A Storm in the Making

Chapter 6--Who Are the Aliens Now?

All of this was inconsequential, however. The beings themselves held my attention. If I had one doubt we had left earth far behind, it evaporated as weirder and weirder beings came into view.

“Why are they staring at us?” I whispered to Uncle who had edged closer to me.

“Do you think they intend to hurt us with that weapon, Uncle,” Luke asked coming up close on Uncle’s other side.

“What weapon?” Uncle and I asked at the same time.

“The staff.” Luke answered. “Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel what,” I asked, latching my arm around Uncle’s.

“The vibrations. The staff’s emitting pulses. I can feel them.”

“Check out the blue alien,” whispered Andrew, sidling up to Luke and nudging him with his elbow.

Sheesh. Didn’t Andrew have sense enough to be scared, I wondered? Was he that fearless, or that stupid?

“Yeah, right, Sherlock,” Luke hissed caustically. “Be careful what you say or think, Andrew. That blue alien, as you call her, is a mind reader. She understands English; and she’s pissed at what you just called her. She’s thinking we’re the aliens.”

I looked towards the blue alien that Luke referred to. Her beauty would make her stand out in a crowd, even without the help of her iridescent blue skin.

She had a very human-looking face, with tip-tilted eyes, straight nose, and classic, bee-stung, lips that would make a teen model from earth gnash her teeth in envy. Her hairdo, nevertheless, really screamed, I’m an Alien!

Neon-red and wildly-spiked like a Mohawk on steroids, it grew from a widow’s peak on her forehead and trailed out of sight down the back of her robe. Somehow it suited her.

“Are you looking at the same one I am?” Andrew whispered back to Luke. “How can you tell she’s a girl? She hasn’t got any--.”

The girl in question turned from listening to the old man, to glare viciously at Andrew. Her lips drew back in a hiss, revealing sharp, pointed teeth, before she could compose her features and turn her attention back to the old man.

“Wow! Did you see those teeth?” Andrew gulped.

“Would you shut up, Andrew,” spat Luke under his breath. “She’s thinking about staking you out in front of a Hermit Spider nest and leaving you there.”

“What’s a Hermit Spider?” Andrew had to ask.

“Both of you shut up before you get us all killed,” Uncle rumbled under his breath.

As the entourage continued to file up onto the plateau, two tall, blue-skinned men arrived. They immediately rushed over to flank the redhead. The two exceptions to white robes the others wore, they stood out like beacons. Instead, they dressed in short tunics made of what looked like animal skins and carried long, wood-tipped spears. Their red hair spiked higher, if possible, than their female counterpart. They scowled at Andrew and Luke with a clear threat in their eyes. Bodyguards for the female, I surmised?