Sci-fi Short Story Competition Entry #2

  A time long ago... There was a planet a good distance away. On this planet, whose name was Galerog, lived an orphan, who, based on earthly terms, would be an alien, and, based on Galerog terms, appeared to be a native. Unfortunately for this orphan, his mother and father were from a neighboring planet called Galrosh, and when this little Galroshian was born, a meteorite struck the planet, destroying that world and nearly all of its inhabitants. The little baby was sent off into the sky in a pod, landing soon after on Galerog.

  Not finding any name, or any articles to identify this baby, some local farmers took him to Miss Larzen's Orphanage, where he was soon dubbed Sprocket for his enjoyment in playing with electrical devices and always ending up fixing them, young as he was.

  Nowadays, being old and wise at the age of twelve, Sprocket spends his time in a gorlong house [or, on earth, it would be known as a "treehouse"]. He makes things, fixes things, and hangs out with his best friend, Raygun.

  Now, Raygun was a girl who liked talking about aliens, not that anybody actually believed they existed, but she would look in mysterious books and magazines and was always coming up with "spacey" names she thought creatures from another planet might call themselves. She would often amuse herself by spouting off absurd names, and would go on like this: "Suuuuuusan... Rrrrrrrebecca! Rebecca! That sounds spacey, doesn't it? I bet aliens live on that Martian planet in that milky galaxy, don't you, Sprocket?"

To which Sprocket, who was in the middle of building one ingenious device or another, would reply, "If aliens exist, Raygun, you would come up with some pretty cool names for them, I am sure... " After which, he immediately returned to creating a new type of robot, lasergun, or common household appliance.

  One night- it was the month of Billy- Sprocket  was outside with Raygun. He had created a telescope, and Raygun was testing it out for him. There was a streak of light across the sky, but instead of disappearing in the atmosphere, it got bigger. "Spock," this was Ragun's nickname for Sprocket," I think that star isn't a star... I think it's a meteor."

"Well, astronomically speaking, if it's more than a flash of light, than it's a meteoroid...," Ragun gave him a look. "Just saying..."

"It's coming this way... Do you think GASA knows about it?" [GASA- this is the Galrogian Aeronautics and Space Administration, for all those earthlings who may be reading this.]

"Of course they do... Let me have a look for a moment.... Hmmm..., you are right. It appears to be entering the atmosphere. I do wonder if it's coming this way?"

"Oooooh! I bet it's aliens! It has to be aliens! At long last! They're coming to visit me!"

"Forsooth, perhaps they will experiment on you... Sometimes I'd like to..." Sprocket quizzically arched his brow at Raygun.

"Well, I believe you could do a proper examination. How're you so smart anyway?"

"I do not know. When your aliens arrive, ask them fortwith, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are able to tell you. Ultimately, if they come here at all, they will have the superior technology."

"Well, let's wait and find out."

***

  Two hours went by and the meteoroid was very near. "Spock, I think it will land here."

"It seems you are correct... Let's get in the woods. We will have some protection there." They fought through the growth, climbing over springy leaves and shrubs, and got far enough in to have some safety while at the same time, being able to see what was now a meteorite.

  It got bigger, and before ten minutes passed,  it was shooting towards the clearing on front of them. Sprocket and Raygun watched as it flew in at an alarming speed, but just before crashing to Galerog, it stopped, so abruptly one could just picture the inhabitants- if there were any- slamming into the glass of a window, and hovered for a moment, incinerating the grass below it, before settling on ground.

  It was small, no broader than casket, no taller than a TARDIS. It looked more like a big rock or what one would expect a meteorite to look like.

"I told you it would be aliens..."

"Ray... I owe you five dollars..."

The meteorite spaceship sat still for a moment.

"Maybe I should go touch i-"

"Do not! Bad idea."

It vibrated, shuddered, and split in half, straight down the middle, the halves tumbling over like the pieces of a neatly sliced caspermelon [similar to earthly cantaloupe]. There strangely wasn't any steam or alien astronauts though.

"Um...," mumbled Raygun.

"Ok... doubtlessly it is a bad idea; however, my curiosity gets the better of me, and GASA will surely be here soon.... We will look at it."

Raygun grinned and stood. The two of them hesitantly made their way over to the space... thing, and peered gravely at it from three feet away. They could make out strange designs, curlicues, if you will, all around the cracked open edges... The designs lasted for about a foot inward, and then dropped down into a depression. They cautiously stepped closer to see what was inside.

  A small cylinder, not much bigger than the size of a pencil, rose from the depression, turned towards the half-way-retreating Raygun and Sprocket, and emitted a blue light, apparently scanning them up and down. It beeped happily and a hologram appeared before them.

"Spock? He... he looks like an older version of you..."

"Seriously? My ears are not that pointy... He looks like an elf...."

The hologram started talking, "My son, I sent this rocket to you, just after sending you yourself into space. I am afraid it may not reach you immediately; however, at least you will know who you are..."

Raygun looked at Sprocket, "Is he talking to you? He's... your dad, isn't he? He even talks like you, avoiding contractions when necessary, making things a little more complicated just for the fun of it..."

The hologram started up again, "My name is Cornelucious." [A pronunciation for non-Galerogians: Cor-nel-Lu-see-us.] "I am your father.... Your mother and I come from a nearby planet, Galrosh, and... my son, I am afraid that it is now destroyed... Your... your mother and I are gone... I am sorry I cannot be there to raise you, but the least I could do is send you this and tell you what I can."

  "First," Cornelucious continued, "you will be a special child to Galerog. We Galroshians have... immense brain power. With that, if you explore it, train yourself, not only will you be a genius, but you will have the ability to do amazing things... Practice, my son, always, and you can do almost anything."

  "Second, in this rocket, I have sent three things. The first is a Galroshian pennadote. I believe the Galerogians call it a 'puppy.' I put it into a sleep, so when it feels the fresh air, it will awaken... He will be a friend to you, my son. Secondly, I have sent you a sword. Yes, I know swords are fairly old fashioned these days; however, this was my sword in the great Barnatic War, and it served me well.... Lastly, a picture. I have sent you a picture of your mother and me, for you to keep close to you always... So you can remember us, and remember the great power you have within you."

  "My son, I do not know what they call you on Galerog, but here, your name was Steve. Your mother and I love you, Steve. Have a long life... Prosper, Steve. We will meet again one day."

The hologram smiled, flickered, and cut off.

Two seconds of silence, broken by the rumble of a helicopter on its way.

"Spock... That's probably GASA... We need to go."

"You... you are right.... Let me get these things first...., and we will go."

A scuffle, and a little puppy popped its head over the edge of the depression, woofed happily, and tackled Sprocket.

Raygun laughed, hefted the broadsword, carefully took the picture, and managed to extricate the "thingy that showed Spock's dad" without damaging it irreparably. "Come on, Spock, what are you waiting for?"

He was in the process of trying to figure out how to calm the... what was it called? Pennadote? From drowning him in slobber.

"Kneel! Sit! Roll over! Play dead!" This final order caused the puppy to freeze, lull its tongue, roll its eyes into its skull, and tumble over. "... Wow..."

He scooped the dog up, and they disappeared into Miss Larzen's Orphanage, leaving a split meteorite to baffle GASA ten minutes later.