Chapter Five

It was an hour before dawn. Only a few dozen residents of the mid-sized desert city were awake. Clerks yawned behind the counters of customer-less gas stations. Delivery drivers and cops on the tail end of night patrol had the highway all to themselves. Languid smiles spread beneath tired eyes as morning broke. Soon it would be time for the day shift to clock in and for them to head home to bed. 

As the light grew, it became obvious that something was wrong. A glance at a clock revealed that it was too early—still plenty of time before the shift ended. Secondly, the light wasn’t the color of any dawn they had ever seen. Clerks stumbled through glass double doors and into parking lots, rubbing their eyes. Cops and delivery drivers knitted their brows behind windshields. Instead of the sun, a large purple star was rising over the mountains to the east.

The unnatural light spilled through the window of Martin Grant’s bedroom, disturbing his sleep. He moaned, blinked awake, and sat up. The duvet slid off his shoulders as he lumbered toward the window. What is that thing? he thought, and what is that humming sound?

*

Samyaza sat on the ground in the lotus position. The inert, exhausted bodies of his followers surrounded him like fruit fallen from a tree. Samyaza liked that. He hadn’t slept, but after the last partier had crashed, he’d folded his legs beneath him and shut his eyes in meditation. He could still feel the waves of love and happiness he had created emanating from the sleeping bodies. He would have stayed like that forever if he could. 

The hum broke Samyaza from his reverie. It started so low that it was barely audible. It grew like a mosquito closing in on his ear hole.

He drew breath and opened his eyes. In front of him, the ground, the trailers, his followers, all were bathed in a harsh purple light. The source of the light, and the hum, was behind him. He already knew what it would be, but he still had to look. The Prophet scrambled to his feet and turned. 

A flying saucer hung in the sky above the compound. It was as close and unmistakable as a traffic helicopter hovering over an accident.

“Shit!” Samyaza leapt to his feet and ran pell-mell into the geodesic dome.

It was dark inside. Tarp-covered hulks loomed to the ceiling and turned the interior into a maze. He threaded nimbly through the masses until he found the one he wanted. 

No time to unhook the bungie cables. The tarp ripped like newspaper as he tore it from where it was secured. Underneath was a pile of burned and inhuman machinery. 

Samyaza dove behind the pile and came up with a very human-looking orange extension cord, its end stripped bare and inexpertly spliced into the bodies of several machines. He dashed to the edge of the dome and plugged the cord into a Sears portable electric generator.

“Too! Fucking! Soon!” He yelled through gritted teeth as he yanked on the starter cord.

The generator started on the third pull. Behind Samyaza, something in the pile of machinery glowed violet, illuminating the interior of the dome. He gulped air in relief and buried his head in his hands. 

The relief soon curdled into dread. Samyaza’s fingers tightened into claws, and he fell to his knees, beating his temples with his fists.

*

Alice was still passed out in the dirt. She’d only had a few glasses of wine but had danced as hard as anyone and was one of the last to crash. Her wig had fallen off in the night and lay several feet from her. 

The flying saucer rotated inscrutably in the sky as true dawn broke over the horizon. The ship glowed so brightly that it now appeared white rather than purple. The hum built to a harsh keening sound at the edge of human hearing. Someone shook Alice by the shoulders and she snorted awake. 

The first thing she saw was Samyaza bending over her. She grunted in confusion, but he silenced her with a finger to pursed lips. He moved aside and pointed to the UFO. Her mouth moved without any sound escaping. Samyaza cut her off with a shake of his head. He nodded toward the dome.

Alice followed him in a daze. She didn’t take her eyes off the flying saucer until the roof of the dome obstructed her sight. Alice hadn’t previously been allowed inside the geodesic dome. She would have been overjoyed at her surge in status had it not been for the strangeness of the situation. Samyaza led her past several tarp-draped stacks of something and stopped in front of an ugly heap of machines. They glowed purple-white, matching the intensity of the saucer. Even the frequency of the machine’s hum doubled the sound emitted by the UFO.

“What does it mean?” she said.

“It means we’re almost out of time.” Samyaza grasped her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. “Have you had any luck with your father?”

Alice shrugged away from him. She had only been with the group a few months when The Prophet had suggested that Alice “bring in” her father. Samyaza was certain that if he could meet Dr. Cielo on an even footing, really talk to him, he could make him accept Alice for who she was. Restore the happy family that her father’s earthbound ignorance had destroyed. Yeah fuckin’ right.

It was the first time dumbass real life had pierced the protective bubble that she lived in with The Star Touched. Even worse, it had made her suspicious of The Prophet. He was the most persuasive person she had ever met, but she doubted even he could change that asshole’s mind. Even if he could, this is where she came to get away from her family. She didn’t want them here. Especially not her father.

“What the fuck am I supposed to say to him? I could be riding that UFO and he’d still think I was up there trying to suck dick.”

“You haven’t even tried?”

