Chapter 36: Return to Planet Earth
Stuck on the same spaceship for eight days was driving Elliot crazy with boredom. Unlike most Kylot ships there was no inflight entertainment and even Sylvia talked as little as possible. Marty was exerting greater and greater frustration with each passing day. Whereas once Elliot had been fond of both Marty and Elisa, his opinion of the Canadian was worsening over time. He seemed to complain about everything and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.
Elliot knew every inch of the small spacecraft, from its red and yellow interior, to its uncomfortable seating. Any time Marty complained about the hard seats, the passengers had to endure, Kurt would insist that it was the height of luxury for an Oberling. All of the passengers hadn’t been able to change clothes for the duration of the journey and Captain Overspeed had shoot of the air conditioning to save on fuel after three days.
Observing the Spacecraft navigator for such a long time, had given Elliot confidence that even he could fly the ship if needed. He knew the function of virtually every switch or lever. Sometimes he would engage in discussions with the Captain in order to broaden his knowledge of the craft.
On the bright side, Captain Overspeed had managed to get the ship fully functioning in Hyperdrive and after eight days Earth had just come into view. There was a certain amount of relief involved. Elliot couldn’t bare to endure another one of Captain Overspeed’s stories. When they had been a novelty, he had looked forward to them. With a few Spraggles they were especially enjoyable, but Elliot couldn’t endure it twenty-four seven without a drop of alcohol.
The spaceship was also running out of fuel as Captain Overspeed had declared numerous times. As it started to enter the planet’s atmosphere the ship felt very hot and stuttered and vibrated in an uncomfortable manner. Sweat started to drip from Elliot’s eyebrow. He wondered if they would crash to the ground or sink into a deep ocean. It was still a long way to safety.
After what seemed like an eternity, the ship managed to break through the atmosphere. In an inspired moment of madness, Captain Overspeed turned off the engines. The spaceship was now in freefall. It had almost no fuel left. Elliot could not help but feel that the ship was accelerating towards oblivion.
This was something that Elliot always dreaded. He had only been on a plane on two occasions but anytime it went through turbulence it was extremely stressful and nerve-wrecking to him. He hated the uncomfortable sinking feeling that came with it. This situation was two thousand fold more frightening.
When the ship was no more than two kilometres above ground the Captain tried to start the engines again. “Uh oh,” he replied after the third attempt. That didn’t sound good. Even Marty had stopped moaning.
The descent was becoming progressively more terrifying. The speed of the space craft hurtling to the ground was getting faster and faster and the distance was becoming steadily shorter.
Finally at the fifth attempt the engines started once more, but was it too late, Elliot wondered to himself. Marty had already passed out with the stress while even Sylvia seemed to be worried.
The space ship entered a river at 50kmph and reached the bottom. The water had slowed its pace so that by the time they reached the river bed it was at a virtual stand still. Elliot was still very nervous. He knew he couldn’t swim very well and hated water. Kurt Overspeed managed to bring the spaceship to the surface where it rested. It was now, totally out of fuel.
“It’s bound to sink any second now,” the Captain declared aloud.
“I can’t swim,” Marty said aloud in a frightened manner, after regaining his composure.
“I can,” Sylvia declared, “I can tow you to the shore, one by one.”
The ship was drifting slowly with the current. Elliot was afraid that there might be a waterfall ahead. “I’ll go first,” he said aloud. The American teenager wasn’t normally selfish but on this occasion he was inclined to make an exception.
One after the other Sylvia towed Elliot and Marty to the shore where they could breathe a lot easier. Captain Overspeed however was not so lucky. The ship continued to be pulled down stream, albeit at an increasing rate. It went too fast for Sylvia to catch up with it and veered over the edge of a waterfall.
Elliot hoped that that wasn’t the end of Captain Kurt Overspeed. Maybe one day he would hear the story of the greatest navigator the world had seen and his encounters with the Hadji Hadji tribe that was five thousand men strong.
The flight school trainee looked around. They appeared to be in the middle of a large rain forest with lush green vegetation all around them. It looked like a remote part of a forest that was untouched by humans. They could hear the sounds of different animals throughout the forest from birds to Apes of different kinds. The terrain around the waterfall was treacherous and it was getting dark. It would be almost impossible for them to rescue Captain Overspeed, at least before nightfall.
