Outcasts of Gideon

There Goes Our Ride : Part 2

As he moved through the crowd, Dewey heard Bobby's voice in the distance. "Dewey, where the hell are you going?" Dewey did not respond. He couldn't. If he did, he'd fall back in with them. He didn't know yet where he was going, but it wasn't with them.

When he reached a long corridor on the other end of the space, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Swinging around, he expected to see Bobby. Instead he found Dawn. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Bobby came up behind her. Dewey frowned. Why had they followed him? It was the three of them. They were the ones affected by the alien artifact. The realization came to Dewey as he looked to each of them. "I don't know where I'm goin'. You understand that, right? I just didn't think we were goin' in the right direction any more."

"So what direction should we go?" Dawn's eyes searched his.

Dewey didn't respond. Instead, he turned and walked further down the busy corridor.

"Hey, are we in a hurry?" asked Bobby.

Dewey led them through long, winding corridors. They went down stairwells and across spaces where the world of Dione still buzzed. They passed places of construction and the bustle of life. Once, they ascended a stairwell they had previously descended. Dewey wasn't sure if the others had noticed. He barely did.

They came to a short, narrow corridor. At first, Dewey walked past it. Something made him stop and go back. There he saw a man entering a room off to the left of the hall. Rushing toward the closing door, he knocked on it. The man opened the door, peering out. "Yes?"

"I know you don't know me, but I need some help. We need some help. We need to get to Earth."

The man looked at Dewey and the others. "And why would I care about that?"

"I don't know why you'd care, but I think you can help me."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken."

"It's about somethin' alien."

"Alien?"

"Yeah, somethin' alien that might be on Earth too." Dewey could tell this got his attention.

"Might be on Earth too? Do you mean there's more than one?"

"You were lookin' for somethin' alien, weren't you?"

The man offered a half smile. "How would you know that?"

"Doesn't matter. It's true, right?"

"Well, it might be. But how would you know?"

Behind Dewey, Dawn's comm lit up. She stepped away and spoke in hushed tones. Dewey ignored her. "Look, I can't explain how I know. I'm not even sure how I know. None of that is important. What is important is us gettin' to Earth. It's where we need to go."

"I'd love to help. But we can't accommodate passengers. And even if we could, I'd have to talk to my superiors."

"By accommodate, you mean you don't have bunks."

"Bunks, seats, suits. You know what space travel requires."

"Short travel without them isn't very dangerous. I fly a shuttle. I know."

The young man smiled. "I wish I could help."

Dewey felt someone pull on his shoulder. He looked down to see Bobby's pale, thin hand on him. In his other hand, Bobby held the alien artifact, its smooth metal glistening in the light. The object lay on the cloth still dusty from Phaethon. "Have you seen something like this before?"

Dewey felt something take hold of him. It was a confidence he'd never before experienced. The feeling removed doubt and fear, replacing them with resolve. As it swept over him, he reached for the alien object. For the first time he felt the cold metal in his hand. Holding it up, he brought it closer to the young man's face. "We think this is alien. Bobby here found it. It's tellin' us to go to Earth."

The man reached for the artifact. As he did, Dewey pulled it away. "I wouldn't do that. You might not like what it does to you." He hooked his thumb toward Bobby.

"Dewey, you're touching it," Dawn shouted.

He looked toward her. For an instant, he didn't remember who she was. He shook it off and turned back to the young man. "It has strange properties. We don't understand it." He turned to look at Bobby. "You tried different things to detect it, didn't you?"

Bobby nodded.

"You say it's alien?" The young man reached for the object again.

Dewey pulled it further away. "It has an effect on people. Not a good idea to touch it."

The young man held up his finger. He turned and entered the room, leaving the door ajar behind him. Dewey could hear him speaking to someone. After a few moments, he returned with a silver haired woman.

"You say you have an alien artifact?"

Dewey held it up for her to see. "We need to get to Earth. If you can give us a ride, you can study it. If not, we'll look for someone else to give us a ride."

"Do you know how many so-called alien devices I've seen? I'm a scientist. People try to peddle hoaxes with me all the time. None of them are ever real."

"I would let you touch it. That would prove it's real. But it affects people. There's no tellin' what it might do to you."

The woman scanned their faces. As she did, footsteps came up from behind them. Dewey turned to see the others arrive.

The silver-haired woman looked across the group. "Six of you? Are there more?"

"No, ma'am."

"Well, this is what I can do. If you are able to prove to me that this is more than just another alien hoax, we can talk about transport to Earth."