

# JENNY IN SPACE

### Chasing the Killer Comet

Michael Coles

# .

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Michael Coles

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 ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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# Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Mysterious New Housekeeper

Chapter 2 - The Dreams and Visions of Madame Caidoz

Chapter 3 - The Danger from Above

Chapter 4 - The Faint Hope

Chapter 5 - The Suit

Chapter 6 - Inevitable Impact

Chapter 7 - The Events

Chapter 8 - Contact

Chapter 9 - Wondrous Technology

Chapter 10 - Decision Time

Chapter 11 - Preparation

Chapter 12 - Sad Farewells

Chapter 13 - Chasing a Comet

Chapter 14 - Earth's Plan

Chapter 15 - Extinction or Salvation

Chapter 16 - Triumphant Return

Chapter 17 - Another Prophesy Beginning to Take Shape

# Chapter 1

### The Mysterious New Housekeeper

Full speed, like a comet streaking through the heavens, Jenny Thompson felt released and re-energized. It was one of her and Polka's favorite times of the day. Jenny's blond hair moved in unison with Polka's black mane and tail, and she squinted against the rush of air in her face. Polka's hoof beats were fast and hard, and Jenny leaned into the speed. Jenny gradually slowed him to a canter, wanting to save some of his energy for one more burst on the way home. The white spots covering Polka's black coat stood out like a snowfall on a dark night. Sitting up straight in the saddle, Jenny looked around at the sights she loved so much. The swaying grass and the warmth on her face made her relax her flexed body and she slowed Polka to a walk.

"You know what, Polka? I'll bet I'm one of the luckiest thirteen-year-olds in the world. Mostly because I've got you. I mean there's lots of other stuff that I'm thankful for...but you pull it all together. You're my pal no matter what. I'm just so lucky to have you."

Polka snorted as he continued to catch his breath.

"Let's head over to the lake and get you a drink."

Jenny tightened the light-blue elastic in her hair as she rocked comfortably in the saddle. She usually wore her hair in a ponytail. The summer sun had bleached it to a radiant golden tone, with wisps of blond highlights at the front. Her facial appearance was a mixture of her mother's soft beautiful features and her father's angular characteristics. She had inherited her mother's calm relaxed demeanor. She was sensitive, but confident and outgoing. Jenny missed her mom, although she did not really remember her. She had passed away ten years ago.

"I'm going in for a swim. Here, I'll take this off so you can cool off," Jenny said as she loosened the cinch. "It's hot, isn't it? And I haven't been sprinting for a mile like you have."

Jenny loved her new saddle and so did Polka. It was small and light, not like the huge, 40 year old, beat up, piece of junk she'd been using up to this point. She could barely heft that old relic onto Polka's back.

Jenny went in for a swim while Polka wandered off in search of some tender blades of grass. As she looked into the blue sky, Jenny's mind wandered, as it often did, to the vastness of space. Her father worked at the Lester B. Pearson observatory about 10 kilometers away. Jenny was determined to have a career in astrophysics. She thought her Dad had the greatest job in the world. He was able to peer deep into space and try to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

Jenny's father, as a boy had also been keen on astronomy, working hard to make it his career...but now, he was troubled by something he had just discovered in Earth's solar system. The excitement of his discovery had worn off days ago as Roy Thompson began to worry about the comet's course. As it got closer, the size and direction became clearer, but a couple more days of study and calculation were required to pinpoint how close it would actually come. He tried to keep his mind on his work, but the scientific calculations were tedious and Mr. Thompson's thoughts often strayed to his family and home. Mrs. Anderson and her daughter had helped immensely with the housework over the last 10 years, but the daughter had just recently married and moved away, and Mrs. Anderson was ready to retire from her job at the Thompson household. Jenny, her brother Martin and their father had thought they could keep up the house themselves, but it did not take long for Mr. Thompson to realize that they had underestimated the workload. None of them liked the idea of bringing a stranger into their home to take care of the duties Mrs. Anderson had so lovingly tended to, so Jenny and Martin stubbornly clung to their desire for independence.

The Thompson home was located in a lovely rural area, surrounded by open fields and gentle rolling hills. Their closest neighbor was almost a kilometer away. Mr. Thompson tried to relax as he drove home for what promised to be an eventful evening. He groaned as he stretched his long body out of the car and brushed a lock of brown hair off his forehead. Mr. Thompson was not in the best of moods; he was tired from too many long hours at the observatory. He also knew what he would find at home-a disaster!

Mr. Thompson rubbed his temple as he walked up the steps and across the wrap around porch of the beautiful two-storey home. The painters had just recently applied a fresh coat of light grey paint to the exterior of the house and the faint smell was still perceptible. Walking into the house, Mr. Thompson found exactly what he expected, food-encrusted dishes and drinking glasses scattered everywhere, unclean floors, and dirty clothes piled up in a big mound on the laundry room floor. The pressure he felt had been building for days, weeks, even months, and it was about to explode. He found Jenny and Martin in the kitchen hurriedly cleaning up.

"That's it you guys! I can't take it any longer! We need a housekeeper," he announced to Jenny and Martin.

"No, Dad! We'll do better, we promise," Jenny pleaded.

"Yeah, Dad. Give us another chance," Martin said.

"No!" their father said, shaking his head and setting his jaw. "You can't change my mind this time. This is too much for us, we can't keep up, and I'm tired of the mess: laundry and dishes pile up, the house is a mess, meals are unhealthy, and the bills don't get paid on time. I know I don't do my part either, I need help too, we all need help."

"I'm too busy at work, and you two have too much homework, or so you keep telling me. So, we need a housekeeper, and that's final! I placed an ad in the paper yesterday. I received three calls at work today regarding the position. I've booked three appointments for tonight. I want to get them over with so we can make a decision on which we like the best. I'd like to hire someone and have them start on Monday."

Jenny and Martin looked at each other and remained silent. There was no point in further discussion. They had put up a valiant fight, but they just couldn't keep up with all of the housework. They were both good students, who kept up with their studies, and were involved in organized activities, so finding the time and energy for housework, on top of all that, was difficult for them. Martin was 2 years older than Jenny and they enjoyed the things kids enjoyed doing, which did not include anything with the word "work" in it, like housework and homework. Jenny's mind wandered aimlessly as she hurried tidying up the kitchen.

What a way to spoil two perfectly good words, "house and home," Jenny thought to herself, just by putting the word "work" behind them.

"I have to go back to the observatory tomorrow, and likely Sunday too," Mr. Thompson announced.

Jenny glared at him with piercing blue eyes. "The whole weekend again, Dad? Why are you working so much lately?"

"Umm, just some solar flare-ups we've been documenting," he said vaguely.

Jenny could read her father pretty well, and sensed he was hiding something.

"The first appointment for the new housekeeper is due in about a half an hour. What culinary delight do you have planned for supper tonight?" their father asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"We have a wonderful chicken dish prepared by Chef Swanson," Jenny played along.

"We'll have to make our first priority for the new housekeeper-someone who is a good cook," their father said, as he walked unenthusiastically into the kitchen.

"Yeah!" Jenny and Martin agreed wholeheartedly.

"She has to be astronomical in the gastronomical department. Weird eh, you just add the letter 'g' to the beginning of astronomic, and you get gastronomic. One is the outer reaches, and the other is the inner reaches," Jenny realized, earning a chuckle from her father, and a roll of the eyes from Martin.

Martin was a few inches taller than his sister. His hair was thick and blonde like his mother's had been; he liked to wear it in a shaggy style.

Jenny and Martin didn't mind TV dinners, because they were easy to prepare and clean up after, but a nice home cooked meal occasionally would be nice.

They had just finished eating when the doorbell rang.

"There's the first one," Mr. Thompson said, as he wiped his mouth and went to the door, with Jenny and Martin close behind. The door opened, revealing a woman with a stern face, atop a substantial frame.

"Good day, my name is Mrs. Stoggert. I am answering your ad for a live-in housekeeper. Are you, Mr. Thompson?" she asked sharply.

"Why yes, yes I am, please come in. We'll go into the living room and chat," he said, leading the way.

Mrs. Stoggert looked around the house and huffed.

"Please have a seat, Mrs. Stoggert, and we'll get to know each other. These are my two childr..."

"Yes, fine," Mrs. Stoggert rudely interrupted. "Let's get a few things straight first."

"Yes, sure, of course, what's on your mi...?"

"I don't do floors, windows or bathrooms. Everyone takes care of their own rooms, and their own laundry. I cook, and I do breakfast and lunch dishes, but someone else cleans up the dinner dishes," she said glaring at Martin and Jenny.

"I vacuum. You have a built-in vacuum system I hope?" To which Mr. Thompson just nodded.

"I dust, and I will sweep outdoors. I work from nine a.m. 'til six p.m. Monday to Friday, weekends off, no exceptions, and I will need a television and cable in my room. These are my terms," she ended abruptly.

Mr. Thompson raised his eyebrows and opened his eyes wide. "Well, I guess you've answered all of the questions I had, very efficiently."

He put aside the list of questions he had prepared, and had no interest in asking anymore. Jenny and Martin smirked at each other as Mrs. Stoggert was quietly escorted out, and the door closed behind her.

"She's perfect!" Jenny jokingly raved.

"Dad, if you hire her, I'm moving out," Martin protested.

"Hmm, that's a tempting suggestion. What do you think about Martin's offer, Jenny?" her father asked.

"Hmm," Jenny pondered the thought for a calculated moment, as she glanced at her brother out of the corner of her eye. "No, I think even Martin is preferable to her."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Martin complained.

"She may end up being the best of the three," Mr. Thompson said, wincing.

Twenty minutes later prospect number two showed up. She was thin, and had a much friendlier disposition than Mrs. Stoggert.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Ringer," she chimed pleasantly, "I'm here to apply for the housekeeper's position?"

"Hello, Mrs. Ringer, I'm Roy Thompson. Just call me Roy, and these are my children, Martin and Jenny."

"Hello," they all said.

"Come this way to the living room, Mrs. Ringer," and he beckoned her to follow.

"Oh, what a lovely home you have. I once owned a home like this in Vancouver from 1999 to 2002. It was a beautiful place, two stories and lots of room, the carpets were kind of dirty when we moved in but we replaced them with new ones right away," she reminisced.

Mr. Thompson motioned for her to have a seat, and she just kept right on talking.

"The yard was lovely, although we didn't care much for the large pine tree on the lawn..." Mrs. Ringer went on for ten minutes about her old home in Vancouver.

Jenny, Martin and their father glanced at each other.

She doesn't even stop for a breath, Jenny thought.

"Oh, but I'm rambling on as I am apt to do. I do love to talk, as you will soon discover, and you and your children must have some questions for me, and what attractive children you are. Mine are all grown up, but they were a joy to raise."

Oh oh, here we go again _._ Jenny could tell Mrs. Ringer was winding up again.

"Margaret, my eldest, went to university and became a nurse, and Sam, well Sam is still deciding what he wants to do for the rest of his life. He's a little bit lazy and unfocused." And she went on for another twenty minutes about her family, all the way back to her great, great grandparents.

Mr. Thompson had been looking for a pause or a break in her sentences, but none ever came. Just as he was about to interrupt her, the doorbell rang again.

"Hmm, that's my next appointment for the position," Mr. Thompson said.

"I'll get it," Jenny blurted, looking for any excuse to escape. She bolted to the door and opened it to an oddly dressed woman, who did not say a word for a moment. The woman just stood there, with a look of recognition on her face. She nodded her head slightly, and Jenny thought she could see tears accumulating in the woman's large brown eyes, and then a smile swept across the woman's broad, flushed face.

"Hello. My name is Rellet Caidoz, although my clients know me as Madame Caidoz, but my friends just call me Relli, and I know we are going to be close friends," the woman said, with the hint of a European accent.

"Hi, I'm Jenny." She thought Relli had the look of someone who had been searching for something for years, and had just found it.

"I suppose you're here regarding the housekeeper's position?" Jenny asked, and the woman nodded.

"Won't you please come into the kitchen and make yourself comfortable? My father is still with the last applicant, and he could be awhile by the sound of it."

Jenny eyed Madame Caidoz up and down. She wore a long flowing skirt, layered with different shades of purple, and adorned with fine gold chains and medallions, impressed with the signs of the zodiac on them, and she swished and jingled as she walked. From her ears hung large gold hoop earrings and broad gold bangles encircled her thick wrists. A purple kerchief, decorated with stars and crescent moons covered the top of her shoulder length black hair, and a lavender tassel at the back of it, swayed back and forth as she walked.

"Are you interested in the zodiac?" Jenny asked, intrigued by this unusual-looking middle-aged woman.

"I am a student of the stars and the planets. My card," she announced theatrically.

Jenny took the card from her, and noticed Madame Caidoz had very strong looking hands, and her unusually thick and sturdy fingernails were painted purple to match her outfit. The card had all of the signs of the zodiac adorning its borders, with a vague background of stars and planets. Jenny read the card aloud. "Rellet Caidoz, star charts and fortune teller." Jenny's face lit up. "Cool! You're a fortune teller and astrologer!"

"I am indeed," Madame Caidoz said proudly.

"My father is an astronomer, so you're both kind of in the same line of work."

"Ah yes, your father searches for the history of the universe, while I look into the future of the inhabitants of the universe."

"The inhabitants of the universe?" Jenny asked, surprised by the scope of her statement.

"Well, this planet for the most part," Madame Caidoz corrected.

Jenny liked the new applicant already, especially considering her competition for the position.

"I'm a Taurus. Do you know what my horoscope is for the next little while?" Jenny asked.

"Do you believe in the art of the zodiac, psychic readings and fortune telling?" asked Madame Caidoz.

"Well, not really. My dad's a scientist and I am too. We kind of believe what we can see and chart and theorize on. But no offense. I still like to read my daily horoscope in the paper, and I must admit, sometimes its accuracy is a little spooky."

"No offense taken, I assure you," Madame Caidoz chuckled, as if she knew something Jenny didn't. "I can do more than just tell you generally what's in store for Taurus. I can give specifics, for a Taurus named Jennifer Thompson."

Jenny's eyes lit up with interest, and she leaned forward in her chair, putting her elbows on the kitchen table and resting her chin in her hands. Madame Caidoz looked deep into Jenny's eyes, right into her soul, Jenny felt.

"I see great things in store for you, Jenny. There are worlds of adventure waiting for you, and people who need you."

"Wow! What do you mean by 'worlds of adventure'?" Jenny asked, just as her father led a still-talking Mrs. Ringer to the door. Jenny could hear her chattering on until the closing door stifled the noise.

"Man, what a talker," Mr. Thompson said in frustration.

"We've got two beauties to choose from so far," Martin said.

"Hopefully number three will be better," Mr. Thompson said, rolling his eyes and trudging towards the kitchen. He put on a happy face just as he walked in.

"Hello, I'm Roy Thompson, and I see you've already met my daughter, Jenny. This is my son, Martin."

"Dad, this is Madame Caidoz," Jenny introduced, and passed her father the business card. "You're both in the same business, studying the stars and the planets."

"Hmm, so I see," he said as he studied the business card. "We all have hobbies, but yours seems to be more of a business venture, and I am already concerned it may interfere with your duties if you did get the position. I'm not sure if you realize, this is a fulltime job."

"Yes, I am aware, and I assure you, nothing will interfere with my duties as your full-time housekeeper. If I get the position, I will be dedicated to you, my boss, and the children." She smiled at Jenny and Martin, "And the smooth running of a busy household. There is no duty I won't perform. I will clean out the drain gutters if you request it of me, and I will not bore you with endless trivial details of my past. I have dropped all of my clients to come here from San Francisco, because I want to dedicate the next several years of my life's work to this beautiful family."

"How did you find out about this position in British Columbia, all the way from San Francisco?" Mr. Thompson asked.

"I didn't find out about it until I picked up the local paper."

"Then why did you leave San Francisco to come here?"

"Let's just say, I was drawn here by a need."

"A need?" Mr. Thompson asked.

"Yes. I need to be here and you need a responsible, hardworking, nurturing housekeeper. I guess that's two needs."

Mr. Thompson tried to suppress a grimace. "Do you have any references?"

"No, I'm sorry, I don't. I've been self-employed for the last fifteen years, although, I could collect some from clients if you wish."

"You mean you've never worked in this capacity before?" Mr. Thompson asked.

"No, never as a housekeeper. My only job experience has been as a forecaster of the future, and it has been quite lucrative for me. But I am an excellent cook, I'm very organized, and a hard worker."

"Why would you want to leave a thriving practice to come and do this? The work will be harder, and I'm assuming the financial gain will be less," Mr. Thompson questioned.

"Yes, the financial gain will be far less, but the personal gain will be immeasurable."

"I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. Are you trying to get a break from fortune telling, and looking for a place to escape?" asked Mr. Thompson.

"No, I love helping people to plan for their personal futures, and I hope to do the same for you, and especially your children," she said, smiling warmly at Jenny and Martin. "You see, Mr. Thompson, I feel I am needed here, and I want to help."

"Well, I must be honest with you, Madame Caidoz..."

"Please, call me Relli, all my friends do."

"Sure. Now, first and foremost, I must look after the safety and welfare of my family, and without any references, I would not feel very comfortable hiring _anyone_. And your story about being guided here by unexplainable forces puts me on my guard. Surely, you can understand my reluctance."

"Yes, of course. You are a responsible and loving parent, who is only looking out for the welfare of his children. I will produce some personal references for you by the end of the day."

"But, even with personal references, there is no guarantee you will secure the job. I have two other candidates to consider."

"I understand, but let me assure you, you will not find anyone else who can offer the children the love and guidance required during this crucial time of their lives."

"I will certainly consider your application," Mr. Thompson promised, and he stood up to escort her to the door.

"I look forward to hearing from you, and to working for you," Madame Caidoz said confidently. "Good bye, kids, I'll see you later."

Jenny smiled at Madame Caidoz, who gave Jenny a quick wink, as the door closed behind her.

"How do you like that woman?" Mr. Thompson said. "No references, no experience, and she expects to get the job? What do you guys think?"

"I like her," Jenny said immediately. "She's a little bit odd, but there is something about her that's intriguing, and I feel really comfortable with her."

Mr. Thompson agreed in part, "Yes, she is definitely peculiar. That story about her being drawn here by a mysterious force concerns me."

"What do you think, Martin?" Jenny asked her brother.

"Well, out of the three, she definitely was the best. A little weird but..." he ended with a shrug.

"I think she'll turn out to be a good housekeeper. I've got a good feeling about her." Jenny said.

Mr. Thompson shook his head. "I just want to make sure she's not crazy. I'll make some phone calls."

"How do we know Mrs. Stoggert or Mrs. Ringer aren't crazy, and actually Relli seemed the most stable of the three-at least the most likeable," Jenny added.

"Let's recap our choices," Mr. Thompson said, as he counted on his fingers.

"First, we have a rude grumpy woman, who will only do half of what we need her to do. Second, we have a woman that you can never get a word in edgewise, and would undoubtedly drive us crazy. And third, we have a fortune-telling gypsy, with no experience, or references, who hears voices in her head, telling her to go to British Columbia, because there's a family that needs your h-e-lllp," he mimicked a ghostly voice, which got a chuckle out of Jenny and Martin.

"Why can't anything be straightforward and easy?" Mr. Thompson said.

"Maybe her personal references will change your mind about her. I think you're just stuck on the whole horoscope, fortune-telling thing. She's a little bit eccentric, but that doesn't mean she's crazy. And as Martin said, she is definitely the best of the three."

That evening, as promised, the references started arriving in the Thompson's email, and didn't stop until the following morning.

"This one's from a congresswoman, Dad, and here's one from a movie star, a judge, a doctor, a lawyer; you name it and it's here," Jenny said, impressed with the list. "And they all rave about her clairvoyant abilities and how much she's helped them."

"She sure seems to be well thought of and trusted," Mr. Thompson admitted. "Let's sleep on it, and we can make a decision in the morning. That means no sleeping in tomorrow, okay?"

.

The following morning, before breakfast, Mr. Thompson brought up the subject again. "We'll put it to a vote then, just to keep it official. Who votes for Mrs. Stoggert?"

"You've _got_ to be kidding. We may as well stay the way we are," Martin commented. Mrs. Stoggert didn't get a vote.

"Mrs. Ringer, the talker?" their father asked.

"I'd move out after a day with her," Jenny said.

Mr. Thompson reluctantly put up his hand for Mrs. Ringer.

"Oh thanks, Dad. You want me to move out?"

"Well, if you both would move out, I wouldn't have to hire a housekeeper," Mr. Thompson joked, which earned him a couple of scowls.

"Well, I guess unless you guys aren't voting, Madame Caidoz gets two votes. But, just to keep it official, who votes for Madame Caidoz?" their father asked, to which Jenny and Martin's hands shot up instantly.

"Hmm, let's see. That's two votes for the gypsy lady, and because I'm the Dad, and I make up the rules, my vote counts for two, so it's a tie."

Jenny and Martin objected. "Dad! That's not fair!"

"All right, all right, I'll call Madame Caidoz this morning and ask her when she can start," Mr. Thompson said.

Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell chiming.

"Who could that be so early on a Saturday morning?" Mr. Thompson asked, looking puzzled.

They all went to the door and were stunned to see Madame Caidoz standing there.

"Good morning, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I would pop in to ask if you got my emails, and if you had made your decision yet," she said cheerily.

Jenny beamed a surprised smile, Martin smirked when he saw Jenny's reaction, and Mr. Thompson just looked bewildered.

"Well, being a democratic household, we took a vote, and, you got the job. I was just going to call to see when you could start, but, here you are," Mr. Thompson said, gathering his wits.

"Well, how fortunate that I was in the area. I can start immediately. I would be happy to make you all breakfast, if you would be so kind as to take my bags to my room," Madame Caidoz said, as she sashayed into their lives.

The Thompson's exchanged mystified glances after they looked out into the driveway, and saw Madame Caidoz's car, with the trunk already open and suitcases visible.

"Now, let me see what you've got in your depleted kitchen for breakfast fixin's," Madame Caidoz said as she hung up her black velvet jacket.

"You mean you don't already know?" Jenny asked.

Madame Caidoz laughed, "No, there are still some mysteries I must unravel with my bare hands," she said, rubbing her big hands together briskly, and walking purposefully towards the kitchen.

"Can you two handle the suitcases?" their father asked as he followed Madame Caidoz.

"Yeah sure, Dad," Martin answered, and he and Jenny walked out into the bright, cool morning.

"It's like having Mary Poppins coming to be our housekeeper," Martin said as they walked to the car.

"Yeah, this is weird, but interesting," Jenny admitted.

Martin reached into the trunk, and jerked at one of the valise handles.

"Ooof. Give me a hand will ya, Jen?" he grunted. "What's she got in here, lead?"

