The Alien Tower

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This was most curious as he’d never seen a shadow falling on his barn this time of day. Looking back over his shoulder his mouth fell open in shock as he saw a huge metal tower rising from his cornfield. The tower stood on three massive legs and rose several thousand feet into the air. At the top of the tower sat a large silver ball. And so began a most unusual time for farmer Ben Jordan and the rest of the world. A time like none that had ever been seen before.

His face flush with excitement, Ben hollered for his wife. “Martha, Martha, come quick. Git out here.”

“Thing, what thing? Ben have you lost your….oh my,” she gasped as she saw the tower. “Lord, Ben. What is it?”

“Beats me. And how’d it git there overnight is what I’d like to know. And without makin’ a sound. I’m callin’ Sheriff Mathews right now.”

Ben ran to the house, threw open the screen door and rushed across the room. Just as he was about to pick up the phone, it rang.

“Ben, this is Ed Mathews. What in hell is goin’ on out at your place? My phone’s been ringin’ off the hook with people talkin’ about some type of big structure in your field. You been buildin’ somethin’ out there?”

“Sheriff, I was just gittin’ ready to call you. No, I just seen it myself, on the way to the barn. Ain’t nothin’ I’ve been doin’.”

The sheriff couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “A couple a thousand feet! Ben, you been drinkin’?”

Ben had no sooner hung the phone up when he heard Martha’s excited voice from outside.

“Look, it’s started down, movin’ kinda slow,” as she pointed into the morning sky.

“I see it! That big silver ball is movin’ down the side of the tower. Martha, git in the house and bring me my deer rifle while I stay here and keep an eye on that thing.”

Martha couldn’t hide the fear in her voice. “Ben, what do you think it is?”

Ben looked around his farm with disdain as large army trucks, roamed through his fields and around the tower, Two helicopters circled the tower overhead. The farm animals cowered in his barn.

“I didn’t exactly bring ‘em, Ben. I met ‘em on the road from town. They saw my
flashing lights and flagged me down.”

“Yes, Major Simpson…he’s the fella in charge…said they were ordered by Washington to see what in blazes that thing in your field is. They’re from Fort Quincy, just south of here.”

“All I know is what he told me and…well, you can ask him, yourself. Here he comes now.”

Ben looked up to see a tall man in full battle fatigues striding towards them. The man spoke as he drew near. “I’m Major Frank Simpson,” he said. “And you must be the owner of this farm. The sheriff told me your name was Jordan,”

“Yes sir, that’d be me, all right. Now can you tell me what all them fellas are doin’ on my farm?”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but we’ve set up a command post so we can monitor and observe that tower in your field out there.”

“I’m afraid we do, Mr. Jordan. We need to investigate that compartment, sitting on the ground next to the tower.”

“Yes, we found a door that opened rather easily. Some of my men are inside now.”

“I just thought you’d be a little more careful with it,” the sheriff responded. “I mean you don’t know where it came from or if there are any people….maybe people ain’t the right word. I mean who on earth can build a tower, thousands of feet high in one night? What I’m tryin’ to say is, you and your men have only been here a little less than an hour and I just thought you’d be a tad more careful.”

“I understand your concern, Sheriff, and yours Mr. Jordan, but the truth is, we knew the tower would appear, we just didn’t know exactly where.”

“Well, this is classified information and I probably shouldn’t be telling you, but since it’s your farm, Mr. Jordan and Sheriff, because you need to know, too, I’ll tell you some of what I know. Two days ago……..”

A man stood before the President of the United States in the Oval office. Secret service agents ringed the room. Besides his odd color, the man was notable for his height, which was around six feet eight inches. The man spoke.

In a quite unfriendly tone, the president said, “Well, this is so unprecedented, of course I’ll see you, but I hardly know where to begin.”

Slont looked calmly at the president before speaking. “We are, of course, contacting all the heads of the major countries on your world and, as President of the United States, you were at the top of our list. I’m sure you must have questions.”

“That’s an understatement,” the president said. “I…ah…well first there’s the matter of your command of the English language.”

“I hope I didn’t offend you. Is there something wrong with the way I speak your language?”

