. . .
THE END
Start over.
Read “Look at the Stars: A Note from John Luke Robertson.”
ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN
LOOK HERE, JACK.
There’s a word called honesty .
Yeah. And there’s also a word called discretion .
In this case, you go with being honest and just tell them everything.
The moment you utter the word jackalope is the moment you lose everybody. Even John Luke is laughing.
“That thing is a terror, I tell y’all!”
More laughter.
“It took out Wade in a matter of seconds.”
Howling.
Tears run down their faces as you describe it. Come on, Jack.
“Seriously, Silas, what attacked him?” the commander says once he can speak again.
After about fifteen more minutes of back-and-forth, you’re done.
“When you guys decide to believe me, you can just call. Or you can go call Ghostbusters. I don’t really care.”
You storm off toward your bunk in the sleeping quarters. You close the door and put your headphones on.
That’s why you don’t hear the screams.
That’s why you don’t see the chaos.
It’s only when you feel a rumbling in the ship that you remove your headphones. Then the yelling and screaming are plain to hear.
You rush out of the room, through the corridor, and into the galley. But it’s too late.
It’s too late because they didn’t believe you.
And somehow the tiny little terror got on board.
Commander Noble lies on the ground in front of you. You go over to help him, but he looks like . . .
Well, it’s unspeakable how he looks.
“Where’s John Luke?” you ask.
“He went to get the fire tanks,” the commander whispers.
“The fire tanks?”
“Yeah.” Noble can barely get his words out.
“Where are they?”
“Toward the bridge . . .”
“Did you see it?”
Noble says something you can’t understand. It has to do with antlers and Wade, but it mostly sounds like gibberish.
“I gotta find John Luke,” you apologize.
You rush past the computer access room and see smoke and flames pouring from it. Then John Luke appears from around the corner, pointing what appears to be a fire extinguisher at you.
“Where is he?” he shouts.
“Where is who?”
“Wade!”
You have no idea what he’s talking about.
You hear more screams. Then, out of the blue, Ashley Jones appears.
“You two need to get off this ship immediately.”
“I’m not going back to antler land out there!” you shout.
“Listen to me. You both are in danger, but especially John Luke.”
Why John Luke especially? And what’s the danger from? Something worse than the jackalope?
Blasting sounds reach you from down the hallway.
“I set the coordinates of a small escape pod,” she says. “The pod is on the bottom level of the ship, near the back. We’ll hear loud alarms going off when we’re close.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll help you get off. Make sure nobody comes and tampers with you guys.”
“Why is John Luke in danger?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t explain. There’s not enough time. They’re looking for him. They’ve been looking for him for a very long time.”
“They? Are you talking about the jackalope?”
“I’m talking about the known universe.”
You stare at John Luke, who doesn’t say anything. Then you remember what Willie and Korie told you.
“Just bring John Luke back home in one piece, okay?”
“We have to go!” the science officer yells. “Follow me. Hurry.”
All three of you rush to the bottom deck of the DC Enterprise , alarms going off around you, and head for the sign marked Escape Pod: Use Only in Life-and-Death Emergencies . John Luke gets in first, and you follow.
“What do we do when we land?” you ask Ashley.
“Stay away from anything that looks human,” she says.
“That looks human?” John Luke asks. “What about stuff that doesn’t look human?”
“They’ll be easier to trust. Unless, of course, they want to eat you.”
With those comforting last words, she shuts the hatch door.
Soon
THE END
Start over.
Read “Look at the Stars: A Note from John Luke Robertson.”
ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN
LOOK HERE, JACK.
There’s a word called honesty .
Yeah. And there’s also a word called discretion .
In this case, you go with being honest and just tell them everything.
The moment you utter the word jackalope is the moment you lose everybody. Even John Luke is laughing.
“That thing is a terror, I tell y’all!”
More laughter.
“It took out Wade in a matter of seconds.”
Howling.
Tears run down their faces as you describe it. Come on, Jack.
“Seriously, Silas, what attacked him?” the commander says once he can speak again.
After about fifteen more minutes of back-and-forth, you’re done.
“When you guys decide to believe me, you can just call. Or you can go call Ghostbusters. I don’t really care.”
You storm off toward your bunk in the sleeping quarters. You close the door and put your headphones on.
That’s why you don’t hear the screams.
That’s why you don’t see the chaos.
It’s only when you feel a rumbling in the ship that you remove your headphones. Then the yelling and screaming are plain to hear.
You rush out of the room, through the corridor, and into the galley. But it’s too late.
It’s too late because they didn’t believe you.
And somehow the tiny little terror got on board.
Commander Noble lies on the ground in front of you. You go over to help him, but he looks like . . .
Well, it’s unspeakable how he looks.
“Where’s John Luke?” you ask.
“He went to get the fire tanks,” the commander whispers.
“The fire tanks?”
“Yeah.” Noble can barely get his words out.
“Where are they?”
“Toward the bridge . . .”
“Did you see it?”
Noble says something you can’t understand. It has to do with antlers and Wade, but it mostly sounds like gibberish.
“I gotta find John Luke,” you apologize.
You rush past the computer access room and see smoke and flames pouring from it. Then John Luke appears from around the corner, pointing what appears to be a fire extinguisher at you.
“Where is he?” he shouts.
“Where is who?”
“Wade!”
You have no idea what he’s talking about.
You hear more screams. Then, out of the blue, Ashley Jones appears.
“You two need to get off this ship immediately.”
“I’m not going back to antler land out there!” you shout.
“Listen to me. You both are in danger, but especially John Luke.”
Why John Luke especially? And what’s the danger from? Something worse than the jackalope?
Blasting sounds reach you from down the hallway.
“I set the coordinates of a small escape pod,” she says. “The pod is on the bottom level of the ship, near the back. We’ll hear loud alarms going off when we’re close.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll help you get off. Make sure nobody comes and tampers with you guys.”
“Why is John Luke in danger?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t explain. There’s not enough time. They’re looking for him. They’ve been looking for him for a very long time.”
“They? Are you talking about the jackalope?”
“I’m talking about the known universe.”
You stare at John Luke, who doesn’t say anything. Then you remember what Willie and Korie told you.
“Just bring John Luke back home in one piece, okay?”
“We have to go!” the science officer yells. “Follow me. Hurry.”
All three of you rush to the bottom deck of the DC Enterprise , alarms going off around you, and head for the sign marked Escape Pod: Use Only in Life-and-Death Emergencies . John Luke gets in first, and you follow.
“What do we do when we land?” you ask Ashley.
“Stay away from anything that looks human,” she says.
“That looks human?” John Luke asks. “What about stuff that doesn’t look human?”
“They’ll be easier to trust. Unless, of course, they want to eat you.”
With those comforting last words, she shuts the hatch door.
Soon
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