The Aurora UFO Incident: A Novel

By Ann Wilmer-Lasky

Caleb Jenkins lives a simple life in 1897 Aurora, Texas. That is until he encounters a cigar-shaped silver metal object in the sky on his way to school and meets Atti. “He’s not from around here,” Caleb tells his mother when she asks about his new friend. What he doesn’t tell her, is that Atti comes from a point in space beyond Orion’s Belt (although he’s been living on Mars) and flies one of those “airships” many of Caleb's neighbors have been seeing lately.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ann Wilmer-Lasky
• Release date: Jun 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311299963

Ann Wilmer-Lasky

The author is no stranger to the rugged landscapes and unstable ground described in The Chronicles of Acqueria novels, having spent time in the deserts of Arizona and now living in sunny, shaky southern California. Here she writes the YA sci-fi/fantasy series "The Chronicles of Acqueria" and soon-to-be published horror novels featuring the old west, 1940's Hollywood and a dark Medieval fantasy.

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The Aurora UFO Incident - A Novel

By Ann Wilmer-Lasky

Copyright 2014 Ann Wilmer-Lasky

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Also by Ann Wilmer-Lasky, published at Smashwords:

The Chronicles of Acqueria: Blood Moon Treachery, YA novel

Dedication

For Barry

my DH,

BFF,

first reader

and typist

Acknowledgements

Thank you to The International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico and to the staff for their assistance in helping me research the original Aurora, Texas UFO Incident.

And thank you to Noe Torres and John LeMay authors of The Real Cowboys & Aliens: UFO Encounters of the Old West for planting the kernel of the idea for a novel based on the incident in my mind.

Table of Contents

Alpha Base, Mars

Aurora, Texas

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

End Notes

About the Author

Alpha Base, Mars

"Where is he? Merra's eyes pleaded with her mate. It is getting cold, almost time to close the shutters."

Merr stretched out a long arm and encircled Merra's shoulders. He hugged her gently.

Atti will be home before you know it, he said. He is trying out his new jumpship. You know how he likes to fly and explore.

His explorations will be the death of one of us. Merra turned, buried her face in her mate's broad shoulder and sighed. "We must close the shutters. Is everything else inside for the night?"

Merr smiled. Yes, everything is safely stowed. Give Atti a little longer. Come inside yourself. Searching the skies will not bring him home any faster and you will only get cold.

Merra searched the horizon once more. As she was turning to step inside, she caught a glimpse of the glowing engine of a jumpship across the compound.

Finally, she said and folded her arms.

Her mate joined her at the threshold of their home away from their homeworld. Except for the number 42 over the door, it was exactly the same dome-shaped structure as the forty-seven others that had been erected on the hostile surface of the dusty, red-orange sphere they temporarily called home.

The buildings were all nestled in a crater near the landing site of the giant interstellar flight vehicle that had brought the several dozen intrepid explorers across the galaxy, past the three stars lined up to point the way to their destination—the several and varied spheres that circled a warm and welcoming, brightly burning star—where they hoped to find a friendly sphere to use as a jumping-off place for further explorations.

#

Where have you been? Merra demanded as Atti crossed the threshold.

I have been exploring that medium-sized, blue-green sphere Mezza discovered with her new long lens, Atti said enthusiastically, then added sheepishly. The passage of time just got away from me. There are so many interesting things to see out there.

You know you need to return before the cold sets in. Now, apologize to your mother, Merr said, and help her close the shutters.

There is no need for an apology. You are home now, Merra said. Everything is fine. Just take your flight suit off and give me a hand.

Atti placed his helmet on the shelf by the door and shed his silver suit. He hung it on its hook and followed his mother to the control panel. I can do it, Mother, he said. You go relax with Father for a while.

He watched as his parents retreated to the living area. He nodded as his mother called three sling lounges from the utility floor that encircled the lava pit in the center of the room. Then he turned his attention to the shutter controls.

His nimble fingers encircled the switches. One by one, he toggled the controls that lowered the shutters for the windows, covered the skylight, and sealed the front entrance. Next, he opened the floor vents that allowed the warm forced-air, recovered from the lava pit, to circulate in the room.