The three of them found a clearing further into the forest and started a camp fire. They were too tired to care about all the dangerous animals in the vicinity from snakes to crocodiles to leopards and fell asleep almost instantly.
Suddenly in the very early hours of the morning, Elliot was awoken vigorously by Elisa.
“Elliot,” she whispered, “you’ve got to get out of here.”
“Where did you come from?” Elliot asked in shock.”
“It’s Marty. He made me do it.”
“Do what?” Elliot asked in shock.
“Fool you.”
A look of fear came over Elliot’s face.”
“Why would he want to fool me?” Elliot asked in a surprised manner.
“Because his name is not Marty.”
Suddenly everything became clear to Elliot. He knew exactly who Marty really was. He didn’t have to ask any more questions. Elisa had posed as Sylvia to lure him back here. Quickly and quietly Elliot knew he had to get away. He climbed to his feet and slowly moved away from the clearing, deeper into the jungle. He had travelled no more than forty yards when he heard someone shout out.
“Tomkins! I’m coming for you,” A chilling voice called out. “You can’t run from me. You’ll wish you were never born.”
Elliot was more scared than he ever had been in his entire life. This time there was no one around to save him. By running, he was also attracting the attention of other predators in the jungle. He was also worried that he might not be able to outrun Marty. His time in space had made him unfit. Everything seemed a struggle and it was only a matter of when, not if, Marty would catch up with him. Being unfit wasn’t his only problem. As he moved through the jungle he had to clear a path through tree branches that blocked his way. He was running, ducking and pushing his way through the leaves and branches until he fell and hurt his ankle in a large hollow. Lying on his back and turning around he could see Derren in his Kylon form, towering over him.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. Now I have you,” he said with a smile on his face.
Derren proceeded slowly before reaching down and picking Elliot up by the shirt. He picked the young man up completely off the ground until he was four feet above the ground. Then he slammed him to the ground with full force.
Elliot thought his back was broken. He was in great pain but Marty was not going to stop there. Derren reached down once more, grabbed Elliot and raised him up until he was above the creatures head.
“I think you should leave him alone,” a voice could be heard to say.
Elliot did not see who it was. It came from behind him.
What Elliot could not see was another changeling in its natural form, equally as tall and equally as strong.
“Yeah,” Derren sneered. “Are you going to stop me?”
“You can just walk away now,” the mysterious creature suggested. “He is hurt badly as it is.”
“I think you are looking for a fight,” Derren said, releasing his grip on and throwing him to the ground. The impact of Elliot falling to the ground was not as forceful as the first one but he was already in pain and his fall did not help.
“Come on then,” Derren said to the stranger.
“I don’t want this? I’m not a fighter, but what you are doing is wrong,” the stranger declared.
“Come on you windbag,” the Kylon responded defiantly.
Ackbar slowly moved around the edge of the hollow, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Derren. Then without warning Derren lept towards him, hands first forcing Ackbar to the ground. The two of them struggled with each other in a wrestling match, where neither was much stronger than the other.
Elliot could not see much of what was going on. He was afraid to move. Even if he did want to run away he wouldn’t get very far.
The two large creatures ended up rolling down a small hill, beyond which was a small waterfall. The drop was twelve feet. Eventually Derren got on top of his opponent and rained down a flurry of punches on top of him.
“I have you now,” he declared triumphantly.
Suddenly he was belted on the back of the head with a large branch by the earthling. Ackbar then pushed Derren off him. In doing so, the Kylon fell over the edge of the small waterfall, cracking his head on the rocks below.
Ackbar climbed to his feet. And stared down at Derren’s lifeless body.
“Oh my God, what have I done?” He said, bringing his hands to his face.
“I wouldn’t lose sleep over it,” the young man replied. “He was going to kill me if you didn’t arrive on the scene. The world is a better place without him.”
Even those words didn’t seem to set Ackbar’s mind at rest. He had only a few rules. Don’t take human form and don’t kill anyone were amongst them and he had clearly broken both of those rules in the past month.
Elliot felt his back in pain.
“I might be able to help you,” Ackbar declared. “Lie down on your front.”
