The Shimmering Ship

By: Radio Rancher
(Copyright 2015 by the author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 5

"Earth looks so beautiful from here,” said Dorn. “I have seen a lot of planets, and Earth is one of my favorite sights if not my absolute favorite. It certainly has my favorite sight on it." He giggled.

"And that would be the beautiful black haired, green eyed, Ellen?" asked Marsh.

"You've got that right, Marsh, and I am sure that when I see Jamie, I will find him to be a beautiful sight as well," he added.

"This ship is so regal the way it takes off and lands so smoothly and silently. I really love the anti gravity propulsion system it uses. There is no pollution and no wasted heat generated during re entry. The energy seems to be used very efficiently,” said Greg.

The ship inched its way down to the earth in the small clearing, in the wooded area, near the high school, where it sat for several weeks, last month. Once again, the cloaking device was engaged.

Soon, however, the hiding and disguise would no longer be necessary. Bish's assignment was clear. Earth was to be admitted to the intergalactic council. It was only a matter of convincing all the governments of Earth to cooperate.

"Yeah! That will be easy, easy as PI,” said Greg, with just a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"We will come with you, to see Ellen, Dorn,” said Greg and Marsh.

"I can hardly wait to see the look on her face when we bring you into her house. She will be on you so fast, Dorn." said Marsh.

"She might be a little annoyed at first, till you tell her about your being reassigned. We may have to help you out on that one, because she would expect you to write to her, and she didn't hear anything from you for more than six years." said Greg.

"We know that she still loves you, though, Dorn, so don't get too worried. We're sure everything will work out all right." Both boys said as they put their arms around Dorn and walked up to Ellen's door.

"Stand behind us, Dorn." said Marsh. “Let us do the talking when she opens the door. We want to surprise her,” said the boys in unison.

The door swung wide when Ellen saw Greg and Marsh standing on the porch. "Come on in," said Ellen.

"Ok.” said Marsh. "But we brought someone with us and we are sure you and Jamie will want to talk to him," said Greg.

Just then Ellen saw Dorn's bright blue eyes peeking from between the boys, and she almost knocked the boys down trying to get to him.

"You’re here!" she shrieked. “OH! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" she said. “Where have you been?" she asked. She rushed into Dorn's arms and the world faded away for both of them. 

When they broke the kiss, Ellen said, "Greg, Marsh, Dorn and I have some catching up to do and we need to be alone for a while. Could you boys wait here for Jamie and take him to the ice cream shop for a couple of hours?"

Just then, Jamie came running around the house from the direction of the school.

“MOMMY! MOMMY! I saw it again today! It landed near our school." he yelled.

He was panting. "No one believes me, though,” he almost cried.

"What are you talking about, Jamie?” his mom asked.

"The flying saucer! I saw it land! I was standing right there and I saw it but no one else could see it. I was scared, MOM! You believe me, don't you?” he asked, not really expecting the answer to be the one he was hoping to hear.

"We believe you," said Greg, Marsh and Dorn.

"You do?" asked Jamie. “Holy sh.., you’re back.” he jumped up and down for several seconds. Then he noticed Dorn. “You were there today. I saw you come out of that thing.

"Yes you did, Jamie,” said Dorn.

"We all came out of it, Jamie,” said Greg.

"My God!" said Jamie. “YOU'RE MY DAD!”

"Yes, I am," said Dorn. “Once you know the whole story, you might be very surprised to learn that I really am your dad." "We were just about to explain to your mom, what happened, and why he has been away so long, when you came running up here, so I think we should tell you, too." said Marsh, grinning broadly.

"Jamie, I think your mom and dad would like some time alone to catch up on things and get to know each other again, so I think maybe we should give them a little privacy for a while and go get some ice cream and talk.

