Outta This World

"We're too late, you know," the first officer said before their command ship entered Earth's atmosphere.

The captain understood, "There was always a chance we would be, but we have to see what happened. They could have survived. Activate sensor cloak. We don't need the humans picking us up on any detection systems."

He knew their missing crew's likelihood of survival was slim after the communications with their command ship stopped. Their communication system could pick up the weakest signals on the more primitive planet. They'd been monitoring all frequencies for the code that no one on the planet could send except their missing crew of three.

The ship shook violently upon entering the Earth's atmosphere. The captain looked at his monitor, paled at what he saw, and gripped the arms of his command chair tighter. "How is that possible?" he thought.

"Captain, we have catastrophic engine failure," a voice shouted as alarms blared.

"Brace for impact. Try to glide in the best you can."

Their ship was larger than the scout vessel that disappeared days earlier and had twenty crew members on board. The captain hoped his pilot could land them safely.

"Com, send a distress signal home and warn the council the atmosphere of this planet somehow affects our engines. We can't have any of our ships crashing here looking for us."

He realized he had the answer to what happened to his scout ship and feared the worst. Their smaller ship wouldn't be able to glide as their larger ship could hopefully do.

The bridge crew knew what his last order meant, they would be stranded if they survived. The first officer looked at the captain, her husband, with a tear falling down her cheek.

"Be strong, dear one," he said.

The pilot shouted, "Impact in five, four, three, two...

*****

Seventy-five years later

John Thomas walked out his front door with his Yorkshire Terrier, Orion, scampering ahead. He looked out at the quiet cul-de-sac and smiled at the peaceful sound of birds chirping. He had moved into that house a two months before, after a long argument with his parents.

They felt he was too young and immature to leave their home and tried every argument they could to keep the independent twenty-five-year-old at home. John couldn't resist the urge to go out into the world and make his own way.

While his family, for decades, stayed within the large ranch they owned, John had a restlessness that no others in their close family had ever experienced. Because of his curious nature, his parents knew they couldn't keep him home forever, and they eventually relented and gave him their blessing to see the world.

John saw his neighbors' little girl bounce up and screech, "Hi, Orion."

The little dog yapped and allowed the five-year-old girl to lavish him with hugs and scritchin's.

"Hello, Ari," John said smiling while she ignored his greeting in favor of Orion's.

"Mister John, can I play fetch with Orion?"

"Sure, Ari. I have his ball right here."

She accepted the ball and John unhooked the small dog's leash. They lived on a private cul-de-sac where children commonly played in the street safely.

He watched and wondered who would tire first as the child and his dog chased the ball around.

Suddenly, he heard a crash and screaming come from Ari's home.

Ari looked at the house and said, "Daddy was mad his dinner was cold. Mama told him it was just cuz he was late, but he didn't understand."

John frowned. He didn't like his neighbor Dave from the first time they met. Sheryl, Ari's mom, saw John moving in and made him a pan of homemade lasagna to welcome him to the neighborhood. They were in the middle of a pleasant conversation when Dave came over drunk and berated her for not being home when he got off work.

John warned him to stop as Dave tried to drag Sheryl home. Sheryl left with a crying Ari who wanted to play with Orion longer.

Back in the moment, John looked at the house and through the front window saw Dave raise his hand to hit Sheryl. John got angry and watched Dave faint and fall to the floor. The pretty red-head looked on in fear and shock.

She looked at Dave then around the room until she caught John watching from the sidewalk.

Embarrassed, she hurried from the room into her kitchen.

"Ari, let me see the ball for a second," John asked. She handed him the small toy, and he threw it four houses away to the end of their normally peaceful cul-de-sac.

Both Ari and Orion chased after it, and John looked back to the house. Dave stood and looked around dazed. He saw John's glare and became more scared than he ever felt.

He flipped John his middle finger and left the living room.

"Mister John!" Ari shouted as she ran up. "Orion pooped."

John smiled and asked, "Would you like to pick it up?"

He held out a bag, and she squealed, "Ew!"

He laughed as she ran back to her house and opened the front door of the now quiet home.

*****

Two weeks later, John heard a scream, then a shout for help.

