By Ian Bentwood

Sounds of cracking and crashing woke me suddenly from my nightmares about the apocalypse. I sat up as the bed started shaking, and I realised that it was not a dream, but real.

“Not now, darling.” Lisa's dreamy voice next to me made me hold her tightly, and she sleepily opened her eyes, looking baffled.

I tried to get out of bed, but the whole room was shaking. Books fell off the shelves and the wardrobe fell over, nearly hitting me. I could feel my heart beating fast, and sweat formed on my brow, even though it was mid-winter. I reached out and fell back onto the bed. Lisa wrapped her arms around me, the look of terror in her eyes.

“Roscoe, what's happening?” Her eyes were wide open and her face had turned deathly white. Before I could answer, the children's high-pitched screams sent a cold chill up my spine and indicated that they had also been woken, followed by a pattering of feet. Soon, the bedroom door flew open. Amber and Nicky, our twin five-year olds, jumped onto the bed and dived under the blankets. I wrapped my arms around everyone and could feel the twins shivering and shaking.

The gravitational pull associated with acceleration forced us flat on the beds, and we felt as if we were shooting upwards at an ever-increasing rate — what on earth was happening?

The upward trajectory seemed to stabilise, and the room steadied, so I took the opportunity to carefully step out of the bed, stumble to the window and draw back the curtains. The sight made me gasp.

“What is it? What can you see?” Lisa's shocked voice unfroze me a little.

“We're in space! I can't see anything other than stars!”

“How is that possible? How can we still breathe?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Perhaps the aliens had something to do with this? I told King Bruce that we should try and negotiate with them, rather than call their bluff. They said they would destroy the Earth if we didn't give them Iceland. In any case, who really cares about Iceland — other than the 350,000 Icelanders, of course!”

“Why did they want Iceland?” Lisa looked baffled. I tried to think back through our recent negotiations.

“It's the magma in general, and the Thoelite they are after. It's concentrated in deposits nearest the surface in Iceland. They use it for their spacecraft engines, and other things.”

“What did the aliens threaten?” 

I stumbled back to the bed and sat by Lisa. She burrowed her head in my arms, as if I could protect her from the unknown.

“They said that they would split the Earth and take the magma themselves, if we didn't negotiate, but King Bruce said he would not sacrifice one inch of Earth-land under any circumstances. I tried to reason with him, and tried to convince him that the aliens were serious, but he dismissed their threats.” I shrugged. “Looks like I was right, after all — unfortunately.”

“Don't blame yourself, darling.” Lisa was always supportive, which made me love her even more, and I hugged her tightly. “At least we're still alive.”

“Yes, I wonder why?” Our motion seemed to be slowing, as if we were reaching our destination. I unwrapped Lisa's arms and walked back to the window. My eyes opened wider. 

“What is it now?” Lisa's voice had recovered some of its strength, ready for the next challenge. She never stayed depressed or scared for long.

“We're approaching the alien's spaceship — they have dozens of ships in orbit around the earth waiting for our agreement before landing.” I stared at the enormous almost spherical design, and admired it close up for the first time. I had only previously seen it on video screens. The glittering golden colour made it appear dazzlingly like an extra sun, as we slowly circled round the side —  approaching what appeared to be an access point.

The room shuddered slightly as it made contact with the docking hatch.

“We've arrived.” I said grimly. “Let's get ready to greet the aliens.” Two curly heads emerged from under the blankets, still looking terrified.

“Are we going to be ok-k-kay?” Nicky's terrified voice made him stutter.

I tried to smile reassuringly and ruffled his hair. “Sure, Nicky, no need to worry. I'm sure the aliens will be friendly. You'll soon have lots of Cobbies to play with.” He brightened up at the idea, and jumped out of bed, followed more slowly by his sister.

“Come here, honey,” Lisa stood up and we hugged tightly. “Not all the horrific stories about aliens are true!”

We dressed quickly, and shortly afterwards there was a loud knock on the front door. I glanced at Lisa and tried to smile. She held my hand and the kids ran up and took our spare hands, as we walked to open the front door.

I recognised Basaltin, the lead negotiator for the aliens. He was standing there, surrounded by dozens of others. He smiled broadly and held out his fin for me to shake.

“Hello, Roscoe, sorry about the lack of warning, but we couldn't take the risk you would warn the Earth Defence Force. You were the only person on Earth who believed in us, so you're the only family we have saved. Welcome to Alyssia!”

I was paralysed by his comments — nobody else on Earth had survived, yet we had been chosen. Hesitantly, I took his fin and shook it with both my hands, but was too stunned to say anything.

Lisa leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, “I'm glad we decided to buy a house in Lifeboat Valley!”

About the Author