The Emigrants

Chapter Three: Taken to a New Planet

CHAPTER THREE: TAKEN TO A NEW PLANET

I walk into the strange space ship as the guards usher me in. Everyone is staring outside their windows as I disappear into the ship. It is spacey and cozy. It isn't what you'd expect a space ship to look like. It definitely isn't like the ones I hear about on Earth. There aren't a million screens or tons of blue lights. It actually doesn't look futuristic at all except for the outside. The inside looks like someone's home. It is inviting and comfortable with a nice couch and elegant rugs. If it weren't for the pilots in the front you wouldn't know it was a space ship at all.

They grab my arms and take me to another room that isn't quite so cozy. It seems to be a bunk, but obviously one used for guests as it was very small with only one twin sized bed and a small bathroom. They set me down on the bed and one of them spoke.

"Sorry for the scare, we need you on our planet." His voice is surprisingly normal for his large, muscular physique.

"Why?" I ask politely.

"You'll find out soon enough," he answers as he walks out of the room leaving me alone. What could they possibly want from a nobody like me? I'm guessing these are who people from Earth call 'the emigrants.' They are the ones that left Earth 100 years ago, or I guess their descendants. The president says they were volunteers that did a noble thing, but then contact with them was lost and no one knows what happened to them. Well, until now.

Are these people harmful or are they friendly? And why do they need me? Are they going to probe me or something? I have so many questions and no one seems to be interested in answering them. I'm not sure what to do and I don't dare leave my room, so I go to sleep. It's not an easy task considering this bed is as hard as a rock and the room smells strongly of cleanser as if they had cleaned it just for me. Eventually, I manage to get to sleep.

 *        *        *

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. We've arrived," a voice above me speaks. It is the guard from the day before. That seemed like an awfully fast trip to be going to another planet. I couldn't have slept that long.

"How long was I asleep?" I say in a groggy tone.

"I wasn't counting," he answers sarcastically. I roll my eyes and get out of bed at his command.

Another guard takes my arm and leads me out of the doors. I am embraced in a beautiful landscape full of lush grass and gorgeous flowers and the aroma of a forest. I see I am in the middle of a field that appears to be used as a landing area for space craft. They walk me to a small village and into a building that seems to be a sort of city hall.

"You're going to be in this room," the second guard says pointing to a small interrogation room.

"Wait, why am I being interrogated?" The guards exchange a small glance and push me in, locking the door behind me. I sit down in an uncomfortable chair and look around the room. Definitely not as welcoming as their ship was. It's a small room, only about the width of a closet, with grey walls and floors. It has video cameras and a small desk and two chairs. There is a singular painting on the wall lit by florescent lights. I'm guessing it is some painting by one of their artists as it is nothing like anything I've seen on Earth.

Moments later a woman walks into the room. She looks like she wants to be here about as badly as I do. She ponders me a moment and then closes the door behind her. She sits down in the chair across from me and says nothing. I begin to question if this is more of a mind reading than an interrogation. Finally she speaks.

"Hello Ethan, I'm Armida."

*          *          *

I can't believe he's making me talk to 'Earth boy'. As I sit across the room from him, I notice he looks quite scared. Maybe I made a mistake by deciding to do things this way. He obviously isn't very happy. Maybe I can make him feel more at home.

"You're not in any danger here," I say, "we only have a few questions."

"Why me?" he asks.

"That was not my decision."

"Then whose was it?" His tone is suddenly hostile.

"That is not for me to dispose right now."

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. There's no way I'm going to get any information out of him with him acting like this. I have to think of something...

"May I offer you a drink?" I ask, hoping my polite nature will somehow open him up.

"I'm not thirsty."

Okay, not my best idea. Hmm...

"You know, I don't want to be here either."

"Then leave."

Great. Now he's even more mad.

"Listen, we have to do this, so either we can do this my way, or we can have Biniv come back in here and do it his way," I say, hoping this threat will at least scare him into cooperating.

"Who the hell is Biniv?" he asks.

"That guard that was handling you."

"You make it sound like I'm some animal or something."

He's right. I haven't been treating him like he's an equal to me just because he's not from my planet. He is still human. If anything, we're the different ones. Our ancestors are the ones who left. He must think we're the freaks.

"I apologize. Now will you please let me do my job?"

"What exactly is your job?" he asks rudely.

"Psidon has lost all connections with Earth via satellite. Our only way to learn about you was to visit, but it was deemed unsafe for us. That was when we decided to land there for a brief minute and take someone back here to tell us about Earth."

"So you just stole me from my own planet so you could learn about it? Why do you care what goes on on Earth?"

"We are curious to see Earth's triumphs and mistakes so that we may better ourselves." I say.

"So what's going to happen to me?" he asks.

"Simple. We will ask you all the questions we need to, and then you have the choice to stay here or go back to Earth."

"Why would I want to stay here?"

"Maybe you'll find out."