"Why couldn't she have just levitated these into the house?" Jenny joked.

"Yeah, that would have been a sight. Suitcases floating through the front door, and dancing up the stairs."

Inside, they struggled up the stairs, dragging the luggage behind them, with a thump, thump, thump, as the suitcases bumped each step. Martin got to Madame Caidoz's room first, and dropped the suitcase down flat.

"Martin, what are you doing?" Jenny asked, as she entered the room huffing and puffing.

Martin had noticed the suitcase was unzipped about eight inches, and he was pulling at it in an attempt to get a peek inside.

"Are you crazy? That's an invasion of privacy!" Jenny whispered. And then, "What do you see?"

"Books, that's what weighs so much; it's full of books. Probably books about black magic and stuff," Martin surmised, as he stuck his fingers into the satchel, and carefully slid out one of the books.

It was a large, thin, hard-covered black notebook, with a white label on the front of it, and on the label, was a series of symbols or letters in an unfamiliar text.

"Martin! Don't!" Jenny warned, and then unable to help herself, whispered, "What's it say?" She moved closer.

"Don't know. It's in a foreign language, or else her handwriting just stinks."

"Open it up."

"No, I think you're right, we should put it back," Martin said, making fun of his sister's sudden about-face.

"Shut up and open it," Jenny growled, and Martin chuckled as he did just that. Inside the book were hand-written symbols, similar to the ones on the front of the strange notebook.

"What kind of gibberish is that?" Martin wondered.

"None I've ever seen," Jenny answered.

"I'll bet it's a spell book, and she's a witch," Martin guessed.

"She is not. You think?" Jenny wasn't so sure.

Martin flipped through some of the pages, and mixed in with these strange symbols were words written in English:

The savior will come in a time of great need, when all seems lost,

and further down the page...

The chosen one will come from a far away land,

and will save us from dehydration and extinction,

Then more of the strange letters and symbols before,

Our champion will be small in stature, strong in spirit, brave of heart

They continued to flip through the strange book, but found no more words written in English.

"The English words almost seem like a translation," Jenny surmised.

A glint of light caught Martin's eye from within the open suitcase, and he reached in to discover the source of the reflection.

"Martin, don't. That's enough. We're going to get caught. She probably already knows."

Martin fumbled the object as he removed it from the bag. It fell onto the floor with a thud, and rolled towards Jenny.

"Way to go," Jenny whispered angrily, as she scooped up the glass orb, like a shortstop whisking up a routine ground ball.

"What is it?" Martin asked.

"It looks like a crystal ball. Well, it is a crystal ball, in the sense it is glass, and it is a ball, but, you know what I mean."

"It doesn't look too mysterious, but I guess you need special powers to get it to work," Martin surmised.

"Put it away before she gets suspicious," Jenny said.

"What do you mean, you said yourself she probably already knows." Martin tucked it back into the suitcase along with the strange book.

"Zip it back up and let's get back downstairs," Jenny ordered, and they hurried out of the room and hustled downstairs.

They burst into the kitchen looking flushed and guilty.

"What have you two been up to?" their father asked.

"Nothing. We just took Relli's bags upstairs, that's all. They were really heavy," Jenny answered. "That smells good. What's cooking?"

"I've got some scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast on the go. I would have freshly squeezed some orange juice but you are all out of oranges, so frozen concentrate will have to do," Madame Caidoz said, as she bustled about the kitchen.

Jenny and Martin looked at each other, and raised their eyebrows.

"Jenny, be a dear and set the table for me, please," Madame Caidoz delegated.

"Martin, could you please pour the juice, and get out any condiments you require? Mr. Thompson, here is a newspaper I picked up for you on the way here." Madame Caidoz placed it in front of him.

"Why, thank you. My goodness, I think we made the right choice, didn't we, kids?" Mr. Thompson said, very impressed with Madame Caidoz's first fifteen minutes on the job. Jenny looked at him, scowled and shook her head, to which he gave a quick shrug of his shoulders and opened up the newspaper. "Please, call me Roy, Madame Caidoz."

"Okay, thank you, Roy, and you must call me Relli. My given name is Rellet, but everyone just calls me Relli."

"Rellet Caidoz, that's an unusual name. Is it European?" Mr. Thompson asked.

"Yes, it is. I was raised in Romania," Relli answered, as she loaded up the table with steaming food. "Dig in. I'm going to start a grocery list, if it's okay with you, Mr. Thompson?"

"Yes, please do. Remember, it's Roy," he reminded, and they all dug into the breakfast feast.

"I have to work today, Relli. I'm sorry to leave you on your first day. Will that be all right?"

"Of course. I'll get acquainted with the children, and get myself settled in and accustomed to my new surroundings. We'll get the grocery shopping done today. Food is first on my to-do list today. Any objections?" No hint of disapproval came from the contented trio.

They all finished their breakfast, and Relli enlisted the children's help for cleanup duty.

"What? I have to help?" Martin complained.

"Relli's the boss when I'm not here," his father answered.

"Tell you what," Relli said, "if you help me from time to time, I'll be available to help you, or to drive you somewhere when you want. Deal?"

"I guess so," Martin reluctantly agreed.

Jenny smiled to herself as she helped to clean up. She could tell Relli wasn't going to let Martin get away with anything, which pleased her. Jenny was happy to pitch in and help. Besides, she wanted to spend some time getting to know more about their curious new housekeeper.

"Good. I'm off to work then. We have an account at the local grocery store, Relli. I'll phone ahead to let them know you're coming, and that it's okay to charge what you pick up." He took a final slurp of his coffee, wiped his mouth, and stood up to go. "That was great, Relli. Thank you, and welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Roy. Have a good day at work," Relli said with a contented smile.

"Are you going to study those solar flare-ups again, Dad?" Jenny asked, ready to study his reaction, and Relli paused from her task as well.

"Um, yes, we'll be looking into that again," he stammered, and retreated out of the door.

"He sounded rather evasive," Relli said, returning to the kitchen cleanup.

"Yeah, he's been working an awful lot lately, and he seems to be hiding something from us," Jenny commented. "I wonder if he's discovered something up there that's really hush-hush."

"Yeah, probably tons of our discarded space junk has joined together, and is falling back to Earth," Martin joked.

"See how quickly the job goes when we all work together?" Relli commented as she dried her hands.

"Yeah, but we're not getting paid for it," Martin mumbled under his breath.

"Remember what I said, Martin. You help me, and I'll help you," Relli reminded him.

"Now, I'm ready to see my new digs, who wants to help me unpack?"

"Umm, I'd like to, but I have other things I need to do," Martin said.

"Yeah, like surfing the internet," Jenny teased.

Martin sneered at her in response, and left the room.

"I'll help you," Jenny said, eager to ask Relli some questions. "Come on, I'll show you your room." Jenny motioned, and led the way upstairs.

# Chapter 2

### The Dreams and Visions of Madame Caidoz

"This is your room. My room is right across the hall, so if you need anything, just let me know."

"Thanks, Jenny. Now, let's get me organized."

Sunlight streamed through the window, and gleamed off the polished hard wood floor. Relli looked around the room, and sighed with contentment. She easily hefted the heavy suitcase on to the bed. "Too many books," Relli said as she unzipped it.

"Relli?" Jenny said somewhat sheepishly.

"Yes."

"I've got a confession to make."

"Oh?"

"Yes. We kind of snooped into your suitcase earlier. That's what took us so long to come back downstairs. I'm sorry. It was an invasion of your privacy. It'll never happen again, I promise. You're just such an interesting person, and we were really curious. Sorry."

Relli remained emotionless for a moment, and then beamed a reassuring smile.

"That's okay, don't worry about it. I guess I do appear to be pretty mysterious, but really, I'm not. I'm just like anyone else."

"Anyone else who can see into the future that is," Jenny added.

"Yes, well, I guess I am a little different in that regard, but otherwise, I'm just a normal, everyday person. Nothing mysterious at all," Relli said, as she opened the suitcase, revealing a bizarre collection of objects.

"I wanted you to see some of these items anyway." And she removed tarot cards, strange looking medallions with impressions of the Zodiac, pieces of material emblazoned with the cosmos, star maps and charts aplenty, the crystal ball and most reverently, the strange black notebook with the handwritten foreign language. She set the notebook aside from the other objects.

"Is that a crystal ball?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, it is," Relli said seriously.

"Do you use it for fortune telling?"

"No, it's just for decoration. It's all for show. It impresses my clients," Relli admitted, cracking a smile.

Jenny giggled. "Are you truly able to see into the future?"

"I am truthfully blessed with the gift. Few are able to see the future, although, we all have a touch of the ability."

"Even me?"

"Even you, my dear child. "

"What do you mean, 'the gift'?" Jenny queried.

"Well, let me use comparisons to explain. We're all able to do simple math, but there have only been a few people throughout history with the capability of Albert Einstein. We can all draw with different levels of talent, but there are only a handful of us with the artistic skill of a Michelangelo. It's similar with clairvoyance, but more elusive, because math and drawing are physical things, while my talent, is regarded as a spiritual gift. Clairvoyance is not a day-to-day necessity, but in some people, like myself, it is so strong, it comes to the forefront, and will not be denied or shut out. Do you believe in fate and destiny?"

"I do in a way, but my Dad doesn't. He says no one's future is set or certain, and everything depends on chance and circumstance, but he admits it's impossible to prove. It is kind of hard to believe certain things are destined to happen, when your father's a scientist."

"Yes, science, and the notion of pre-ordained happenings do not go hand in hand, but, if you are someone who has the ability to take a glimpse into the future, it is a much easier concept to grasp," Relli said.

"For my entire life, I have felt as though I was destined for something, but try as I might, even with some vague clues, I couldn't figure out what. Well, now I have. It's you, Jenny."

"Me? Why me?" Jenny asked, intrigued.

"As soon as I saw the ad your father put in the newspaper, I knew I was drawn to this area for a reason. When I saw you yesterday, I knew instantly, and with great relief, your life and mine would intertwine in some way. I don't know why or how, but I feel I was guided here to aid you," Relli answered.

Jenny felt a little uneasy with the direction the conversation was taking, so she tried to change the subject. "What about the book? Is that for show too?" She pointed to the black notebook. "Martin thought it was a book of black magic spells, and you may be a witch," she said lightheartedly.

Relli's expression turned serious, and Jenny's smile evaporated. "No, I'm not a witch, and this is not a book of spells, but I'm glad you mentioned it, because I feel it has great importance in the direction our lives will take, although, I don't know in what way," Relli said, as she picked it up and opened it.

"All of the handwriting inside the book is mine, but I have no idea what it all means. I have recorded words in a language I don't understand, from dreams and a trance-like state I enter into while meditating."

"Wow!" was all Jenny could muster up in response.

"The dreams started when I was about your age, and have continued to this day. Did you look through the book at all?" Relli asked

"Yes," Jenny admitted. "I saw some English words that sounded like a prediction for the future. Almost like a spiritual reference, to a time of great need, and a savior coming when all seems lost, or something like that. Do you just see the words of this strange language, or hear them?" she asked, fascinated by the idea.

"In my dream, I see a young girl, amongst a group of sick and undernourished people. The girl's face is unclear, but I had always assumed it was me, because I can feel what she is experiencing. There are thousands of these poor creatures, crawling towards the girl, in a huge, dry, hot sandy desert, that seems to be underground. There is no sun, but there is light. Men, women, and children, are moaning and crying for water. I experience a strange connection to these piteous people, and, I also sense I am a part of the desperate mob. The young girl feels helpless and lost. She wants to help them, but doesn't know how. She's scared, so she runs, but her feet feel like lead weights in the deep sand, and she can't move. The thirsty mob of people continue to gain on her, and she is getting more and more tired as she tries to get away. And, just as they are about to engulf her, she suddenly feels as light as a feather, and bounds away in long effortless strides. The girl feels revitalized and brave, and now she calls on the wretched group to follow her. She sees an oasis ahead, and leads them to it. They drink a life-giving liquid that glows with a blue radiance and it invigorates them.

"The group treat the child like a hero, and show her their holy book, and they read a passage from it. They speak in a foreign tongue, but oddly, there are particular phrases I am able to understand. I have had the dream so often; I have been able to memorize the symbols I see. This notebook is a re-construction of that segment," Relli said.

Jenny's eyes were wide with wonder. "Wow! What do you think it all means?"

"When I was young, I thought I would be whisked away to a far off world, and become a hero. As the years passed, I put it down to a young person's dream of adventure, born from the active imagination of a young girl, and a mundane life. I have come to realize though, the images are not fading with time. They are in fact increasing in intensity, and, they are being mixed with other odd feelings, mainly the pull to come here, which I didn't understand until I saw you. It isn't me in those dreams Jenny; it's you, although I do feel a connection through you to these people, and a strange personal bond with these poor wretched creatures. Don't ask me how or why, but you have been chosen to achieve great deeds, heroic acts of great significance. I was sent here to help guide you on this path," Relli paused for a moment, and studied Jenny's bewildered face.

Relli continued, "This dream is something requiring consideration in the future, but, there are other strange things happening as well; an event requiring immediate attention, and is of vital importance for the entire human race, and the planet as a whole. Something ominous is coming, and again, you will play a pivotal role in the outcome," Relli confided.

Jenny just sat there in shock for a moment. How could all of this be true; was Relli nuts? She must be to have conjured up a story like this.

"This is hard to believe. Are you sure about this? Maybe your vision is wrong, it's got to be wrong, or else you're looking for another person, because, I'm certainly not that person, and no offense, but are you sure any of it is for real? It sounds kind of unbelievable," Jenny protested.

"I admit, it does sound unbelievable, but I know this feeling. It's a part of who I am. Something menacing is coming, I can feel it in my bones," Relli said solemnly. "My interpretations of the dreams are the only information I have to offer. The dying group of people represent a race of beings on the brink of extinction, until a savior shows up from a far away place and saves them, through bravery, compassion, and supernatural powers," Relli described.

"Supernatural powers? See? That eliminates me right away. It sounds like a super hero, from a comic book or something."

"Yes, but not your stereotypical muscle-bound superhero, but a diminutive individual, small in stature, but brave and strong of moral fiber. This unsuspecting person is thrust into the desperate situation after a chance meeting. The events have yet to unfold, but unfold they will."

"You said yesterday, you predict worlds of adventure for me. What did you mean?" Jenny inquired.

"This is just a hunch on my part, but I have come to trust my instinct when it comes to my gift, and I believe you are destined for greatness, Jenny," Relli answered.

"But not greatness in the sense we understand it, far beyond that, beyond our little place in the cosmos. The enormity of your endeavors will not be on a local scale, or even a global degree, but will span the galaxy," Relli said. She looked at the shocked look of disbelief on Jenny's face, and realized she had revealed too much too soon.

Jenny shifted nervously on the bed. "This is all kind of creepy. You're freakin' me out."

"I'm sorry, dear," Relli said. She reached over and gently tucked a wayward lock of blond hair behind Jenny's ear, and tenderly stroked her cheek. Relli realized, in her exuberance at finally discovering her life's calling, she had exposed Jenny to more information than she was capable of handling at one time.

"Don't worry, dear girl, whatever is coming was meant to be. Just follow your heart, and all will be fine. Now, help me put my things away, and then we'll go grocery shopping, if you are still willing. I promise, I'll keep my big mouth shut," Relli said.

Jenny smiled, "Yes, I still want to come," she said somewhat absently.

"Relli?" Jenny asked as she hung up some of Relli's clothes.

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you think maybe you were destined to come and be our housekeeper, just because we needed somebody to help us out until Martin and me are finished growing up and stuff? Maybe, you picked up on a pleading message from my mom for someone to come and help us."

Relli reprimanded herself silently for overwhelming Jenny, and realized she needed to back off.

"You're probably right, dear. I am probably reading more into this than there really is. I am likely responding to the attraction of a family in need, and my desire to help until you are grown up and independent." But she knew deep in her heart, bigger and more important matters were about to be revealed, and Jenny would be the main player in whatever they were. Relli recognized Jenny was destined for great deeds, although Relli, to her frustration could not yet see what those deeds would be.

# Chapter 3

### The Danger from Above

Relli and Jenny went grocery shopping, while Martin was given the job of cleaning up his own room, a major chore in itself. He had mildly complained, but Relli cleverly turned the tables on him, by simply offering to clean it up for him.

"No, it's okay, I'll do it," he quickly gave in, thus guarding his privacy.

"I've got Karate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and track practice after school twice a week. Martin only has baseball though," Jenny informed Relli on the way to the market.

"Well, thank goodness for that! My, what a busy schedule. It's a wonder you have time for homework, and I'm amazed you had any time for housework. See, I knew you needed me. Relli to the rescue!" she trumpeted.

Jenny laughed, "Now Dad won't be so stressed. He's been working a lot more than usual, and our extracurricular activities have been tough for him to schedule around. But now with you here, he can relax a bit. I sure wish I knew why he was working so much. He keeps coming up with these lame excuses every time we ask him. I can tell he's lying, so he's either got a girlfriend," Jenny said, rolling her eyes. "or he's studying something up there that's a big secret."

They talked the entire time they shopped, and ended up with two overflowing grocery carts by the time they were done. Jenny was amazed at how effortlessly Relli was able to heft heavy objects.

"Do you work out?" Jenny asked.

Relli laughed, "No, why do you ask?"

"Well, you're so strong. I think you're stronger than my dad."

"I've always been stronger than average," Relli admitted. "Even when I was a child, I could do things other children couldn't."

"Were you good at sports?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, especially any activities involving strength. It just comes natural to me. But, my interests were not in sports, but in my ability to see things other people couldn't. It is my passion, my calling," Relli said with conviction.

"Did you inherit your gifts from your parents?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know, I never knew my natural parents. I was left on the doorstep of an orphanage in Romania," Relli explained with a forced smile. "But I was well cared for, and well educated."

"Were you ever adopted?"

"No, I think because of the large amount of orphans, and the poor economic conditions at the time. When I got older I questioned the nuns on this subject, and they said it was because I appeared different from the other babies. They were kind in pointing out my differences were god given gifts, and the adopting parents missed out."

"Well, I agree with the nuns. You are very gifted, and you would have been a wonderful child for any couple to raise. Did the nuns name you?"

"They did, but I was never comfortable or happy with my given name, so I changed it to Rellet Caidoz, as soon as I was legally allowed to. And then, I moved to North America. There was more opportunity, and of course there was the strong urge pulling me here, to eventually find you." Relli flashed a warm smile at Jenny.

"My, I hope your father won't be upset with me for buying so much," Relli said, as she charged the bill to the Thompson account.

"Don't worry, he knows we need everything. We haven't done a real shop for over a month."

On the way home, Relli mentioned her plans for the following day.

"Tomorrow is Sunday, and officially it's my day off, but I feel guilty, because it's only my second day on the job, and I've got two readings booked that I just couldn't cancel. I should still be able to help out around the house in between my appointments though. Do you think your father will mind?"

"No, of course not. He didn't even expect to have anyone until Monday, at the earliest, but then you showed up at the front door. And anyway, you won him over with breakfast," Jenny said with a smile. "It's his day off too, and he promised to go to the lake with me and Martin, but I suspect he'll have to go to work again. I was hoping you could come."

"Hmm, I don't think I can swing it, although I would love to come, but I'll take a rain check. Where is the lake?" Relli asked.

"It's on our property, about twenty minutes away by horseback," Jenny said, "But when Dad comes, we usually drive around the back way and walk in."

"I noticed the stables. How many horses do you have?" Relli asked.

"Just one. Polka is his name. Dad bought him to keep me company. My friends live a fair distance away, so Polka is my transportation too. I'll introduce you to him when we get the groceries put away."

"I'd love to see him," Relli said, pulling into the Thompson driveway. The two began to unload the groceries from the car. The back seat and the trunk were full.

"Martin, can you give us a hand please?" Relli called up the stairs.

The three of them made quick work of the unpacking.

"Now, let's go and see Polka before I start lunch. You two must be starving," Relli said.

Jenny led Relli to the small white barn with red trim. The big bay door was open, and sunlight streamed in. It was airy, and rich with the sweet smell of hay, and the pungent aroma of horse droppings.

"Wow, he's magnificent!" Relli raved. "What a powerful looking animal. I love his coloring. Is he an Appaloosa?" He stamped a hoof, and tossed his head up and down. His black mane and tail shimmered in the sunlight.

"Thanks. Yes, he's an Appaloosa. He's fast and strong for sure. I love him with all my heart," Jenny said hugging his thick neck. Polka nuzzled Jenny and sniffed for food in her pockets.

"Yes, Polka, we bought you some carrots, I'll bring you some later. Speaking of food," Jenny hinted.

"Yes, it's lunch time. What would you like? The pantry is full," Relli said proudly.

"Grilled cheese sandwiches sound good," Jenny ventured.

"That sounds easy," Relli said, as she put her arm around Jenny, and they walked back to the house.

"I am so glad to finally be here," Relli announced, and she squeezed and hugged Jenny as they walked in the glorious sunshine.

"Relli, you're squishing me," Jenny mildly complained.

"Oh sorry," Relli said, as she loosened her grip.

.

Jenny stuck to Relli all day. It was nice for her to have someone to talk to, and Jenny already felt close to her. "Relli?" Jenny asked, as the two put the final touches on dusting and vacuuming the living room.

"Um-hm?"

"I've been thinking. If you can predict the future, then everything must already be pre-determined, you know, destined to happen. So does it mean nothing can ever change whatever our fate is?" Jenny pondered.

"I don't pretend to know all of the intricacies of fate, but from my experience, it can be modified slightly, by understanding what to expect, and taking steps to bend it, or alter it to our own favor. It is a difficult thing to do, to change fate. Most people are unable, or unwilling to change, and sometimes it requires altering one's personality to bring about the change, which is very difficult," Relli explained.

"Scrooge did it, in Charles Dickens' book A Christmas Carol."

"You're right, he did, very good example."

**"** Do you think you can do a reading on me?" Jenny surprised herself by asking. She was a little frightened of what Relli might see.

Relli stopped what she was doing, and looked deeply and thoughtfully into Jenny's big blue eyes. "Yes, of course. I hoped you would ask. I am as curious as you are about your future. I feel it is tied to mine, and to all of mankind, for that matter."

"Well, if I wasn't scared before, I certainly am now," Jenny said.

"I'm sorry, but you must be prepared for what I am about to tell you, because I won't hold back, I never do in my readings. You must be brave, not only for this reading, but also for things waiting on the doorstep of your future.

"These events are at hand, and you will need all of your courage to face the challenges presented to you. I believe you have been chosen by powers beyond our understanding, to champion these coming events. Are you ready to learn more?" Relli asked.

