Chapter 1

Zeke moved the joystick with the smooth, easy, manner of someone well accustomed to its use. He manipulated the video game character on the TV screen, dodging attacks and taking out enemies. Zeke was not consciously thinking about the controls, but focusing on what his character needed to do: jump down the tube, dodge the pincer worm, grab the powerup, blast the worm, swim through the water exit, use megablast to get up speed so he wouldn't drown before the first airhole.

Although the action looked frantic on the screen, Zeke's mind was calm. The intense game was, in its own way, relaxing.

Walter burst through the door of the dorm room. "You gotta go with me out to the desert tonight!"

Walter was Zeke's roommate at the university, he was the embodiment of the word "geek," even down to the taped glasses and pocket protector. Now sophomores, they had shared a room since they were freshmen.

"What's out in the desert, man?" asked Zeke, calmly zapping three tentacle plants.

"Come over here and check this website out!"

Curious, Zeke paused his game and peered over Walter's shoulder. The website had some cheesy pictures of UFOs and a story. In 1958 aliens had discovered intelligent life on the planet Earth. While the majority of the Earthlings were not ready for contact, a few Earthlings were. The aliens were interested in contacting those Earthlings, and provided instructions. It looked to Zeke like one of those just-for-fun websites, but it sure seemed to be pulling Walter's leg.

"And all we have to do is go to one of these locations and call them up on CB channel eight," enthused Walter, holding up a printout. "I already emailed we will be there tonight."

"I don't know, dude, I was going to finish my new game tonight."

"Aw, you spend too much time on those games," argued Walter. "It's not good for you, you should get out and do something real for a change."

Exactly what Zeke's girlfriend had said before dumping him, Zeke mused. Maybe it was true, but Zeke wasn't the only one with unreal interests.

"You mean real like calling up aliens on the CB in the desert?" grinned Zeke.

Zeke was trying to be cool, but Walter was acting kind of weird. Zeke figured he should go with Walter to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. Besides, he just had to hear the response some long-haul trucker would make to Walter's CB message.

"It took me two months of emailing to get this set up. If you don't want to go, fine. But that's no reason to make fun of..."

"Sorry about that dude. I'd like to go, but you left yourself wide open for that comeback and I just couldn't pass it up," laughed Zeke.

An hour later, Zeke drove his car along the dirt road, high beams illuminating the darkness. There was no one around for miles, and they hadn't seen any traffic for the last half-hour. Zeke had been careful not to make any more jokes about the aliens; he knew Walter was into this stuff and didn't want to hurt his feelings -- sometimes you just had to be there for your buddies.

"The odometer reads 47.5 miles. Stop here and turn off the engine," said Walter.

Seems someone on the website had done their homework, there was a pullout just where the instructions said one would be. Zeke drove his car well off the road before killing the engine and lights; he hadn't seen any traffic, but parking too near the road at night would be stupid.

"Well, let's do this," said Walter as he grabbed the CB. Turning it to channel eight, all he got was a faint static.

"This is the Earthman looking to meet up with the Spaceman," said Walter, "anyone got your ears on?"

Zeke suppressed a chuckle. The CB continued its static, but no response. Well, Zeke would wait a while before suggesting they go back. It was peaceful out here away from everything, with the cool night air blowing through the windows.

"All right," started Walter, "I guess I really didn't expect... Holy shit! Look at that!"

"That" turned out to be a ring of lights descending directly above them. The lights were dim, and whatever it was made no noise.

Zeke wondered if this was an elaborate practical joke. Maybe someone in a hot air balloon? Was Walter in on it? Did whoever was behind it really think they were going to fool anyone? Well, Zeke would play along.

"Zeke, I'm not so sure about this. Maybe we should get out of here," said a panicked Walter.

"Be cool," said Zeke, grabbing his car keys, "We came out here to meet the aliens. Let's go meet them. Besides, you know the cars never start in these situations."

Zeke got out of the car and looked around. The lights from the craft above them illuminated the rocky ground. There was no sign of civilization except for the deserted road. Walter was still in the car, peering out the window.

The illumination got brighter and Zeke saw the craft was still descending over them. As it got closer, he could see that the craft looked solid. The lights framed a depression in the bottom of the hull. Before long, the craft was directly over them, and came to a complete stop about 20 feet up in the air.

Seen from this distance, the craft was at least several hundred feet in diameter. If this was a prank, it must have cost a bundle. The craft was the classic flying saucer shape, dark grey in color, just like the pictures on the website. It hung in the air, absolutely silent.

The ship looked real. If it were, thought Zeke, he was about to meet some actual aliens. A little scary at first, but it could be awesome. They might get to see things most people only dream about. How much technology would the aliens show them? What would they look like?

A motion on the craft interrupted Zeke's thoughts. From the depression, a grey circular disk about eight feet in diameter started descending. Zeke watched, spellbound. As it moved lower, he saw a slender railing come into view and someone, or something, standing in the middle.

The disk settled on the ground right in front of the car and Zeke got a good look at the alien. Any remaining doubts he had were banished -- no one on earth made costumes this good.

