Space Cadets 2 - Going to Kick Asteroid
#87 - “I don’t know, guys. That’s well past my bedtime. I would pay for it tomorrow.”
Welcome! - I’m glad you are here.
Going to Kick Asteroid
Harvey sat out in the backyard in the lounge chair enjoying the cool twilight breeze drinking a mug of his homebrew, pleased with his latest batch of zymological concoctions.
The sun was down beyond the trees. The lightning bugs were out. A doe and her two fawns had just pricked up their ears, flagged their tails, and stepped back into the woods.
In their place, emerging from the woods, stepped out five trim figures in form fitting, head to toe, silver lame suits. Two were taller than the other three.
As Harvey recognized Rovin and Homie, they waved and called out.
“Harvey! It’s us. How are you?”
“Hey guys! I'm fine. How about you? Who you got here with you?” looking at the two boys and girl as they shook hands.
Rovin said, “This is my son, Romin.”
Homie said, “This is Hobie, and my daughter, Honie. Ya’ll shake hands with Harvey. This is their first meeting with an earthling.”
“Well, nice to meet you, kids. How old are you?”
“Seven,” said Hobie. “Seven and a half,” said Romin. “I’m six,” said Honie.
“I have a granddaughter your age, Honie.”
“Is she here,” Honie asked, hoping?
“No, I’m sorry, she’s with her parents visiting friends.”
“Oh. - What’s her name?”
“Her name is Melody. She’ll be sorry she missed you.“
Harvey said, “Those are some pretty sharp outfits you’re wearing, guys. Hey, did you guys make it to Devil’s Tower?”
Rovin answered with, “Oh, yeah. It was easy with your maps. Thanks!”
“You’re welcome. Did you find the problem in your navigation unit?”
“Yes, - Homie, you want to tell him?”
“Well.” Smiling and raising his eyebrows, Homie said, “It was my bad. Much to my chagrin, I inadvertently toggled a switch the wrong way. My NavSys was ‘dead in the water’ so to speak. They got a good laugh out of it down at the repair shop. They ‘fixed it’ for free.
“We had a good trip anyway, didn’t we, Rovin? Thanks to Harvey.”
Rovin was smiling at his buddy.
Homie continued, “I think buzzing that buffalo herd was the best of it. They panicked, but we got ahead of them and turned their direction before they ran off the cliff.”
“I see. Well. Super, it ended well!
“Let me get you guys something to drink. Sodas? Lemonade? Water? I have snacks. I have apple fritters.”
“Yes, please. Apple Fritters!” the kids replied. Apparently, they had heard of Harvey’s fritters.
“You guys want some homebrew?”
“Thanks Harvey, the fritters sound good but I’ll pass on the brew,” said Homie. “I’m driving and must be ‘responsible’.” Looking down on smiling faces he said, “Their mothers would have our skins. Soda will be fine for me.”
“Same here,” echoed Rovin.
“Okay. Be right back.”
Harvey returned to the table with a tray full of snacks and cold drinks.
The kids were out in the yard chasing lightning bugs. This was the first time they’d seen them.
“How nice you have children.” said Harvey as the youngsters gathered briefly for the snacks and returned to the lightning bugs.
Rovin answered, “Yes, they are a challenge most of the time. We have them for the weekend. Their moms are at some ‘gals’ retreat. You know, saunas, massages, nail jobs, stuff like that.”
“Do they know you are here?” asked Harvey.
“Not yet. Maybe,” said Rovin, looking at the kids. “They may have already synced them.”
“They may have what?”
“’Synced’ them - sent them a message. Like texting, but hands free.”
“I see,” said Harvey, not really seeing at all.
“Yeah,” said Homie, “stopping by here was a last-minute thought. We’re going to Kick Asteroid. You want to go?”
Harvey said, “- Going to kick ass - Troy!? Wait! Whoa.? What is that? You going to a fight!?”
Rovin snickered.
“What! No. Oh, I get it, LOL! Never thought of it like that,” Homie said.
“Kick Asteroid. An asteroid – you know, like a rock flying through space?? ‘Kick’ is its discoverer’s nickname. She discovered a few more. I forget her real name. Do you remember, Rovin? (Rovin nodded ‘no’.) From the Axios System, I think. It was a long time ago.”
“I get it,” Harvey smiled.
“Anyway. It’s a theme park. Landscapes and lifeforms and civilizations of other universes. The kids get school credits.”
“We thought you might like to go see it. It’s really neat. Too bad Melody isn’t here. I bet she would like to go.”
It gave Harvey pause.
- - He thought, “My daughter would have my skin, too, if I were to take Melody anywhere not on her list. Off the planet?!? HaHa! Get real. I told her of my encounter with Homie and Rovin. She looked at me and said, ‘It’s your imagination, or a dream, or something cooked up weird in your homebrew’. Lighthearted, but serious she said, ‘You’re scaring me, Dad. Not funny’.” - -
“On an asteroid? How do they do that? Where is it?”
Rovin explained, “It’s over in the Wheel Star System. - Well, Earth is just about halfway there from our home. Our direction heading is what you Earthlings would say is ‘north-northeast gyroed at positive eighty-three-degree pitch’. It’s not far.”
Homie added, “And they put up an enormous air bubble tent. Pressurized and climate controlled. The whole park is inside. Must cover forty or fifty of your football fields for just the displays and rides. And it’s tall. And then there is the indoor landing and parking. Yeah, it’s a big bubble.
“Like Disneyland, but better.
“Say, Harvey, what the heck happened to Disney,” said Rovin?
“I don’t know. I sold my Disney stock last year.”
“Well, it sure sounds interesting enough. How long will it take,” Harvey asked? “It’s already evening.”
And Rovin again explained, “We can be there and back in no time at all. It’ll be a few hours getting a good look around. No cost at all. We have a U(niverse)-Pass.“
“I don’t know, guys. That’s well past my bedtime. I would pay for it tomorrow.”
“No worries, Harvey. Space travel will adjust time for you. You’ll sleep like a baby and wake up refreshed. I promise.”
“Okay. I’ll go. I’ll get my coat. Be right back.”
“Okay, if you want. You won’t need it, though,” said Homie. “Come on, kids. Let’s go. Harvey’s coming with us.”
Harvey’s daughter came over the next morning for a “check on him” visit. Not finding him in the house, she guessed he was out in the backyard.
And he was. Lying in his lounge chair, his mug of beer at his side.
The beer was warm. Harvey was cold.
Thank you for reading Before I Forget . . !
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Ricky woke up early after getting home too late for a good night’s sleep. He thought he’d go for breakfast at the new diner, True Grits, just down the street from his office. Maybe eat something substantial before work.
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Great story! The ending is perfect.
You had me at "silver lamé jump suits", James. Elvis came back? Liberace? But when Homie said "y'all" and "my bad"? And passed up the home brew because he was "driving"? And an asteroid named Kick? That's just plain bonkers! Please: I understand why the beer might be warm at the very end... but what does it mean that Harvey was "cold." Please tell me he was just cold from sleeping outdoors all night...