He burst outside and found Sheryl running toward him. As John pulled her behind his back, Dave pointed a shotgun at him.

Suddenly, the gun pointed straight up and fired, and Dave fell to the ground unconscious.

"Are you okay?" John asked as he turned and hugged the sobbing Sheryl.

"Where's Ari?" He asked when Sheryl didn't respond.

He looked around and saw the scared girl crying in another neighbor's arms across the street.

"Sheryl, it's over. Sheryl?" John begged.

She looked up with wet blue eyes, then broke the hug.

"Where is he? The gun? Oh, God!"

She started feeling his chest and stomach, looking for a bullet wound. He felt her touch change slightly as it lingered on his chest a moment longer than appropriate.

He shushed her and answered, "It's over. He's on the ground and the bullet missed us."

Another neighbor picked up the gun and examined Dave's lifeless body. He looked at John and shook his head to indicate he wasn't alive. John already knew but nodded in response.

He watched as Sheryl ran across the street to her daughter, then he looked at the neighbor walking up with the gun.

"I called the cops," he said.

John said, "Thanks, Bill," and stared at Dave's prone body.

Bill shrugged, "Damnedest thing. He just fired the gun and fell down dead. I didn't see anything to show he shot himself."

John replied, "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

"You're a lucky son-of-a bitch. He had you dead to rights in his sight."

John nodded and looked back across the street to see Sheryl and Ari walk into someone's home.

Bill smiled and said, "She's a good woman. It's a shame she was forced into that marriage. Dave was an asshole of the highest order."

John wondered what he meant, but that wasn't the time to find out.

Later, John told the police he watched Dave shoot as he tripped and fell. He told them he had no idea what Dave tripped over or how he died. All of the neighbors who witnessed the event told the same story.

*****

Five days later, John and Orion were playing fetch as Sheryl hosted a houseful of people after Dave's funeral. John didn't attend.

Sheryl didn't want to have a funeral. She didn't want to collect Dave's body from the morgue either. Her parents insisted that it wouldn't look good if she didn't have a service. Sheryl was upset that her parents were more concerned about how the situation looked rather than what actually happened. The fact that she almost died didn't factor into the decision.

Ari came out of the house with a little boy and shyly asked if she and her cousin could play fetch with Ari.

"Of course," he said.

John watched as the little boy threw the ball into the street. He heard before he saw the car screech around the corner onto his street.

He barely had time to yell out to Ari and the boy as they chased after Orion and the ball. They froze in the middle of the street and Sheryl screamed from her porch as the car was feet away from the kids.

The old Impala stopped as if it had hit a wall three feet away from a shocked Ari. The front end crumpled, and the driver hit the windshield. The rear end lifted off of the ground and crashed down onto the street with a thud.

"Ari, Mikey!" Sheryl shouted as the kids ran back to her. Orion walked over to John and dropped the ball.

Dozens of people gathered around the car and argued about what it hit.

John was mostly ignored as the family and friends huddled on Sheryl's lawn trying to figure out what happened and made sure the kids were okay.

When the police arrived, John told them his view of the incident was blocked by the cars parked on the street. He told them he didn't know what happened.

After the police and ambulance left, he noticed Sheryl glaring at him. He nodded as he walked into his home.

For hours more, the quiet cul-de-sac was filled with people trying to figure out which car the Impala hit that saved the children's lives. No car on the street had a scratch to indicate it was the one hit. John groaned when he saw several of Sheryl's guests praying in the street.

*****

The next morning, John's doorbell rang, and he found Sheryl and Ari standing on his porch.

"Good morning, Ladies," he smiled as Orion walked past him to get some attention from Ari.

"John," she began, I think I owe you a breakfast for being such a good neighbor."

He could feel she was curious, but slightly frightened of him.

"You don't owe..."

"Ari?" She said.

"Please, Mister John? Mama says I can have chocolate chip pancakes."

"Ooh! That's dirty pool, using your adorable daughter, Sheryl," John teased.

She shrugged and said, "We will give you five minutes to meet us in my driveway."

John agreed and called Orion back into the house.