Elliot did as instructed and Ackbar managed to manipulate his back in such a way as to relieve most of the pain. “Thank you,” Elliot said with a look of relief on his face. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“I’ve never killed anyone before. He didn’t seem like the most considerate beings but it doesn’t feel good.”
Elliot didn’t understand why anyone would be upset at coming out the right side of a battle with Derren Blanchflower.
“Well, he was no angel,” the young man said before pausing for a moment. “Where are you headed?”
Elliot knew that in a large sprawling jungle such as this, he would not be able to survive on his own. The changeling was strong and powerful and could prove a useful ally.
“I don’t know. I was actually trying to go somewhere where I could get away from it all.”
“Away from what?” Elliot asked out of curiosity.
“I used to live in a large city, but being, who I am, made things difficult for me,” the Kylot responded despondently.
“But you can change form like most changelings can’t you?” the young man asked in a bemused manner.
“Yeah, but that’s not something I believe in. I think everyone should be true to themselves. It’s far more difficult than even I anticipated. The one time my life was in serious danger I changed form to evade my captors.”
“There’s no shame in that,” Elliot replied as he failed to understand the stranger’s logic.
“Where are you going to anyway?” the large creature asked in an effort to change the subject.
“A few years ago we escaped the planet after we were hunted by Reapers. The Kylon’s ambushed a space station where we had been staying and we crash landed on Earth. The Captain of our ship went over the waterfall and we were hoping to discover what became of him.”
Elliot believed that it was probably five o clock in the morning and he was still tired. There was some visibility and it was getting brighter with each passing minute. Ackbar and Elliot informed each other of their names and journeyed to the waterfall where they could see no evidence of the presence of Captain Overspeed or his craft.
Elliot held out hope that the self proclaimed greatest navigator in the universe had made a miraculous escape. In truth, it was a bizarre mystery. After thirty minutes of searching they abandoned their quest.
“What will you do now?” Ackbar asked the young American.
“I really don’t know,” Elliot responded as if he hadn’t given the matter much thought. “A lot has happened in such a short space of time. I really don’t know where I can go. English is my only language, but the last time I was in the US I was a wanted man. It may not be safe to go back there, even though part of me wants to.”
“Is anyone else with you?” Ackbar asked as he looked around the immediate area.
“There was another, a girlfriend of Derren’s named Elisa,” Elliot responded with narrowing eyes. “I wouldn’t trust her though”
“Still, I can’t think of many worse things than to be stuck in a large jungle all alone,” Ackbar replied diplomatically. “Bring me to her.”
The Earthling and the changeling returned to the sight of the camp that he, Elisa and Derren had made the previous night. Elisa, who was still there, looked upset when she saw them approaching.
“What have you done with him?” she asked in a relatively low voice.
“He’s dead,” Elliot responded.
Elisa looked conflicted. It appeared to be a look of relief mixed with sadness. Elliot wondered what her true feelings were.
“What are we going to do now?” she asked after a pause
“I don’t know,” Elliot responded in a despondent mood. Elliot didn’t even know what country he was in. He didn’t know if he could make it to civilisation with all the dangerous creatures of the jungle around. Another part of him wondered if it was a double-edged sword. Would civilisation welcome him?
“I have a wealthy uncle who lives in a beautiful town in Mexico. I visited him when I was a child. All my memories of him are positive. He’s powerful and he’s not afraid of what people think. If he thinks you’re a decent creature he will treat you fairly. At least that’s what my Mother said and I have no reason to doubt her.”
“Mexico could be two thousand miles away,” Elliot responded. “For all we know this could be Africa or India and not South America.”
“We are in South America,” Ackbar responded, “though, exactly where we are, I do not know. It could be two thousand miles to Mexico. It could be three.”
“Well,” Elisa replied. “if either of you know of a better place to be heading to I’d be obliged if you would let me know.”
The one word which was racing around in Elliot’s head was “trust”. He didn’t know if he could trust Elisa and he certainly didn’t know if he could trust her uncle. Pretending to be Sylvia was a cheap shot and he was still bitterly disappointed that his best friend was probably drifting through space in a thousand smithereens, all because he trusted Elisa. Why trust her now, he kept asking himself.
He would be surprised if Elisa was her real name. In any case it was a considerable distance to travel and he didn’t know what he was going to live on in order to get there. As it was, he was starving and had been surviving on rations and expired Dukateca for the last few days.