“Well, no. As a matter of fact it’s impeccable. But how could you learn it so well?”

“Our species is quite adaptable at learning languages. As explorers of many worlds, we have to be. We can now speak all the major languages of your world.”

The president thought a moment before speaking. “Really? Well, of course, your messages coming from space have been authenticated as originating several billion miles away and while you closely resemble humans, we don’t have any people with blue skin, Mr. Slont.”

“It’s just Slont, Mr. President. We don’t address each other the way your people do. And I’m sure your people will soon get used to the color of our skin, as we will to the varied colors we see on your people.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” the president replied. “Now tell me about these towers you mentioned in your messages.”

We build them on our ships, which are now orbiting your planet, and then deposit them across a world in a single night. They act as transfer stations so our people may visit a world and intermingle with its citizens.”

“Yes, they must be that tall to support the weight of the equipment they carry, but I assure you they’re quite safe.”

Anger lines were forming on the presidents face as he asked, “And world wide, how many of these towers do you plan to deposit?”

“Five hundred and thirty seven? I had no idea it would be so many. Mr. .….ah….Slont I’m going to be as direct and honest with you as I can.”

The president leaned across his desk and looked Slont directly in the eyes. “My government doesn’t like this one bit. There’s no way we, or any other country, would ever allow you to do such a thing. We consider it an invasion. But, …ahh…the heads of our military forces have informed me, ahh…well, the truth is, we have no technology to stop you, but I’m sure you already knew that. We’ve fired missiles at your ships when we first detected them in orbit and every missile disappeared before it could hit anything. No sir, we don’t like it one damn bit. There will surely be panic among many of our citizens and this is of great concern to me.”

In a calm voice, Slont tried to assure the president. “We’re not invaders and we know there will be some confusion among your people. That’s why we will deposit all the towers in one night, and then quickly begin assuring your people that we come in total peace. We will make every effort to keep their discomfort at a minimum.”

“Put yourself in my position. How can we be sure of your peaceful intentions? What proof can you offer?”

“Mr. President, I understand your concerns. We encounter them on almost all worlds. In just a few days after we place our towers, we will begin sharing our knowledge with your world. I think you’ll find we offer some significant improvements.”

The president looked doubtful. “Improvements. Well, that remains to be seen. I can’t promise you some of our citizens won’t shoot at your people and ask questions later. In fact, I can assure you many of them will do exactly that.”

“We’ve anticipated their reaction,” Slont assured the president. “and, like our ships, we’re protected from any projectiles your people might fire at us. We will not be harmed and we will not harm them. We come only as friends.”

Still protesting, the president said, “You have to understand, we have no experience with beings from another world and, despite your statements of friendship, many of my advisors are very suspicious about this. A week ago such a thing would have been thought of as impossible. You are so much more technically advanced than we are, it raises many serious fears and doubts.”

“We run into similar suspicions on all worlds we visit. We’re explorers and only wish to learn and share information about our two cultures. Once you see we’ve come to your world on the friendliest of terms, I’m sure many of your fears will be put to rest. I will be the ambassador from my world to your country. I will do my best to alleviate all fears and misconceptions. Would it be possible to have an office in this building?”

Oh yes, by all means,” the president replied. “I have a lot of people who’ll want to talk with you.”

Leaning toward the sheriff and Ben, who were hanging onto each word, Major Simpson said in a hushed voice, “And that’s how we knew what to expect. The only thing we didn’t know was where the towers would appear. We’re one of hundreds of government response teams, which were formed in the last forty-eight hours.”

“You mean there really are fellas from out in space in that big ball?” Ben asked

“That’s right Mr. Jordan. My people tell me there are four aliens inside. Now I should warn you. From what I’ve been told, they look a little different than you or…well, you can see for yourself. They’re coming out now with some of my men.”

A hush fell over the soldiers and they watched three of their own emerge from the large silver ball, which sat next to the tower. With them were four tall men dressed in the same loose fitting garment, which appeared to be some type of uniform.