"That is a wonderful idea!" said Ellen. "They both smiled. Ellen and Dorn went into the bedroom and spent quite some time getting reacquainted. The love between them had not diminished in the slightest. In fact, it may have increased with the passage of time and the lack of contact between them. Their passion was definitely in control and they didn't resist it in the slightest. When they finally came down from the clouds, they gazed into each others eyes and kissed. Finally they looked at each other and smiled broadly. Meanwhile:

Greg, Marsh, and Jamie were sitting at a corner table in the old fashioned ice cream parlor in the town square.

"We're sorry to drag you away from your dad before you really got to see him much, but your mom asked us to kind of keep you company while they had some time to get re-acquainted, if you know what I mean." said Greg.

"Yeah," said Jamie, "To put it bluntly, they probably wanted to get a chance to make out with one another after all the time they have been apart."

"We have been sitting around here for over an hour. Do you suppose we could go home now?" asked Jamie.

"Well, I think maybe we should wait a little while longer. After all, they were away from each other for more than six years. I think it's only right to let them have a little extra time together. Maybe we should grab some real food, a hamburger or something, to give them just a little more time.  Is that OK, Jamie?" asked Marsh.

"Sure, I guess so,” said Jamie. "But I really want to talk to my dad."

They finally finished the burgers and made their way back to Ellen and Jamie's house. Ellen and Dorn were in the living room cuddling on the couch, doing their best to keep from starting the whole making love thing all over again. They noticed the boys come in.

"Sit down, Jamie. You are going to find this rather hard to believe, but I swear it is true.” Dorn said.

"Yes, we were there when he showed up on Arphoa, and we saw him. We knew it had to be him. He looked just like a grown up Jamie," said Marsh. "I almost decked him, when I saw him walk into the room, Ellen!" said Marsh. "I thought he had just walked out on you. Then I heard the explanation."

"I think I had better tell her what happened, myself,” said Dorn.

"You might have guessed from the very start that I was somehow different than most other people, and possibly that could be what attracted you to me." Said Dorn,

“I was attracted to you from the first moment I saw you and saw those beautiful deep blue piercing eyes of yours." said Ellen. "I knew from that very moment that we were meant to be together." she beamed. "I somehow sensed that there was something very special about you, that you were unique." She said.

"Well," said Dorn, "I guess you could say I am different, but apparently not as different as I might have originally thought." He said as he looked at his son and smiled.  “When I first came here, I was alone and I didn't have any friends. I must admit that I didn't have very many friends at home either, that was about ten years ago, and I didn't have any idea how I should act around other people. I was shy. I hung around and watched other people and saw how they acted toward each other, and no one paid any attention to Me." he said as he gazed into Ellen's emerald green eyes. "I just did my job, and went home and read. Then one day I saw you," He grinned "you were buying groceries, and I knew from that moment, that you were the one person in the universe that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." he said.

"I don't think you saw me that first day that I saw you, but, the next time I saw you, our eyes met and I knew that you had a similar thought." he said. “We were inseparable for several years but then about six years ago my life ended for me, or it might as well have ended." Dorn said to Jamie.

"I was sent very far away and I was re-assigned to a different territory that was so far away that I couldn't even write to you. I am so sorry,” he said.

"I wanted to tell you everything, but I was so scared that I would lose you if you knew my history." He grinned again. "As it happens, I was going to tell you everything the night that I was reassigned and I was pulled away before I had a chance to talk to you. I literally was taken so far away that there was no way for me to get in contact at all,” he said. 

"Now here is the part that I suspect you will find very hard to believe, but I swear it is true." He looked deeply into Ellen's eyes.

"I was sent to Alpha Centauri, or I should say a planet that orbits Alpha Centauri." He said. "The ironic thing is that Alpha Centauri is closer to Earth than Arphoa, where I came from originally." said Dorn.“It's a small planet near Betlejuce." He giggled.

"Well, it isn't really, but I couldn't resist saying that. It is about fifty light years from here, and we can get back and forth in about two days." he said. "I had been making trips back and forth for years with no problems, and once I fell in love with you. I did everything possible to come here whenever I could. I believe I spent more than half of my time here with you." He smiled again as he looked into her eyes.