He put on khaki shorts, a dri-fit golf shirt, and his comfortable sandals. A splash of cologne completed his preparation, and he looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Be cool," he told himself.

Sheryl made sure Ari was buckled and felt John approach. She always felt an energy or aura when near him. It made her feel relaxed and safe in his presence, but not that morning. For the first time, she was afraid of him.

"All set?" She asked without turning around.

"Yep," Ari answered although the question wasn't meant for her.

"Me too," John followed, making Ari giggle.

The drive to the restaurant was filled with Ari asking any question she could think of about Orion. John answered them all cheerfully and wondered how she was really doing considering her father had recently died.

Throughout breakfast, Sheryl was guarded, but in a decent mood as they made small talk mostly about Ari and her new friends in kindergarten.

"John, I need to use the restroom. Will you..."

"I'll watch her," he said with a smile.

Sheryl warned Ari to be good and excused herself.

"Do you like whipped cream?" He asked.

Ari nodded.

He waved the server over and asked for a bowl of extra whipped cream. Ari giggled and scooped up what was left of the whipped cream on her plate.

John grinned as Sheryl sat and noticed the new white goodness covering her daughter's pancakes.

"Well," she fake-frowned. "It looks like the whipped cream fairy visited."

John faked an arrow to the heart when Ari told the truth about his ordering extra for her.

"It's okay," Sheryl smiled then scooped up a slice of Ari's pancake for herself. "I like extra whipped cream too."

John nodded and took a bite of his biscuits and gravy.

"What do you do for a living, John?" Sheryl asked. "You always seem to be at home."

"I'm an inventor," he said.

"Really? An inventor? That's odd for such a young man."

"Well, my father's one as well, and I just followed in his footsteps. We've sold a few things here and there."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Tech stuff mostly. My dad made a lot of money with digital displays and controls for airplanes."

She nodded and asked, "How about you? Have you invented anything I might have heard of?"

He smiled and looked at her phone which sat on the table.

"Yeah, last year I sold the patent for a thinner, stronger, and more flexible screen for cell phones."

"Wow!" She said as she looked at her phone. "You must be pretty smart."

"More like I was in the right place at the right time. Someone else would have figured it out eventually."

John didn't tell her that his family had wealth that rivaled anyone's in the world because of their knowledge of advanced tech.

She asked, "What brought you to our little neighborhood?"

"My family is very close-knit. They're almost stifling, and I needed to get out on my own. When I sold that patent, it afforded me the opportunity to get out and see how the world worked beyond my family's walls. It was important for me to be able to do it without needing my family's money for support."

Sheryl could relate. She was the daughter of a State Senator and always felt like she was under a microscope. Her father was so powerful, he had it worked out to where Dave's death went down as an accidental discharge of a firearm instead of attempted murder. He insisted against Sheryl's wishes as he felt it made him a more sympathetic figure, rather than the father of a daughter that made poor choices in husbands. His PR staff felt having a grieving widow for a daughter played better politically than a victim of her spouse.

John paid the bill, against Sheryl's argument, but she gave in to the powerful and charismatic young man.

As soon as they got back to her house, John invited her over for coffee and some Ari and Orion play time.

Ari happily chased Orion around the backyard, and they sat on the patio to enjoy the nice weather.

"John," Sheryl asked. "What really happened yesterday. I know you saw it all."

"I didn't see anything," he lied, then changed the subject. "I wonder what happened to the driver."

"He's in the hospital because of a head injury. After that, he's going to jail for driving drunk and recklessly. He also had a suspended license."

"Oh?"

She nodded, "That was Dave's father. He was drunk at the funeral so I told him he couldn't come to the luncheon at my house. He went to the bar for a few more whiskeys, then decided he was coming anyway."

John frowned, "That explains why he was driving so fast on our street."

"He almost killed his granddaughter..." She broke down, and he put his hand on her shoulder. She calmed down and gave him a confused stare. She wondered how she felt so calm so quickly.

"I think you're lying," she said after building some confidence. "You know what happened and I also think you know what happened the other two times."

John sighed and said, "I don't know what you're..."

"The first time, you were watching when Dave almost hit me. It was strange how he passed out in mid swing."

"Sheryl, I don't..."