How is that, Mother? he asked.

Just fine, dear, she said. Shall we sit a while before our evening meal?

What are we having tonight? Atti asked as he joined his parents.

The question brought a smile to his mother's lips and a laugh from his father.

We can pretend it is your favorite, Merra said as she leaned back in her sling lounge and closed her eyes for a moment.

Atti sat down, leaned back and closed his own eyes. What do you say, Father? he asked. Will it be polle steaks or revin fish tonight?

It is what it is, Merr said. One protein packet tastes like any other. It is all in the mind.

Then I will have steak, if you please, Mother, Atti said. He laced his long fingers behind his head and let his body go limp.

Merra rose and walked to the wall cabinet that held their rations. She pulled three protein packets from the top shelf and placed them in the warming unit on the counter. She pushed several buttons and returned to her sling lounge.

We are getting seriously low on rations, she said. How much longer are we to stay here? When can we go home?

When Genn says it is time to leave, we will go. Merr sat up straighter in his own sling lounge. Several of us have mentioned to him that we should think about going home soon. He says not just yet. As our leader, he insists we explore the blue-green sphere in more detail, maybe even make contact with some of the beings Atti has seen down there. Since they, too, wear garments, he thinks they might be intelligent.

Do you think that wise? Merra asked. I am told they are not like us. Their forms and colors are so different. What if we cannot communicate with them? What if they prove dangerous? If they are intelligent, how do we know they will be friendly?

Mother, Atti said. "You worry far too much. That is for Genn to determine. He is our wise one. If the beings are intelligent, they probably mean us no harm. They may even want to know they have friends here among the spheres that circle their great, hot star."

Ah, the optimism of our young ones, Merr said. Yours thinks all will turn out well. He knows no caution.

He had best learn some, Merra said. She rose when the timer sounded the end of the warming cycle. Come let us eat before our meal gets cold.

Merra pressed a button to extinguish the lava flames, called a table from the utility floor to cover the pit and arranged the sling lounges around it. She set utensils at each place and distributed the warmed protein packets.

Atti picked up a knife and pierced the silver packaging. Steam billowed from the gap, and he breathed in deeply. Ah, polle steak, he said, toasted over an open fire. He dipped his spoon into the opening and withdrew it filled with a thick amber-colored puree.

Mine is definitely revin fish, Merr said as he spooned the same thick amber-colored puree from his own packet.

Merra said nothing, and the meal was finished in silence.

Aurora, Texas

Michael Jenkins lit the kerosene lamp and placed it on the wooden trestle-table that jutted out from the south wall of the cabin he and his neighbors had built just last year. His wife Alma stood stirring a kettle of stew that bubbled on the pot-bellied stove in the center of the room.

Smells mighty fine, he said. What are we havin' tonight?

Caleb shot a big, fat squirrel this mornin', and I pulled some of last Winter's potatoes and carrots from the root cellar, Alma said. Please call him to supper.

Michael opened the front door and looked out at the sunset. Sky's red tonight. We should have good weather tomorrow.

Alma smiled as she ladled out the squirrel stew. Your son, Caleb, she reminded him.

Right. Michael stuck his head out the door and yelled, Caleb! Supper! Caleb?

Comin', Pa, a not-quite-mature voice called back. A tow-headed boy of about fourteen summers appeared from the field next to the barn. He ran through the doorway and headed for the table.

Caleb Jenkins! his mother's voice stopped him in his tracks. You march right back out there and wash your hands and face at the pump, she said. You know better.

Yes, Ma. Caleb looked down at his hands. He turned them over and looked pleadingly at his father.

Michael just smiled and pointed to the door. Close it when you come back in, and hurry, he said as he retreated to the table and took his own seat.

Honestly, that boy, Alma said. It's not like he don't know. She fussed over the loaf of bread she took from a basket near the cloudy window that looked out over their tiny garden.

He's a boy, Michael said as he pulled a chunk of bread from the end of the loaf. Any butter?

