Chapter 1 Spaceship Man
It is late one Saturday night, around 11:00 PM according to Elon’s wristwatch. His siblings and father have gone to bed hours ago, yet Elon is wide awake and restless, sitting in the backyard under the night sky.
Gazing into the heavens, Elon wonders what it might be like to live and travel amongst the distant stars and planets. There is one red sparking dot in the sky that catches his attention: “Mars…” Elon exhales quietly. The red planet has always fascinated him because not only is it such an interesting rusty color, but Mars could potentially be habitable or inhabited.
He has read a lot about Mars and knows how scientists believe it could one day be used by humans to become a multiplanetary species. Elon loves the idea of one day being among the first Martian settlers and dreams of a future life on Mars. Despite all the thoughts of Mars he has conducted while sitting outside stargazing, Elon still isn’t tired, so he decides to do something else.
Elon gets up from the grass and walks inside the house. It is dark, so while walking through the kitchen, he does not see the stool left there by Jaxson, Elon's younger brother, who needed it earlier that evening when grabbing the fly swatter. Elon trips and tries to catch himself, yet fails to do so and ends up bashing his head against the side of the refrigerator.
“Why does this always have to happen to me?” Elon groans and attempts to sit up again. He carefully runs his hand along the back of his head and winces when he feels the sore spot where he had knocked his noggin just seconds ago.
Elon then stands up and walks into the dining room and stoops down beside the large mahogany table next to the chair that he had sat in earlier while eating dinner. He reaches around the legs of the chair and pulls out his shoes, then stands up but forgets that the dining table is still above his head and Elon hits his head in the same spot again!
“Ouch!” he yelps and quickly scrambles back to escape any further incidents. “What are you doing, Elon? It's like 1:00 in the morning, and you're down here making all sorts of weird noises!” his younger sister Naomi says from behind Elon. Frightened, Elon spins around and jumps when he sees his sister, “Oh, it's just you…” he sighs in relief. “What are you doing anyways?” She says as she flips her blond hair over her shoulder.
“I was just going to grab my shoes from under the table here and tripped over the stool in the kitchen,” Elon admits while he rubs the back of his head which causes him to flinch from all the pain.
“Elon, you are such a clutz sometimes! Why do you need shoes at this hour anyway?” Naomi asks, “You're not going to run away, are you?” Elon feels a little overwhelmed with all his sister’s questions but confesses that he couldn’t sleep and has decided to take a walk.
Naomi is relieved that her brother isn't planning to run off, as she knows how much he desires to leave South Africa and move to the United States. Occasionally, she would hear Elon mumbling to himself while in his room about “packing up and leaving” and so Naomi worried that one day her brother might leave and never return - especially since he is almost old enough to take off.
“Naomi, don’t tell anyone I’ll be out walking, please. Nobody will be out and I’m strong enough to take care of myself," Elon requests. “Says the guy who gets his butt kicked at school all the time…” Naomi replies sarcastically, “Your lucky dad didn’t wake up to all the noise you’ve been making down here,” his sister adds.
Elon quivers at the thought of his father waking up in a bad mood. Naiomi watches her older brother begin to stare blankly and quickly realizes that Elon has gone off into his mind - likely recalling the last time he’d gotten into trouble with their father. “Ugh… there he goes again off into his head…” Naiomi sighs and walks off to get herself a glass of water and then returns upstairs.
When Elon returns to reality he takes a moment to ponder why he is standing in the living room in the dark. He recalls all that has happened and puts his shoes on, then sneaks out the back door, using the side gate to exit the property.
As Elon walks down the street, he looks around and takes in his surroundings. The jacaranda trees that line the sidewalk have begun to drop petals all over the roads and sidewalks, creating an ethereal scenery. This is one of the beautiful things Elon enjoys while staying in Waterkloof, the suburb of Jacaranda City.
To Elon, the jacaranda-lined street looks like a fairy tale, and before long his imaginative mind takes him to a place so far away that the present reality drifts by him as nothing more than a blur as he walks. Suddenly Elon is brought back to reality when bright lights appear in the sky above him and the dogs in the neighborhood start barking.
“Good gravy!” Elon gasps as he sees a large black triangular-shaped spacecraft with lights beneath silently hovering over the middle of the intersection that is just ahead! The air around him feels strange and electrified from the hovercraft's antigravity propulsion system.
Suddenly, the lights at the bottom of the hovercraft dim, landing legs deploy, and the craft quietly touches down on the pavement. Then the air loses its static feeling. All is silent other than Elon’s pounding heartbeat and the occasional barking of a few dogs.
