the scanners and communications. We just followed this cloaked, but, otherwise unknown Gromorik spaceship, that is nearing the area where the two fighters we followed this afternoon went.