A Heck of a Ride

I don’t know how it happened; I was there, then I wasn’t.

“Hey, Tony, did you see that?”

“See what? I didn’t see anything,” Tony responded.

“You’re driving; it flashed right in front of us. You really didn’t see anything at all?”

Tony struck back with, “Are you having a stroke? You got some kind of weird brain thing going on? John Travolta had the same kind of weird thing happen to him in a movie several years ago. Is that what’s happening with you?”

“I don’t think so. But I did see something flash by. Crap, did you see that one?”

“Okay, that I saw. It looked like one of those watery sea creatures from that old movie about an underwater culture and a drill rig and a crazy special forces guy who wanted to nuke them. You know, that watery creature that came into the rig to see the good guys?”

“Yeah, I remember that. Wow, that is old. And now that you mention it, that thing looked just like that. Kind of an S-shaped tube with a face? Is that what you saw, Tony?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m getting out of here, but I’m afraid to go faster in case one shoots across too close in front of us.”

“Wait, there’s some more up there on the right. Are they waiting for us? Slow down! I don’t know if they’re going to jump out in front of us or not. Tony, stop! Stop! That one’s getting in the road!”

“I’m stopping! What the heck is that thing doing?”

“I don’t know, but it looks like they’re all coming to us.”

That’s when it happened, whatever it is. I was there in Tony’s truck in the passenger seat, then I wasn’t. I’m not under water or anything like Tony’s old movie, but I’m certainly not in the truck.

“Hey, Tony, are you around? I can’t see anything at all. I don’t think I’m blind, but I can’t see.”

“Joe, I’m here. But I’m like you; I can’t see anything. All I can hear is your voice. There’s no other sound. This is creepy, Joe.”

I replied, “Yeah, I agree. Do you know what happened?”

“No. I remember stopping the truck because the Abyss people were stepping into the road. I was hanging onto the steering wheel really tight and now here I am. I mean, here we are. Do you have your smart watch on? Joe, maybe you can turn on the light.”

“No, Tony, I already thought of that. It’s gone. I assume yours is gone, too?”

“Yep. Okay, our electronics are gone. However, I’ve got all my clothes on; do you?”

I responded, “Yeah, so maybe that means these guys aren’t body cavity searchers. But that still begs the question, why do they want us and who are they? And while we’re at it, where are they from and who could have sent them? We’ve seen enough science fiction; we both know that aliens abducting innocent humans never ends well for the humans. Why didn’t they snag some president or Cabinet head or someone else really evil? I admit that I’m not lily-white conscience-wise, but I haven’t ended up in front of the Supreme Court for hiring people to abuse people.”

“Joe, snap out of it! Generating more fear with random political statements isn’t going to help us.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll stop it. Tony, are you standing up?”

“No, I’m lying down. This is a comfortable bed; at least, I think it’s a bed. You?”

I replied, “I’m lying down, too. All my clothes on, no watch or phone, comfortable bed. Do you think we’re in a room or a really big space?”

“I can’t tell.”

“Hi, guys, you two okay?”

“Joe, did you hear that?”

“I did. It wasn’t you?”

“No, it wasn’t Tony. It was me. You may call me Bob. I apologize for the dark, but we see in the infrared range, and no one thought about your end of the spectrum. They’re working on it.”

Tony asked, “Where are we, Bob? What happened to us? Why are we here? Where’s our stuff? And why us?And who are you?”

“Great questions, Tony! Joe, do you have any questions?”

“Of course, I have questions! Who, what, why, where and how long have we been here and how long are you going to keep us? And are you one of those Abyss-looking people we saw on the road? And how is it you speak English like any Stateside person would?”

Bob started in, “Okay, all great questions. First, let’s get some safety tips out of the way. You can sit up on your beds but don’t try to get up. We are about what you would call twelve feet tall. The top of those beds are at least five feet off the ground. Don’t stand up until we get some light for you.