Elon’s dark green eyes widen as he stares at the large black ship that is taking up the whole intersection and the sidewalks. “Am I dreaming?” he mumbles as he stands with his mouth open. Then, a large hatch opens beneath the craft, and out steps a tall man dressed in the strangest-looking clothes Elon had ever seen!
The fellow is dressed in a black leather coat, dark pants, and shiny black military combat boots. Strapped to the man’s back is a white-colored weapon that looks similar to a submachine gun. However, the barrel is short and wide and there is no visible magazine. Additionally, there is a large cylindrical chamber that's hooked atop the weapon and a small black hose that leads into the stock.
Aside from the tall man’s dark military sense of fashion, his physical features are striking and otherworldly. His flawless complexion is a luminous pale color and he has somewhat of a rectangular-shaped face with a very defined jawline and lips that are curved into a slight frown.
To Elon, it seems that it has been some time since the fellow has gotten to feel the sun. “Perhaps Spaceship Man is from a world where there isn't as much sunshine,” He thinks to himself.
Additionally, “Spaceship Man” has wavy dark brown hair that's been cut short at the sides and left slightly longer along the top of his head. Spaceship Man's dark green eyes are narrow as he scans the premises with a suspicious glare and raises his right brow. Then when his gaze meets Elon, his frown changes into a backward smile that looks utterly sinister!
Elon doesn't know what to do. His mind is racing back and forth: “Should I run? This guy looks pretty freaky and he is walking towards me… but he’s got a spaceship! Is he an alien? He kinda looks like one…”
“Hey there, kid!” The stranger says and waves his large hand in a friendly manner. “Nice night, isn’t it?” Spaceship Man states and looks up at the stars and the bright full moon illuminating the sky. “Umm… Y-yeah?” Elon finally manages to sputter out.
Off in the distance, the faint sound of a police siren is heard, which is quickly joined by a few more. “We don’t have much time until they get here. Let’s go!” Spaceship Man says as he suddenly grabs Elon’s hand, causing him to jump. “Wait! Agh! Let go of me!” Elon panics and jerks his hand away from the stranger’s. “Who are you, Spaceship Man, and what do you want?”
“Haha, nobody has called me ‘Spaceship Man’ for a long time! Oh, right… forgive me. I’m E71 x300,” his voice is deep and he speaks with a strange yet familiar accent. "I have come here to take you to the future. Mars to be exact, year 2371, to stop you from waging war on the entire universe.” E71 explains calmly as if none of this is anything of the ordinary.
“Wait what? Back up there, E71 whatever your name is! How do I know you are really from the future and not one of the Soviets sent to aid in the Angolan War?” Elon questions, squinting his eyes and raising a brow. “Soviets? I don’t believe I’ve heard of those- oh wait… yeah, never mind. Uh ahem…” E71 coughs, “I suppose I must look kinda peculiar, but I can prove to you that I am from the future.”
“See my ship over there?” E71 says and points to the triangular-shaped craft. “That is the Staryacht SN8000+T. The variable 'T' stands for time and it’s a quarter of the size of a Starship but smaller with extra features like four hyperspace engines, gravity controls, and so on… But the main thing is that it’s also a time machine which means that-”
“Yeah, I know what a time machine is,” Elon interrupts and crosses his arms, not buying E71’s story. “Right, of course you do. Anyway, we don’t have much time! The police are on their way and I need to get you out of here!” E71 says as he notices the approaching sirens off in the distance have drawn closer. He then motions for Elon to follow him back to the Staryacht.
“I’m not going anywhere! Let the cops come for all I care!” Elon says looking behind him to see the lights of the police cars off in the distance. “Starships, gravity control, time travel, do you really expect me to believe that crazy stuff you just told me? Sounds to me like you are some weird Soviet guy and you're just making all this up because you think I’m some stupid kid-”
“Elon, you are not stupid, you're very smart, and I am telling you the truth,” E71 tries to assure him, “Now come on, we’re wasting time!”
“Will you knock it off with the phony South African accent? It sounds so fake! And for the last time, I’m not moving!” Elon retorts, still not believing E71 and his supposed tall tales.
“Hey, it’s been about 382 years since I’ve been here so my accent is a little rusty! That’s what happens when you spend a lifetime living in America and then over 200 years on Mars! Now please Elon, just come with me and I’ll show you all you need to see!” E71 pleads. “I can take you by force you know…” he finally threatens.
Elon still refuses to budge and so E71 has no choice but to tackle him and carry Elon off to the Staryacht in which he does so successfully. “Put me down! Help! Someone help me! I’m being kidnapped!” Elon screams at the top of his lungs hoping that the neighbors might hear him and do something. He tries kicking, biting, punching, and even going as far as spitting on E71, but nothing works. The man is built tough like a 1950s refrigerator - indestructible against the mighty blows of the young Elon!