Jenny stood there astonished by the revelation. A wave of determination washed over her, and she gritted her teeth, and set her jaw firmly. "Yes, I want to know," she stated, and put down the vacuum cleaner nozzle.

"Good girl. Let's go upstairs for some privacy," Relli said, leaving the rag and furniture polish on the half-dusted coffee table. Jenny followed Relli upstairs.

"Now, what I see will be shadowy and vague, and the message may not be totally clear. There seems to be a shroud of secrecy I can't penetrate, and it is very frustrating, but we may get an idea of what to expect," Relli said, as she led the way into her room, and shut the door.

"Let's sit on the bed," Relli said, as she removed a deck of Tarot cards from her drawer.

She sat across from Jenny and slowly shuffled the large well-used cards. Relli looked deep into Jenny's eyes as she began to flip the cards onto the bedspread. Relli looked down at the cards, and Jenny's eyes followed.

"You will be going on two long trips, the second one much longer than the first, but both are full of danger. You will rise above your fears, and take on the challenges presented to you. Great adventure awaits you, far away from home," Relli said, as she continued to place the cards.

"I have a feeling of dread, and mortal fear. A crippling fear that I have never before experienced."

Jenny considered interrupting Relli. If this was just the start, Jenny wasn't sure she wanted to hear any more, but she kept her mouth shut, and prepared herself.

Relli continued, her voice sounding as if she was in a trance. She was no longer turning or reading the cards.

"The danger comes from above, from the sky, from the cosmos. Your father can help to explain, he now knows about this threat. No one on Earth can change what is to come. We do not possess the knowledge, or the capacity. But, I see a faint hope coming from the same direction as the impending doom. It makes no sense, but they come together, on the same path. And something else...you are somehow connected. This glimmer of hope will arrive on Earth before the approaching catastrophe. Jenny, you and the faint hope I perceive are Earth's only chance to survive what is coming!"

"What's going on, Relli? What's going to happen? What's coming?"

"I don't know, I can't tell. The images are not clear. But your father seems to know something."

"You said it's coming from above, from the cosmos. Maybe that's why Dad has been so secretive lately. Maybe he's seen something heading for Earth. Maybe it's a meteor, or an asteroid on a collision course. But you also said there's a faint hope coming from the same direction. I don't get it. It doesn't make sense, Relli," Jenny said, her head spinning.

"I know, but it's all I can see. The images revealed to me are sometimes a mystery, until they actually come to pass," Relli explained.

"And me, what do I have to do with all this? How can I help? Especially when we don't even know what's coming. You said no one on Earth has the knowledge to change what is coming, but I'm from Earth, so how can I change it? I think I was better off not knowing anything. Are you sure about all this, Relli?"

"I'm positive. Something is on the way, and what you said makes sense. If your father knows about it, and it is coming from the cosmos with that much destructive force, then it must be an asteroid, or something from space," Relli surmised. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of such news. I thought it might help us to deal with the future if we had insight into it. All it has done is to raise more questions, and put you into a state of fear," Relli apologized.

"Well, we were going to find out soon enough, by the sound of it. So, maybe by knowing what's coming, it will help us to know what to do next. I just want to know for sure what to expect, and most of all, I want to find out what the faint hope is. Whatever it is, I hope it gets here soon," Jenny said, seemingly already adapting to the shocking information.

"I need to go and sort things out in my head," Jenny said, and she abruptly got up and went downstairs. Relli drew in a deep breath and dropped her head. She closed her eyes, and slowly shook her head from side to side.

Jenny ran outside, and continued to run, out of the yard and into the fields. She ran until she couldn't run anymore, and then she collapsed into the tall waving grass and wept.

.

Mr. Thompson came home after a long day at the observatory and was happy with what greeted him. The house was warm with wonderful fragrant smells wafting from the kitchen, making his mouth water and his stomach rumble, and everything was tidy.

"Now that's more like it. What a difference," he commented to himself. "Mmm, mmm, something sure smells good! I'm starved Relli, what's for supper?" Mr. Thompson asked, entering the kitchen. Martin was already sitting at the kitchen table, seemingly devouring the succulent aromas.

"Pot roast with all the fixin's, and fresh baked apple pie for desert," Relli announced.

"That sure beats TV dinners, eh Martin?" his Dad asked. Martin was almost salivating in anticipation.

"Can you call your sister please, Martin? I'm not too sure where she is though," Relli asked, wondering how Jenny was faring since their afternoon session.

"She ran upstairs just before Dad got home. She seems to be acting kind of weird. More than usual I mean," Martin added, and he left the kitchen to fetch Jenny.

He returned moments later with Jenny close behind.

"Mmm, smells good," Jenny said as she entered the kitchen. She looked at all the delicious food. "Pot roast and apple pie? Mmm my favorites."

"Whaddya mean? Everything, is _your_ favorite," Martin kidded, and Jenny laughed in agreement. Relli was relieved to see Jenny back to herself.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to help out. I really needed to get my head together," Jenny apologized quietly to Relli.

"I know honey, don't worry about it. Come on, you can help by putting the food on the table."

They all sat at the table to enjoy the home cooked meal, but Jenny was intent on getting some information from her father.

"What's happening with the near-Earth object you have been studying Dad?" Jenny asked, taking a gamble with such a direct question.

All eyes turned to Mr. Thompson, who was caught off guard by the question. "What near-Earth object?" he said, trying to play dumb.

"Come on Dad, it's obvious to us all. We're your family. We have a right to know why you've been working so much lately, and don't give us the tired old solar flare story again. We all know it's not true," Jenny challenged.

For a moment there was dead silence.

Mr. Thompson stood up, and walked around the table. His face tensed up, with a look of concern.

"All right, all right. I guess it's time I let you know. It's a comet. A big one, and it's headed in our direction. We estimate it to be sixty to seventy-five kilometers in diameter!"

Jenny and Relli exchanged glances.

"Sixty to seventy-five kilometers! That is huge!" exclaimed Jenny.

Mr. Thompson continued. "It is visible in the night sky to amateur astronomers now, so word will soon get out. We were sworn to keep the information to ourselves, because of the size, and its relative closeness to Earth. I'm sorry I've been so secretive about it, but we had to keep it under wraps until we could determine its exact course, which we still haven't finished. I have to go back to work again after supper to study it tonight, and hopefully we can precisely plot its trajectory by tomorrow," Mr. Thompson said, with a huge sigh of relief.

"I discovered it two months ago, purely by accident, while doing some charts on Jupiter's orbit. The comet was just beginning to be affected by the sun's radiation, and the coma and tail was beginning to form, which, just by fluke caught my eye," he explained.

"Can someone tell me, exactly what a comet is?" Relli interrupted.

Jenny explained. "A comet is a big, sometimes huge chunk of ice, with tons of particles frozen inside of it, speeding through space at over 180,000 kilometers per hour. When the comet gets close to the sun, the ice begins to melt. It releases gases and dust, and small pieces of the comet fall off, and vaporize, to form the coma and the tail. The coma is the halo of gas vapor and dust, surrounding the nucleus of the comet," Jenny explained competently, and her father nodded in agreement.

"Like a giant shooting star," Martin added.

"That's a good description of it Martin, but, as beautiful as they are from a distance, they are still a potential danger. Luckily, we have identified most of the really major comets traveling through our solar system, but some unexpected comets do sometimes wander through our neck of the woods," Mr. Thompson explained.

"So, I guess it didn't get caught in Jupiter's gravity then, did it Dad?" Jenny surmised. She knew the formidable force of the huge planet's gravitational pull sometimes trapped wayward comets.

"No, unfortunately it snuck by," her father answered.

"Didn't a comet break apart and hit Jupiter recently?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet, in 1994. It broke apart from the forces of Jupiter's gravity and blasted an area of the planet four times the size of earth. Jupiter's strong gravity has proven to be good protection for Earth, protecting us from space debris that sometimes unexpectedly passes through our solar system. Unfortunately, this comet has already slipped past Jupiter and was not affected by its gravity," Jenny's father added.

"You said it was heading in this direction. How close are we talking here, Dad?" asked Martin.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will miss us by a few million kilometers," Mr. Thompson said.

Jenny knew this was actually a close miss in relation to the vastness of space. Although the chances of a large piece of space debris actually hitting the Earth were slim, it was always a topic of interest around the Thompson household.

"Tomorrow we will be comparing our data with all of the other agencies around the world, which should help us to plot its course quite accurately. That's why I've been working so much lately. But, hopefully the preliminary work will be done soon and I can start spending more time at home. Now you know, and I am relieved to get that off my chest. Don't worry about it now though. Let's just enjoy this wonderful meal Relli has cooked for us."

"So, I guess you won't be able to make it to the lake tomorrow, huh Dad?" Jenny asked, disappointed. She felt like she needed to spend some quality time with her Dad.

"No, sorry sweetie. I'll make it up to you another time, okay?"

"Yeah, sure Dad," Jenny forced a smile.

"Are you still going to come along Martin?" Jenny asked, hoping for some company.

"No, I think I'll stay home and watch the ball game," Martin answered, and Jenny scowled.

After supper, Relli let Martin go without helping clean up, and Mr. Thompson went to bed to get a few hours sleep before going back to the observatory for the night.

Jenny and Relli waited until the way was clear before they started to discuss Mr. Thompson's confirmation.

"You were right Relli, it's a comet, but there's still a chance it may miss us," Jenny ventured hopefully.

"Yes," Relli said, knowing the truth of the matter at hand.

"You think it's going to hit us, don't you?" Jenny asked.

"Unless something intervenes, yes, I know it will," Relli said with conviction.

"But, something can help. The faint hope you see coming is on the same path as the comet, right?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, its arrival is imminent," confirmed Relli.

"I wish you had more details. This is so nerve wracking, not knowing," Jenny said, thoroughly frustrated.

"I know, but all we can do is wait, and hope at this point," Relli replied quietly.

# Chapter 4

### The Faint Hope

Deep in space, hurtling at 180,000 kilometers per hour raced a massive chunk of frozen debris. A piece of a frozen planet, destroyed in a gigantic cosmic collision many parsecs away. A bit of space shrapnel hurtling through space, unimpeded for millions of years.

It was a comet, consisting of solid matter ranging in size from specks of dust to huge boulders, trapped within its frozen core. It tumbled through space, looking like it was moving in slow motion because of its slow rotation, when a sleekly styled object, dwarfed in size by the enormous comet, pulled up alongside it.

It was an intergalactic space vessel with a solitary occupant named Born.

"I don't like the look of the path of that chunk of space debris, Obos. Can you plot its course?" he asked of his onboard computer. Seconds later the computer replied.

"It is on a collision course with our destination."

"How much time do we have to make our collection before impact?" he asked.

Approximately 199 hours and 22 minutes before impact," the computer instantly replied.

"I had better inform home base command with the news. Please transmit the data Obos," instructed the small frail creature.

Born was employed by a water company on his home planet of Soilanglobe. Water had been scarce there for two thousand years, and the Soilans had to venture to far off planets in order to supplement their limited supply of the essential natural resource. The loss of their closest and best water supply planet was bad news for the Soilans. The next closest H2O based planet was an additional two light years distant.

"That leaves us with sufficient time to collect our cargo and get clear of the area before impact, doesn't it Obos?" Born asked, looking for some reassurance.

"We will have completed our collection and be safely clear of the area well before impact, barring any complications," the computer responded.

The Soilan vessel was designed to carry many acre-feet of water, and yet be fast and economical to operate. This particular ship, called "The Traveler" was manufactured fifty years before, and The Clear Water Co. was the second owner of the vessel.

Obos was a standard issue computer, designed to control every function on an interstellar ship. It was able to process data and instantly calculate courses of action towards any situation. As a computer, it could think rationally and calmly in all situations, and offer the best solution based on a vast library of stored information.

The Soilan space vessel quickly covered the distance, and Obos announced their arrival at Earth.

"Good, select a suitable fresh water collection site. Then we can get away from the area as quickly as possible. It makes me nervous, knowing that huge comet is heading where I'm going to be," Born said.

Born's job was to take care of mechanical malfunctions on board. Repairs were often necessary on the old weary 'Traveler.'

Obos selected a small lake in a remote area. A life form scan showed only three jackrabbits and an assortment of birds in the immediate vicinity.

***

A few kilometers away, Jenny got up to a beautiful Sunday morning. The birds were noisily attending to their new day, and she could smell the aroma of coffee drifting up from the kitchen. She went downstairs and found Relli at the kitchen table sipping on a coffee and reading a newspaper.

"Good morning," they greeted each other.

"I guess Dad went to work already?"

"Yes, he left shortly after you and Martin went to bed last night. He only got about four hours sleep."

"This sure is serious. No matter how he tries to make it sound like everything is going to be okay, I can tell he's worried. And with reason," Jenny said, and Relli nodded. "When is your first client due?" Jenny asked as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.

"My first is at eleven and the second at two."

Jenny paced around the kitchen. "Waiting has got to be the hardest thing of all. When you are expecting something to happen, time just seems to drag on."

She had a bite of breakfast, but she really didn't have an appetite, and she tried to busy herself with little things until the sun warmed the cool morning air. Finally, she felt as if she had to get out of the house or she would bust.

"Relli, I'm going to the lake now. I'll be back around three o'clock."

"All right dear. Try to forget about things and enjoy yourself for a while."

"I'll try," Jenny promised, and she grabbed her saddlebags and headed out to the barn.

"Ready to go to the lake, Polka?"

Polka stamped his hoof and tossed his head. Jenny tightened the cinch, strapped on her saddlebags and hoisted herself into the saddle.

"Let's ride Polka," was all Jenny needed to say. She leaned forward and Polka took off like a shot. Jenny just hung on for the exhilarating ride, her bright face alive with expression. It was now hot and sunny. Jenny and Polka were both looking forward to getting to the lake and cooling off.

***

Obos brought the Traveler in with barely a whisper, and hovered over the lake, utilizing the ship's gravity displacement technology. The Traveler was a sleek vessel, circular in shape, which enabled the ship to turn around in order to decelerate from the astonishing speed it was capable of achieving. The computer attempted to release the water collection tubes into the lake.

"Born, the release mechanism is malfunctioning. The tubes will not release," informed Obos.

"This ship's falling apart," Born stated in frustration.

"Set us down on the shore. I'll have to go out and manually release the tubes and pull them to the lake. Just what I need, a delay when a huge comet is about to collide with this planet," Born complained.

While Obos scanned the area for a suitable landing spot, Born walked to the closet door and projected his thought energy towards a sensor. The door immediately slid silently open. The Soilans had long ago developed the technology capable of sensing the signal of a projected thought. Born reached into the small closet, and pulled out a gravity displacement suit.

In an attempt at camouflage, the Soilans manufactured the suit to match a form of Earth clothing, a common everyday black sweat suit, black baseball cap and white running shoes. The Soilans thought they would be less conspicuous if they were dressed in traditional Earth style clothing, if ever they accidentally encountered an Earth human.

Obos selected a large open area suitable for landing near the shore, and slowly moved the Traveler into position. The dirt and rock beneath the Traveler floated freely, while under the influence of the ship's anti-gravity technology, creating a murky, dusty skirt under the vessel.

The Traveler touched down on the ground with its support legs extended. Obos then deactivated the gravity displacement device in order to allow Born controlled access to the bottom of the ship. All of the rock and debris that had been floating freely suddenly fell to the ground.

Born put on his anti-gravity suit and reached into the breast pocket to the power pack and control. Earth's gravitational pull was five times stronger than Born's home planet, Soilanglobe. The suit counteracted Earth's strong gravitational pull to match what Born was accustomed to. Without the suit, a Soilan would find it exhausting to function in Earth's environment. He pushed a small button on the controller and the suit energized. Born instantly had control over the forces of gravity. He clipped a tiny sensor to his collar and inserted a receiver into each ear so he would have voice contact with Obos. Walking to the Traveler's outside access door, Born projected a thought towards the sensor beside it. The door slid open, and a set of stairs extended to the ground. Born knew as soon as he walked beyond the Traveler's door, he would be under the influence of Earth's gravitational pull. Stepping out onto the platform, Born immediately felt five times heavier. He quickly turned the dial on the control module.

Earth's gravitational pull on him decreased more and more the further Born rotated the dial. Executing a tiny little test jump on the platform and with little effort, Born jumped about three feet into the air. Satisfied with the level of gravity achieved, he jumped and landed lightly on the Earth's surface.

"Who needs stairs," he joked to himself.

Adjusting the suit again, Born provided a little more gravitational influence for control while walking about. He continued to the jammed water collection tubes and tried to free them.

"Obos, try to release the tubes again," he requested.

Born heard the mechanism grinding, but nothing happened. Taking some tools out of his tool kit, Born worked diligently. The tubes freed before long, rewarding his efforts. He stowed the tools into a storage cavity in the Traveler, and manually pulled the two tubes towards the lake. The tubes were so big; a 7-foot basketball player could comfortably walk through them if he wanted, without ducking and unable to touch the walls with outstretched arms. However, Born could manage them because they were also equipped with anti-gravity technology.

"Start the collector, Obos," Born ordered. He heard the device within the ship engage and the water surging through the collection tubes. His thoughts were distracted towards the tranquil lake, and he looked longingly at the water. Water was in such short supply back home that he could not wash or bathe with water. He cleansed himself (as all Soilans did) with a dry chemical compound. Born had two hours to kill before the water collection process was completed, and the lake looked so cool and refreshing, he could not resist.

"Obos, I'm going into the water to bathe. Keep me up to date on the progress of the water collection."

Born's focus was on the water, so he didn't notice that he had not received a reply from Obos. His receiver was malfunctioning.

On board the Traveler, Obos registered something on its sensors. "Born, there is a human life form heading towards us. It will reach this location in approximately twenty minutes," the computer warned. Again, Born did not receive the message. He could send a message to the ship, but he could not receive a message back from Obos.

Born turned off his gravity displacement suit, and his body instantly felt very heavy and sluggish. Moving very slowly, Born struggled to remove the suit. His body and bone structure was just not strong enough to cope with Earth's gravitational pull for very long. He knew the water was close by, and it would support his body weight. Dressed only in his baggy underwear now, Born slipped into the cool refreshing water, and relaxed in the shallows. He thought how wonderful it must be to have such an excess of water, and what a shame it would be to lose this planet as their primary source. Now he would have to travel an additional two light years to reach the next closest water rich planet. Born was distracted by the water collection tubes being dragged out of the lake and retracted into the ship.

"Obos, what's happening? Is the mechanism malfunctioning again?"

No response.

"Obos, do you hear me?" he asked, a little more urgently this time.

Still no response.

Obos had been trying to reach Born for almost twenty minutes to warn him of the approaching human, with no success. Obos' programming was to take action under such circumstances, so it pulled in the collection tubes and lifted off the Traveler, in order to avoid detection by the fast approaching life form.

"Obos! Where are you going?" Born shouted.

He realized something was wrong, but could not figure out what. His heart jumped when he heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats.

"Obos! What was that?" he whispered urgently.

Born finally realized his communicator was malfunctioning. He knew he could not move fast enough to get back to shore and get his suit back on in time, so he frantically looked around for a place to hide. There were some reeds close by, so he crawled and floated his way through the shallow water, and nestled himself amongst them. He hoped anyone who found his gravity displacement suit would dismiss it as some articles of Earth clothing left behind by mistake.

As Jenny and Polka approached the lake, she saw a gleam or a flash in the sky, but figured it was just an airplane, although the sound was different. The lake was calm with barely a ripple on it. Jenny noticed an unfamiliar sight close to the water's edge, on the little beach she always used. It looked like a small bundle of clothing. She approached cautiously, because no one but her family and friends ever visited the remote lake. Polka seemed uncharacteristically shy and skittish.

"Anybody here?" Jenny called out, but no one answered.

Looking around, Jenny could not find a sign of anyone, other than some impressions and shallow footprints in the soft ground. Satisfied all was safe, Jenny dismounted and went in for a swim. All the time she was swimming, her attention kept going back to the pile of clothes on the beach. After only a few minutes in the water, curiosity finally got the best of her. She dried herself off, and went over to investigate the clothing.

It appeared to be a black sweat suit, running shoes and a baseball cap. Jenny leaned over to pick up the baseball cap, and was surprised to find it attached to the collar of the sweat suit by two thin cords. She lifted the cap and the jacket together. The jacket's material felt soft, but thick and heavy and attached to the pants at the back, again by two thin cords. It felt quite dense as she held it bundled up in her arms.

"Whoa, this material feels like its lead lined," Jenny said, as she turned to Polka and smiled. As she turned, the shoes came with her. "What, they're attached too?"

Sure enough, she found the shoes attached to the cuff of each pant leg by the same type of thin cord.

"What a bizarre tracksuit Polka. It's all attached."

Polka still moved skittishly.

"Maybe there is some I.D. in one of the pockets and we can return it."

Feeling something in the jacket pocket, Jenny reached in and fingered a solid object with rounded corners, and what felt like a couple of buttons and a dial on it. A radio or a cell phone she guessed. She tried to remove it from the pocket, but it was attached. After pressing a button, Jenny listened for a sound. The entire suit moved in her arms, and suddenly felt much lighter, almost weightless in comparison. "What the," Jenny whispered to herself.

As she hefted the suit, Jenny marveled at how light it had suddenly become. Pressing the button a second time, deactivated the suit, and it sagged in her arms and became heavier again.

"This thing is amazing!" she said aloud.

Jenny pushed the other button, which released the object from its attachment within the front pocket. Removing it from the pocket, revealed a small black controller that fit in the palm of Jenny's hand.

Turning it in her hand, Jenny examined the item, and pushed the button that had just released it. The control whipped out of Jenny's hand, and flew back into the front pocket, re-attaching itself to its original spot.

"Whoa, this thing is full of tricks."

She reached in and gave the controller a tug. It was stuck fast. "It's like a super strong magnet," she said to herself as she pushed the button, and again released the controller. Holding it in her hand, Jenny pushed the first button again, and the suit nudged in her arms and became at least ten pounds lighter. She turned the dial now, curious to find out if it would affect the suit in any way, and as she rotated it slowly, the suit began to feel slightly heavier. The more she turned the dial, the heavier the suit became, until she could barely hold it up any longer. Rotating the dial in the opposite direction caused the suit to become lighter, until it was weightless, and would have floated away in the slight breeze had Jenny not had a hold on it.

"Unbelievable! Who could have made such an incredible thing?"

She looked around, suddenly getting the feeling somebody or some thing may be watching her. Reattaching the control module, Jenny carefully stuffed the gravity displacement suit into her saddlebag, and jumped up onto Polka's back. As soon as her butt hit the saddle, Polka was off like a shot towards home, and both of them were glad to be away from the area.