Alice shrank away and shook her head no.

Samyaza sent her sprawling across the floor with a vicious backhand.

He bellowed over her, heedless to whom he might awaken. “Do you think I know how any of this shit works? The only reason you’re useful to anyone is that you’ve got a dad who understands things no one else understands!”

Alice was shocked into silence. She had never seen The Prophet act like this before—with anyone! Was that why she was here? All the love and acceptance she had found with The Star Touched ... just more fucking bullshit?

As if in response to Alice’s disillusion, the machine’s intensity wound down to a pale murmur. Samyaza stalked away from Alice. He puzzled over the machine for a moment and then did the same to a generator that was chugging away to the side. He shook his head and crossed to the entrance of the dome.

Outside, many of his followers were awake and staring up at the UFO. It was more distant now, and its glow had faded—just like the machine’s. No one spoke. The dull ache of their hangovers combined with wonder and confusion to strike them dumb. With a last flash of violet-white, it disappeared completely, leaving a cloudless blue sky. Samyaza returned to where Alice lay nursing her cheek.

“Okay, it’s not zero hour. Not yet.”

He crouched beside her, his expression reverting to its former magnanimity. 

“Alice, Alice, Alice ... I’m sorry I had to be so harsh.” He rose from his knees only to lean heavily against one of the piles of machinery. He looked at the ground to avoid eye contact. “You forgot your mission, though! My mission is to prepare people’s hearts and bodies for Star World. Your father’s mission, even if he doesn’t know it, is to prepare our minds! Your mission is to bring him to us! We will change him. I know he’s not your favorite person in the world, but can you imagine how great it’ll be to be his elder? Force him to give you the respect you deserve?”

It was too much. Yeah, it would be great to see the bastard grovel at her feet, but what were the chances of that happening? And what hell was that slap!? And ... even with everything that just happened, that was a UFO. AN ACTUAL UFO. Oh God, it was all real.

“If I get him to come here, will you make me Star Touched? Will I be able to do what you do?”

The Prophet’s face soured at the naked quid pro quo. “You’ve always known what your reward would be.” He withdrew from her. “I’ve got to go talk to the family. There’ll be a lot of questions.”

At the dome’s entrance, he paused and turned back. “We’ve got a reprieve, but I don’t know for how long. You should go home. Maybe try to butch it up a little.”

He spread his arms as he stepped into the sunlight.

“My friends! The universe has seen our work and the universe approves!”

*

Father Mike sat on the ground, his hands spread, palms upward, and stared at the sky. His mouth, surrounded by a new growth of white stubble, hung open. To have seen what he had just seen. To have come here only the night before, to have accepted his mission and to have been shown a sign of this magnitude so quickly. It was true. It was all true. He had made the right decision. He was finally where he was supposed to be.

Not everyone else was awake, but everyone who was also had their faces pointed skyward. They expressed their wonder through whispered chatter in contrast to Father Mike’s reverent silence. He took no notice. This moment was between him and God.

“You saw it? Amazing! You were still asleep? Why didn’t you wake her up? Don’t worry, there’ll be a lot more to come. Star World approaches!” The Prophet had appeared somewhere behind Father Mike and was ministering to his followers. The fact didn’t register to Father Mike until Samyaza had passed him by several yards.

The old priest bolted to his feet and ran after The Prophet. Grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.

“I’m with you! What do we do now!?”

A startled scowl crossed Samyaza’s face. He shook it off. “Oh! Mike, the priest! What do you mean?”

“I mean, you convinced me! I’m ready to heal this broken world. What’s the next step? What should I be doing?”

The Prophet patted the air in front of him with his palms as if to tamp down Father Mike’s doglike enthusiasm. “Woah! Woah! Slow down, Mike. You’re with us now, and that’s the first and most important step, but you’ve still got a lot to learn!”

“So teach me!” he pleaded.

“Mike, I appreciate your enthusiasm, especially after the visitation we just had, but some things you can’t understand right away! They take time. That’s lesson two.”

Father Mike sank sheepishly. “I just ... I found what I should be doing, and I want to do it.”

Despite the more pressing matters that occupied his mind, The Prophet was bemused to see this man—who had previously acted so cold and superior—behave like a child on Christmas. It gratified him immensely. He slung his arm over the priest’s shoulder and brought him into confidence.

“Go back to your church, Mike. Think on everything you’ve seen and come back here next week. Remember, take it easy!” 

He released Father Mike with a smile. The priest looked conflicted, but at least he had shut up for the moment. On to the rest of them. Samyaza disengaged from Father Mike before the older man could recover his faculties. He stopped after only a few paces.

“Oh, one thing you can do now.”

Father Mike brightened.

“If you can help Alice’s family understand her choices, it’d go a long way. Like I said, though, take it easy.” 

Turning away again, Samyaza whispered under his breath, too low for Father Mike to hear, “We can’t afford to scare them off.”