Alma shook her head. Bessie and her sisters are not givin' much milk, and most of it is watery, she said. Must be off their feed.

Or they're frettin' too much, Michael countered. I hear them lowing at night. Sometimes they just stand in the barn and sway.

Neighbor's cows are off, too, Alma said. Carol Jessup says her hens ain't layin' much either.

It's those airships, Caleb said eagerly as the door slammed behind him. He wiped his hands on his overalls on his way to the table.

Use a towel, Alma said as she sat down.

What in tarnation you talkin' about, boy? Michael asked.

Airships! Those big cigar-shaped things in the air what's been seen all around the country hereabouts, Caleb answered, ignoring his mother and sitting down next to his father. He grabbed a piece of bread and his knife and looked around the table.

Dip it in the stew, his father said as he took a bite of his own bread, dripping with gravy. What did you learn in school today?

"Johnny said he saw one of them airships. Said it nearly plowed into his barn, day before yesterday. Almost hit his father's prize bull. You know, the one you want to breed Bessie to so's we can have milk and meat next summer."

They're all tellin' stories, boy. You learn anything from those schoolbooks of yours? his father asked.

Caleb looked up at him and shook his head. Miss Reynolds said we could talk about the airships. Said we could write stories in our copybooks if we wanted to.

Darn waste of time, Michael said. Should be learnin' your numbers, so you can cipher for us. Help us keep some money for the bank up Austin way, so I can build your ma a proper house, and mebbe get us some store-bought bread and butter once in a while, so she don't have to work so hard all the time.

It’s all right, Michael, Alma said. I don't mind, and nobody's got much butter these days.

Chapter 1

Merr and Merra leaned back in their sling lounges and closed their eyes. Atti sat upright and blew lightly across the music stick he had brought with him from their homeworld. The lilting music filled their little round home. He looked over at his parents. They appeared to be asleep.

Smiling, he lay down the stick and leaned back himself. He closed his eyes and allowed the wonders of his trips to the blue-green sphere at the other end of the jump tunnel to enter his thoughts. He pictured the blue skies that turned into blue liquid, and the green and brown ground that boasted both two-legged and four-legged creatures upon its surface.

In his mind's eye, he saw the large black and white four-legged creatures that ate of the green ground and looked much like the polle on his homeworld. He wondered if they tasted the same. Atti drifted off to sleep.

#

Merr woke to a loud rapping at his door. Startled, he almost fell as he rose, finding his long legs entangled in the webbing of the sling.

Who knocks? he called out. Adding, I am coming. I am coming, as the knocking grew louder.

Merr pushed the button to open the front shutter. As it rose, he could see the figure of Genn standing before him, dressed in a silver flight suit, arms folded across his chest.

About time, Merr, the angry-sounding leader of the expedition said. Invite me in. It is cold out here.

My mate and son sleep, Merr said. Perhaps we could go to the storehouse.

Genn nodded and Merr pressed the shutter control as they walked out the door.

Together, they crossed the clearing to the large round building that stored their equipment, their food rations and housed their laboratory.

Genn entered a code on the control panel and the over-sized shutter rose slowly.

Can it go any faster? Merr asked. "It is cold out here, and I am not wearing a flight suit.

Genn shook his head. Once inside, he motioned to Merr. Help me move those crates to my office, he said as he pushed the button inside to lower the shutter once more.

It is the middle of the sleep period, Merr said, rubbing his arms, trying to restore their gray-green color. Why is it so important?

"I could not sleep, Genn said. I needed to talk to someone. I have a lot on my mind."

Concerning the expedition? Merr asked. Several of us have noticed we are getting low on supplies.

That, and I am not certain we have yet manufactured enough fuel to get us home, Genn added.

That does not sound good, Merr said. Have you told anyone else?

Genn shook his head. I do not want to alarm anyone unnecessarily. Maybe you can go over the fuel production figures with me. I already have Macc and Mezza conducting a ration inventory.

Have you calculated the next launch period? Merr asked. How large a window do we have?

"We have some leeway, but we have so much more to do. And, if we miss this launch