“How did you come to have a rich Mexican uncle?” Elliot asked suspiciously.
“He is not Mexican. He is a wealthy American millionaire named William Wagner.”
“How did he become so rich?” Elliot asked
“He’s a businessman. He makes bicycles and exports them for profit.”
“Well, I don’t have anywhere better to be going to.” Ackbar replied. “If this man is the gentleman you believe he is, I’d very much like to meet him.”
“I don’t trust her,” Elliot responded before turning to her and questioning her. “Who are you really?”
“My previous name was Megan Smith. I went to High School with you.”
Elliot recalled a shallow girl from his neighbourhood, who he didn’t know very well. He still wasn’t impressed by her. He still didn’t trust her.
“Where were you before then?” the young man asked.
“I was in your neighbourhood from the age of two until sixteen.”
“What brought you to Todor?” Elliot asked in an unimpressed manner.
“Derren made me come with him. He said he was chosen by a Reaper as part of a mission to infiltrate the Kylots and find their exact location. When they were ready, their plan was to destroy Todor. He made me do it. He made me go with him and he made me change into Sylvia.”
“What happened to Sylvia?” Elliot asked in an irritated manner.
“I don’t know,” Elisa responded in a flippant manner. “She is most likely dead, along with everyone else.”
Elliot was frustrated by Sylvia’s lack of sentiment. He wanted her to care more about Sylvia rather than being so dismissive and apathetic.
“I still don’t trust you. I think you could have saved Sylvia if you wanted to.” Elliot was angry now. He was normally quite restrained and didn’t like anger to get the better of him but now he found it difficult to reign in his emotions. It seemed highly unlikely that he would see Sylvia again and that left a huge void in his life that would never be filled again. Even though recently their relationship had deteriorated he still had a fondness and a respect for his long-time friend.
“I can help you. I’m the only one that can, so you’re going to have to trust me. You have no choice, no alternative unless you want to stay in this jungle forever.”
“She has a point,” Ackbar interrupted, “I think we should give her a chance.”
As much as Elliot admired Ackbar’s diplomacy, he couldn’t help but feel that she would lead them into a trap. Throughout the conversation the young man scrutinised every facial expression and eye movement that Elisa made. As much as he didn’t like the young woman there wasn’t anything conclusive he noticed, to make him leave her behind.
“Ok, so which way do we go?” Elliot asked with a look of resignation upon his face.
“Don’t ask me. I’m not a sodding navigator,” Elisa declared.
“Well,” Ackbar advised, “if we keep heading North, we’re bound to get there eventually. It is a long way. It could take us three or four months on foot.”
After a full ten days of chopping their way through the rain forest, Elliot looked forward to encountering civilisation. He didn’t want to live in fear of a venomous snake sneaking up on him or a giant lizard munching on his foot. The cuisine wasn’t a whole ton either, even if Ackbar did all the hunting. He fantasized about eating a juicy steak instead of fried snake or fried rat for supper.
For the most part, the weather was either one extreme or the other. When it rained, it lasted for hours and didn’t hold back. When it didn’t rain, the heat was hard to bear and the young man felt drained of energy. With no sunscreen, Elliot had some sunburn on his head and body. No matter how many times he expressed concerns about getting skin cancer, Elisa and Ackbar dismissed them.
Elliot’s spirits lifted once they chopped their way through the last of the branches keeping them from the open countryside. In front of him the young man could see houses in the distance. The area did not seem as affluent as he had dreamt. These houses looked more like huts than anything else.
“Ah, this is great,” Elliot declared aloud, “no more jungle.”
“If you say so,” Ackbar responded in a downbeat tone.
The young man looked at Elisa for her reaction but she failed to say anything.
“Is there something irritating you Ackbar?” Elliot asked.
“Time has a way of revealing things about men. Maybe these people are ok, but you will see not all of the people accept people like me for who they are.”
“If that’s the case, then why don’t you change form. You could transform into a movie star or a sports star and everyone would love you for it. Why don’t you do that?”
“Because it’s fake. It’s not who I am.”
“Not even for a moment?” Elliot asked.
Ackbar didn’t respond. Elliot thought that he may have taken the last question like an insult. He just didn’t fully comprehend Ackbar’s thought process. He could be anyone or anything and he just wanted to be himself even though it would result in abuse and discrimination towards him.