“Stateside English. You guys have seen enough TV and science fiction movies to know the aliens watch the same broadcast stuff you do. The streaming services have been a boon for linguists throughout the galaxy. We can study the trail of a language until we get it right.

“Would ya’ll perfer somethin’ lahk this here?” he asked us in some semblance of a Texan accent.

Our responses were nearly simultaneous, “No, no, Stateside English is fine.”

Bob went on, “Okay, Stateside English it is. ‘Abyss-looking people’ is an interesting analogy. Yes, in this dimension, we kind of take on that old movie’s creature’s shape, but we are not creatures of water. That’s just our visible shape in your spectrum.

“We established a station on the dark side of your moon a couple of decades ago. And, as you know, it’s really dark out here. That whole no-atmospheric-diffraction effect, all that weird physics stuff. That’s where we are now.

“Tony, don’t worry, your truck is safely stored, and your guys’ electronics are in the console of the truck, so they won’t get lost.

“Why, you may ask. Well, the truck is here because we didn’t want an empty truck on the roadway to be a fatal obstruction and because it was simpler to carry you both at the same time in a convenient package. Your electronics are isolated because some of our equipment could be affected by them even turned off. You’ll have all that stuff when you go back.

“You’ve only been here about seven hours Earth time. We recognized that your bodies were tired and the trauma of seeing us stressed your minds. So we induced REM sleep so you could recuperate. That’s why you feel so rested and relaxed despite the circumstances.”

Tony started, “So, you hint that you’re going to release us. When?”

“Another great question, Tony! And I’ll get to it in a bit.”

Tony hollered, “Joe, you see that?”

“I do. There’s not much light, but there’s enough that I can see we’re in about a hundred-foot by a hundred-foot room, one door and a high ceiling. Wow, these are tall beds! And there’s Bob. Bob, you do look like an Abyss person.”

“Why, thank you, Joe! It’s always nice to be recognized in one’s own lifetime. Are you saying I’m a famous movie star?”

Tony shot back, “Okay, we’ve established you think you’re funny. Ha, ha. But we’re still here against our will. You or your ilk kidnapped us, brought us to a prison with no escape and you haven’t answered all our questions. Which you solicited. So, forgive me if I can’t find you amusing.”

“You’re right. This is not the time for me to be flippant, at least as far as you guys are concerned.

“Let’s get back to your questions. We have a method of bending the fabric of space. You don’t have the math for that yet, but your AI will get you there. In the meantime, suffice it to say that to us it’s like turning a corner into a different room.

“We travel and transport things from place to place literally in the time it takes to turn the corner from one room to another in your house. It’s virtually instantaneous. That’s how we got you and your pickup here.”

I spoke up with, “Alright, now we know how you got us here. We may not understand it, but we know. We still don’t know why nor why us. Would you please explain?”

“Certainly. We want representation on Earth to speak on our behalf. We lived through times similar to yours. We want influencers to get others to accept our ways and recommendations.

“During the time we’ve been visiting you we’ve seen your species trend in a rather nasty direction politically and socially. Our envoys around the world all decided to focus our efforts on two sides of Earth. Northern and southern and eastern and western hemispheres; your United States and the Republik Indonesia, that is, Indonesia. We all concur those two areas can wield the most sway in the world.

“As to why you two; you’re both engineers not taken to extreme flights of fancy. You’re well-read in a variety of fields, not just your specific disciplines. You have a penchant for writing. Tony, your poetry has won a bit of recognition and accolades around the world. Joe, your short stories are coming into their own. Be patient; they’ll come into their time. This artistic bent indicates the ability to see beyond mere facts.

“As engineers, you have a degree of gravitas politicians can’t achieve no matter how charismatic they are. In your disciplines, you are both known for assessing conditions and developing fact-based solutions not making up some crap to appease anyone.”

I began, “So, that kind of explains the why of the whole event and why us. You do understand there are more experienced and better-known engineers, right? As for our artistic ability, there are geniuses who combine the artistic and the scientific more effectively than we do.”