“Well, would you look at that,” the sheriff exclaimed “They look like us, but they’re…. they’re blue. And….and big…not a one of ‘em under six feet and that one in the rear, he looks plumb near seven feet tall.”

Without warning, Ben Jordan raised his rifle as he shouted, “Tear up my property will you…you blue devils. No sir, you ain’t gonna git away with it or my name ain’t Ben Jordan.”

Jordan fired two bullets at the men in the strange uniforms before the sheriff grabbed the rifle from Ben’s hands and threw it on the ground. The soldiers with the aliens fell to the ground as soon as they heard the shots. The aliens did not.

“What’d you want to go and do that for, Sheriff. Knockin’ the gun outa my hands like that,” Ben spat.

“You can’t just shoot at anythin’ you want anytime you want, Ben,” the sheriff said. “ Now if these…whatever they are, walked out peaceful like with them army fellas, they can’t be all that bad. So git hold of yourself.”

“He’s right Mr. Jordan,” the major agreed. “With what we know about the power of their technology, we’d all be dead now if they wanted us that way. They say they’ve come in peace and as friends to learn about us and to help us learn about them. Besides, you couldn’t hurt them with your rifle or any other weapon we know of.”

“Major, that’s a high-powered deer rifle,” the sheriff argued. “It’s just a good thing Ben’s a bad shot. He’d a killed ‘em for sure if he’d hit ‘em.”

“No, Sheriff. They have some sort of electronic shield around them. It moves with them. Anything you fire at them vaporizes before it can harm them. Their ships are protected the same way.”

A look of disbelief crossed the sheriff’s face. “And you mean we cain’t stop ‘em even if we wanted to?”

“That’s about the size of it, Sheriff,” the major responded. “Thank God they’re friendly. I don’t know what we’d do if they weren’t.”

The president paused before saying. “Well, I have to hand it to you. In the ten days since you placed the towers on earth, you’ve won a lot of our people over. The attacks on your people have almost stopped and we’re getting good reports from all over the country about cooperation between your species and mine. And not just in this country. Those reports are coming from all over the world, too. And, just as you said, not one of our citizens has been harmed. I’m simply amazed.”

“Yes, that’s the way it usually happens after the occupants of a world discover our peaceful intentions.”

“Our main goal as explorers has always been to learn and to share. As our first offer of sharing, we’d like to give you a supply of our nutritional supplements. We’re making this offer to all nations of your world.”

“Yes, our scientists have developed these supplements as a way to promote better health and a longer life for our people. They work quite well with all humanoid species and we’d like to share them with you.”

“Well yes,” Slont replied. “In your language, I suppose that might be the closest word, except these are much more powerful and offer far greater benefits.”

“These supplements have helped my species a great deal and we hope they will do the same for yours.”

The president though a moment before saying, “I see. Well, all right. Send over a sample and I’ll have our food and drug people take a look at them. If they seem OK to them, it’s certainly OK with me. What would you like in return?”

“Nothing really. Learning about another culture is more than enough for us.”

With that, Slont arose from his chair, shook the president’s hand; walked out the door and down the hall. He entered the office he’d been assigned by the president’s chief-of-staff, closed the door and immediately raised a small flap in the skin on the back of his wrist. Raising the wrist to his lips, he spoke.

Almost six months have passed since the arrival of the visitors, as the aliens have now come to be known. The early animosity shown towards them has long disappeared and they can now be seen in every major city and small hamlet across the United States and around the world. They have become our friends.

The sheriff looked up from his desk as the door to his office opened and a familiar face walked through.

“Ed, I noticed a lot of visitors in town. Have you ever had any sort of trouble with any of them?”

“Trouble? I wish all the people in town behaved themselves like them blue fellas do. No, not a speck of trouble from any of ‘em.”

The sheriff chuckled as he said, “Other than puttin’ up hundreds of towers in one night, bein’ blue and from another planet you mean?”

“Not a thing. They obey the law; they’re friendly and polite to all of us. They help out where they can. Hell, they even helped Clem Benson over at the town’s cold storage lockers improve their efficiency by 50 percent, and didn’t want nothing’ in return. What are you drivin’ at?”