Born heard Jenny ride off and came out of hiding. He noticed the suit was gone and groaned. On board the Traveler, Obos's sensors picked up Jenny's departure and landed the Traveler close to the water's edge. It took all of the strength Born could muster to make his way to the Traveler, dressed only in his soggy underwear now. Struggling up the ship's steps, he collapsed in an exhausted heap on the floor of the spacecraft.

"Obos, what happened?" he panted.

"Your receiver is out of order," the computer answered. "I was unable to warn you of the human life form approaching."

"Now what am I going to do? How am I going to get that suit back? I'll be fined, and fired if I return home without it, and I can't afford one of those suits. They're worth a fortune," lamented Born.

"There is another gravity displacement suit on board, but it is designed after the garments of planet 93 in G sector," informed Obos.

Planet 93/G was another planet rich in water that the Soilans sometimes used as a collection site. The native life forms on this planet liked to dress extravagantly. They favored clothes with many different bright colors.

"You could use this suit to try and retrieve the one taken," suggested the computer.

Born was not very happy about the possibility of making contact with an Earth human.

"Set the translator device to four, for the language of these people. If confronted you can communicate with them. You can fabricate a story if this should happen," suggested the computer.

"It will have to be a very imaginative fabrication if I'm discovered in this suit," Born said, as he pulled the other gravity displacement suit from the closet. There were decorative multi-colored balls of various sizes hanging from the hood by thin cables. Streamers and tassels of every color imaginable ornamented the rest of the suit.

"This one looks even more ridiculous than the one I just lost. Do you still have the Earth human on your sensors?"

"Yes, she has almost reached her dwelling," replied Obos.

"Follow at a safe distance, and keep me informed."

Obos activated the ship's gravity displacement device, and gently fired some of the bottom-side secondary thrusters. The Traveler slowly lifted straight off the ground, and the landing gear retracted back into the belly of the spaceship. The dirt and surface debris floated in mid air for a few seconds, and then dropped back to the Earth. The ship rose very slowly and cautiously, until it was well clear of the treetops, and then crept silently in the direction of Jenny's home.

# Chapter 5

### The Suit

Polka galloped into the yard and slid to a stop, breathing hard. Jenny quickly dismounted, and took his saddle off. She wiped him down, gave him some water, grabbed her saddlebag and ran into the house, excited about her new discovery. The front door slammed behind her and she thundered up the stairs.

"Jenny, is that you?" Relli called.

"Yes, it's me."

"Are you okay? You're early," Relli shouted from a room in the rear of the house, but Jenny was already upstairs in her room.

Jenny put her saddlebag on her bed, opened it, and slowly pulled out the wondrous sweat suit. It was so unbelievable, she thought this must be a dream, or she had been hallucinating back at the lake.

"Where did this thing come from?"

Removing the control from the front pocket of the suit, Jenny pushed the activation button, and the suit shifted in her arms. She then rotated the control dial, until the suit floated freely in front of her. Sitting on the edge of her bed, Jenny looked in awe at the suit just hovering in front of her.

"Maybe it's filled with helium," Jenny said, searching for a logical explanation.

"I wonder what would happen if I put it on? It was obviously designed to be worn. I'm going to try it. I'll just be careful."

Turning the suit off, Jenny cautiously slipped her legs into the baggy pant legs and then leaned over to pull on the shoes. The shoes were made of a stretchy material that easily pulled over her feet and fitted snugly, although; they were a little long for her. The jacket was open at the front, with no visible means of fastening it closed, no buttons, no zipper, no hooks, nothing. She pulled on the jacket and put on the hat. The baseball cap was too big and came down over her eyes. She tilted the hat backwards on her head a little so she could see, and walked over to her mirror.

"Oh, very attractive, Jenny. Well, here we go, the moment of truth."

She took a deep breath. Jenny could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she pressed the button to activate the suit. The hatband suddenly sized to her head and the front of the jacket snapped closed as if suddenly magnetized. This startled her a bit. She adjusted the hat and pulled at the seam that had just closed. It was stuck solid. Feeling a little claustrophobic and trapped, she pushed the button again. The suit relaxed, the jacket fell open at the front, and the hat fell back down over her eyes.

Feeling a little more calm, Jenny powered the suit back up. Again, the hatband automatically sized to her head and the jacket front closed. The further Jenny turned the dial, the lighter she felt, until she felt almost weightless. She tried a little test jump and hit her head on the ceiling, then slowly descended to the floor, landing very lightly.

She rubbed her sore head. "Whoa, I'd better be careful."

The further Jenny turned the dial in the opposite direction, the heavier she felt, until she could barely move a muscle. Jenny preferred the lighter end of the scale, so she turned it back. She started to dance and leap about the room, performing jumps that until now, would have been impossible. Standing in one spot, Jenny continued to turn the dial, until she actually began to rise up off the floor. The incredible suit was capable of providing complete weightlessness.

"Unbelievable," she said softly. "I've got to go outside and try this thing out, before I kill myself in here." Her room suddenly felt very small.

With a twist of the dial, Jenny dropped slowly back down to the floor. She left her room and headed outside. Martin was coming up the stairs with a sandwich as Jenny was on her way down.

"Nice sweats Jen, where'd you get those, Barney's Bargain Basement?" he teased.

"Ha ha, very funny."

Jenny ran outside and looked for a private area where she could try out the amazing suit. She selected a secluded area in a small open field just behind the barn. Turning the control dial towards the lighter side as she ran, Jenny's body became lighter, and her strides lengthened. Feeling more like a deer or an antelope, she hurdled the barnyard fence, clearing it by a good foot. "Wow! I feel like super girl." Once she reached the middle of the field, Jenny began experimenting by jumping up and down on the spot. Jenny adjusted the suit until she was feeling quite light, and then jumped with only about half her strength. She sprung straight up, twenty feet into the air. Even though she half expected this, the height still scared the daylights out of her. To be that high up in the air with nothing supporting her was a very precarious feeling. She came back down to Earth very slowly and softly. It took her awhile to get used to the dizzying heights she could achieve, and to have confidence in her equipment.

.

As the Traveler approached Jenny's home, a large window panel opened. Born could see the rooftops of Jenny's house and barn off in the distance, partially obscured by the green treetops. Obos had all of the living things on Jenny's property on its sensors.

"The Earth human is outside of the dwelling," Obos informed.

A few moments later while Born was watching, he saw a small figure rise above the barn roof, hover for a while, and then slowly descend.

"I think the Earthling is using my gravity displacement suit now, Obos," Born said, in an annoyed tone.

Obos confirmed Born's suspicions. It backed the Traveler off, and proceeded to land as quickly as safety would allow in an open field about one kilometer from Jenny's home. The large trees surrounding the field provided the huge ship with a good hiding spot.

Born put on the flamboyant gravity suit. "I'm going to scout out the situation," he told the computer. "Let's test the communication device between us before I go."

It still was not working.

He shook his head. "I don't have time to fix this right now; I'll just have to be careful."

Before exiting the Traveler, Born powered up the gravity suit. The streamers and tassels on the arms and legs, and the decorative balls on the hood began to float freely, as the suit displaced Earth's gravity. He walked across the fields towards Jenny's home, lightly jumping over the rusted wire fences separating the open areas. He felt very exposed out there in such a vibrant, eye-catching garment and with no communication with Obos. He crept along until he could see Jenny through the trees and bushes. Getting down on his hands and knees, Born crawled to a hiding spot, providing him with a good view of her performance.

I can't just walk up to her and ask for my suit back, Born thought, shuddering at the prospect.

He watched Jenny playing outside for a while, and she ran right past where he was hiding, with long, bounding, effortless strides.

"She's having a fine time at my expense," Born whispered.

He soon retreated to the Traveler to formulate a plan of action with Obos on how to retrieve his gravity displacement suit.

"When do these Earth humans sleep, Obos?" Born asked.

"When this area of the planet is not illuminated by its star," replied the computer.

Born decided he would try to get into Jenny's house and search for the suit after she and her family had gone to bed. He studied diagrams of door lock mechanisms Obos had found in the country's patent files. Obos had the capability of retrieving any electronically stored data. It had already collected and stored a lot of Earth information. They figured out how a simple lock operated, and Born fashioned a self-adjusting key, that should work in manipulating a door lock open.

.

Jenny continued to experiment with her amazing new toy, and was having a blast. She started doing flips and spins in the air. She picked apples off the highest branches of the apple tree. Jumping over the roof of her barn, she gave the weather vane a spin as she went sailing by.

She jumped as high as she could and hovered there for a moment or two, enjoying the feeling of complete weightlessness. She stretched out into a flying position and the breeze blew her weightless body. Wow, what an awesome feeling, she thought as a gust of wind pushed her past the house and overtop of the next open field.

"I could fly like a bird now if I had wings," Jenny said to herself, and an idea struck her.

"I've got to spice this up a bit," she said to herself.

She floated to the ground and ran back to the house, where she collected a bright red umbrella and two sturdy pieces of cardboard. In the barn, Jenny shaped the cardboard to size and cut two slots in each piece.

"There, that should do it," she said to herself. "But, I think I'll try the umbrella first." And she ran outside with it clutched in her hand. Jumping as high as she could, Jenny turned the control dial to complete weightlessness at the top of her jump, and then attached the controller inside of the top pocket of the gravity suit. The strong wind carried her along with it, and then, she opened the umbrella.

"Whee!" she squealed, as the wind filled the umbrella like the sail of a ship, and Jenny held on tight with both hands.

She zoomed across the sky, as fast as the air stream could carry her. The ground far below sped past, and Jenny felt invigorated as she raced with the wind.

"Oh oh, I'd better come down soon or I'm going to end up in Alberta," Jenny realized, as she collapsed the umbrella and reached into the pocket for the control module, which she adjusted to provide herself with more gravity.

Once back on the ground, Jenny ran a couple of miles back home, leaping effortlessly over any obstacle in her way.

"Now, my home-made wings," Jenny said, and proceeded to slide her arms through the slots she had cut into the cardboard.

Again, Jenny jumped high, and then provided herself with zero gravity. She tilted the cardboard wings so they would catch the wind current, and took off like a barn swallow.

"Awesome!" she shouted, as she streaked across the sky.

She dove and darted this way and that, with every slight adjustment of her wings. "Yahoo!" the big human bird yelled.

"Uh oh, here comes Alberta again." And she performed a wide looping turn until she was facing into the teeth of the wind.

Jenny flapped her arms vigorously, trying to fight her way back home, but she realized she wasn't making any headway, and her wings could not stand up to the stress. They collapsed under the strain and Jenny dropped herself back down to the ground. On her way down, two starlings went winging past her, against the wind. "Showoffs!" she yelled at them, and giggled to herself.

Once on the ground, Jenny rubbed her tired shoulders and caught her breath. "Whoa, that was hard work," she said, as she removed her crumpled wings, and again ran back home.

Jenny momentarily put aside all of her concerns for the future. She had the innate ability to be able to block out things that she may not looking forward to, and her natural gift did not abandon her now. She was enjoying the moment.

It took Jenny several minutes to get back home, where she discarded her makeshift wings into the recycling bin in the barn.

She walked back to her private spot behind the barn, and had a foolish idea, I'm going to try something daring, then jumped to a dizzying height, almost 200 feet above the ground. She floated there for a few moments, enjoying the view.

"Well, here goes," she said, as she gave the dial a sudden turn. Jenny dropped like a sack of potatoes. She let out a high-pitched squeal as she fell, and her stomach felt the same as it did when she went down the big dip on a roller-coaster ride. In a panic, Jenny turned the dial in the opposite direction, all the way to the complete weightlessness stage, anxious to stop her fall, but she had already created some momentum that even the absence of gravity could not slow down. She landed with a thud, her legs flexing hard to break her fall. She crumpled and rolled onto the soft ground. Once her downward momentum stopped, a breeze came along and picked up her now weightless body. Jenny dialed the suit to a level that increased her weight, and she rolled to a stop.

"Ok, that's enough of that," Jenny muttered, as she picked herself up, dusted off, and made sure all of her body parts still worked. Realizing what a risky stunt that was, Jenny stuck to safer maneuvers.

.

After a few hours of weightless fun, Jenny decided she had better go back into the house, before her father came home for supper. She had seen Relli's two clients come and go and she knew Relli would be busy preparing the evening meal.

Jenny wasn't quite sure why, but she felt as though she wanted to keep the suit a secret, at least for the time being. She walked past Martin's bedroom door where he was laying down looking through a car magazine.

"Hey Jen, did you hear the buzz? There was a UFO sighting in the area today. I heard it on the news just now," Martin said, sounding excited.

Jenny's jaw dropped, and she got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She suddenly realized where the suit might have come from.

"Oh no," she whispered as her stomach knotted up.

"What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost or something," Martin asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about UFOs and aliens."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the monster aliens," Martin kidded.

Jenny sneered back at him, and said, "Then I'm doomed."

She considered riding back to the lake and returning the gravity suit to the place where she had found it, but it is difficult to give up such a wondrous object, and something deep inside, directed her to hang onto it. She wondered if the alien sightings were true, and if this may be related to the faint hope they were waiting for.

# Chapter 6

### Inevitable Impact

Far away from the city lights and high atop a hill, sat the Lester B. Pearson Observatory, where Roy Thompson and his colleagues now discussed the fate of the world.

"I think we had better alert the appropriate authorities, Ben," Roy Thompson suggested to his supervisor. "The comet is definitely heading straight for us. Our calculations show impact in approximately eight days. I've compared our data with other agencies around the world, and they agree, this huge chunk of space debris is going to hit us."

The supervisor frowned. "The data we have collected over the last few days indicates an object of at least seventy kilometers in diameter. There just isn't enough time to prepare."

"Even after our atmosphere reduces its size, the comet will still be enormous," added Mr. Thompson.

"I'd better get in touch with Parliament. The American observatories will notify the White House," his supervisor said as he walked over to a phone.

"It's hard to believe this is actually happening during our lifetime Roy. The last time something this big hit the Earth was 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs became extinct."

"Forty percent of all life forms will disappear as a result of this one. It's an ironic twist of fate, isn't it?" Roy Thompson mentioned.

"What do you mean, Roy?"

"Well, over the past few years we have entertained the theory that billions of years ago, comets may have delivered the building blocks for life to this planet, and now a comet is threatening to take away a lot of the life developed and evolved from those early deposits."

"Hmm, I see what you mean."

The long night of formulating and calculating equations was over, and Roy Thompson headed home for something to eat, and a few winks of sleep before he would have to return to the observatory to meet with military and government officials. He got home just in time for supper with his family.

He looked exhausted and depressed, which concerned Jenny greatly. In the kitchen, he collapsed into a chair, took a deep breath, and looked into everyone's eyes.

"Kids, the first thing I want to say is, I love you very much. What I am about to tell you is highly confidential. You are not to breathe a word of this to anyone. Do you understand?" He waited for everyone's response before continuing. "If word of this spread, there would be a mass panic, and there is really nothing we can do about it."

"You're starting to scare us, Dad," Martin pointed out.

"Yeah Dad, what's going on?" Jenny asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm sorry, guys. Do you remember at supper yesterday, when I was telling you the reason I had been working so much lately, was because of a large comet we have been tracking for the past several weeks?"

"Yes," they all answered as they edged closer.

"Well, the object we have been tracking, is on a collision course with Earth," he said, and he studied the shocked expressions on everybody's faces. No one spoke for a few moments, until Jenny finally broke the silence.

"How big did you say it was again?" she asked.

"It's massive, close to seventy kilometers in diameter," he answered.

"Holy," Martin exclaimed.

"We just notified the Prime Minister, and the President of the United States," added Jenny's father.

"What are they going to do about it?" Martin asked nervously.

"The United Nations will convene tomorrow to try to figure out a course of action. They will likely send up a nuclear explosive device, to try to deflect the object away from Earth," he replied.

"Do you think it will work?" Martin asked hopefully.

"Well, anything is possible, but the object is gigantic, and moving at a high rate of speed, and it will be difficult to rocket a nuclear weapon into space and somehow guide it into the path of the comet."

He studied their bewildered faces, and realized they were looking for a more definite answer.

"No, I think it's useless. If we blast it with nuclear weapons, the comet may just break into smaller pieces. Then, many pieces will bombard us, instead of just one enormous mass. Either way, the result will be the same. We just don't have the technology to avert this disaster, and we are not even prepared for it with the technology we do have."

"How much time do we have left?" Jenny asked.

"Eight days or so," Mr. Thompson said. His eyes dropped, and everyone fell into a dumbfounded silence for a while.

Jenny and Relli glanced at each other, and Relli gently nodded her head, as if to say, here we go, just as I predicted.

There weren't too many words spoken, and appetites weren't extremely hardy during supper, and again Jenny and Relli waited until Mr. Thompson and Martin had cleared out of the kitchen before they began to discuss the validation of Relli's vision.

"Well, it's not really new information, it just confirms our suspicions, so we shouldn't let it upset us any more than it already has," Relli suggested.

"Relli, I've got some new information that could be important," Jenny said. "Martin told me there have been UFO sightings in the area today."

"So, how is that relevant?" Relli asked.

"Maybe it's the faint hope you foresaw," Jenny put out there.

"Hmm. But there are lots of UFO sightings every year. How many of those are real, and how many are explainable, or just false?"

"What if I have some possible back-up proof?" Jenny added.

"What kind of proof?"

"Well, when I was at the lake today, I found a strange sweat suit." Jenny paused.

"Go on."

"Well, it has the ability to defy gravity," Jenny said, and she studied Relli's blank expression.

"What do you mean?" Relli asked.

"Just what I said. The person wearing the suit can control the amount of gravity imposed on their body. Come on, I'll show you." Jenny realized only a demonstration would make a believer out of Relli. Leading the way to her room, Jenny closed the door, and pulled the incredible garment out of its hiding spot in her closet.

"See, I told you," she said, and she passed it to Relli. "Now, watch this," Jenny said, as she detached the control, and powered up the suit. It suddenly felt lighter in Relli's arms, and continued to lighten as Jenny adjusted it, until it was floating freely in the air.

"Oh, my goodness!" Relli exclaimed, and she stood stock-still.

"This can't be of this world, Relli. It must have been accidentally left behind by an alien species, and like I mentioned, there have been UFO sightings in the area. This must be it. This must be the faint hope you foresaw. Think about it. You predicted it would come from the cosmos, from the same direction as the danger, but it would get here first. Well it's here, and I have one of its belongings. Maybe it will miss the suit, and come looking for it. This must be it, don't you think?"

Relli sat down on the edge of the bed, as the sweatsuit, shoes, and hat levitated in front of her.

"You're right. This has to be it. The owner of this suit is obviously of a very advanced race. Maybe they have the ability to alter the course of the comet. Hopefully they realize the suit is missing, and come looking for it. If we can make contact and communicate our predicament to them, they may be able to help. You must hide that suit; it's our only bargaining tool."

Jenny gulped. "Make contact? Can't we just write a ransom note with our demands...'Move the comet, and we return your suit,' something like that."

"No, you are our secret weapon. Believe it or not-you are our best chance to survive this looming disaster, Jenny. You are perfectly suited and thus selected for the task. Verbal contact must be made, but he must make the first move, and I feel that he will."

"I'm scared, Relli."

"I know, honey. But just think of the alternative."

Jenny pictured a huge streaking comet coming straight at her.

"Good point. Okay, I'm going to hide the suit," Jenny said, as she powered it down and gathered it up. She hid it in an old trunk in the attic, and made her way back down the stairs, suddenly feeling like someone was watching her. The slightest noise, or movement, including her own shadow, startled her, and she peeked around every corner. Jenny hurried to the kitchen and helped with the dishes. She stuck close to Relli for the rest of the evening, until it was bedtime.

While the Thompson household got ready for bed, a terrified Born skulked around outside. He was looking for the best way to enter the home to retrieve his suit. He waited until everyone was in bed and asleep, before he made his move.

Jenny was very restless in bed, with thoughts of UFO's, aliens and anti-gravity suits running through her head. She got up and went downstairs for a glass of milk.

Born selected the back door as his point of entry. He began manipulating the lock with the small keylike tool he had made back at the Traveler. He managed to get the door open, just as Jenny turned on the light in the hall leading to the back door. Their eyes met, and both drew in their breath sharply, each one shocked to see the other. They stood transfixed for a moment, and then they both screamed. Born sprang straight up into the air, banged his head on the veranda ceiling, and quickly turned and ran away, in a long bounding stride with the suit's ornamental balls and streamers bouncing and flowing as he ran.

Jenny recognized the long weightless bounding of the creature's stride. This must be the owner of her wondrous suit, she surmised. She also realized, this strange creature was as scared of her, as she was of it. Her father, Martin and Relli came running downstairs, half asleep, and bleary eyed, to see what was causing all the commotion.

"Jenny! What's the matter?" they asked.

"I'm sorry, I saw a mouse run across the floor, and it scared me," Jenny fibbed.

"It must have had huge fangs on it for you to scream like that," Martin teased.

"Yeah, something like that," Jenny said, as she chuckled nervously. "I just got up to get some milk. Sorry to wake you guys."

"We're all under a lot of stress right now. Let's go back to bed. I'll call the exterminator tomorrow," Mr. Thompson said.

"What's the point, we're all going to be exterminated in about a week anyway," Martin pointed out, as he and Mr. Thompson returned to their beds.

"I saw it!" Jenny whispered urgently to Relli, once the others were out of earshot.

"You saw what?" Relli asked.

"The alien! It opened the back door, and then ran away!" Jenny said in a frantic tone.

"Good," Relli said. "Things are starting to take shape, as I hoped they would. I don't think it's dangerous."

"Maybe not, but it sure scared the heck out of me," Jenny said, beginning to calm down.

"So, it knows, or suspects we have its valuable suit. I expect we'll see more of it soon. Try not to be frightened. This is meant to be, and you are the one who was chosen to carry the responsibility of the future of the human race. I know you won't let us down," Relli bolstered Jenny's level of confidence.

"I wish I was as sure as you seem to be," Jenny said with a sigh and a slight smile.

"You'll see," Relli promised.

Jenny went into the pantry, collected some empty pop cans, and took them upstairs to her room. She closed her door, propped a chair against the doorknob, and strategically placed the pop cans against her door, so if anyone tried to open it, the sound of the falling cans would wake her up.

Understandably, Jenny did not sleep very well. Her head was spinning and swirling with thoughts and images. She realized she was probably the only person in the world with a chance to save her planet from destruction in a gigantic cosmic collision. Thoughts were spinning and blending in her confused and terrified mind.

She knew she would need to communicate with the alien in order to convince it to help her. She was scared, but she also wondered, really, what were her options? After all, there was a mountain-sized chunk of ice and rock hurtling through space straight for them.

# Chapter 7

### The Events

The mood was understandably somber the next morning in the Thompson household. They continued their routine morning duties, each one of them deep in their own thoughts and fears, with very few spoken words.

