“Yeah, well, grown-ups don’t understand you got to adjust to things a lot when you sleep outside, like this air mattress, for instance. Here, hold my flashlight, Jerry, while I blow this sack up some more.”
Jerry held the flashlight and listened to the air wheeze through the air mattress tubes as Ron blew into it. “Wonder what my mom and dad would say if I’d told them we were going to see a real live spaceship tonight.”
Ron flipped his thumb over the air mattress valve and screwed the valve shut. “They’d have thought you were kidding.”
“Yeah. They’d probably say ‘watch out, don’t get too close,’ like they were going along with a gag.”
Ron snaked down into his sleeping bag and pulled the zipper up. “Sure, grown-ups are all alike. They think we’re always making things up just to get their attention, or something.”
The two boys lay with their heads outside the tent. Crickets chirped in the grass. Far in the distance they could hear the drone of the city street sweeper on its nightly trip around Bridgeville. The stars were beginning to prick through the dark blue above. Jerry put his hands under his head and gazed up at the twinkling lights.
“Where do you suppose he lives? Monaal, I mean,” Jerry said.
“Maybe on Mars or Venus,” Ron suggested.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because if he did, he wouldn’t be talking about his galaxy and our galaxy.”
“But other galaxies are too far away,” Ron said. “Why, it would take a million years for spaceships to come from the nearest galaxy to ours.”
“Maybe they don’t have the same length years we do. Maybe they’ve figured out how to live as long as they want to.”
Ron rolled over and leaned on his elbow. “But what kind of metal would they use for spaceships that could travel for a million years?”
“Probably some sort of metal we don’t even know about. Gases on their planet could be different. Gravity could be different. Everything could be different.”
“Yeah,” Ron nodded. “Even the people could be different… Two heads, four arms, six feet.”
“Not too much different, Ron. They talk like we do. Monaal did anyway.”
“That still bugs me,” Ron shook his head. “How does he know our language?”
“Maybe they’ve studied our radio and television signals that are bouncing off our space satellites. If they’re advanced enough to build spaceships that travel from one galaxy to another, they’re sharp enough to decode our signals.”
“But why would they learn to talk our language? What are they up to? Man! I’ve got a lot of questions to ask Monaal!” Ron reached for the Whacky Snacks box and set it between them.
“Me, too,” Jerry sighed and tossed a handful of Whacky Snacks into his mouth.
It was near midnight when Jerry sat up and felt inside his sleeping bag. Ron, heavy-lidded, lay on his back. “What you fussing around for?”
“Oh, a bunch of Whacky Snacks got in here somehow.”
“Yeah, I feel a couple in my sack, too, but I’m too tired to look for them. I’m beginning to think Monaal’s forgotten all about us. Isn’t it about morning?”
Jerry glanced toward the east. “It isn’t getting light yet.”
Ron rolled over on his side. “I’m going to sleep. Wake me up if anything happens.”
“Okay,” Jerry threw a Whacky Snack onto the grass and burrowed into his sleeping bag. He turned over and was plumping his pillow when he caught the motion of light toward the north. He sat up. A wedge of tiny stars seemed to be moving across the sky. They grew into globes of light. When they were directly overhead, the leading light glided away from the group and fluttered down like a leaf, growing larger and larger.
Jerry reached over and shook Ron. “Wake up! It’s here, Ron, it’s here!”
Ron rose sleepily on one elbow. “What’s here?”
“The spaceship, stupid! Look!” He pointed at the globe of light which had grown to the size of a large platter. It hovered over the park.
Ron, wide awake now, sat up in his sleeping bag. The glowing disc tilted to one side and glided silently toward the yard. Its brightness faded somewhat, and Jerry could clearly see a wide circle of red and white lights revolving underneath the rim. The spaceship drew nearer and nearer until it blotted out the sky. The crickets had stopped chirping. Jerry was aware of a strange buzzing sound that seemed to come from directly above his forehead. The great spaceship floated over the yard until it reached the garage. There it bobbed not ten feet from the roof with a high, soft whining sound.
Jerry could see the red and white revolving lights reflected on the concave metal surface beneath, where a hatch was sliding open directly in the center. From the brightly lighted interior of the ship, a silver-colored metal wand began to descend slowly.
Jerry and Ron both gasped. On a small platform at the bottom of the wand, stood a little man dressed in a glinting metallic suit.
CHAPTER 6
Anyone home?
Jerry and Ron stared in amazement. The wand from the spaceship touched the roof of the garage, and the spaceman, no taller than Jerry or Ron, stepped onto the ridgepole. He stood for a moment looking down. The red and white lights revolving above him glinted in his round bubble helmet. Their reflection made him seem faceless. A small square box, with a blue light blinking from it, was strapped to his chest. His metallic one-piece suit fitted him like a skin diver’s wet suit. His shoes were large and awkward looking. Slowly, the spaceman shuffled to the edge of the roof. Hesitating a moment, he bent his knees and jumped. He floated down to the ground like a maple leaf.
He paused and looked about him, then bent his bubble helmet forward as though he were looking at the box on his chest. He turned slowly. When the blue light blinked directly at the pup tent he stopped moving. Jerry and Ron froze. The spaceman hesitated a moment, then swung around and shuffled toward the workshop. The boys could see him fumble with the knob, push on the door, and go inside.
“What does he want in there?” Ron whispered.
“Don’t you remember? That’s where we talked to Monaal this afternoon.”
“Yeah! I bet he thinks we’re still in there,” Ron whispered.
“I bet he wants to talk to us some more,” Jerry said. He began to climb out of his sleeping bag. “I’m going in there.”
“Maybe it isn’t safe,” Ron whispered. “He might shoot you with a ray gun, or he might be radioactive, or something.”
“Are you crazy? He won’t hurt me—he knows I’m his friend. Besides, if it’s Monaal, I want to ask some more questions.”
“Hey, yeah! Me too!” Ron struggled from his sleeping bag. “I’ll go with you.”
Jerry reached for his jeans. They felt clammy as he stuck his feet into them. He stood up. No time for socks and sneakers. Through the workshop windows, he could see the blue light bobbing about. The spaceman must have climbed onto the workbench, he thought.
Suddenly Jerry felt very awkward. How would he greet the spaceman? What would he say? He was glad Ron would be with him. He glanced down. “Come on, Ron, what’s holding you up?”
“These jeans! They’re wrong side out.”
“Put them on anyway.”
Ron snorted. “Ever try to zip a pair wrong side out?” He rose to his knees, and heaved to his feet. “Okay,