The Escape: Chapter Twelve: The Ship

This was it. Our first encounter outside of the colony. The man looked human, but Satan took many forms. Maybe his aliens could as well. Older than me, the man was clean and smiling. He wore nice looking boots with a some mud on the soles. His white shirt was bright, almost unnaturally so in the sun.

I needed to be the strong one for my family, who moved slightly behind me. But what had the man said?

“Hello,” I said. The man tilted his head, his eyes widening. “We’re from New Covenant.”

He nodded while he patted his chest. “Ika Roberto.”

Alaina touched my back. Nothing prepared us for something like this. Did aliens not speak like us? How would this work?

The man expected something, but what? Since we were meeting for the first time, I decided on my name. “I’m James Moore.”

At least that got a grin. “James.” He pointed to himself. “Roberto.” A strange name.

“Hello.”

“Alo, James.”

This could take a while. The man pointed to the bench on his wood porch. I led Alaina and JJ there, and we sat. My boy wedged himself between us, clutching his mother’s arm. Alaina’s face was pale and her eyes distant.

Roberto went back into his house and spoke to someone, but nothing I understood.

Minutes later, he returned with a pitcher of light brown liquid and four glasses. He poured some into each glass and handed them to us. Roberto drank first, so I tried some. I could not identify what it was, but it was sweet and cold. Alaina tried a sip, but JJ just stared at his cup.

Roberto leaned against the porch railing. He smiled. “New Covenant?”

I nodded. “Do you speak English?”

“Nyit. Noval.”

This was going to be a nightmare. How would we live somewhere if no one spoke English?

We sat for a while. The man tried to engage JJ, but he just pressed tighter into Alaina’s side. I tried to gauge his age, but could not pin it down. His hair had some gray, but his face had few wrinkles.

The trees seemed we emerged from lined the property, which looked huge, and the bright sun gave everything a cool tint. The weather was like nothing I’d experienced; the air cool and dry, but not uncomfortable.

A woman exited the house. She said something in their strange language. Roberto held up his hand to point to his ring, then to her. His wife? The woman smiled, revealing straight white teeth. Her hair was blonde, a little darker than Alaina’s.

Roberto pointed to my ring, then the one Alaina wore.

“Yes, she is my wife. Alaina.”

Gesturing to his wife, Roberto said, “Olivia.” She nodded, but stayed a few feet away. Roberto said a long string of words I couldn’t catch.

Alaina leaned toward me. “What do you think they’re saying?” She paused for a moment. “Are you sure this is safe? I mean, they would have killed by now, right?”

JJ looked at her with wide eyes. He finally noticed his mother acting differently. Alaina no longer had a role to play. Her voice was stronger, and she questioned me, something she never done in front of him.

I leaned closer to the voices, trying to gather any words I might understand, and said, “They’re probably trying to figure out how to speak to us.”

There was a loud, strange sound approaching. I put my arm around Alaina, but Roberto and Olivia were unconcerned. Moments later, a big metal something landed on the dirt, practically falling out of the sky. JJ let out a cry and clung to Alaina. She put an arm around him and whispered reassurances into his ear, even as her wide eyes never left the object. As children, we saw things like these fly through the sky, and we spent hours telling stories we made up about them. We never told our parents, but I wondered if they had done the same.

“What in the name of God,” Alaina said. “What is that?”

Sunlight gleamed off the oblong object as a door opened toward its base. A light-skinned man descended the steps. His nice sweater an sleek shoes made me think of wealth. ”Alohela,” he said to Roberto, walking toward the porch. He didn’t come up the steps, but watched me and my family. In a slow, intentional way, he said, “Hello. I am Carl. Do you speak English?”

I stood, carefully putting myself between him and my wife and son. I gripped my rifle so hard I thought I might crack the stock. “Yes. My name is James.”

With a smile, Carl continued. “Roberto said you are from New Covenant. You left?”

That seemed obvious. “Yes,” I said. “We left for my son.”

“I am a linguist,” Carl said. That was a strange word. “I speak little English. I am excited to know you. I do not speak English much.”

“I speak it every day,” I said, not knowing where the conversation was going.

“Fascinating. We’d like you to come to the medical center to ensure you are healthy. Will you come with me?” He eyed our rifles.

This was it. The leap of faith. We had to trust these humans. We wouldn’t last otherwise.

Olivia said, “Auderci.”

I stood and Alaina picked JJ up as she followed. I put the rifles inside the bags and hauled the over my right shoulder and held the other. Carl went back to the silver object and gestured for me to follow. Hiding my terror, I ascended the steps. When I looked back, JJ held Alaina so tightly that she struggled to breathe as she took the steps.

Inside was like nothing I’d seen before. Six seats lined the far wall, certainly more comfortable than any I’d seen before. Across from the seats was a counter with storage underneath. To my right, a closed metal door with a small window. I couldn’t get a glimpse inside from my angle. Alaina entered, but froze. Everything was sleek metal mixed with plush comforts. The overhead light had a bright white glow. On the left of the seats, lights flickered on the wall.

Alaina entered, but froze. Carl followed us, bypassing Alaina.

“This is a ship. Please sit. We’ll be 15 minutes, most.” The only ships I knew of traveled the Jordan river.

The seats were as comfortable as they looked. Most chairs in the colony were simple wood.

“Where are we now?” I asked. “Syria?”

Carl tilted his head. He started to speak, then closed his mouth and stared at us. Perhaps we made it further from Jerusalem. With no maps beyond the colony, we deduced geography from clues in the Bible. The Clergy declared Syria to be north of us, so no one questioned this. We’d strayed pretty far east, however, which could have landed us in Canaan. Perhaps Carl did not understand me.

“This is Mississippi.”

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This was a fun chapter to write. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!