Mr. Thompson had excused Martin and Jenny from going to school, and then stumbled off to work. His data and expertise about the comet would be needed in order to formulate a defensive plan of action. The rest of the world was still unaware of their deadly situation.

Martin took his father up on his offer and decided not to attend school, but Jenny was undecided. She needed to keep busy, in order to keep her mind off the terrifying situation, and she needed some time to pluck up her desperately needed courage.

"I feel a little guilty about having some faint hope, when Martin and Dad have none," Jenny said to Relli when they were alone. "Maybe I should tell them."

"Hold off for awhile. I sense it would complicate things if they knew right now. Your father would feel the need to protect you and take things over. _You_ need to do this to make it work. Trust me," Relli cautioned.

"Okay, but what do I do now?" Jenny asked, confused.

"My advice to you right now, is to go about your regular activities, if you can. You mentioned you had a district track meet today, and you were looking forward to it. You should go. It will keep you busy, so you won't go stir-crazy hanging around here. I feel nothing is going to happen with the alien immediately, but fairly soon. Keep busy till then," Relli advised.

"What about the suit?" Jenny asked.

"Keep it with you at all times. It is our only link to the alien. If it gets the suit back before we can negotiate with it, all is lost. The alien will have no reason to seek out or allow communication," Relli advised, and she handed Jenny a packed lunch kit.

"You're way ahead of me, aren't you?" Jenny smiled at Relli's anticipation of events.

"That's why I get paid the big bucks," Relli joked.

Jenny stuffed a few books and her lunch kit into her backpack, and went upstairs to the attic. She removed the suit from the old trunk, and stuffed it into her pack. After she had slung the heavy pack onto her shoulders, a good idea suddenly struck her. Jenny took the pack off, and put it on the lid of the trunk.

"This should lighten to load a bit," Jenny said to herself, and she unzipped her pack, reached into the front pocket of the gravity suit, removed the controller, and zipped her pack back up. She then powered up the suit and turned the control dial, until the backpack began to rise up off the trunk.

"Perfect," she said softly, feeling rather pleased with herself, and she easily slung the backpack over her shoulders. Now instead of the pack weighing her down, it was Jenny's body weight keeping it from blowing off in the morning breeze.

"Okay, I'm going to meet my bus. Wish me luck," Jenny said.

"Break a leg," Relli said.

Jenny scowled at her. "That's for theatre, not for sporting events. Now if I do break my leg, you'll be responsible for wishing it on me, especially with your background," Jenny scolded.

"Oops, sorry. Good luck," Relli said, pumping her fist.

Jenny smiled, and walked out into the beautiful sunshine. She peeked around corners and was very cautious as she made her way to the road. The air still felt cool on her face as she ran to meet the school bus, but the day promised to be very hot.

.

On board the Traveler, Obos picked up Jenny's departure on its sensors.

"The Earth child is leaving the area, in a vehicle carrying many other Earth children," Obos informed.

"I wonder if she has my gravity displacement suit with her." Born wondered.

"I would guess she is keeping it close to her, but you can try to enter the house again to search for it. There are two Earth humans in the house now," Obos advised.

"No, thank you, I'm not trying that again. I need a more private setting to meet with her. What a predicament. Now I have to wait until she returns to confront her, and that comet is getting dangerously close. Time is running out," Born said, thoroughly frustrated.

***

"Good morning, Mr. Jenkins," Jenny smiled towards the bus driver.

"Good morning," he called back.

The bus was noisy with many conversations. Jenny made her way towards the back of the bus where she sat with her friends. Partway down the bus, she noticed a backpack in the aisle blocking her way. Jenny recognized it immediately as Tiffany Bane's. Tiffany was pretending to be in a conversation with her friends.

"Excuse me Tiffany, could you please move your backpack?" Jenny was not in the mood for this immature behavior today.

"Just step over it. A good athlete like you should be able to handle that, but not much more," Tiffany teased, getting a laugh from her friends.

"Tiffany, why do you have to be such a pain in the butt?" Jenny asked as she stepped over Tiffany's pack.

"You'd better get used to it Thompson, because I'm going to whip your butt in every event today," Tiffany yelled back, so that all in the bus could hear.

Jenny did not have a comeback to the comment, and Tiffany knew it. Tiffany was the best athlete in the school. No matter how hard Jenny tried, she could not best Tiffany in any event. She was always runner-up.

She wouldn't mind being second best if it was to anyone other than Tiffany Bane. Tiffany was not what you would call a gracious winner. Jenny was one of the few people that would stand up to her bullying personality, and Tiffany did not like that, so she took every opportunity to try to make Jenny's life miserable.

"Just once, I'd like to beat her," Jenny muttered as she took off her backpack and sat down with her friends.

"Maybe today will be the day you finally do," said one of her friends optimistically.

"Yeah, maybe if I have a pair of rocket shoes," Jenny said in a dejected tone, as she secured her lighter than air backpack between her feet. As she settled into her seat, a light went on in her head, and her eyes shot down to her backpack, where the anti-gravity suit was stowed.

No, I couldn't, Jenny thought. Could I? That would be cheating, she wrestled with her conscience for a while, and finally decided, this very well could be the last day of fun for the rest of her life, and Relli did advise her to keep physical contact with the suit all day. How could she accomplish that without actually wearing it? That settled it. For the good of the human race, she needed to wear the suit today.

Jenny's mood picked up now, and she confidently stated, "You're right, to-day _will_ be the day I beat her."

"That's the spirit Jenny," her friends said.

There were only two morning classes today. The entire district was meeting at Jenny's school to compete in a variety of running, jumping and throwing events. After her classes, Jenny went to the change room and put on the gravity displacement suit. She knew she was now capable of breaking every running and jumping event record known to humankind, if she wanted to.

I'll have to be careful. I don't want to arouse any suspicion, she thought. The first event was the 100-meter dash, an explosive acceleration of sheer sprinting speed. Jenny warmed up, and as she did, she experimented with different settings on the gravity displacement suit. She found a setting allowing her good sprinting speed, but didn't make her strides look unnaturally long.

Jenny had never realized before, all of the events of the day rewarded the person who was best able to battle the constant force of gravity. The winner was the person who could momentarily defy gravity the best, the person who could jump or throw an object the highest or furthest, and the person who could run the fastest, and Jenny knew she was that person today, thanks to the anti-gravity suit.

Tiffany Bane was assigned the first of two heats, and Jenny the second. The first four finishers in each heat would advance to the final. The starter called the first heat to the starting line.

"Nice sweatsuit Thompson. Where'd you get that, Barney's Bargain Basement?" Tiffany teased, as she walked by Jenny.

It seemed funny to Jenny, the exact same insult from her brother Martin just the day before had been humorous, but when it came from Tiffany Bane, it made her angry. This intriguing thought helped her to ignore the comment gracefully. And, it's also a lot easier to ignore a spiteful comment when you know you are going to have the last laugh, and Jenny was brimming with excited confidence. The first heat started with the crack of the starter's pistol. Tiffany easily won her heat in a time of 13.97 seconds. As Jenny adjusted the starting blocks for her heat, Tiffany jogged by and said, "There's more where that came from Thompson."

Jenny knew Tiffany was still holding something back for the final.

Two of Jenny's friends came over to wish her good luck.

"Don't worry about her Jen. Just relax and run your best."

"Yeah Jen, you can do it. You must be cooking in that sweat suit. Aren't you going to strip to your shorts and tank top?"

"No, I'm comfortable enough," she said. The suit was quite cool and comfortable Jenny realized. "And besides it's my lucky sweat suit."

"Since when?" asked one of her friends, as she curiously eyed the odd-looking suit up and down.

"Since yesterday," Jenny said with a smile.

She advanced to the blocks when called, and crouched down, waiting impatiently for the gun. She flinched in the starting blocks, and had to reset herself, just as the gun went off. The other girls left Jenny standing in the blocks, but she recovered quickly, and soon caught up to them. Halfway into the race, Jenny could feel herself still accelerating, as the other girls hit their top speed and began to slow down. She felt exhilarated as she surged past them. The finish line was approaching quickly, and Jenny figured she had better ease up and save something for the final, not to mention her fear of running too fast, and breaking Flo Jo's long-standing woman's world record. Now that would take a lot of explaining.

She crossed the line in a blistering time of 13.36 seconds, a new district record. Tiffany was furious; she had just broken the district record two weeks earlier.

"Way to go Jen!" her friends cheered.

"I never expected you to break the record!" said one of her friends in shocked disbelief.

"Especially in a heat!" another exclaimed.

"You were right Jen, that sweat suit is lucky for you," added a third.

Jenny noticed Tiffany storming over to them, and braced herself for the tirade.

"I don't know how you did that Thompson. I think it was a fluke, or the stop watches malfunctioned, or something. Whatever the reason, you'll be looking at my back in the final," Tiffany proclaimed, and she quickly turned and stomped off.

"A pleasure as always to talk to you, Tiffany. Please, do come again when you can't stay so long," Jenny said sarcastically. She could tell Tiffany was worried, and Jenny was loving it.

The final was only a half an hour away, so Jenny relaxed in the shade of a tall tree with her friends. As she lay in the soft green grass looking up through the shimmering leaves, she couldn't help but think about how mixed up the world had suddenly become. I can't believe I am here right now having the time of my life, and right after this is done, I have to prepare for a meeting with an alien. This is so important, I'm probably our only hope, or I must assume I am, so I have to pull myself together. I must be strong...Oh, please be strong, Jenny chanted in her head as she lay on the ground.

The voice of her friend Stacy disturbed her thoughts, "Jenny, that's you. They called the runners up for the final."

"Oh, I didn't even hear it. Thanks Stacy," Jenny said, jumping to her feet and jogging over to the starting line.

This is going to be fun, she thought, her face a portrait of blazing confidence.

Tiffany was already in her lane, pacing like a caged cat. Settling into her lane, Jenny performed a final stretching routine. She reminded herself to be careful not to run too fast...just win.

"Runners, take your marks," called the starter, and the eight athletes crouched into their starting blocks.

"Set," was his second command, and the runners prepared for their quick reaction to the gun.

"BANG!" The gun went off, and the eight runners exploded from the blocks. Jenny got a good start and drove hard with her legs and arms. Tiffany got an excellent start, and was actually even with Jenny for a short distance, but Jenny felt light, strong, and confident. She looked over at Tiffany's straining face and smiled, only slightly distracting Tiffany's focus on her race.

Jenny effortlessly started to pull away from the other competitors, and Tiffany strained to no avail, in an attempt to keep up to the surging Jenny, who felt as light and nimble as a young doe. The exhilaration of the moment made her feel like she didn't want it to end, like she wanted to keep running forever, maybe to try to outrun the troubles now confronting her.

Jenny hit the finish line well ahead of Tiffany and the rest of her competition, and kept right on going.

Why stop when I'm feeling like this. I'm going to do the fastest victory lap in history, she thought. She kept on running, much to the amazement and delight of most. She felt agile and tireless as she sped around the track, waving and laughing at the shocked smiling faces of her friends, who immediately mobbed her when she finally slowed down.

"What were you doing?"

"I can't believe how fast you were going!"

"You finally beat Tiffany!" were just some of the comments.

A man's voice interrupted the celebration. "Excuse me!" he had to shout to get Jenny's attention over the chattering excitement of the girls. He passed his business card to Jenny, and everyone instantly quieted down. Jenny recognized the man immediately as a track and field scout from the University of British Columbia, but never dreamed he would ever approach her.

"Hi Jenny. I'm Jack Koharski from the athletic department of the University of British Columbia."

"Hi," Jenny said sounding a little caught off guard.

"That was quite a show you put on out there," he said.

Oh, oh, I'm caught, Jenny thought her carelessness had given away her secret.

"Thanks," Jenny said.

"I'd just like to make you aware of the numerous academic options at U.B.C. We are a very good university, with strong academic and athletic programs," he said. "You still have a few years to decide on a university, but we like to get an early start on athletes and students showing remarkable potential."

Jenny was relieved and flattered that this was his reason for approaching her. The university scouts only talked to the most exceptional athletes, and a generous athletic scholarship would be nice, but today was just a lark, just a for fun thing to help her get her mind off of the only thing that really mattered right now, the giant comet heading straight for Earth.

"Thank you very much for your interest, Mr. Koharski. I'll discuss it with my family," Jenny politely replied. The university scout took his leave, and Jenny went back to her celebration.

At the end of the day's events, they awarded Jenny with the honor of "Athlete of the Day", an award presented to the most inspirational athlete in the track meet.

As Jenny and her circle of friends stood and recalled the thrilling moments of the day, Stacey's attention was diverted, and her eyes got bigger. She spoke softly, but purposefully, and her eyes darted back and forth, from her friends, to her new focus of attention. "There's Ty Nash," she said excitedly. "He's looking over here." The girl's conversation stopped in its tracks, as their attention was now diverted along with Stacie's. "He smiled at us!" she said more intently. "He's coming over here!" Stacie was now beginning to vibrate with excitement on the inside, but tried her hardest to suppress any outward signs.

Tyson Nash strode over to the group of girls with a little dimpled smirk on his face. He walked with a confident swagger that all of the girls found irresistible, and his tousled dark hair blew in the breeze. He looked proudly down at the gold medal dangling from his neck, suspended by a blue ribbon. It soon became apparent that Jenny was the reason for his visit.

"Hello girls," he politely greeted.

"Hi, Ty," they replied in chorus.

A broad, bright smile spread across his tanned face.

"Congrat's on the award Jenny. Man, you really tore up the track," he congratulated.

"Thanks Ty, same to you. You broke the javelin record, didn't you?" Jenny responded.

"Yeah, I guess we both had pretty good days," Ty answered.

Jenny liked Ty a lot. They had been friends since kindergarten, but had kind of drifted apart the last couple of years. He had always been nice to Jenny and to everyone for that matter. Although they were old friends, Jenny felt differently when she talked to him now. She had always been so comfortable with him, but now, she got an excited nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she saw him.

"I think I just got lucky today," Jenny added.

"Yeah, me too. I think a gust of wind blew in just as I let my last one fly," Ty chuckled, and Jenny laughed along with him.

"Well, I just wanted to come over to congratulate you. I'll see you around," he concluded.

"Yeah, thanks Ty, see ya," Jenny said, as he turned and walked away.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Jenny's friends closed tightly in on her.

"Oh, my, gosh! He is soo, cute," Amber squealed as her eyes rolled skyward.

"You are so lucky, Jen. Aren't you excited? That was Ty Nash for crying out loud," Stacie put her hands on her hips, and slightly scolded Jenny for her lack of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish I hadn't frozen up. I sounded like a total weirdo," Jenny said in a disappointed tone.

"Oh, you did not! You're just imagining it. Shoot, I would have fainted on the spot if it was me," Sue stated, as she fanned herself and pretended to whither to the ground.

They all laughed at her antics and went on with their celebration.

.

The bus ride home was a triumphant experience and Jenny basked in the glory of it. Everyone on the bus, with the exclusion of Tiffany and her circle of friends, was sharing in the excitement. They all congratulated Jenny for her amazing accomplishments. It was over all too soon, and Jenny waved goodbye as the bus pulled away in a cloud of dust.

"Well, that's that," she said to herself, as she came back to the reality of the troubled times, and again she was alert to anything suspicious.

"I'm home!" she yelled, as she entered the quiet house. She got a sudden rush of adrenaline when she didn't receive an immediate answer, and she prepared herself when she heard unidentified footsteps approaching. It was Relli. "Oh, you scared me. I'm so on edge right now," Jenny admitted.

"Sorry. So how did it go?" Relli asked.

"Incredible, but I've got a confession to make," Jenny answered.

"You wore the suit for your events," Relli beat her to the punch.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I thought you might. It was the easiest way to keep track of it. So how did you do?"

"Awesome, I won everything, easily. I had to be careful not to be too good, but it's hard when you have such a wonderful tool. I just wanted to let loose, but thankfully, I held back. You should have seen the look on Tiffany Bane's face. It was priceless. She's the only reason I used the power of the suit, and I had to keep it with me all the time, it was the only way. And anyway, who'll care about a track meet if I fail with the alien. A record is only a record if someone is around to record it," Jenny justified.

"Good, it sounds like you had a good time. You deserve it. Don't worry about using the power of the suit today. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter. You have the entire human race to save. Are you prepared for it?" Relli asked.

"No!" came the resounding answer.

Relli flashed a reassuring smile. "Come with me, and we can prepare our strategy," she said, leading the way to the kitchen.

"The alien appears to be very timid and shy, so I don't think it will try to come into the house again, except as a last resort. My guess is, it is watching the house, and is hoping to find you in a more private setting," Relli said.

"Is it just hunches, or do you know?" Jenny asked.

"I've been meditating all day, and I can feel his presence, and sense his thoughts. They are hunches, but educated hunches," Relli explained.

"His?" questioned Jenny.

"Yes, it is a male of his species, and I think he is alone, but I can't be certain. Now, what I would suggest is, we give him the privacy he seems to need to meet with you, by simply walking out the door, and wandering into the backfields. I think he will follow you, and make contact," Relli suggested.

Jenny gulped, "And then what?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. You will have to try to communicate with each other, but I'm not sure how. Maybe being of an advanced race, he will be able to understand you. This part is totally up to your ingenuity, Jenny. You need to try to make him aware of the comet, and to try to get his help in steering it off course. He probably already knows about the comet, and is trying to get out of here before impact," Relli surmised.

"Why can't you come with me?"

"I think more than one person would spook him off, and this is your destiny. Don't ask me why, but you, on your own, is Earth's best chance of getting help from this creature. I can feel it, and I know it in my heart, and the time is now."

"So, how do I convince him to help us?" Jenny asked.

"You have been chosen for this task for a reason, and I trust you will find a way to convey our plight to him."

"Okay, I'm ready," Jenny said, acquiring some strength of self-belief from Relli's words of confidence.

"That's my girl. Now go and hide that suit again, and I'll meet you at the door."

Jenny could feel fear beginning to take its crippling grip on her as she packed away the suit. But she knew this was something she had to do, and she was determined to carry it through. "You can do it. You have to do it. You have no choice. Just do it!" she chanted. Her legs felt like concrete pillars as she trudged down the stairs.

"Now, just head out into the back, and let things take their course. Good luck," Relli said.

"What, no 'break a leg' this time?" Jenny said dryly.

Relli smiled warmly. "Break a leg my dear child."

Jenny returned the smile, and walked out into the late afternoon sunshine.

# Chapter 8

### Contact

Obos had been monitoring Jenny's comings and goings. "The Earth child is leaving her dwelling, Born."

"Good. I have no choice but to make contact with her, Obos," Born said as he tried to pluck up his courage. "Where will I find a translator?"

"It is in panel number three. It is programmed from Soilan to English on setting four," replied the computer. "But English is a very complex language. The translations may not always be precise."

"As long as I can say, _give me back my suit_ , I'll be happy," Born said.

"If the Earth child does not understand a translation, try repeating the phrase with different wording," Obos suggested. "I will monitor the conversation and make adjustments when errors present themselves."

Born took a translating device from the shelf and attached it to himself. He turned on the unit and spoke a Soilan phrase. The translation device picked up Born's voice, and a split second later, reproduced his voice into the appropriate English words.

"How does it sound, Obos?" Born asked the computer.

"The sound is good, and it was a perfect translation. The girl is walking into a secluded area. This is an ideal time to confront her," suggested the computer.

"Ok, I'm going," Born said reluctantly.

Powering up his anti-gravity suit, Born exited the Traveler. He followed Jenny at a distance and breathed deeply, trying to calm his nerves. Obos guided Born through a series of large open fields.

Jenny was walking slowly and cautiously with her senses alert. She had no idea what to expect and kept reminding herself of how frightened the alien was when she had encountered him the previous evening. She had a feeling someone was watching her. She turned around and there he was. All decked out in his gravity displacement suit, complete with multi-colored tassels, steamers, and decorative balls. If Jenny weren't so nervous about the situation, the sight would have been comical. He stood within a clump of bushes and trees, separating the open areas, but he wasn't hard to miss. They both stood still and silent for a few moments, each one of them waiting for the other to make the first move. Jenny did not want to waste her opportunity, so she spoke first.

"Hello, my name is Jennifer Thompson," she tried to project her voice across the fifty feet or so separating them. She gulped and continued. "What is your name?" Jenny spoke slowly and clearly, gesturing with her hands in an attempt to help the alien understand.

Born's translation device detected the sound waves, and translated her words and phrases into Soilan through his earpiece.

"Greetings, my name is Born," he responded. His voice was converted loud and clear into English.

Jenny was surprised. "Oh, you speak English. That's great. Now we can communicate freely," she said, suddenly felling a little more comfortable. "Are you alone?" she looked around suspiciously.

"I am on loan," Born's language converter incorrectly translated.

Jenny knew what he meant, and decided to get right to the point of their meeting. "I think I may have something that belongs to you."

"Yes, my gravity displacement suit. My eye half it back?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" She did not understand Born's question.

"Will you return it to me?" Born repeated the question with different wording.

"I'm sorry to do this, and normally I would return something that didn't belong to me immediately, but I'm in a little bit of a spot, a predicament," Jenny explained. "You see, there is a huge comet on a collision course with my planet, and I was wondering, hoping, you may be able to assist us."

Born realized now what the young Earth human was up to.

"I am aware of the approaching comet. Where is my property?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, I have hidden it," she said, feeling guilty. "But as I mentioned, my planet is in deep trouble and we need help desperately. We don't have the technology to deflect the comet. Are you, or your people able to help us?" Jenny pleaded.

Born looked across at the Earthling child and felt sorry for her, but what could he do?

"I'm sorry. I do not have the qualifications, the experience, or the authority to undertake such a dangerous mission. I don't even know if it is possible."

Jenny decided to change her tactics. The direct approach wasn't working. She knew from experience, small talk opened up the lines of communication, so she may be able to get some important information that she could use to her advantage, and she _was_ very curious about the alien being.

"Where are you from, Born?" she asked.

"I am from a planet called Soilanglobe, it is approximately four light-bulb years from here," Born said.

"Light bulb years?" Jenny asked.

"I'm sorry, this language converter is not always accurate," Born explained.

"You mean, _light years_?" Jenny asked, and Born nodded. "What did you come to Earth for?"

"Water...Like you, and all life forms we have encountered throughout the galaxy, we require water to survive. My planet has had to deal with a very limited supply of water for over two thousand years. We travel here, and to other planets with an over a bread roll dance of water, and collect the small amount we need."

"Over a bread roll dance?" Jenny again questioned.

"Yes, more than what you need," Born repeated.

Jenny thought intently, then a smile of comprehension lit up her face.

