Excerpt
The Earth had lain abandoned, neglected in its backwater for what had seemed like an eternity. Finally with the revelation that there had indeed been contact with at least one alien species, and that there was a star gate on the far side of the moon. The United Nations had been called into emergency session, where official contact was made with those who lay on the other side.
Representatives from both sides met for high-level talks, with the citizens of Earth being invited to join a collection of other species known as the Galactic Council, where they were allocated their own sector of the galaxy.
The dawning of this new interstellar age triggered a period of tremendous upheaval, as both sides struggled to accommodate each other. But, whilst this process was going on, no one gave a thought to what lay beyond…
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The shrill of an alarm pierced the air, causing Jamie’s hand to venture out from beneath the duvet. He was searching instinctively for the clock that sat on his bedside table. A few moments passed as his hand probed the darkness, before returning to the comfort of the soft material. Its mission had ended in failure, so a pillow was hastily pulled over his head, as he dozed on.
He lay there with his arms and legs stretched out lifelessly, with the only movement in the room confined to the numbers on the clock face, which continued to change in sequence. Things would have remained the same, if he had not rolled onto his side.
Jamie was now perched precariously right on the edge of the mattress with the alarm still sounding, although all its efforts were in vain, as he was oblivious to its waking tones. Then all of a sudden, he lost his balance rolling forwards and hanging in midair for a moment, before crashing to the floor.
He was now in a state of rapid eye movement, convinced that he was clambering out of bed, and making his way downstairs. In his dream Jamie crossed the hallway into the lounge, and opened the patio doors. He was now outside, standing by the hedge at the end of the lawn, peering down the embankment towards the empty railway line. There was no sign of activity, apart from a few birds that were chirping away happily in the sunshine.
He stood there for a few moments watching as one of them swooped down, rising sharply into the misty sky. His eyes followed it up, until he heard a distant rumble. Jamie turned to see some smoke on the horizon, and stood there for a few seconds wondering where it was coming from.
He could not quite make it out, as the smoke began to spread. The birds had suddenly become very silent; in fact there was hardly any sound at all. It made Jamie felt very uneasy, as he strained his ears to listen. He thought he could hear something in the distance, as the smoke continued to rise.
He stood there transfixed, as something began to push its way through the murk. Jamie’s jaw dropped as he caught a glimpse of a shiny metallic disc. It was just hovering there, and then all of a sudden, it shot out a jet of flames towards him. He turned to run, and was grabbed by a man with terrible staring eyes.
“Aaagh!” He struggled to escape, as he felt this pair of hands holding him down. Still screaming he opened his eyes, to find his sister Sam standing over him. “You’ve been dreaming again!” He was so glad to see her, that he put his arms around her, hugging her tightly. She was all wet, having just come out of the shower.
He could feel the water dripping off her wet skin, but even so it took him a while to loosen his grip. “Hey its al’right, I’m here now!” She smiled, as he finally let go. Sam was wrapped in a towel, and she deliberately shook her head, dripping some more spots of water onto his face. She laughed. “Come on or you’ll be late!” With that she scampered off, leaving him to haul himself up off the floor.
He looked at the clock. It was 8.30am, and he was supposed to be at school in less than half an hour. The numbers changed, as he realised that he was going to miss the bus. A sense of panic spread through his body, as he stumbled his way towards the bedroom door. He could not believe that he had overslept, and today of all days!
Jamie hurriedly made his way to the bathroom, where he found Sam’s wet towel on the rail. Most of the water had already drained away from the bath, leaving a collection of little soap bubbles around the plughole. If he hurried, then there might be just enough time for him to have a quick shower.
The water was lovely and warm, and quite refreshing after his deep sleep, and a shiver rolled down his spine, as he thought about his dream. It was not the first time that he had had one like it, and he was beginning to get quite worried about them. It must have been the third time in less than a week, and he was extremely grateful that his sister had been there. She always seemed to be around whenever he had one, somehow sensing his distress.
They were probably connected to his schoolwork, which was already pilling up. His teachers seemed to delight in handing him out ever increasing amounts of things to do. Today he had a test, which was vital, as he needed a good mark to avoid another disappointing school report.
The last one had been greeted with dismay, as his parents had been expecting him to do well. It was not his fault, he had done his best, but the questions in his last set of exams just had not fallen right. He remembered looking at them all typed neatly in a row, with the answer paper in front of him as blank as his mind.