Eventually they made their way to a dirt track. At least it looked like a dirt track. To the locals it was probably their main highway.
Sprinkled on either side of the road were several medium sized huts, about two dozen in all. Most of the people outside these dwellings were young children. Few of the locals paid any attention to the three beings coming their way. Most of the children stood and stared.
It was still quite humid and most of the children were wearing shorts. Their clothes were mostly worn and their appearance was untidy. Many of them had mud stains and marks on their clothes and bodies.
This isn’t so bad, Elliot thought to himself.
As soon as this thought entered the young man’s head some of the children started to throw stones at Ackbar. What upset Elliot the most was not how unjust it was that they took a dislike to the Kylot but the fact that most of the stones were missing Ackbar and hitting him, and they hurt.
Elliot thought about running away but he didn’t think that Ackbar would approve.
Eventually the three beings reached the edge of the village and safety. The children became bored and stopped throwing stones.
“Ok,” Elliot declared, “maybe we would be better off sticking to the jungle. It wasn’t quite so bad now was it? After a while you get used to snakes slithing up against you and with Ackbar around who would be afraid of leopards and tigers?”
Again, Ackbar didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem to be too impressed. Maybe I should think before I speak, Elliot thought to himself.
Later that night Elliot woke up. It was probably three in the morning, he thought to himself. He looked around. There was no sign of Ackbar. Worriedly, he climbed to his feet. Elisa was still there asleep.
The three of them had made camp on the edge of the forest. Instinctively, Elliot made his way down to the river where he guessed Ackbar might be located. There he was, sitting on a rock, his body shape illuminated by the moonlight. He appeared to be in deep thought.
“Can’t sleep?” Elliot asked.
“I guess not.”
“Is there something wrong?” Elliot inquired as he looked out at the glistening river. The young man loved the sound that the water made as it wove through rocks on it’s way downstream. It was incredibly tranquil and serene. If he wasn’t so tired he could sit there for hours.
“There’s always something wrong,” the perturbed changeling responded. “I just can’t seem to do anything right these days. I always said to myself that I would stand up to injustice, that I would never betray my principles, but in the last few weeks I have failed myself repeatedly. I always saw kylots who took human form as being weak and fake, yet I, like them, took human form to save my own skin. I always prided myself on not harming anyone, yet I killed a Kylon. I told myself throughout my entire life that I would stand up to injustice and never walk away, but now I am afraid to go back to civilisation, if that’s what you can call it. I am afraid, like I’ve never been before. I have become weaker. I have been like a sponge all of my life, absorbing the hatred and bigotry that people have to throw at me and now I can’t hack it anymore.”
“I think your standards are set far higher than anyone else,” Elliot replied as he tapped the Kylon on the shoulder. “Everyone is human after all, or should I say fallible. We all make mistakes. Nobody could reach the standards you have set for yourself in this world. These mistakes that you think you have made were not mistakes. You did them to save your life and the life of another. You saved my life and I am eternally grateful. If you hadn’t killed Derren, he would have killed me. No one can absorb hatred and nastiness repeatedly, minute after minute, day after day without getting down about it. As long as I’m here you are not alone.”
“Thank you,” Ackbar responded yet Elliot sensed that his companion was too downbeat to truly mean it.
“I’m knackered,” the young man declared. “Let’s get to sleep.”
Eventually, Elliot persuaded the Kylot to return to the location where they had set up camp. The young man noticed that Elisa was no longer there. He was worried and wondered if she could be trusted.
“Where do you think she is?” Elliot asked aloud.
“There’s no point looking for her now,” Ackbar declared. “She will be back in the morning. This is not the first time that this has happened.
“I told you before that I don’t trust her,” the young man declared.
“Neither do I, but we can’t just leave her here.”
“Where does she go to?” Elliot asked curiously. He was worried that at the first opportunity Elisa would attract the attention of the Reapers and have them incarcerated.
“I don’t know.” Ackbar responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
“Explain to me again then why we are following her lead,” The young American replied with a hint of frustration.
“Relax and go to sleep. Everything will be alright in the morning.”
The following morning just as Ackbar had predicted, Elisa was lying on the ground asleep. Elliot allowed himself to feel a little relieved.