"Then you were looking right at him when he tried to shoot us. They said he had no external head trauma, but the doctor said his brain was crushed."

John looked at Ari and Orion as they played. He ignored her accusations.

A moment later, she said, "I think you did all of those things and I'm going to prove it."

John barely saw the knife before she slammed it toward her other hand on the table. He sighed in relief when the knife missed her hand and landed between her fingers. It struck the glass table and slid harmlessly forward.

"What the hell are you doing," he chided as he grabbed the knife. "You could've been hurt?"

She looked at him in shock. "I thought you would stop me like you stopped the car and Dave."

"That was pretty stupid, Sheryl. Jesus!"

She was sure she aimed for the back of her hand. She didn't feel anything move the knife, but it landed in a spot that had only a millimeter of space. It defied luck.

"I'm sorry. I...I just thought..."

She jumped up and scooped up a wriggling Ari. She carried her across their yards and entered her back door.

"Damn! That was too close," he thought and shook his head.

He realized he was using his abilities too often around her, and it was only a matter of time before he couldn't lie his way out of it anymore.

*****

"Have you seen the news?" John's father asked as John invited him into his house. His parents had made the two-hour drive to visit when something on the news caused a stir.

"Yeah," John answered as he hugged his mother.

"Your grandfather doesn't think we have anything to worry about, but I'm not so sure."

John offered them drinks as he turned the volume of the television off mute.

The news anchor repeated the top story of the day.

"A UFO was sighted over Las Vegas last night. The craft was caught on several cell phone cameras from all over the city."

"Who are they?" John asked.

"We don't know," his father answered.

John asked, "They can't be..."

His mother cut him off, "No, if they were from home, they never would have allowed themselves to be seen and would have come to the compound."

"Where did they go?" John asked.

"Your uncle was monitoring and said they went back to deep space. Hopefully, back to wherever they came from."

His mother added, "As you can imagine, our family is on high alert at the compound."

John nodded and remembered the family's protocols for that situation.

His entire family and extended family live on a large ranch in the Nevada desert. His grandparents called it "the compound."

The ranch had dozens of houses and was entirely self-sufficient with its own water, sewer, and electricity.

They sat quietly as they watched the reporters produce outlandish explanations and theories. Some of them caused John's father to chuckle, yet others caused him fear.

"Have you been behaving?" His mother asked. John knew what she meant.

"Mostly. There were some incidents with my neighbor, but there's nothing to worry about."

John thought about Sheryl and how he hadn't seen her in almost a month.

At that moment, little Ari rang his bell to ask if she could play with Orion.

"Sure," John said with a smile. "He's missed you."

"Mama says I have to play in the back, Mister John. She don't want me to get hit by a car again."

"That's fine. You know where to go."

She scampered to the back door and Orion chased after.

"She was hit by a car?" His mother asked.

"No, she was almost hit by a car. A drunk driver sped down our street, but he stopped a few feet away from her."

John almost had his door closed when Sheryl said, "He didn't just stop a few feet away. He was stopped by something. It wrecked his car, but no one can explain what happened. Hi, I'm John's neighbor Sheryl."

John's father glared at him while his mother introduced them.

"Hello, Sheryl. I'm Grace and this is my husband George. We're John's parents."

They exchanged pleasantries and John got coffee for everyone.

"UFO's, huh?" Sheryl said as she sat and saw what they were watching. "Crazy. I wonder if they have any special powers like telekinesis."

George shook his head and tried to deflect her comment, "I bet they look like lizard people or those little gray guys you see on TV," he faked a chuckle.

"Maybe," Sheryl shrugged. "I bet they look like us. You know, I've been doing a lot of reading on that subject lately. Some of those ancient alien theories make sense."

Grace laughed, "What? Like aliens came from outer space and built the pyramids?"

Sheryl nodded, "Mm, hm. I'm drawn to the ones that say aliens seeded our planet to create humans many millennia ago."

George paled. They all knew the ancient aliens theories and were glad up to that point they weren't taken seriously by the mainstream.

"Ooh! I know that one," John smiled. "Aliens engineered us to mine for gold, right?"

"Something like that, I'm sure," Sheryl said.