"But I am not the hero here. That title goes to your young friends here, and Fred Braxton and Gerald Bailey. They are the heroes," said Dorn. "Greg and Marsh managed to help save the lives of a not only a very special being who lives in the far reaches of space and uses the energy from stars to stay alive, He is called Delaren, but with his help, they saved the lives of six people who were on a spaceship which had almost all of its air depleted. Those people would not have survived without help from our ship and crew and those two boys over there." said Dorn.

"They used telepathy to communicate with Delaren and passed on the information to the rest of us." Dorn was so proud of the boys. "Remember, I told you I had to be away a lot for my job?" he asked.

"Yes I do," she said. "I always wondered where you went when you had to leave. I thought you might be a government agent.”

"Well you were right, but the government was from Arphoa," he said. "I'm a doctor, not a secret agent; in fact, I am the chief medical officer for the Dawntreader." Dorn told her." The Dawntreader is our diplomatic envoy ship. We use it to visit worlds that have not yet joined the interstellar council.

"Our government has given its consent to start the treaties necessary to bring Earth into the interstellar community." He said. "My boss, Bish is probably speaking to the President of the United States as we are sitting here.” He said.

"He is completely supportive of our relationship." He said. "His father is the person who is in charge of the government on Arphoa, and he has given his blessing for us to marry." Dorn said. "I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Jamie.”

“We need to decide our future and where we will be spending it. I want to show you Arphoa and let you meet your new family and my friends and coworkers.  I want them to meet you and Jamie." He smiled at the young boy he now knew was his son.

"I love you, son and I want to be with you, too." he said.

"If we stay here I can be a pretty good doctor, since I have knowledge that has been gathered from all the allied systems. If Earth joins the alliance there will be a team sent here to teach the medical authorities all the information available to the other worlds. I know it is a cliché, but this time it is true. I can give you the stars, my love." said Dorn.

"I love you so much," said Ellen. “Whatever you want to do, Jamie and I will do it with you. Won't we Jamie?" she asked.

"Of course" said Jamie, “It couldn't get any more exiting could it?"

"It is so cool that you could see the ship" said Dorn. "The cloaking device is supposed to render the ship invisible. You and Fred Braxton are the only two people from here that I know of who can see a cloaked ship. It is even invisible to radar and sonar." Dorn explained. The interesting thing is that Arphoans are supposed to be attuned to the frequency of the cloaking device, but we can't understand exactly why that is and for that matter why Fred can see a cloaked ship."

"We have found a few Arphoans who can't see a cloaked ship, but the percentage is very small, and we haven't found the common link, or what is lacking in Earth people to keep them from seeing it,” said Dorn. "We have noticed that some people can see a cloaked ship if they are wearing polarized glasses.  Both Marsh and Greg are in that category.

"Arphoans had not discovered mind speech," said Marsh.

"We showed them how to do it and they are picking it up very quickly." said Greg.

"As Bish said, it is nice to know that we are on a par with the rest of the interstellar community." said Marsh.

"I am hoping that soon there will be no need to have a cloaking device on any of the ships that visit Earth." said Dorn. "It is wonderful that we can all learn something from someone else, and it works both ways.”

"I would really love to have you come with me and visit Arphoa, and then we can come back here to let Jamie finish his classes, then we need to decide where we want to live." said Dorn. "Of course we can visit the world where we decide not to live whenever we want, and we can change our minds at any time, too, can't we?" asked Ellen.

"Oh yes!" said Dorn, "We are free to pass back and forth whenever we want."

"I love you both" Said Jamie.

To be continued...

 I want to send out a brief explanation to the readers, and a warm thank you, to my friend Lynne from Texas. Lynne pointed out an error in my understanding of how two people who love one another, and have been separated for a long period of time, would most likely act toward each other, and everyone around them, under the circumstances, and what should be done to help them out, and make them happier.  I rewrote it to reflect that theory, and I am sure Ellen and Dorn are a much happier couple now. And I am sure they thank you, too, Lynne.
 

Re-posted  9/11/2015