“I just have this feeling that all is not what it seems with them. Something is wrong but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Frank, they’ve behaved themselves; they gave us things that them Washington Fellas say might have taken hundreds of years to discover if ever. They don’t look suspicious to me at all.”

“Have you noticed the fact that they don’t seem to eat. Have you ever seen one of them eat?”

“They explained all that,” the sheriff replied. “Said their bodies only need food twice a year.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that. Don’t you think it’s funny that each one of them still keeps that electronic shield around themselves?”

“Well, you seen what Ben Jordan tried to do when he first saw them. He tried to shoot ‘em,” the sheriff reminded the major.

“Yes, but it’s almost six months later and no one’s trying to shoot them now, yet not one of them has dropped their shield.”

“Yes, there is. Forgive me, but I wanted to hear what you had to say before I said anything about it.”

“I work in criminal investigation down at Fort Quincy and…well, I’ve done something that could get me thrown out of the army if anyone ever found out about it. I don’t even know why I’m telling you, except you seem like a decent man and I need your help.”

“I know. Just hear me out, Ed. One of the visitor’s vehicles, you know, those big black ones they drive…was on our base last week and, well, I sort of copied something we found inside the vehicle.”

“The first question is easy. Our commanding general was told by Washington to give some of their leaders a tour of the fort. He didn’t like it much, but he had his orders. The answer to your second question is a bit harder.

“Well, you’ve gone this far. You better be tellin’ me the rest,” the sheriff urged.

“I know they’re supposed to be our friends, but I’ve never trusted them from the day they got here. Something just doesn’t seem right. One of the visitors stayed behind with their vehicle and I had some of my men distract him so two others could get inside and look around. They found a book.”

“Yes, It appears to be a translation book from their language to ours and in the back there’s about five pages we can’t tell what they are. We scanned every page with a portable scanner so now, we have a copy of the book.”

“Why I heard that all them visitor fellas spoke our language before they even got here. What’d they need a translation book for?”

“Yes, we got that same information through official channels,” the major replied. “I don’t know, maybe the book’s for slow learners. I’m not sure. Anyway, I’ve got it.”

“No, Ed. I’ve got in. I kept it. I’d already risked my career by copying it without orders, so I figured I might as well go all the way and keep it. I’m convinced we need to know what’s in that book so I started my own investigation and that’s where you come in, Ed.”

“I couldn’t make any sense of the book so I gave it to a long time friend of mine who works in cryptology at the fort.”

“That’s not what I need. There’s no way he can work on deciphering the book at the fort. He needs a place to work where no one will be looking over his shoulder. He can tie into the base computer with a laptop computer and do the work that way. I need you to let him work out of an office here and to back up the cover story we’ve cooked up on why he’s here, something about a joint investigation between your office and ours. He can tell you the details. Will you do it?”

“Well, you must feel powerful sure about this to risk your career and you do have me kinda curious. Send him over and I’ll find some space for him here”.

“Thanks, Ed. He’ll be doing it on his off hours. They might be sort of strange.”

“Oh, that’d be OK. I keep kinda strange hours myself,” the sheriff replied.

As he had, so many times in the past six months, Slont sat across from the president’s desk in the oval office. No secret service men were present nor had any been present at their meetings for the past several months.

“I wouldn’t have believed this six months ago. It’s absolutely amazing what you have done for our country and the world.”

“Thank you, Mr. President. It’s turned out well and we are very grateful for the opportunity to serve you.”

“Public health directors all over the country are reporting they’re citizens have never been healthier. Those nutritional supplements have been a godsend to our people, and everyone else in the world. My own family has never felt or looked better. There is just one little thing.”

“I probably shouldn’t mention it,” the president continued. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Well, one of my cabinet members mentioned that, while the items you’ve given us to promote better health have been greatly appreciated, you’ve not yet seen your way clear to share any of your technological advancements with us, and, since your technology is so advanced, he was just wondering…”

“Yes, I understand. We will be doing that soon, but we feel that health is the most important concern of any culture so we usually begin there. “

“I see,” the president responded. “Well, of course, that makes perfect sense and I’ll pass that on to my cabinet. Again, pardon us for doubting you at first. Your people have proven to be good friends.”

