Jonathan Ray Takes a Trip

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. This is what many believe, it is the big line in the Alien films, but is it true? It was not something Jonathan Ray thought about much in his sixty some years on planet Earth, he had enough problems without adding new ones. He and his wife Mable had not engaged sex in ten years, and there are some medical problems that played a part, but the biggest reason was he had no desire for any relations with the woman. He knew his thirty-something long marriage was a mistake, but he did not have the resources to move out, so like so many things in his life, he was stuck. Jonathan recently retired from a job in accounting that he had no love for, another thing he got stuck in. He wanted to major in paleontology and dig for dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals, but his family intervened. His father and brother both said he had a talent for computers and numbers, and an MBA would be his ticket to a great life.

Instead, it became a ticket to a boring job he had no interest in, and a career that his family was always saying he go further in if he just applied himself. His brother and dad basically arranged his marriage with Mable, set him up, and all three maneuvered into it, and the marriage became a loveless match that Jonathan endured. They had one child, a son, William, name chosen by Mable, who took to accounting like a fish to water. While Jonathan endured a position with a firm as an auditor and office supply person, his son quickly moved into high positions with a national firm. A fact that all constantly pointed out to Jonathan at every occasion. It got so bad that one day he got into his car and drove off.

He headed east along State 60, towards the east coast of Florida, with no real destination in mind. He just wanted to go somewhere, just go. As he drove, listening to old CDs he kept in his car, he was oblivious to almost everything. On SR 60, this is usually not a problem, it is the loneliest road in America, but today was different. Two guys in pick ups were racing for the end of the passing zone just outside of Yee Haw Junction, roaring side by side in a testosterone fueled duel to be the first in line. Jonathan glanced up just in time to see one of the trucks heading right at him, so he veered to the side of the road. The trucks roared by as Jonathan flew off the road and into the shoulder, running straight through a barbed wire fence and into a cow pasture. The trucks never noticed him, and his car ground to a halt in the grass and muck of the field. It rolled over once and Jonathan lost consciences. When he woke up, he was laying in what resembled a clinic or hospital room, hooked up to monitors and machines and in a hospital gown.

Jonathan remembered the accident and though he had ended up in a hospital, he thought, well, at least I am on Medicare and it pays 100% of bills in accidents. He looked around, man, he thought, these machines look a little different from ones he had seen before, they gave the impression that they work faster than the ones he saw in hospitals. Perhaps he got taken to a military hospital, as it seemed as if some of the staff walking by his room were in uniform. He chuckled to himself, he spent three years in Vietnam and another four in Germany, his military career may finally be paying off. Except he observed something else, the uniform colors are not right. He noticed a couple of people in army green, but others were wearing purple and a royal blue. When Jonathan tried to get up, he found he was too tied to the monitoring machines to really move much, that is when the man started to think he was hurt more than he first thought. As he laid in the bed, thoughts of what could be ahead of him began to race through his head, and he became worried, then two people entered the room, both in green uniforms.

"Mr. Ray, I believe, "the young man began, looking at charts on a clipboard "you had a pretty bad accident, but came through okay, we were able to fix you up. You should be up and around in a couple of hours."

Jonathan noted at the badge on his jacket, with his name was right under the letters AAF, it read, Charles Davis, so he said, "Dr. Davis, that is good news..."

Davis interrupted him, "I am not a doctor, the doctors believed me and Sargent Lewis here should be the first to brief you. It is because you are not where you think you are."

Jonathan stared at the two, Davis, a young man with red hair and the Sargent, Michelle Grant, was similar in appearance. Jonathan noticed their hair is a deeper and darker red than he had ever seen. A puzzled expression came over him and he felt a little fear beginning to grow inside his body. Just what had he gotten into, did he crash into some secret government/military thing, then the answer walked through the door.

"Mr. Ray, I am Dr. Eubanks, we treated you and everything is well. The Emperor was very much relived at your recovery. Please be patient, you will be able to get up soon," Dr. Eubanks calmly stated. The man stood at his bedside and Jonathan glanced at him a little funny, with his pointed ears, and his cat-like eyes. He also had whisker like hairs, about six of them, extending from his eyebrows.

Jonathan's eyes moved over to the side of the room, to a little window, he could see out and there was Earth, and the moon, he realized, he was in a clinic all right, one on a spaceship. Davis and Grant got Jonathan up in about an hour and took him to a dressing room where he got a green uniform like the two wore, only it had no rank on it and over the pocket was the word, VISITOR. They then took him to the cafeteria, there he met many more aliens, human like ones with the eyes of a dog, ears with a round point and tails, they were in blue uniforms, and then ones who resemble the aliens in all the specials, dressed in gray uniforms. Plus the ones that looked like Dr. Eubanks, dressed in purple. After eating a very tasty lunch, not sure what it was, he was taken to see the Emperor.

They took a lift up to he command center, pass a lot of people who wore a lot of brass and to a room that overlooked the center. The door opened and there sat the Emperor, in a grand purple uniform with enough brass for a band. Vice Admiral Cheryl Cox, one of the ones with the dog features, glanced at Jonathan and announced they had come into the room. The Emperor waved all the others out and when they left he looked straight at Jonathan.

"Well, it has been a long time Jonathan, I was worried when I saw you vehicle jump the road into the at field." the Emperor laughed as he got out of his seat and walked over to Jonathan.

"It is about fifty years Alexander, you look good and I feel fine," smiled Jonathan as he and the Emperor embraced.

"So, would you like to go right back, or maybe take another trip, we could could watch dinosaurs on that planet we visited so long ago," Alexander chuckled.

"That would be fantastic, and I am up for some adventures," Jonathan answered, "besides my life on Earth sucks, be nice to have a change for a while."

"Eight weeks sound cool, lot less than before, but then that was just the two of us," Alexander asked.

"Perfect," Jonathan smiled, "perfect."

"So like in your Star Wars films, yes we monitor you guys, why don't we move the the front to of the command center and you stand there with arms crossed and I will be next to you, like the Emperor and Darth Vader."

Jonathan laughed as they took positions and the ship moved on to see first Pluto, a place Jonathan wanted to visit and after, would move out into the stars. The adventure began.