Undercover As Geek

The Assimilation

I am awakened from a comfortable sleep by Beethoven's Fifth screaming at me from its plugged in position on my dresser. Groggily, I stumble over and stare at the unknown number for a second before answering.

"Hello?" My words are slurred, and I sound like a drunk.

"Hey, Kennedy," a voice says through the speaker. It has a wide awake tone that's the complete opposite of my current state of consciousness. "This is Geoffrey."

I don't bother with pleasantries. "It's two in the morning," I say, looking at the clock casting an eerie green light on my walls. "On Saturday."

"I know," Geoffrey replies. "But Noah told me to call you. You need to meet me at the city park in half an hour. UFOrdinance business."

I groan inwardly. "What could we possibly be doing this early?" My drowsiness is slowly evaporating as I stand there, but my bed still looks so soft and warm...

"You'll see," he says, and the crackling interference ends abruptly, signaling the end of the call. I sigh. Curiosity  has demolished any last chance at sleep, and I begin changing into shorts and a T-shirt. I stuff my phone and keys in my pocket before leaving the house, into the dead night. 

___

I am at the park by 2:23. There is no one there, so hang myself upside down on the monkey bars in the playground, enjoying the feeling of blood rushing to my head. I close my eyes for a while, and when I open them, a silhouette is walking towards me. It is barely distinguishable from the black sky, its presence only betrayed by the lack of stars where it stands. I fling myself off the bar and back onto solid ground. My head tingles, and I shake it.

A few yards away, the moonlight allows me to make out red, frizzy hair and wire glasses. "Geoffrey?" I say, and my voice projects through the quiet air. 

I hear a boyish grunt, confirming my theory. The shadow is struggling to carry a box that fits awkwardly it its grip, and I traipse out to meet it in the grass. 

"Let me help you," I say, reaching for the box. Geoffrey smiles and gratefully dumps it into my arms. My muscles tense, expecting considerable weight, but after a second with no resistance, I bounce the object in my fingers. It is as light as a feather. I glance, stupefied, at Geoffrey's noodle limbs. 

How...? I stop myself. Geoffrey's exercise habits are none of my concern. Still...

"Okay," the boy says, interrupting my thoughts. "Do you want to know what we're doing?"

I roll my eyes. "Duh."

"UFO vibration scans." Even with the dim light the stars offer, it isn't difficult to see the excitement radiating from his face. 

"Vibration scans?" My voice is incredulous, as expected. What in the world are vibration scans?

Geoffrey nods fervently. "Yeah," he says. "Pretty awesome, right? We search the galaxy with a high-tech detection device to find unusual vibrations that most likely are emitted from an operating spacecraft." He speaks fast, bubbling out complicated equations and vocabulary like carbon monoxide exploding from an exhaust pipe. 

I have to stop him. "And we're doing this now, because...?"

"Perfect timing," he says. "This is when the least amount of signal-issuing mechanisms are disturbing the atmosphere."

"Oh," I say, even though I have no idea what he just said. "So, it's just you and me?"

"Yeah, we're the group assigned for this weekend."

Ooh, I think. Assignments. Splendid. Geoffrey motions for me to follow him, and we go up to the peak of a hill and set down our things. The sky is clear and littered with thousands and thousands of crystal droplets that reminds me of sprinkled angel dust.