A Night at the Blue Book Observatory

Rainey meets someone unexpected

A Phenomenal Night at Blue Book

In the tiny, four-square-foot shower in Rainey's quarters at Blue Book Observatory, the hot water blasted away at the day's frustrations. Another night of staring at nothing. She closed her eyes, holding her breath, but the image pushed past her defenses. Joey, on the conference stage, smugly, basking in the glory of C/2023 A1—his "fuzzball with the crazy tail."

She was the better astronomer, but he got the headlines. Her jealousy simmered as steam condensed on the stainless steel shower walls. As she reached for the shampoo, the alarms blared, sharp and relentless. She groaned, tilting her head back into the spray, hoping they'd quit. No dice. Rainey cranked the knob off, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around herself, water dripping everywhere.

"Joey, what's the deal?" she barked into the intercom. Static. She jabbed it again. "Joey, you there?" Nothing. "Son of a bitch," she muttered, snagging her robe from the hook. "Can't that goof hear the blasted horns?" She threw it on, twisted a towel around her wet hair, and stormed toward the outer doors, looking like a drenched, ticked-off whirling Dervish. "Where are you, Joey, puffing one of your skunky cigars instead of doing your job?"

She shoved the metal door open, and cold air hit her like a slap as she marched outside. "Joey, you'd better—" A thunderous exploding crash cut her off. The ground jolted, twisted, then liquefied, almost as if she were in the middle of a Mag 7 earthquake; she tried to move as the slab of concrete underfoot tilted, and she flew across the open paddock, landing sprawled on the ground as dark, heavy dust and debris settled over her.

She swatted, pushed, and swam through the mayhem around her, grabbing a limb on the oak tree that had missed crushing her by inches. She pulled up to see over the tree trunk, her eyes wide. Not a hundred yards beyond the observatory, something had slammed into the field, plowing through ground, forest, and the perimeter fences—a craft, its hull gleaming like liquid silver, streaked with indigo and pulsing green. It looked alien, wild, and very much not from Earth. Her heart raced.

"Holy fuck this is no comet. It's … huge!" Barefoot, robe flapping, Rainey crept closer, ignoring the towel slipping from her hair.

The craft hummed, vibrating through her. She didn't see anyone emerge, but she couldn't just stand there. "Hey! Anyone alive in there?" she shouted, voice wobbling. A low groan echoed—metal or something alive, she wasn't sure. She climbed onto the wreckage, peering into a jagged tear in the hull. Darkness loomed inside, but she heard faint scraping. "Hang on, I'm coming!" she called, sliding in. Her robe snagged, but she pushed forward. Then the floor buckled, and she stumbled, crashing into debris. Pain flared in her leg—a twisted ankle, maybe worse. "Ow, shit no not now!" she yelped, trying to stand.

A creak overhead turned into a snap, and a chunk of the ceiling fell, pinning her down. "Shit magots!" she gasped, struggling to breathe under the weight of the debries. Her vision swam, the edges blurring. She was stuck, and her head felt as though it were full of cotton.

Strong hands with long fingers gripped her shoulder. "Be still," a smooth and steady voice said. Rainey blinked up, woozy, and saw him: tall, silver-haired, with brilliant azure eyes and skin like frosted glass. He lifted the debris off her as if it were nothing, pulling her free.

"Thank you," she mumbled, clutching her open robe as the creature lowered her to the floor beside him. "Who… who are you?"

"I am known as Tyrang," he said, calm as a breeze. "Please, time is of importance. Our ship failed; the encounter with your energy beam was unexpected, and it caused our piloting system to overcompensate, resulting in the crash of our ship. I am afraid we need your assistance."

"Rainey squinted, brain still fuzzy. "Assistance? For what? Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? "

Tyrang's attention focused on the wreckage, two more figures moved—graceful, shimmering like him. "Others will be coming. We must send a signal to our home world. Your radio-telescope—may we use it?"

Her mind was bombarded with a thousand inputs. This was her shot, bigger than any discovery Joey could claim. "Yeah," she said, wincing as she tried to stand. "I can make it work. It'll need some tweaking, though."

Tyrang nodded, his gaze warm. "We are in your debt." He steadied her as she limped back to the observatory, his hand firm on her arm. The touch sent a weird flutter through her, despite the pain.

From Inside, Joey finally stumbled out, reeking of cigar smoke and gaping like a fish. "Rainey, what in the fuck—" he bellowed, before shakingly raising the pistol in his hand toward Tyrang

"No! Wait. We don't know…" Rainey's arm stretched out toward Joey.

From behind, a thin beam of glowing energy shot out and enveloped Joey, and his eyes popped wide; his head tilted, and he collapsed into a heap on the ground. A second alien knelt beside the man, holding out a shimmering device that resembled a large sapphire, and placed it next to Joey's temple. The man slumped into silent sleep.

Tyrang noted the fear on Rainey's face. "Not to worry, he is unharmed and will remember nothing on your morrow.

The second elfish alien spoke to Tyrang in a language unknown to Rainey. Then he moved off inside the station. Seconds later, the giant dish overhead moved, turning east.

Tyrang took a small, rectangle device from his belt and assaulted its screen with frantic fingers; the device beeped, and the elf spoke into it. The third elf man stood beside Tyrang, who held the box out toward him. The second elf spoke into the glowing screen. Instantly, the giant ship rumbled, and from its center, a glowing hum began to consume, devouring the vessel.

Rainey yelled, "No… no, please don't do this. We have a right to know about you!" She took two steps toward Tyrang before her ankle collapsed.

Tyrang spoke and held out his hand, and the other elf gave him the sapphire device. Tyrang knelt, holding the glowing gem over Rainey's leg, its energy painting her appendage from her bare thigh to her foot. Two seconds later and Rainey's pain was gone. The elf from inside returned, scanned the sky to the east, then spoke to Tyrang.

"Our sister is coming... we must leave you now."

Rainey lay on the ground, a warmth like she had never felt before cascading through her as she stared into Tyrang's eyes. "Take me with you! There is nothing here for me. Especially if you erase my memory," and she grabbed the elf in a desperate hug.

Tyrang looked down at her, his hand gently grasping her face as he pushed back. "I cannot; you are not yet strong enough to survive in my world." But to his surprise, there was something in her eyes he could not resist. He moved the sapphire toward her head.

Rainey again pleaded, "No, please!"

Tyrang paused, and an undeniable smile rose. "All right, but you must wait until you are transformed. And you must be silent. Let all this…" his hand swept their surroundings, "be a result of the meteor your people will find in the crater base."

"I will keep it secret, I swear, with everything I am and ever will be."

Tyrang blushed, "I am intrigued beyond the rational." He moved the glowing gem from Rainey's temple to a point just above her navel, pressed it to her stomach, and it dissolved, disappearing inside her. Overhead, a second spaceship appeared.

Rainey grabbed Tyrang's arm, "Please don't leave me here alone. When will you come back?"

The corners of Tyrang's mouth crept toward his ears, and his hand moved in a gentle caress over Rainey's belly. "You are no longer alone. Look for me on this eve, nine months from now."

With these last words, a beam of light shot down from the overhead ship, and her elfish aliens were gone.