"You mean, _overabundance_ ," Jenny corrected.

"Yes, that is what I said," Born stated.

"Umm hmm," Jenny politely agreed.

Jenny, feeling more at ease with the strange creature, continued to feed her voracious curiosity with a barrage of questions. Then, slowly and gradually, they moved closer together. They enjoyed talking to each other, but both had their own reasons for being so polite. Born didn't really feel comfortable revealing so much information about himself, but he felt Jenny had the bargaining advantage, and he hoped by continuing the conversation he could get Jenny to reveal the whereabouts of the gravity displacement suit. He also had in the back of his mind, this species would soon not exist, so revealing some things about himself did not seem too important.

Jenny noticed Born was about her height. He looked quite thin and frail. Very humanoid, in that he had two legs, feet and hands, with a still to be determined number of fingers. His skin was very white and his face did not have contours similar to a human face. He had no protruding nose and his features were quite smooth. His head appeared very large, not at all in proportion with his small face. Jenny noticed the translator attached to his collar.

"How are you able to communicate with me. You don't _speak_ English do you?"

She was puzzled as to why Born's thin lips moved, but the words reproduced, did not match his lip movements, and the English translation did not sound electronic in any way, it sounded like your average every-day man's voice.

"I am wearing a translator, programmed to your language."

"How do you know about my language?"

"We have collected data on every language used on your planet."

"How?" asked Jenny.

"Obos has a cap able to retrieve any electronically stored data, by utilizing the ship's sensitive scanners."

Jenny's brow furrowed, and she thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean Obos is _capable_ of retrieving any electronically stored data," Jenny corrected.

"Yes, that is what I said."

Jenny just smiled and nodded. She realized the language barrier was not nearly as bad as it could be, and the translated misunderstandings were helping her to feel more comfortable with the outlandish situation.

"Who is Obos?" Jenny asked.

"Not who, but rather, what," corrected Born. "Obos represents the words, on board operating system, or Obos for short. It is a standard issue computer, designed to operate a space vessel and to help in all functions or sit you at ions which may occur," he explained.

"Hmm. _Situations_. How does the suit that I found, work?"

Born was glad to get back finally to the subject of the gravity displacement suit.

"I am not a scientist or an engineer, so I do not understand all of its complexities, but basically, it has the ability to recognize and isolate the constant force of gravity, and reduce, eliminate or collect more of it within its own space. The technology absorbs gravitational energy and transfers it elsewhere. We have had this technology for over three thousand years. We first used it in our spacecraft. It proved useful in breaking away from a planet's gravitational pull, or to safely enter the at most fear, and land on a planet," Born explained.

" _Atmosphere_ ," Jenny easily corrected.

Jenny knew from her background, all matter possessed its own gravitational force, and although the force of gravity is the weakest of the four known forces, when accumulated in a large mass, like a planet or a galaxy, it ruled the universe.

"You mentioned, you come to Earth to collect water to supplement your own. How important is Earth water to your planet's survival?" Jenny asked.

"Your planet is not our only option in regards to supplementary water, but it has been our main source for centuries. The next closest water rich planet is another two light years further away," Born explained.

"Hey, you got it right this time," Jenny noted the correction to light-bulb years.

"Yes, Obos is making corrections as we speak."

"I guess that explains all of the UFO sightings throughout history. It was you guys coming and collecting water," Jenny surmised.

"Yes, I'm sure it was. We try to be careful not to be detected, but occasionally we are," Born added.

"I would say the loss of your primary source of water would make things more difficult for you, wouldn't it?"

"Yes it will chomp lick ate things for us," Born admitted.

" _Complicate_?"

"Yes, make things more difficult," Born repeated.

"So, don't you think your people would be ever so grateful to you, if you saved their main source of water from destruction?" Jenny asked.

"My people have already instructed me, to collect my cargo and get out as soon as possible, and that is what I intend to do," Born countered.

"So, that would make it even more special, if it was something you did on your own. Is your ship capable of moving an object as large as this comet away from its original course?" she asked.

"I don't know. That would be a question for Obos, but I can tell you one thing positively, it would be a very perilous mission."

"Yes, but well worth the risk. A whole planet and its inhabitants could be saved, and your planet retains its best source of water, and you return a hero to your planet." Jenny was planting a thought she hoped would be appealing to the alien, but she didn't know the first thing about alien psychology, it was hard enough trying to figure out how her own race thought.

"I don't have the least bit of interest in becoming a hero. I much prefer staying alive," Born answered.

"What about all of the people on this planet who also wish to stay alive? Don't you think you owe it to them, considering we have helped to keep you and your people alive for centuries, by supplying you with water, free of charge, I may add," Jenny was beginning to flex her muscles.

"I am not without compassion, as you unfairly portray me. I just don't have the authority to risk my company's ship, and the water I have on board is needed back home."

"Can't you get in touch with your planet and explain the situation to them? You said yourself, that our water is very important to you," Jenny pleaded.

"I already have. They told me to collect my cargo and leave as quickly as possible," Born repeated. "And, as far as my gravity displacement suit, I was hoping, as an honest person, you would return the suit to its rightful owner."

"Normally I would return something that doesn't belong to me right away, but, my family and friends and everyone on the planet is going to die if I can't convince you to do this for us." Jenny was getting very emotional now. The stress, frustration, and helplessness of the whole situation was starting to affect her and tears welled up in her eyes.

"You had mentioned your computer would be able to tell us if this was possible. Can't we check with it first? It may say this is a simple procedure that can be done quickly, and you'll be out of here and back home in no time," Jenny's voice quivered with emotion.

A young girl's tears can affect even an alien from another solar system. It is a powerful weapon, capable of swaying circumstances in their favor, and Born was touched by the young Earth human's show of emotions.

"All right, all right," Born conceded, "I will check with Obos, and see what the probability of completing a mission such as this is," he said with a sigh of reluctance. He wondered what he had just gotten himself into.

Jenny jumped. "Oh, thank you, thank you, Born!" She gushed in appreciation. She quickly regained her composure and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Can I come and see your ship?"

Born looked at Jenny suspiciously, thinking her poise had returned very quickly. "I suppose you may. I have already told you more than I should have, so a little more information certainly won't make a difference at this point. Come." He motioned with his long willowy hand, and they walked off together, alien and human, side-by-side.

# Chapter 9

### Wondrous Technology

Jenny and Born walked for a few minutes through fields of long grasses, swaying and flowing in the cool early evening breeze. As they walked, Jenny again noticed the bobbing balls and streamers on Born's suit.

"Is that a gravity suit, the same as the one I found?" she asked.

"Yes, it is."

"How come it looks so...different?"

She wanted to ask why it looked so silly, but did not want to be rude.

"It is designed to match the clothing of another planet where we sometimes collect water, and yes, I know, it looks ridiculous."

Jenny smiled to herself. She was starting to feel more comfortable with Born, and a little more optimistic about the whole desperate situation.

"But, I had to wear this suit, because somebody took my other one, which I would normally wear on your planet," Born added, sounding somewhat frustrated.

Jenny looked into the strange creature's protruding eyes. They were very similar to human eyes, in that they had black pupils, and white, surrounding gray irises. Born had lids, and short lashes, but no eyebrows. His face was quite featureless, no nose, just two holes where a nose should be, and no lips as Jenny recognized them, just a slit for a mouth. Born's teeth were just small white nubs running along his gums. His ears, though difficult to see under the headgear, appeared to be very small. He had very little chin or jaw line, his face just kind of became one with his long neck.

"Boy, you scared the heck out of me last night," Jenny said.

"And you, frightened me as well," Born said with a smile, as he looked at Jenny.

Jenny thought how bizarre the whole situation was, Here I am, walking along, talking to an alien from another planet, on my way to see his space ship, to find out if he can save Earth from destruction. It's hard to believe that just days ago I was complaining about how dull it was around here. She felt she could use a little bit of dull right about now.

They cut through a clump of trees into the next clearing.

"Oh, my goodness!" Jenny was jolted out of her thoughts by the sight of a massive object, Born's intergalactic spacecraft.

"She is called the Traveler," informed Born. "She's a little old, but it gets me from planet to planet."

Jenny could tell he was very fond and proud of his space vessel.

She craned her head from side to side, and up and down, her mouth gaping open.

"It's amazing."

The ship was huge. It took up the entire field in which it hovered, motionless, about ten feet above the ground.

"Why does it need to be so big when it's just you on board?" Jenny asked.

"The propulsion system takes up some room, but most of the space is reserved for valuable cargo. The Traveler is equipped with water tanks capable of containing five million liters of water."

Jenny could not comprehend how something so large and obviously heavy, could simply hover over the ground. "How does the ship just kind of, float there like that?"

"It is the same technology incorporated into the gravity displacement suit you are holding hostage," Born answered, looking over at her. Jenny ignored the look, and the comment.

"How is the ship powered?" Jenny asked, changing the direction of conversation away from the suit.

"We are equipped with eight nuclear particle accelerator compressors which allow us to achieve velocities upwards to four times the speed of light. There are vessels now, with new technology, capable of reaching almost five times the speed of light," Born explained.

"Wow! What do you use as fuel?" she asked.

"We use the most basic and plentiful element in the universe, hydrogen."

Jenny knew hydrogen is the first element in the table of chemical elements, and it is the starting point for the other 115 known elements and their creation. It is also the main fuel for the billions of stars in the universe.

Born continued, "Hydrogen is everywhere throughout the universe in varying quantities. We collect our fuel as we travel through space. We super compress and accelerate the hydrogen atoms to simulate how a star burns. The nuclear particle accelerator compressors are like having eight tiny stars burning in the back of the ship."

"Wow. That gives new meaning to the term starship," Jenny commented, and she walked towards the ship in order to get a better look at it. She walked from one end of the field to the other, looking up at the hulking object. It looked like a giant hot air balloon as it floated above the ground, but this hot air balloon was actually a sleek, out of this world, intergalactic space vessel.

"It seems hard to believe, I'm looking at something close up that's been a source of mystery to people on my planet for centuries. To think a lot of those UFO sightings were actually genuine, and they were all probably witnessing spaceships from your planet all these years. Is there a front or a back to it? The shape seems so uniform all the way around," Jenny commented.

"Over here is the rear of the ship, although it becomes the front during the de basement ration phase," Born commented as he led Jenny around.

"The de basement ration phase? What is that?" Jenny asked.

"You know, when we slow the ship down."

"Oh! _Deceleration_ ," Jenny realized.

"Yes, that is what I said."

"Yep, that's what you said," Jenny agreed.

"Why does all of the dirt and rocks and stuff just float around underneath the ship?" Jenny asked as she followed Born around the vessel. It was a peculiar sight to see large rocks floating freely in mid-air.

"Everything under the spacecraft is affected by the ship's gravity displacement device, and therefore is not under the influence of the planet's gravitational pull," Born explained.

"This is the propulsion end of the ship. Those are the primary thrusters, and all of those smaller ports along the entire surface of the ship are the secondary or stabilizing thrusters, and there are 300 of them."

Jenny could see eight large ports, lined side by side along the back of the Traveler. The intense heat produced inside the nuclear engines had slightly discolored the ports.

"The eight star chambers are housed back here, and super-heated tachyons are released through those ports at speeds up to four times the speed of light. Soilan spacecraft are styled and designed in order to provide the most space dynamic, low resistance performance," Born explained.

"What is it made out of? It must be pretty tough stuff to withstand the constant friction of space travel, and if you have to spin the ship around to slow down, aren't you traveling through your own super heated exhaust?" Jenny asked.

"Very astute observation, and you are right, it is a difficulty, but we have overcome it by developing a force-field wedge that is incorporated into our vessels. It is an energy field that can constantly be built back up as it is broken down by heat and friction. The force-field wedge is designed to deflect matter away from the ship as we speed through space. It is resistant to heat, and resilient to solid material up to a certain size, and as I mentioned, it can be regenerated as it breaks down, which makes it very adaptable. The hull and the star chambers are made from a very tough metal called Merrinium."

"Hmm..." Jenny pondered Born's explanation for a moment and pictured it in her mind. "But, when you are slowing down, and you have the force-field wedge engaged, doesn't it just deflect the exhaust right back onto the ship?" Jenny asked.

"Again a very perceptive question, I am impressed with your intelligence. I see now why your race has made so much progress in such a short time on this planet," Born praised.

"Hopefully we can continue to develop. That is, if you help us get past this dangerous situation," Jenny added.

"Hmm, now to answer your question. The Zorbite force-field wedge is unique in that it acts like a flow valve. Energy is free to pass through it from one side, the ship-side in this case, but cannot pass back through from the other side," Born explained.

"Wow, that's amazing. I know what a flow valve is. It allows water to flow through it from one end, but it can't come back through the one-way line. What's Zorbite?" Jenny asked.

"Zorbite is a mineral that has the ability to absorb and retain energy. The longer the mineral is subjected to energy of any kind, the more it retains. For example, if a chunk of Zorbite lay on the surface of your planet for thousands of years, absorbing, but never releasing the energy of the starlight from your sun, it would have stored an incredible amount of power over that time. We have developed a process by which we can extract or release that stored energy, and put it to practical uses.

"We use Zorbite as a battery source. Zorbite powers the gravity displacement suits for example. Very rich Zorbite has the capability of providing years of power, depending on the energy requirements of its use. Zorbite is perfect for the one way force-field wedge, because of its natural one way properties and capabilities," Born explained.

"That's incredible. I don't think we have any Zorbite here on Earth," Jenny said.

"No, I believe this planet is completely devoid of Zorbite. However, you certainly make up for it with your richness of water. Given a choice between the two as your dominant natural resource, water would be the first choice. It is the substance from which all life develops and is maintained. You are very lucky to have such an abundance of it. My planet's Zorbite supply was exhausted centuries ago, along with our water. Now we must venture to far away planets to find both. It takes millions of years to develop rich Zorbite," Born explained.

"Where do you get your Zorbite from now?" Jenny asked.

"There is a massive planet called Spacemark Four between Earth and Soilanglobe, as rich in Zorbite as you are with water. They are also as deficient in water as we Soilans are, so we trade water for Zorbite. I should actually be on my way there right now, but I am stuck here trying to get my property back," Born reminded.

"You mean you trade Earth water for other things you need? Why don't you open lines of trade with Earth then?" Jenny asked.

"Because the water we take from Earth is right on the surface, and can be taken easily and not missed, while the Zorbite on Spacemark Four is under the surface and needs to be mined, so we must trade for it," Born explained.

"I've got an idea. For all of the water you have taken from Earth to sustain life on your planet over the last few centuries, we will trade you for this one favor I ask of you. I think that's a fair deal, don't you?" Jenny challenged.

"Hmm, you are a very clever creature, and I will certainly consider your proposal."

"Can we go inside?" Jenny asked, excited about viewing the spaceship.

"I suppose so," Born said, and he began walking towards the center of the ship. A set of stairs extended from the vessel to the ground below. Born reached into the pocket of his ornately decorated suit, turned the dial on the controller, and sprung to the top stair.

Jenny chuckled, "Show-off." And proceeded to climb up the stairs. "I wish I had my suit, umm, I mean your suit," she said, sounding slightly embarrassed by her comment.

Born entered the colossal ship and Jenny followed, her heart beating hard and fast.

"Whoa, how come I suddenly feel so light?" she gasped.

"Obos keeps the interior of the Traveler at a gravity level comfortable for me, equal to my planet's gravity," Born answered as he removed his gravity suit, looking rather relieved to get it off. He wore a light blue jumpsuit underneath that had a slight luster to the material.

Jenny could now see Born had no hair, and his ears were just tiny flaps on the side of his large head.

"My people did not need to evolve the heavy bone and muscle structure your planet demands. Your planet's gravitational pull is five times greater than Soilanglobe," he added.

Jenny noticed Born's slender and frail arms and legs. He had very little flesh on his skinny bones. He looked like a stick man to Jenny.

She looked around at the area. "Nice, but it's not quite as big as I pictured. I thought it was going to be huge, judging from the outside. The term spaceship certainly doesn't apply to the amount of space inside, does it?" Jenny commented.

Born revealed a glimmer of a smile. "Most of the ship's space is reserved for valuable cargo."

Jenny looked around the control center and viewing area. There were two comfortable looking chairs bolted to the floor, and a panel of lights on the wall of the otherwise very plain looking area. The outside of the ship was much more of an amazing visual experience.

"Where is Obos?" Jenny asked.

"Obos is really the entire Traveler. Its circuits control every aspect of the ship and reach to every corner. There is the communication center on the wall over there. Obos, this is Jennifer Thompson, the human life form hole dingaling my gravity displacement suit hostage."

Jenny laughed at the translation error. "I think you mean _holding_ ," she corrected.

"According to her, we are having some translation difficulties, Obos."

"Yes, I am correcting and adjusting as we move forward. Hello, Jennifer Thompson," replied the computer in a smooth soothing voice.

"Hello, Obos. Please, call me Jenny, everybody does. Born tells me you're the brains of the ship," Jenny ventured.

"Yes, I suppose in a way I am, a synthetic manufactured brain, but yes, brain none the less," Obos replied, in an almost amused tone.

"Wow, he's amazing. This entire ship is amazing."

"Obos, Jenny is concerned about the comet on a collision course with this planet. Do we have the capability to alter its course, and what are the risks?" asked Born.

"It is within our technological capabilities to guide the comet away from its collision course with this planet," Obos said, and Jenny's heart leapt with an intense feeling of hope. "The risks range from damage of varying degrees to the shell of the ship, to destruction," Obos concluded.

"Did you hear that? Destruction it said."

"Yes, I heard him. He said destruction. I understand the word, because that's what's going to happen to my planet if we don't try something!" Jenny argued.

"Obos, detail what strategy we would use on this mission, what is the specific nature of the danger, and what are our mathematical chances of successfully, and _safely_ , completing this mission?" Born requested as he looked over at Jenny with an annoyed expression.

"In order to change the course of the comet, the Traveler would need to make physical contact with it, and gradually push it off course, or use the force-field deflector wedge as a buffer or cushion between the comet and the ship. One of the dangers associated with the mission is a methane gas explosion at the surface of the comet. As your sun heats the surface of the comet, trapped methane gas pockets expand, and can unexpectedly, and explosively release their energy, spewing shards of ice and rock.

"I would recommend using the deflector wedge. Then we have some protection against a methane explosion. But the force-field wedge will only protect us from small pieces of ice. Any large pieces may have sufficient force to bend the energy of the force field inwards enough to make contact with the ship. The ship's internal stabilizers would cushion most of the collisions, but a large section of ice and rock delivered with enough explosive force, could create sufficient trauma to your bodies to take your lives.

"We will need to situate ourselves very close to the comet, and remain there for days, in order to push it sufficiently past Earth's gravitational influence. Then, it will miss Earth and continue on, towards the sun. The comet is only loosely held together by ice, and its own weak gravity, so we may disturb the fragility of the frozen piece of space debris, and split it into pieces. It is not possible to accurately estimate the probability for success, because there are too many unknown variables, but if we are cautious, I calculate the chances of successfully completing, and surviving the mission, at roughly eighty percent."

Jenny looked over at Born, who had a thoughtful but troubled look on his alien face.

"Eighty percent, that's pretty good odds," Jenny said hopefully to Born.

"Yes, but it's the other twenty percent that worries me," Born said, as he rubbed his temples.

"I think we should try it," Jenny blurted, momentarily forgetting her composure, and her place.

Born shook his head in frustration.

"How much time do we have until impact, Obos?" he asked.

"Approximately 165 hours. Keep in mind, time is of the essence if we are going to attempt this. It will require approximately 110 hours of steady pushing to achieve our goal."

Born looked surprised. "Why so long?"

"The comet has a large mass compared to us and it is moving at a substantial rate of speed, so it will require a long slow continuous process of pushing in order to move the comet away from its collision course with Earth. And, the rotation of the comet will require us the reposition ourselves often," informed Obos.

"I suggest completing our water collection before attempting this task, the extra mass would serve us well," Obos recommended.

"Yes, good point." Born agreed.

They seemed to be discussing it as though it was actually a possibility.

"So when do we start?" ventured Jenny.

"I haven't yet decided!" Born snapped. "I need time to think about it. Go home and come back in the morning for my final decision."

Jenny realized she had pushed it as far as she could and now it was out of her hands. "It was nice to meet you both. I know we can do it. I'll keep good care of your suit until you make your decision," Jenny said as she exited the starship, Traveler. "See you first thing in the morning."

"She is infuriating," Born said to Obos.

"She is a very interesting and focused biologic being. It's quite refreshing actually."

"If she irritated me this much in the first hour of our meeting; I couldn't imagine going on a long space journey with her."

"It's just the situation," the computer replied. "Under different circumstances, I'm sure you would find her pleasant and charming."

Born grimaced and shook his head. "What a predicament, Obos."

Jenny walked down the space ship's stairs, feeling heavy and sluggish after becoming accustomed to the lower level of gravity inside the Traveler. The air was getting cooler as she made her way home in the early evening sunshine. The shadows lengthened as the sun began to set, and small groups of flies darted around the open area. Jenny looked up into the sky. She found it difficult to comprehend, somewhere up there was a mountain-sized chunk of ice and matter hurtling towards her planet. She tried to keep up her faith that Born would agree to take on this dangerous task.

# Chapter 10

### Decision Time

Relli was anxiously pacing back and forth on the front porch when Jenny came running up. Jenny beamed with excitement and relief.

"I found him! Or he found me. His name is Born, and he's not scary at all. He's actually really nice, but kind of grumpy sometimes. I think he is a little resentful to be in this position though. You were right, he just wants his suit, and to be on his way. They come for water, and apparently our planet is the closest water rich planet to theirs," Jenny blurted.

"Can he help?" Relli asked.

"There is a possibility. He has this amazing computer on board his spaceship. I saw his spaceship, Relli! It is amazing, and huge. Anyway, his computer, Obos is its name, says there is an eighty percent chance of being successful at moving the comet off course, but it would be very dangerous, and Born doesn't want to risk it, but he wants his suit back, and I think I am getting to him. And I think Obos may be on my side," Jenny rambled.

"Wow, that's amazing. See I told you, you could do it. How did you communicate?" Relli asked.

"He's got a translation device that converts his language into English for me to hear, and converts my words into his language for him to hear, although his translations aren't always accurate. But it was kind of fun trying to decipher what he was trying to say. It was weird. It was like watching one of those old kungfu movies. You know, the ones where the actor's lips move and then the words come out, but none of the words match the lip movements. It was a bonus to be able to communicate though, and it made me feel much more comfortable," Jenny explained.

"Come and tell me about it while I prepare dinner, I'm way behind, and your father is due home soon. What did he look like?" Relli asked as they walked to the kitchen. Jenny excitedly told Relli all of the details about Born and his amazing spaceship while she helped with dinner.