A shiver followed the warm water down his spine, as he reached for the soap. He could see those terrible eyes staring at him, which seemed like a very bad omen.
“If you get a move on, I’ll give you a lift on the back of my bike!”
Sam’s voice echoed on the landing bringing him back to reality, as another shiver crept down his spine, as he tried to think about something else.
With all the talk of aliens, star gates and the Galactic Council, it was no wonder that he was having nightmares. Everyone had been deeply affected by the whole business, which is why his mother and father were away. They had gone to a big recruitment conference in the city, to see what new opportunities were on offer. There had even been talk of them moving to one of the new colonies, although nothing was definite yet.
The warm water was still tumbling down, as he rubbed the soap into lather. Jamie was beginning to relax a little now, and he could have stayed there all day, if he had not heard her voice calling him from downstairs again.
“Jamie!”
Reluctantly he turned off the warm water and grabbed his towel off the rail. It took him a further ten minutes to get himself ready. When he finally descended the staircase, he found Sam standing in her leathers, putting the finishing touches to her makeup. She could see him through the mirror, as she rolled her lipstick back into its little barrel. She was quite pretty, and she smiled at him as she brushed her wavy brown hair.
“I’ve made you some toast, and there’s fresh orange in the glass!”
Sam had always been very kind to him, and he gave her a quick hug from behind as he made his way into the kitchen. He would have just enough time to get his breakfast, whilst she got her motorbike out of the garage. It was one of those large American ones, with big handlebars.
Jamie was soon pulling on the spare crash helmet, as she closed the front door behind them. Sam swung her leg over the seat, kicking up the stand as she straddled it expertly. The engine purred almost as soon as she turned the key in the ignition and Jamie jumped on, snuggling up behind her.
A curtain twitched as they roared away, soon reaching the junction at the end of the road. It felt great wrapping his arms around her slim waist, as they sped down towards the high street.
They would soon be out of the village, and with a bit of luck they might just make it before the test started. Sam slowed down as she passed the speed camera, before opening up the throttle, as they got on to the coast road. She was a very good motorcyclist and he always felt safe snuggled up behind her. She was going quite fast and if they kept to this pace, then they would soon reach the outskirts of town.
Slowing down they banked round a corner, and Sam changed gear ready to accelerate away again. In her mirrors she could see two vehicles approaching very quickly, and there was a screech of tyres, as they both came flying round the corner.
Although Sam was already over the speed limit, the other vehicles were travelling much faster. There was a Land Rover, being chased by a powerful black car with darkened windows. The window on the passenger side was half open. Sam was too busy concentrating on the road to notice, but Jamie could see the man sitting inside as they caught up with them.
They both stared at each other for a few seconds before they sped off, disappearing round the next corner. She slowed down again watching as he cut inside, forcing the Land Rover off the road before accelerating away. It did a massive skid hitting the grass verge, before ending up in a ditch.
Sam slowed right down drifting gently up behind it, as Jamie loosened his grip on her. He jumped off almost before they had stopped, running towards the driver’s door, which had been flung open in the impact. He could see a man slumped over the wheel, with blood dripping down his face. He was barely conscious, and looked in a bad way.
Sam joined him, pulling off her helmet. Fortunately she had her mobile phone with her, and dialled 999 for assistance. Jamie took his helmet off too, as the man was trying to say something. He could not make it out, so leant over the man who suddenly grabbed him by the collar, and with a terrified look on his face screamed out the word eyes, before passing out.
Jamie was very shocked and just stood there for a few minutes, whilst Sam did what she could for the injured man. They were both mightily relieved when they heard the sirens in the distance. The ambulance arrived shortly after, followed by a police car.
Jamie watched as they got the man into the ambulance, and prepared to speed him off to hospital. When he was finally on his way, the police came over to take their statements.
There were two of them, and the nearest one got out his pocket book, flicking the cover up. He already had his pencil in his other hand, and licked the end before making a start.
“Now then I need to take down a few details!”
Sam did all the talking, whilst Jamie stood there thinking about the man who had been driving the black car. He could not believe that anyone could do such a thing, but that was not what bothered him the most. All he could think of was the terrified expression on the injured man’s face. He began to shiver as he thought of the way that he had held onto him and shouted eyes!
He then remembered his dream, and shivered again. He knew it was a bad omen, and something at the back of his mind told him that it was not over yet!