Bob started, “You’re correct. However, we also looked at compatibility between four humans. How they interact with each other and how probable, based on observed behavior, the four would work well together.

“You both worked in Indonesia. You both became enamored with women from that culture, especially the culture of Bali. Even though the nation is the largest Muslim nation in the world, you both chose Balinese Hindu friends. They, on the other hand, have extensive backgrounds in Islam and in Hinduism, two of the largest faiths on your planet.

“We invited them to be part of our troupe of envoys. They are both engineers and artists.

“How do you know they will work with us? We did all go our separate ways,” I asked.

“We asked them. They both said they would work with you if you were willing to work with them. Are you willing to work with them?”

Tony spoke, “This is a lot to take in! What are we going to be doing? How are we going to be doing it? How are people going to pay attention to us? Where do we start? Will we be living together on Earth or up here? You’ve just racked up another catalog of queries!”

“And, now it’s my turn,” I said. “What all do they know about this? How long have they been privy to your plans? Did you kidnap them, too? Are we all suffering from some version of the Stockholm Syndrome?”

“Gentlemen, your questions will be answered. Let’s take a break and get something to eat. The six of us will share a meal in the refectory and we will discuss your newest queries. Be careful hopping off the beds!”

With that, we hopped off the beds and proceeded through the door at the far end of the room. Turning right, Bob told us, “Toilets are through the door here at your right. We designed them after a men’s restroom we found in one of the more recent science fiction movies based on Earth. Let me know if we got it right. Please go ahead and relieve and freshen yourselves. I will wait out here.”

After a bit, we both came out and assured Bob the facilities were quite adequate.

“Good, good, I’m glad. Well, let’s move on to the refectory. Your counterparts should be there with their escort,” Bob informed us.

Turning into the doorway of the refectory, I immediately recognized Bunga and Cahya. They had been good friends of ours several years ago and it was a joy to see them.

“Joe, Tony, wow, it’s good to see you both!” Their greeting was heartwarming, especially in this place.

Tony asked, “How are you? How long have you been here? Is the food edible? Do you know what’s going on? Who’s this?”

“Hello, Tony. Hello, Joe. Please call me Barb. I am Bob’s counterpart with your friends. He and I will work with you as you evolve into your roles. Wait! Bob, have they accepted their roles?”

It was a tad strange to be in a room with another Abyss person, but, in truth, there was nothing going on that wasn’t strange.

“I have not presented that to them. I wanted to wait until we were all together and Bunga and Cahya could share their knowledge of our ways.”

We proceeded with our meal which turned out to be deli sandwiches from a little shop in downtown Tucson and mei goring from a warung in Denpasar. That old stepping around a corner trick works really well.

I had to know. "How did you guys get in and out of these places with this food without causing havoc?”

Barb replied, “It’s funny what people will ignore that they don’t want to explain.”

I replied, “Okay, never mind.”

We talked about what we had been up to the last few years amongst us four. Bob and Barb stood by appearing to actively listen without commenting.

When we finished up, Bob started, “Now we need to talk about our mission and your part in it.”

We spent the next several hours conversing and learning about our proposed roles.

Bob concluded with, “Now you know our expectations and what’s in it for us. You understand your roles and how to fulfil them. With more time, we will share technology with you four to use and demonstrate to others as you see fit.”

“Do you want to work with us on this?” Barb asked.

The four of us exchanged not-completely-ready-to-commit glances.

“We think so, but we’d like a couple of weeks to think about it, discuss it and talk with each other about all of this,” Cahya said, living up to her name’s intent of light and positivity.

Bob replied, “Of course. We will return you all to where we picked you up. These rings are your way of contacting us. Just take it off and we will be alerted to meet you at the site of the ring. You know how to contact each other.

“We will return you and your belongings now. Thank you for all you’ve given and we look forward to working with you if that is what you decide.”

Back in the truck, parked on the side of the road, I shook my head and looked at Tony.

“Tony, please tell me that didn’t happen.”

“Sorry, Joe, it did. And it looks like we’re off on one heck of a ride.”