"I also asked him if I could go along if he does decide to help us," Jenny mentioned.

"I thought you would," Relli said.

"How come?"

"Well, because now that I know you better, I would have guessed it as a possibility, but also because of my visions. Remember, my vision indicated you would be going on two long journeys, the second longer than the first, and I'm assuming this is the first," Relli answered.

"Hey, that means Born will do it, and we're going to succeed in moving the comet off course, if I'm going on a second longer trip," Jenny surmised.

"Not necessarily. You have overlooked one possibility. If Born can't move the comet away from its collision course with Earth, and it does collide and destroy life on the planet, he will have no choice but to take you along with him wherever he may see fit," Relli advised.

Jenny frowned. "Oh yeah, I didn't think of that one. But it does indicate I will be going on this trip, so that means Born will agree to help us, and he will let me come along," Jenny said hopefully.

"It would appear that way, but don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Visions have a way of tricking us into thinking one way, and then a whole new set of circumstances crop up, and the prediction still comes true, but not in the way we had hoped. Just concentrate on convincing your father first. That will be a chore in itself," Relli added.

"Will you help me?" Jenny asked.

"No, I'm afraid you're on your own with this one, Jenny. I'm a newcomer to this household and I don't have any pull in a matter like this. You don't need my help anyway."

"Okay, just a thought. When is Dad due home?" Jenny asked.

Relli looked up at the clock on the wall. "Any minute now, actually."

"I'm going to have to hit him up as soon as he comes home if that's all right. I won't be able to relax until I do. Not that I can relax anyway, considering the circumstances," Jenny admitted.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. You should probably include Martin. He needs to know, too."

"Yeah, you're right. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when I show them the gravity suit," Jenny said, as a wicked grin spread across her mischievous face. A few minutes later Mr. Thompson rolled up and shuffled into the house.

"Hi Dad, how are you doing? You look tired," Jenny greeted.

"I am honey. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Dad, I need your advice on something," Jenny said, getting right to the point.

"Ok, what's up?"

"Come into the kitchen and sit down," Jenny instructed her father. "I need to get Martin, too. I'll just be a sec," Jenny said, as she left the kitchen and bolted up the stairs.

"Suppertime Martin," Jenny called as she ran past his room. She knew if she wanted her brother downstairs right away, she had better mention food.

"Great, I'm starving," Martin said, as he hurriedly signed off his computer.

Jenny ran up to the attic, collected the gravity displacement suit, and ran back downstairs with it. She caught up to Martin and they entered the kitchen together. Martin saw everybody assembled and supper on hold. Relli leaned against the counter with her arms folded in front of her, and Mr. Thompson was sitting at the kitchen table.

"What's going on, I thought we were going to eat?" Martin asked.

"Jenny seems to have called a family meeting. Have a seat Martin," Mr. Thompson instructed. "Okay Jenny, what's up?" her father asked.

"I may need to go away for a few days," she started.

"What do you mean, go away? Like to Auntie Sarah's, or something like that?" he asked.

"No, a little farther away than that I'm afraid. This is going to be hard to explain, and even harder for you to accept, but here goes," she said before taking a deep breath in preparation. Mr. Thompson's brow furrowed, and he shifted in his chair as if to ready himself for what he about to hear.

"Have you heard about the recent UFO sightings?" Jenny directed the question at her father.

"I've heard a little bit about them, but I've been too busy to pay too much attention to it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've met the alien and visited his spaceship," Jenny said, matter-of-factly, although the words sounded unbelievable even to her.

Martin unsuccessfully tried to suppress a laugh, and Jenny shot an annoyed look his way. She studied her father's face for a moment. If the situation were not so serious, she would have broken out into laughter herself at the blank look on his face.

"Okay..." was all he could think to say.

"He and his ship have the capability of altering the comet's course. I'm trying to convince him to do it. He's going to let me know by tomorrow morning, and I want to go with him," she said.

"Whoa, hold on there, Jenny. We've all been under a lot of stress lately, and sometimes a dream or wishful thinking can make something seem real," her father stated.

"I have proof," she said calmly.

"You do, do you?" Mr. Thompson said.

"Yes, I do," she said, and she displayed the gravity displacement suit.

"I found this by the lake yesterday," Jenny explained, as she passed the suit to her father.

He examined the bundle of clothing. "A weird sweatsuit, with a baseball cap and shoes attached? How is this proof?"

Jenny didn't answer. She removed the control module from the front pocket of the gravity displacement suit and powered up the suit. It shifted in her father's arms.

"Whoa! What happened? It suddenly feels much lighter," he said.

Jenny was kind of enjoying this. She turned the dial on the control module to increase the gravitational pull on the suit until it was so heavy, her father had to use great effort to keep it held up.

Jenny smirked. "Heavy, Dad?"

"Yeah, slightly," he strained to get the words out.

"Do you want me to lighten the load a little bit?" she asked him.

"I guess so. But how the heck is it doing that?" he asked.

Jenny turned the adjustment dial in the opposite direction. The suit became lighter and lighter the further she turned it. It was so light, when Mr. Thompson lowered his arms the suit did not follow. It stayed put, floating in mid-air. Jenny could not suppress herself any longer, and broke out in laughter.

"I wish I had a camera. You should see the look on your faces."

Mr. Thompson and Martin sat there with open mouths and astonished eyes, while Relli stood off to the side, trying to hide and suppress her amusement.

"This is incredible!" Jenny's Dad said. He waved his hands above it, in search of non-existent supporting strings, as it levitated in front of them. "How, is it doing that?" he asked.

"It's not of this world, that's how. It's Born's. That's the name of the alien. He needs this suit to be able to move around on our planet, because the gravity on his planet is five times less than ours. He left it beside the lake when he went for a swim. He comes here regularly to collect water. Born's planet has a permanent water shortage. There are very few planets within his range of travel that have an abundance of clean water. Earth is the closest to him. I'm holding the anti-gravity suit hostage, and I'm trying to convince him to help us out, to move the comet off course." Jenny studied her father's reaction to the unbelievable news.

"I've tried out the suit, and worn it outside. It's amazing. You should see how high I can jump without the Earth's gravity holding me down. I hate to give it up, but it isn't mine to keep. Even if Born refuses to attempt this mission, I'll eventually have to give it back, but I'm not going to let him know that. This is our only chance, Dad. Born has this incredible computer on board his spaceship. His name is Obos, which stands for on board operating system, and he says there is a good chance they may be able to shift the course of the comet," Jenny explained.

Jenny's father sat and listened to his daughter, with a stunned look on his face. He would have thought she was starting to crack under the intense pressure, except for one piece of concrete evidence, the anti-gravity suit, which was now floating in front of them all. He looked over at Relli, who smiled slightly, and nodded her head, in confirmation of the incredible account.

"Jenny, this story is fantastic! Can I meet him? Where is his ship? How big is it?" he blurted.

"He's very shy. I don't know if he'll meet you. The only reason he met me was because I took his anti-gravity suit," Jenny said.

"This, is absolutely incredible. You have the fate of the entire planet in your hands," her father said.

"It's nice to have some hope in what seemed like a hopeless situation, but it's a lot of responsibility," Jenny admitted.

"Relli says I was chosen for this task. And even though I don't know if I'm really the best person for the job, it seems to have landed in my lap, and I am more than willing to try my best," Jenny stated, with a look over to Relli, who kept silent, but smiled proudly.

Mr. Thompson did not fail to notice the exchange between his daughter, and their new housekeeper.

"So, do you think he will agree to try?" Jenny's father asked.

"I don't know for sure, but, my gut feeling says yes. Of course my gut feeling is also based on Relli's visions," Jenny said, and she recognized the cynical look on his face.

"I know, Dad but look at the facts. Relli has had visions since she was my age about this situation, and she felt an overwhelming urge to come to this area. When she saw your ad in the newspaper, she knew she should apply for it. Something guided her here to help me, and Dad, she really has. I don't know how I could have coped without her help."

Jenny's father looked over at Relli, and realized he would have to accept the amazing circumstances confronting him. He had always held certain scientific beliefs about how things happened in time and space. These circumstances formidably challenged his beliefs. For the good of his daughter, and Earth's future, he now felt he had to be more open-minded.

"I know, honey; I'll try harder. Thank you Relli," he conceded. "I have faith in you Jenny, you're an amazing kid. This responsibility couldn't have been bestowed on a more capable person, adult, or child. Just go with your instincts, they have always worked for you. I know you can do it," her father reassured. "What can I do to help?"

"Give me permission to go," Jenny had those big puppy dog eyes no father could resist.

"Don't give me that look young lady. This isn't a sleepover at a friend's house. This is serious, and why do you need to go anyway? It sounds like it will be very dangerous. Did Born discuss the risks at all?"

"Yes, there are risks involved, but the chances of surviving the mission are good. And it's not that I can offer much help, but I really want to go. I mean, look at the opportunity, Dad. I'll be able to see a comet close up. As far as the risks involved, if we fail and the Traveler is destroyed, then the Earth will be struck by the comet and destroyed as well. If we fail to move the comet off course, but survive, I will return to Earth to await my fate with the rest of you. If we succeed and survive, then I have had a wonderful experience that no one has ever had before" Jenny said.

"You've missed one possibility," Jenny's father added. "What if Born manages to move the comet off course, but is destroyed in the process."

"Yes, I suppose that is a possibility, but if Born does this, he is doing it for me, for us. Don't you think I should be there to represent the planet he is trying to save?" Jenny argued.

"Yes, someone should be, but not my daughter."

"Dad, this is my responsibility, you can't take this away from me, and that outcome is the least likely of the three. If the Traveler is destroyed, Earth will be destroyed as well, so what difference does it make if I die here on Earth, or up in space?"

Jenny's father gave his head a shake. "I don't know. I just can't believe we are sitting here discussing life and death situations. These are extraordinary times. As your father, it's not going to be an easy decision to let you go. And, we don't even know if he is going to do it yet. So, let's cross that bridge if we come to it."

"I have a feeling he will at least try. I got the feeling Obos, the ship's computer, was on my side, and Born bases his decisions on Obos' advice. I sure hope he will. It sounds like our only chance," Jenny said.

"We are extremely lucky to even have this opportunity," her father added. "We certainly don't have even a remote chance if we rely on our own capabilities. Now tell me more about this suit, and Born, and the ship, while we eat."

.

Meanwhile, as Jenny was talking to her family, Born was having a difficult time deciding what to do.

"I really would like to help, and I do want my gravity displacement suit back, but I don't want to risk my life, or damage to the Traveler, and my orders are, to return home as soon as possible. Jenny is a very interesting and intelligent Earth human, and it would be a shame to lose this planet as our main source of water. If we succeed, I would return home a hero, but if we fail, there is a chance I'll die. What is your advice, Obos?" Born asked, as he paced back and forth across the bridge, desperate for help in making the most difficult decision of his life.

"The chances for success are good, and the chances for survival are good, but there are dangers involved that could cost you your life. The ship will undoubtedly be damaged in the procedure, but if you succeed, the damage will be overlooked by home base, because you will have saved Soilanglobe's most valuable source of water," Obos advised.

"So, if you were me, would you attempt it?" Born asked more specifically.

"If I was a biological life form like you, given the data, the circumstances, and the possible benefit involved, I would attempt it. If it proves to be too difficult or dangerous, we have the option to abort the mission. With all that said, the decision lies with you, but it is imperative that we begin before mid-day tomorrow." Obos concluded.

.

With the killer comet bearing down on Earth, Jenny would have to wait until the next day for the decisions of Born and her father.

Jenny, and the entire Thompson household had a restless sleep that night. The anticipation of Born's decision was overwhelming, and all were relieved when morning finally arrived. They all rose early and met for breakfast in the kitchen.

"What time are you supposed to meet with Born this morning?" Jenny's father asked.

"We didn't set a time, but I'm planning on going as soon as I finish breakfast." Jenny said, as she bit into her toast.

"Maybe I should come with you," her father suggested.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea, Dad. Like I mentioned last night, Born is very shy, and I don't want to spook him, or delay the process in any way. Thanks for the offer though," Jenny responded, and she and Relli exchanged smiles.

"Okay honey, you know best. It's just hard for me to sit back and watch, when there is so much on the line here, but I trust you and your instincts," he concluded.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best," Jenny assured them all.

The sun was bright and warm when she left the house, but the air was still cool. She suddenly had a feeling of apprehension that Born and the Traveler may not even be there. Maybe he decided to forget the whole thing and left without his suit.

Her pace quickened, and her heart began to thump in her chest at the thought of the sinking feeling she would feel if the spaceship was not there anymore. She made her way through the last clump of bushes and was relieved to see the Traveler still there, gleaming in the morning sunlight, with the stairs down in a welcoming gesture.

Obos had been tracking Jenny with its sensors. "Jenny is here," Obos informed Born.

Jenny ran across the field and bounded up the Traveler's stairway. She knocked on the outside of the ship and poked her head inside.

"Anybody home?" she called out.

"Hello Jenny, come in," answered Born.

"Good morning," she cheerily chimed.

"Did you bring my gravity displacement suit with you?" asked Born.

"Umm, no I didn't," she answered in a hesitant tone.

"I thought that was the deal," Born said with a bit of a smirk.

"You mean you'll do it?" Jenny blurted hopefully.

"I mean we'll try. I have consulted with Obos and we agree we will try and see how it goes. If it proves too difficult or dangerous, we may have to abort the mission. That is the most I can offer," Born explained.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Born!" Jenny gushed as she jumped up and down.

With the charge of excitement and the reduced gravity in the ship, Jenny nearly hit her head on the ceiling. She wanted to go over and give Born a big hug, but she wasn't sure how he would accept it, and she was afraid she might break his frail body in half with her exuberance. Jenny walked past the computer panel and whispered, "Thanks Obos."

"What about me coming along?" Jenny asked.

"Have you mentioned this to anyone?" asked Born.

"I told my father about you last night. It took a bit of convincing to get him to believe me though. I had to use the suit as proof. He thought I was losing my mind at first," Jenny said, smiling. "I asked his permission to go. He hasn't given it yet, but I think he will. May I come along if he lets me?"

"I suppose, if your father gives you his permission, and I'm sure he will. I have experienced firsthand your powers of persuasion."

"We will have to leave by mid-day at the latest in order to have sufficient time to successfully complete the mission," Born advised. "And we need to do some final preparations before we start, primarily filling our water tanks. The extra mass will serve us well by enabling us to be more effective in nudging the comet off course. Do you want to come along, or do you need to go home now? It will take about two hours to complete the water collection process," Born offered.

"Yes! I'd love to come along!" Jenny exclaimed. She was looking forward to going for as spin in the Traveler, even if it was only for a few kilometers.

"But I would really like to tell my family the good news, if that's okay? I promise I'll be fast," Jenny asked, as she jumped up and down with excited energy.

"All right, but be quick, we need to get going as soon as possible," Born advised.

"I will," Jenny promised.

She darted out the door and down the stairs of the Traveler. She ran all the way home, and burst into the house out of breath, and overjoyed.

"He's going to do it. He's going to do it!" Jenny shouted, in between gasps for air. The Thompson household erupted in a cascade of whoops and cheers, and they all met in a circle in the hallway, and jumped around and up and down in jubilation.

"I've got to go back now. Born's waiting for me. We need to fill his water tanks for the extra mass," Jenny advised. "Dad-can I go?" Jenny asked, with all becoming silent.

"It seems senseless for me to say no, considering the extraordinary circumstances...so," Mr. Thompson displayed a pained expression, "I reluctantly give you permission to go."

"Thanks, Dad. I love you."

"Yeah, you love me now, but what if I had of said no."

"I always love you, no matter what, you know that," Jenny assured.

She dashed back out the door, after barely getting her breath back. Mr. Thompson, Relli and Martin continued the celebration after Jenny had left. It was wonderful to have a feeling of hope in what had seemed like such a hopeless situation.

# Chapter 11

### Preparation

Jenny ran all the way back to the Traveler, and collapsed in a heap on the floor of the ship's control center. Born turned and looked at her as she lay there, gasping for air.

"I didn't mean for you to overexert yourself, just to be quick," Born gently scolded.

"Obos, take us back to the lake, so we can finish collecting our cargo," Born instructed.

The Traveler's door slid shut, and the ship began to rise. Jenny went over to the window and peered out, still recovering from her morning run. Once they had cleared the treetops, the great ship pivoted until it was facing in the direction of the lake.

Jenny could see the winding path she and Polka used to reach the lake far below, and the sun shimmering off the water in the distance up ahead. They reached the lake and dropped towards it until they were hovering just above the water.

"Obos, let's see if the extractor tubes will release this time," Born instructed.

"No Born, they are stuck again," informed Obos.

"Here we go again. This is how I got into this predicament in the first place," Born grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Jenny inquired.

"If the extractor tubes had released automatically when we first got here, I would have had no reason to leave the ship. I would have finished collecting my cargo and be happily on my way home."

"Then I would've never have had the pleasure of meeting you and Obos, and an entire civilization would have become extinct, and you would have lost your main source of water. I think we are both lucky things worked out the way they did," Jenny added.

"You are presuming of course, we will be successful," Born said.

"Oh, we will be. I have faith. Maybe it was fate that brought us together in order to save Earth," Jenny theorized.

"I don't think there is any such thing as fate, just chance and circumstance. Things happen by chance, not by design," Born said with conviction.

"That's how I used to think too, but this experience has totally changed my opinion on the subject. But, whatever brought us together, I'm glad it did," Jenny said.

"Come with me." Born motioned to Jenny. "I can use your strong body to help me pull the collector tubes to the lake. Obos, land us as close to the lake as possible."

"He already has," Jenny said, pointing to the open doorway and extended stairway.

"Jenny, Obos is a machine, it can't be a he. It's an it," Born corrected.

"I know, but he, I mean it, seams so real, almost like it has a personality," Jenny said.

"Obos is a mass of memorized information and circuitry that has the ability to make rational decisions based on its stored data. Nothing more," Born calmly explained.

"You're right, _he_ is amazing," Jenny said, flashing a smile at Born.

Born shook his head, and proceeded to put on his gravity displacement suit, complete with all of its flamboyant accessories.

Jenny laughed to herself at the sight of Born in the bizarrely decorated suit. She thought back to just two days ago, when she first saw him, and how they had scared the heck out of each other. She certainly had no fear of Born now. She was happy and relieved things were going so well. She followed Born outside and noticed Obos had extended the landing gear. She recognized the impressions they made in the soil.

"So that's how those marks got there. I saw those on Sunday when I first found the gravity suit on the beach," Jenny commented. "Why do you use the supports for the ship here, but not back at the field?"

"We don't use them very often, only when we need to access and work underneath the ship, like we do now. It is very difficult to work in a zero gravity environment, especially with all of the debris floating around. Gravity definitely has its place," Born explained.

"And, keeps things in their place," Jenny added.

"Exactly," Born agreed.

Jenny's eyes bulged when she saw the massive tubes.

Born smiled at her surprised expression. "Don't worry; they're equipped with anti-gravity technology. They will be no challenge to your mighty physique."

Jenny looked over at Born and realized he was serious. She suddenly felt super strong...well, compared to Born.

"Just place them in the shallow water, and Obos will extend them out deeper," Born directed.

Once Born and Jenny had the extractor hoses in the lake, Obos automatically continued to feed more of the large tubes out of the ship. Born and Jenny guided the hoses from the shore as Obos extended them, until they were far enough out into deep water. She heard the powerful extraction device engage inside of the Traveler, and the sound of water as it surged through the hoses.

"Thanks Jenny, it was a lot easier than last time," Born said appreciatively.

Jenny thought the difference in the strength of their bodies was interesting, and figured it was directly related to the size and density of their home planets. The bigger the planet, the stronger the gravitational pull. Earth was much larger than Born's home planet, Soilanglobe, so Earthlings, had to evolve stronger bodies than Soilans, in order to be able to function in their environment.

"It will take approximately an hour and a half for the process to complete," Born explained. "We had already begun to collect before you interrupted the procedure. Over there is where I hid when I heard you coming." Born pointed to the patch of reeds sticking out of the muddy shallows of the lake.

"No wonder Polka was so nervous. He could probably smell you."

The breeze was beginning to pick up and ripples formed on the lake, so that it shimmered and sparkled in the morning sunlight.

"You said you've visited our planet on many occasions. How many times do you figure?" Jenny asked.

"Well, let's see now, I have been a water collector for thirty-five of your Earth years," Born calculated in his head. "So, this is my eighteenth trip," he finally concluded. "Other water companies on my planet have several ships in their fleets that come here as well."

"And your people have been visiting Earth for centuries?" she asked.

"Yes. I personally have collected water from many different areas on your planet. This is the first time I have collected water from this lake. Before we discovered your planet, we mined some frozen planets. We would collect ice and melt it for transport, but the process is more involved. It is much easier to collect water in liquid form. And the ice from those worlds was very contaminated and needed to be cleaned before we could use it. Your planet has the best and purest liquid water that we have yet discovered, although its quality has diminished over the last century," Born answered.

"Hmm, and you don't have enough water to swim, or even bathe in?" Jenny asked.

"No, we use a dry chemical compound to cleanse our bodies. It works well, but it is not very refreshing. Water is too precious to us to waste on the luxuries that you indulge in with your excess of water. Young Soilans sit in wonder when they first hear stories of swimming pools, lawn sprinklers or washing with water. Your race doesn't realize how lucky it is to have such an abundance of a necessity for life."

The morning sun was beginning to get hot.

"Hey, why don't we go in for a swim? I'll treat you to one of the luxuries of my planet," Jenny offered.

"Well, it is against regulations, and it is how I got into this mess in the first place, but it may be the last chance I ever get to go for a swim for the rest of my life, so I say yes."

Jenny took off her shoes and socks and plunged headlong into the refreshing water in her shorts and t-shirt. Born powered off his gravity suit and painstakingly proceeded to remove it. Jenny recognized the trouble he was having now with Earth's gravity pulling him down with its full force, so she came to his aid and helped him into the water. She felt as though she was helping a very frail elderly person to walk. Once Born was in the water and its buoyancy helped to support his weight, he was fine.

"Ahh, this is the life," he sighed, as he closed his eyes and relaxed in the warm shallow water. Jenny on the other hand swam around, on and under the surface, splashing and diving to the sandy bottom.

"I love to swim," she said. "It makes me feel free and weightless, like the anti-gravity suit does. But with the suit, it's like you can float through the air that you breath, so it's much better."

Born was so deep in a state of relaxation, he did not acknowledge Jenny's statement, so she purposely splashed him to wake him up.

"Hey! What are you doing? I heard you," Born said.