It was early evening at the Jordan farm as Ben and Martha sat in their living room looking out across their large field with the tower rising from it.

“Well, Martha, I shore do hate to be admitin’ it, but I was wrong about them fellas,….plumb wrong.”

“Oh, go on now, Ben. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You was jest tryin’ to protect your property. I mean nobody ever saw any people that looked like them before, bein’ blue and all.”

“Well, they did turn out be right nice after you got to know them,” Martha said.

“Yes,” Ben nodded. “And the things they been givin’ us, like them vitamin pills we been gittin’ through the government.”

Martha smiled. “Oh, land yes. Ain’t ever seen so many healthy lookin’ people since everyone’s been takin’ ‘em. Why Emma Thompson down the road has always been skin and bones and she’s put on twenty pounds in just a few months.”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh as he said, “I’ve put on a few myself, Martha. So have you. Near everybody we know been puttin’ on a few pounds and they all say they ain’t never felt better.”

“And them visitors are so polite,” Martha continued. “Always smilin’ and always got a kind word for everyone. Callin’ everyone gorlick. Funny soundin’ word.”

“Yep, they say it means friend, in their way of talkin’. Well, like I said, I sure was wrong about them fellas.”

“I see you out in the field talkin’ ever so often to them four visitors that are stayin’ over in the tower.”

“Imagine them pickin’ our field for one of them towers,” Ben offered. “Yeah, them four are right nice fellas. I’ve been asking ‘em to come on over for dinner for a few months and they finally said yes. They’re comin’ tonight.”

“No need to. Your food’s always fine and I didn’t want you goin’ and gettin’ all bothered about it.”

As she walked into the kitchen, Ben reminder her, “OK, don’t be long. They’ll be here soon.”

An excited sheriff Mathews was on the line. With panic in his voice he said, “Oh thank God, you’re there. Martha, you and Ben gotta get out. You gotta get out now.”

“Sheriff, what are you talkin’ about? Why in the world would we want to run and hide?”

“We gotta book…some kind of translation book of the visitors,” The sheriff stammered.

“A government fella just got through de-codin’ it. We know why the visitors are here.”

“No, Martha, they ain’t here to help us. They ain’t here for that at all.”

Growing more excited and louder, the sheriff exclaimed, “Gorlick don’t mean friend, Martha. It means food. The visitors ain’t explorers, they’re hunters and they don’t want to be our friends. They’re here to hunt us down and eat us. They go from planet to planet, makin’ friends, fattenin’ up the people and then….oh God, it’s all in the book. It’s the way they live. They have a hunt and a feast two nights a year, and the book says tonight’s one of ‘em. That tower bein’ on your farm, I called you first. For God sakes, Martha, you and Ben gotta get out of there before….”

The color drained suddenly from Martha’s face and she was a pale white as she cried, “Sheriff? Sheriff? Oh dear God.”

She was jolted by three hard knocks on the front door before hearing Ben say, “Martha, them visitor fellas are here for dinner. I’ll bet they’re as hungry as can be.”

The phone slipped from her hand and bounced off the floor, as the full realization of what the sheriff had just said swept over her.

A blood curdling scream of fear and anguish leapt from her lips and echoed off every wall in the house and out into the large yard, which surrounded the house. It cascaded from one farm building to the next before escaping into the fields beyond. It's sickening wail was stark proof that Martha finally knew the horrible truth about why the visitors had come to earth and, before this night was over, so would every other person in the world.

The visitors at Martha's front door had truly come for dinner, and Ben and Martha were to be the main course!

Click Here to read more short stories by Ken Kreps.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ken Kreps lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife. He has written a number of published articles, essays and short stories, as well as numerous consumer and business pieces. Ken has also written scripts for Imagination Theater, an award winning audio drama series heard on over 120 commercial radio stations across the nation, as well as on XM Satellite Radio. He recently completed four short film screenplays. For the past eleven years, Ken has concentrated on acting, studying in the Seattle and Dallas areas, and appearing in independent short, and feature films, television commercials and dramas, and various types of voice-over work.

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