All The Stars We See // muke

chapter two

He regrets his trip half way towards the crash, his mind running with possibilities. His father may not even glance his way with what strange alien technology could have fallen from the sky. Maybe it was just an old satellite and his colleagues would belittle him for his head to jump right away to extraterrestrial life. He should probably just go home and work on his lesson plans. It was probably nothing.

Before he could turn his bike around, he saw the pulsing flash and glow of something jade and sea green that was twinkled with bubblegum and rose. He stopped abruptly, twisting his breaks and kicking up dirt and rocks as he stared at the crater it left. It fell into the Earth maybe two stories deep in the center, and left almost a similar sized diameter in it's crater. The lights were still flashing, and if he didn't know any better he would venture to say he could see someone through the heavily tinted window.

He shouldn't. He knows that maybe this person was dangerous, or maybe it was hostile and came to wipe out the species, but it didn't stop him from taking his helmet off and setting it on the handlebar of his motorcycle. He parked it there, kicking out the stand and letting the engine hum as he approached the dip.

He slowly trailed the slanted entrance, his feet slipping on the unsteady rocks and unnecessarily steep dig. The colors have disappeared, and he suspects they had a similar purpose to that of an alarm system — attention catching. Perhaps the being inside shut them off, or maybe they turned themselves off after realizing another living being was approaching.

It was fascinating. Even the most advances technology there didn't shut off at the presence of heartbeats. If their shuttles and planes, once crashed and far away, bled colored lights until someone came to help, he wonders how many missing people would have found their way home. Of course they would need an indefinite amount of energy to keep flashing, but if they can send probes and shuttles to Mars then they should be able to channel solar energy for emergency lights.

A hiss pulled him out of his thoughts, and he felt his heart stop as a door to the small pod opened. He looked away, unable to decide if he was ready to see whatever it was that captained such an advanced vessel. He wasn't prepared to know if there were far more intelligent beings in the universe, and he wasn't sure if he was afraid of it being uncivil.

He could hear the rovers in the distance as they sped as fast as they could to this site. Behind the hum of the spacecraft and the rumble of his bike, it was almost just a whisper. But they they were coming, and in no time they'd be here.

He whipped his head to the craft and the sight stole the breath from his lungs. It was a man, but at the same time if stared at long enough, a woman perhaps? A person with sharp emerald eyes that almost seem to out glow the blinding brightness of his ship's interior. Purple hair, glittery like an amethyst yet gentle like orchids, short and wild on his head in an almost spiked way. Porcelain like a doll, yet streaks and designs of cobalt swirled within the ivory shade in a dim shade, not quite painted and not quite covered, but melded together as if it was apart of the skin that wrapped his body.

He was dressed like royalty, diamonds and rich navy adorned with gold and glitter. The crown perched on his chest gave him away, and he suspects it must have fallen off during the crash. Though his eyes were dimming into an exhausted state, his hand gripped a small dagger tightly with the hilt pressed against his stomach and the blade facing him. What looked to be blood that trickled from his hair line down his face was alarming, thick and grey as his smeared against his cheek and down to his neck.

He said something in a language Luke didn't quite understand, but only seconds later did it get translated in a smooth, female voice. His ship perhaps?

"I mean no harm, but will fight if need be."

Luke's eyes widened, his feet glued to their spot on the desert rocks as he stared at the figure. The roars of engines were louder in the gentle night and he looked behind him momentarily as he imagined what the Academy would do if they found him.

They'd shove him in a glass cage like they do their otherworldly rock and metal samples. With gloves and sterilized tools, they would cut into his flesh and take samples of his blood all while interrogating him of his home, his people, his reason for landing on Earth. He'd be a test bunny for their poking and prodding, a caged animal for their viewing pleasure. And he loved science and biology as the next person at the school, but they wouldn't handle it in the best way. Their curiosity would be this poor being's torture, and it was coming fast.

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat before turning to the being, clearly tired but fighting to stay awake. He must have lost a lot of blood in the crash, or travelling for who knows how long must have taken a lot out of him. He wouldn't survive the Academy's relentless study.

"Let... Let me help you." He said, and four lights lit up on the ship before another language sounded into the air.

The being paused, his fingers weakly pushing on his belt but his knife still clutched tightly in his hand. "We have to go. They're coming."

"Who?"

Luke hesitated. "People who want to hurt you."

The man collapsed when he tried walking, and Luke ran to help him stand. His knife was long sense dropped, and he clung to him as Luke tried climbing up the steep slope with the added weight. Maybe his body wasn't used to their gravity, or he was just too drained to step, but he couldn't walk.

He looked past his bike and in the distance saw the clouds of dust as the rovers whirled over, and Luke took his leather jacket off before placing it on the being's shoulders. "Put this on."

With no translator, he just stared at him with an empty gaze.

Luke threaded his arms through the sleeves before shoving a helmet on his head, deciding that he himself would have to make due with a pair of goggles. He strapped the helmet on being before jumping on his bike, kicking the metal stand up and looking expectingly at the other.

His anxiety was rising as he seen the lights in the corner of his eye itch forward. He yanked the other on, not caring that he wasn't yet fully seated. He took his arm to wrap around him and then sped up, his engine roaring as he took off and began driving away from the site that would soon be under quarantine and inspection.

The guy behind him spoke, but with the language barrier, whipping wind, fully covered helmet, and the growl of his bike, he had no idea what he was saying. Which meant this was probably a bad idea. A horrible idea. Not thought through, and absolutely impulsive idea that he's going to regret no doubt.

1254 words