The alien was about five feet tall and bipedal, but nothing like a human. Its skin was light blue, mottled with dark blue splotches, and completely hairless. The head was sort of like a mushroom; the top half was the same size as a human head, but the bottom half tapered off like it didn't have a jawbone. Large unblinking pink eyes protruded from the sides, and a vertical slit for a mouth completed the front.

The head merged into the body without a neck, and the shoulders were almost non-existent. Two double-jointed arms ended in spindly fingers with no fingernails. Something that looked like a cross between gills and feathers covered the chest in a mixture of green and blue, stopping just short of its head.

The two legs were thin, and looked like they each had two knees spaced six inches apart, but tan pants and boots prevented Zeke from making a closer examination.

"I am Mvek," started the alien. "My pleasure to meet you."

The alien had deep, almost musical voice. Zeke noticed the mouth remained still, the voice seemed to emanate from the chest area, probably the gill things.

"You may be startled by the ship, by my appearance, by your stories about aliens," continued Mvek, "Know I will not hurt or detain you. I invite you to step on this platform, tour the ship, ask questions, and listen to my words."

Mvek stepped back, leaving plenty of room on the platform for his guests.

"Hi, I'm Zeke, and this is Walter," said Zeke looking over at Walter, who was still in the car. "Hey Walter, come on man, let's check out the ship."

"Zeke... we should get out of here," stammered Walter.

"Are you crazy," said Zeke, "You would never forgive yourself in a million years if you ran off now -- you know that. So suck it up, dude."

"I don't know about this. We shouldn't be here," said Walter, in a panicky voice.

"This was your idea in the first place, dude. You deserve to see it through. A friendly alien is offering to take you aboard his ship, you have been dreaming about stuff like this for years. How can you pass this up, man?" asked Zeke, opening the car door and pulling a scared Walter out, and dragging him towards the platform.

Walter broke free of Zeke's grip and ran behind the car.

"If you don't get on that platform right now, what are you going to tell yourself tomorrow?" asked Zeke, "You do what you have to do, dude. But me, I'm going before Mvek gets tired of us dicking around."

"Sorry about that, Mvek," said Zeke, stepping on the platform, "my friend Walter really wants to come along, he's just freaked out."

"Understandable," said Mvek. "Walter, I will take Zeke aboard now. You will remain here, you will be safe."

Mvek pressed on a small console and the gap in the railing closed. Now the railing completely enclosed the platform, preventing them from falling out.

"Wait!" shouted Walter, "I want to go too!"

Mvek opened the railing once again and a hesitant Walter stepped aboard. Walter kept as far from Mvek as he could, obviously frightened of the alien.

"Walter, you are safe," said Mvek. "Know I will not hurt or detain you."

Zeke knew Walter would soon get over his fears. After all, Walter knew the Enterprise deck layout by heart; he would forget all his concerns once they were aboard the ship. Likely, he would be asking questions non-stop.

"We will ascend to the ship now," said Mvek, pressing the console.

The platform rose smoothly and silently upwards, and slid into the ship, becoming the floor of a small circular room. A strange tingling sensation engulfed Zeke's entire body, but it quickly passed. Probably just the excitement, thought Zeke.

Lights came on in the room, and Zeke looked around. Dark purple walls made of a smooth, unfamiliar material surrounded them. A section of the railing slid back and at the same time a section of the wall opened, leading to a larger area.

"Walk with me," said Mvek.

Zeke walked beside Mvek. Walter followed, but was still keeping his distance from Mvek.

This room was about 100 feet long, the ceiling a light blue. The walls had dark green stripes framing what looked like yellow cabinets with no handles. For some reason, there were two normal Earth-type vehicles: an old Ford truck and an RV.

"What's with the vehicles?" asked Zeke.

"Other people of Earth were shown this ship," said Mvek. "We invited them to come with us. We keep their possessions here. They may decide to return."

"Will we get the chance to go with you?" asked Zeke.

Zeke was busy looking around as he talked with Mvek. Walter remained silent, but his eyes were darting everywhere.

"Yes," said Mvek, "I will explain in a moment."

They preceded through the storage room into a hallway. It was big enough to drive the RV through and twice as long as the storage room. The ceiling and walls were blue and green, the same colors as the storage room. Doors shaped like arches were interspersed along the hallway, most of them closed. Between the doors, alcoves featured a variety of plants.

Many of the plants were unfamiliar. One had hard pink disk-shaped protrusions covered with short spikes; it was surrounded by a white moss-like growth. Another looked like a sculpture, just a set of dark brown hoops halfway embedded in the ground. Some of the plants would not look out of place on Earth, they may have even been from Earth.

Mvek motioned at one of the doors and it silently opened, revealing a large circular room with a domed ceiling. The walls were a vivid white, with no visible joints, not even a smudge or speck of dust could be seen. The party stopped in the center of the room.

The door closed, blending perfectly into the wall. Something subtly changed in the room and suddenly all they could see was white; with no focal points, the room seemed an unending white expanse.