They chatted about different things to pass the time. It was mostly Jenny asking, and Born telling. They enjoyed each other's company, which was a good thing, considering they could be spending a lot of time together in cramped living arrangements.

While relaxing and looking up into the blue sky, Jenny asked, "How do you think, the universe was created?"

"Gravity rules and creates," Born said. "The force of attraction, or gravity, draws all of the matter in the universe together into a super compressed mass, until, the energy stored within, builds into a force that can no longer be confined, and it explodes outwards. The universe is still expanding from the last such explosion, but is beginning to slow its outward progress. It will eventually cease to expand, and then the matter will again be slowly drawn together by the force of attraction. And again, it will converge into one super compressed mass of matter. The universe is a constantly pulsing body. But each pulse takes billions, if not trillions of years to complete its cycle," Born explained.

"Wow, it's like mother-nature's heartbeat," Jenny said.

"Mother nature? Who is that?" Born asked.

"Oh, it's just a name we have for all of nature here on Earth. I never realized it could be expanded to include the entire universe. It kind of boggles the mind," Jenny said, blinking her eyes. The concept was overwhelming.

"Born is kind of an interesting name. How did your parents come up with that?" Jenny asked.

"Born is actually a very common name on my planet. We tend to name our children after something involved with the creation of life. Actually, Life is another very common name, along with Birth, Conception, Alive, A life, Exist, Origin, Beginning, Commence and Formation, to name a few. You see, with a planet as small as ours and our life span as long as it is, we need to be very careful about overpopulation, so only a few select and fortunate couples are allowed to bear children. Thus, life and birth are very precious to us," Born explained.

"Us too," Jenny reminded.

"Yes, of course," Born smiled warmly. "It sounds like the water collection process is done."

They had forgotten about their worries and impending journey for a couple of hours, but now it was back to the harsh reality of the situation. Jenny helped Born out of the water and they dried themselves under the heat of the sun.

"Ahh, that feels better," Born said, after powering the suit back up.

Jenny and Born went back into the ship, and Obos retracted the water collection hoses back in to the belly of the Traveler. Obos then lifted off from the lake, and drifted back to the field, close by Jenny's house.

"Don't forget my gravity displacement suit. And again, don't take too long," Born reminded Jenny as she left the Traveler.

"I won't. See you in a bit," she answered.

Jenny felt as though Born was an alien of his word, so she trusted he would keep his promise to help, once he had his gravity suit back.

# Chapter 12

### Sad Farewells

Jenny returned home to say her good-byes, and collect a few necessities.

"I'm back!" she shouted, as she entered the house.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and hurried to the front of the house. Martin came out of his room and met Jenny at the top of the stairs.

Jenny's father, and Relli, met at the bottom of the stairs, in time to see Jenny ascending, and followed her up. They all congregated in her bedroom, where she hurriedly packed up some essentials for the trip.

"How did the water collection go?" Jenny's father asked.

"Good, the Traveler is loaded up," Jenny answered.

"How long does Born figure it will take, to move the comet off course?" Relli asked.

"Approximately four and a half days of steady pushing," Jenny replied.

"Pushing? What's he going to do, push the comet off course with his spaceship?" Martin asked.

"In a way. It's kind of hard to explain," Jenny said.

"And, you don't have time to explain," reminded her father. "Time is very valuable right now." He paused for a moment. "I want to meet Born, before you go, Jenny."

"Daaad!" Jenny protested. "He's super shy. He won't want to, and you just said yourself, there's no time."

"I don't care. I'm not going to let you go until I meet your traveling companion," he said sternly.

Jenny knew there was no point in arguing further. She recognized that tone in her father's voice.

"I'll ask him, but I make no guarantees," Jenny conceded.

"What about food? Do you want me to pack you something?" Relli asked.

"Sure, please, but not too much. Born says there is plenty of food on board, and that our nutritional requirements are very similar, so I won't starve."

"I need to get the gravity suit from the attic. I'll be back in a minute," Jenny mentioned, and she went up to the attic to fetch the suit.

As she packed it into her bag, Jenny thought how fortunate she was to have found it. Without the suit, none of this would ever have happened, and Earth would have no hope of surviving the fast approaching comet.

"Okay, I think that's all I need. I'll just go get the food from Relli and be on my way," Jenny said to her father and brother, and they followed her quietly downstairs.

"I'd say be careful, but somehow it doesn't sound appropriate," Relli said as she handed Jenny a small parcel of food.

"Thanks, Relli. Know what?"

"What?" Relli asked with a warm smile.

"You know how you keep reminding me that I was chosen for this task because of my qualities?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, I suppose I have been drilling that into your head over the last few days," Relli admitted.

"Well, I think you were chosen for this task as well, because of your qualities, and your abilities. I couldn't have made it this far without you. Thanks for your help, and your kindness, and your visions, and your firm but gentle guidance," Jenny said, embracing her, and the tears began to flow.

"Bye Jen, go get it, and save the world," Martin said, and he gave his sister a big hug. Jenny thought she might have detected a little bit of emotion in his voice, and a small tear in his eye.

Jenny wiped the tears from her cheeks, and looked at her father. "Okay, I'm ready, let's go."

Jenny and her father struck out towards the Traveler, while Relli and Martin watched them go. Jenny led the way through the fields.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth and change your clothes regularly," her father reminded. He was now fighting back the tears as well. He knew this might be good-bye forever. He may never see his daughter again.

"Don't worry, I won't forget," she assured him.

.

"Jenny is coming, and a male adult is with her," Obos informed Born.

"It's probably her father," Born said, slightly irritated.

Mr. Thompson stopped in his tracks when he got his first look at the Traveler.

"Wow, it's huge!" he exclaimed.

Jenny laughed. "That was my reaction when I first saw it too. You'd better wait here, and I'll see if he'll meet you. What if he says no?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," her father replied, with his eyes still glued to the Traveler.

"You and your bridges," Jenny said as she turned and walked towards the space ship. Born opened the door and extended the staircase.

"Hello, it's me," Jenny called, as she walked into the control room of the Traveler.

"And who is with you?" demanded Born.

"I'm sorry, Born, it's my father. He wants to meet you. Is that okay? He won't let me go unless he meets you first."

"Then maybe you shouldn't come," snapped Born. "This wasn't a part of the deal."

"Don't worry, he's a nice person, and I'll be with you. I've got you're suit with me," Jenny said, trying to soften him up.

"Well, that's some good news at least, but that was part of the deal. Meeting another Earth human was not," Born argued.

"Please Born, it will only take a minute, and then we can be on our way," Jenny pleaded.

Born finally, reluctantly agreed and Jenny motioned across the field to her father. Born took a deep breath as Jenny's father walked up the stairs towards the door.

"Hello, I'm Jenny's father, Roy Thompson. Welcome to Earth."

"Hello, I am Born. I've actually been to Earth many times over the last thirty-five years," Born replied.

Mr. Thompson stood a couple of stairs down from Born so he could look him in the eyes. "On behalf of all the citizens on Earth, I would like to thank you for undertaking this mission. It is a courageous and noble thing you are doing. I just wanted to meet you before Jenny left, to set my mind at ease a little, if that's possible. I don't really know where to begin. I want to ask you a million questions, but that will have to wait, and hopefully, I'll get the opportunity later on. This decision to let her go on this trip was very difficult for me. I feel so helpless, because the circumstances are out of my control. She's a good girl, and won't be too much trouble, although she has a way of getting what she wants, but I'm sure you have already experienced that."

Born smiled and nodded, and Jenny blushed slightly.

"It seems ridiculous for me to ask you to watch out for her, considering the danger of the mission that you are undertaking, so I just want to wish you good luck and I hope you're successful, and bring my daughter home safely. If you find that you cannot divert the comet, and that you must abort the operation, I would like you to consider doing me a very large favor."

Jenny looked up at her father, curious as to what the favor might be.

"If you must abort, and are unsuccessful, please do not bring Jenny home," Mr. Thompson concluded, as his chin quivered, and he fought back the tears.

"Don't worry, Roy Thompson. I will do my best to save your planet, and if I must abort the task, I will look after Jenny," Born promised.

"Bye Dad, don't worry, we'll do it, and I'll be back," Jenny promised.

"I know you will, hon'. I love you."

"I love you, Dad."

Mr. Thompson walked away, then stood and watched as the Traveler rose away from the ground. The hulking ship performed the seemingly impossible and floated straight up in an almost ghostly manner. Once it was 400 meters above the Earth's surface, Obos tilted the spacecraft skyward and lightly engaged the main thrusters. Mr. Thompson heard a whoosh, and moments later, a wave of hot air washed past him as the Traveler sped into the vast blue sky.

# Chapter 13

### Chasing a Comet

Jenny watched out of the window of the Traveler. She could see her father, standing at the edge of the field and waving goodbye. He soon became a speck and then disappeared from sight. Jenny felt a sudden pang of loneliness. The field in which her father had been standing soon blended in with the surrounding countryside, and before long, the Earth began to look like a big blue ball, with wisps of swirling white cloud.

Earth grew progressively smaller as the Traveler sped away, until it looked like the size of a marble, and then a speck in the vast blackness of space. Jenny couldn't help but feel very small and insignificant at this point. The immense distances in space boggled her mind.

.

Outer space was amazing. The celestial bodies that Jenny had viewed through the telescope at the observatory with her father were now visible with the naked eye. Jenny had always wondered at the vastness of space, and now that she was traveling through it, she was overwhelmed.

Jenny could see Mars in the distance, a red orb moving across the shimmering backdrop. "Wow!"

"We're moving so fast, I can't even appreciate the view," Jenny commented.

"I'm sorry, but time is of the essence. Maybe when all this is done, we can take a more leisurely pace and do some sightseeing," Born stated.

Jenny stared out of the window at the multitude of stars. The bright points of light that flickered in the distance began to look blurred and fuzzy, and Jenny began to feel dizzy, and sick to her stomach.

"Born? I don't feel very well all of a sudden," she said.

"You had better go and lie down for awhile," Born instructed. "You have a touch of space sickness. I have been space traveling for years and it still occasionally affects me. There is a bed in that room over there that you are welcome to use. We won't reach the comet for a couple of hours, so rest comfortably, and I will come and get you if you fall asleep," Born said.

Jenny went into the room indicated by Born. She didn't think that there was any chance of falling asleep at a time like this, but she did. Jenny was emotionally exhausted. She awoke about two hours later without assistance, feeling much better. She yawned and stretched, then made her way back to the control room to see what was happening. Her half-closed eyes opened wide when she looked out the Traveler's window.

"Oh, my goodness!" she said.

She could see the comet, luminous and gigantic, with the tail trailing beautifully, and seemingly forever behind it.

"It looks like we are going to crash into it," Jenny mentioned.

"We are not close enough to it yet to be concerned. The coma or head is over sixteen million kilometers in diameter, so it will still take us awhile to reach the nucleus, and we do want to approach with caution, as there will be bits of debris melting away from the main body of the comet," Born explained, as he pointed with his long finger.

"We will be entering the coma soon, and in a few hours, we will pull up beside the nucleus. It is the biggest comet I have ever seen," he commented.

"The coma and the tail are so beautiful," Jenny said, awestruck at the sight of what no human had ever laid the naked eye on before.

Streams of light flowed from the head of the comet, as the sun warmed it and released the elements within.

Brilliant colors flashed through the luminescent haze of the gigantic tail, trailing off for over one hundred and sixty million kilometers into the immense cosmic background. "How can something so beautiful, be so deadly?" Jenny asked quietly to herself.

Obos maneuvered them into a position alongside of the tip of the brilliant colossus, and set a course for the origin of this breathtaking scene, the nucleus.

Jenny looked out the window of the Traveler and felt invigorated that she was racing with a comet. She realized also though, she was racing with time, and time was running short.

As they approached, the coma began to look like a thick bank of luminous fog. Somewhere in the middle of this huge halo of foggy matter, was the source, an enormous chunk of ice and rock.

The comet was releasing a cloud of debris and water vapor. The Traveler penetrated the hazy halo, and visibility diminished. Brilliant bands of light streaked out behind the comet, created by the vaporization of materials such as iron, magnesium, sodium and silicon.

Obos activated an exterior light that cut through the mist and illuminated for almost one hundred meters in every direction, greatly improving the visibility for Jenny. She could see pieces of debris, seemingly floating in the murky space quagmire.

Small particles vaporized before Jenny's eyes, like tiny shooting stars, while bigger pieces of rocky material were traveling at almost the same speed as the spaceship, and large shadowy shapes loomed in the distance.

Jenny felt as though she was submerged in a murky, slow moving river. The current of debris drifting by, gave her the feeling everything was moving in slow motion. Obos fired various secondary thrusters, and easily piloted the ship around any large pieces of debris, or just ploughed right through fields of smaller pieces.

It was hard to comprehend, but Jenny realized, they were still racing through space at over 200,000 kilometers per hour. She continued to watch as they trekked for hours through the haze of debris, on an intercept course with the core of the comet.

After hours had passed, light from the spaceship appeared to Jenny as if it was slowly changing. It did not seem to penetrate as far as before, until she recognized the reason for the change. The light was reflecting off a wall of solid matter.

"Is that, the nucleus?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, it is now eighty meters away from us. I will maneuver us into position, approximately sixty meters from its surface," Obos answered.

The light penetrated the murky fog, and revealed what no human had ever set eyes on before. A massive comet that had been tumbling through space for thousands of years unimpeded until now.

"Obos, do your sensors indicate the overall shape of the comet?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, I have the capability to project a computer image of the comet on the viewing screen if you desire," Obos offered.

"Yes! Please do."

Obos proceeded to bounce thousands of sensitive energy beams off the surface of the comet, and evaluated every one of them upon its return, enabling it to recreate the comet's appearance, down to the finest detail. The computer transferred the image onto a viewing screen, situated just above the window. The video image provided Jenny with an excellent view. She saw the comet as a large, gray, irregular shaped mass, with patches of white. Portions of its exterior gleamed from the moisture created by the heat of the sun. Its surface was rough and rugged in some areas, and smooth in others, and it was pockmarked with craters, the result of many collisions with smaller objects.

"Wow! That's amazing! It looks like a frozen asteroid."

Jenny was just beginning to comprehend the vastness of the comet. She realized that if she were capable, it would take her days to walk around the entire comet. Weeks actually, because the surface would be very slippery and rugged.

The computer began to zoom in on several different portions of the comet, in order to allow various views and perspectives. The small craters pock marking the comet's face, were now beginning to smooth away, as the sun's heat melted the surface.

There were also rocks of various sizes protruding from it, sometimes in large, concentrated clusters. On one of the views provided by Obos, Jenny noticed a large boulder lift away from the mother ball, and slowly drift free of the spot it had occupied for thousands of years.

"Wow, look at that giant boulder that just released from the comet. It must be as big as we are."

"Two times bigger," corrected Obos.

Jenny looked out of the window and noticed high jagged peaks getting closer.

"The viewing screen now represents the area we are occupying," Obos said as it expertly piloted the ship.

Jenny looked at the video screen that showed four views from the Traveler. Up ahead, spiny peaks of glistening mountains stood out, like the teeth of a terrifying monster. To one side the plain dropped suddenly away until it appeared again far in the distance. A view of the other side showed a plain of gray, extending as far as the eye could see. Behind, was the high ridge of a deep crater.

Obos chose the base of a cliff in which to wedge the front of the Traveler. The Zorbite force field wedge was fifty meters thick, and Obos very slowly and cautiously, closed the remaining gap, until the Traveler nuzzled up to the comet. The ship shuddered slightly when the energy field made contact with the comet's surface, and Obos angled the path of the Traveler away from Earth while gently accelerating. They were now nudging the comet away from its collision course.

# Chapter 14

### Earth's Plan

Back on Earth, information about the comet had leaked to the public. The news on television, in the papers, radio, and on the lips of every informed person on the face of the planet, was about the "Killer Comet", as it was now called. The populace of Earth was in a mass panic.

"Experts in astrophysics describe the impact as catastrophic," wrote one reporter.

"Do we have a chance to dodge this cosmic bullet?" asked another columnist, echoing the thoughts and hopes of his country.

"Why aren't we more prepared for such a significant risk?" asked many people.

The President of the United States called an emergency meeting of United Nations to discuss this urgent matter. All other issues throughout the world were suddenly trivial, and long time enemies banded together in a necessary state of cooperation. Roy Thompson was asked to attend to give his expert analysis.

A government limousine picked him up at the airport and drove him to a hotel where he would have a few hours to unpack, and prepare, for the important meeting.

Jenny's father was grateful to have a little time to relax before the officials required his presence. He unpacked, and looked out of his hotel window into the night sky. He found it hard to believe that somewhere up there was his daughter, speeding along at inconceivable speeds, towards an object that was on a collision course with Earth.

"My, how things can change so very quickly," he said softly to himself, as he gently shook his head. He set his travel alarm clock for three hours later, and lay down for a nap. Sleep, when it did finally come, was in short waking spurts, and full of confused dreams. Mr. Thompson got up to have a shower, not feeling any more alert or rested than before he lay down.

Under different circumstances, Roy Thompson would be thrilled to be going to the White House, but as he climbed the steps, it was just another building filled with worried mortal men and women. Security officials led him through corridors lined with paintings of past U.S. Presidents. He could hear the sound of conversation in the distance, which continually increased in volume, until the sound of the excited voices boomed in his ears.

They led him to a very large conference room, already three quarters full, and he took his assigned seat. He sipped the cool water provided, settled into his seat, and waited for the meeting to begin. After a short time they announced the President, and with little fanfare, he walked in briskly and deliberately and took his seat at the head of the proceedings. They called on many experts in different fields to offer their opinions on the comet. The viable options were limited to one. Our only hope was a combination of nuclear explosive technology, and rocket and satellite science.

"Yes, I believe it could be done," answered a rocket specialist. "We would not so much try to hit it, as we would park our nuclear munitions satellite directly in the path of the oncoming comet. It is a huge object, moving at a high velocity, as the learned Dr. Brown has just mentioned. If we can load up a rocket, get it up there, and maneuver it into the comet's path in time, we can explode many megatons of explosives against it."

"Do we have an expert on the structure and behavior of a comet?" the President asked quietly to his secretary.

She quickly consulted her organized list of names and the credentials of those in attendance, and then spoke. "Dr. Roy Thompson?"

"Present," Jenny's father answered, as he stood up.

"Dr. Thompson is the director of operations at the Lester B. Pearson Observatory in British Columbia, Canada. He is a leading authority on comets," the secretary announced through her microphone to the assembly. "And, he is the man who first discovered the comet."

"Thanks for your attentiveness, your diligence has provided us with precious time. Now, how will nuclear explosives affect the comet's structure, and present course?" the President asked Jenny's father.

"In my opinion, nuclear explosives will have little or no affect on moving the comet off course. Picture an object, seventy plus kilometers in diameter, and moving at over one hundred kilometers per second. The amount of explosives we could get up there, would have little effect against such an awesome force. The only thing we may achieve, is to blast chunks out of it, or to split it completely, but this would do little in regards to altering its course. Even though it is enormous, comets are very fragile structures. They are held together loosely because they are a frozen mass of matter, and by their own feeble gravity. Outside forces such as a planet's gravitational influence can cause them to fracture, and break apart. In 1994, an immense comet called Shoemaker-Levy 9, was broken into many pieces by the gravity of Jupiter, and the comet impacted an area on Jupiter four times the size of Earth. All we will possibly accomplish with this comet is to break it into pieces. Then we get bombarded with many pieces, instead of just one, but the result would be the same," Dr. Thompson explained.

Jenny's father did not want them to send up nuclear explosives against the comet. He knew that it would be useless, like a fly against an elephant. He knew in his heart, Earth's best chance for survival was now racing at incredible speeds to intercept the titanic object, and his daughter was up there. The futile attempt by Earth would endanger her even more than she already was, and would jeopardize the success of their mission. But what could he say, we can't do this because my daughter's up there with an alien in his spaceship, trying to save us? They would think he had cracked under the pressure, and advise him to get psychiatric counseling. No, it was best to advise as well as he could, and hope for the best in a chaotic situation. He knew Earth's only option was to send up nuclear weapons, and that was what we would do. We are just not prepared or capable to handle an event of this magnitude.

"If it does break apart, won't more of it burn up in our atmosphere, because there are more pieces?"

"Yes sir, you are correct, but what people have difficulty comprehending, is the enormity of the object. Even if we succeeded in breaking it into pieces, each smaller piece is still going strike the Earth with catastrophic force. I'm afraid the result will be the same. In 1908, a small comet struck the Earth in a remote area of central Siberia. A tremendous fireball was observed flashing across the morning sky. When it hit, a great ball of flame leaped up from a forested region close to the Tunguska River. The comet dissipated its kinetic energy on the area, and completely vaporized in the process. The ensuing shock wave flattened trees within a forty-kilometer radius, and the tremors registered on seismographs throughout Europe. A hurricane wind produced by the impact, tore off the roofs of houses hundreds of kilometers away. This was a tiny speck of a comet compared to the monster heading for us now," Jenny's father explained.

The President, and the whole assembly for that matter, did not want to hear any more. Understandably, they needed to hear positive things, like yes, there is a chance, and, we still do have some hope. The questioning passed from Dr. Thompson, and went on to more positive and constructive issues, like how much explosive force can we get up there in the small window of opportunity available to us.

The meeting ended with the impression that all countries with the technological capability of getting a satellite, loaded with nuclear explosives, into space, would do so. Every country on the planet would need to band together in a common cause.

.

Dr. Roy Thompson needed to burn off some of his nervous energy, so he asked the limousine driver to drop him a few blocks from his hotel. The streets of Washington D.C. were pandemonium. People constantly looked upward. Roy Thompson overheard a young child asking his mother, "Mommy, is the sky falling?" And Jenny's father found himself thinking about his own daughter as he walked along.

It was now two days since she had left with Born, and four days until impact. The comet would be visible with the naked eye in the night sky soon. Jenny's father thought about how events had turned so quickly. A few weeks ago we didn't have a care in the world, at least nothing that seems even remotely important now. He also realized how small and vulnerable the Earth really is, in the cosmic scheme of things.

Space is full of speeding space debris of various sizes. Earth gets bombarded with fifty thousand tons of cosmic fragments daily, in the form of billions of microscopic particles. The larger pieces are less plentiful, but it had been just a matter of time before chance and circumstance determined that a large object would strike the Earth, and the time was now upon them. To think that life on Earth would have to start from scratch again was almost inconceivable. Dr. Thompson wondered if life would evolve the same as the first time. He imagined archeologists, millions of years from now, digging up the remains of old cities, long since buried, and trying to piece together what had happened.

To have to start over seemed a shame. We had advanced so far in such a short period, but soon it could all be gone and the whole process would have to start over. It was still hard to comprehend; the fate of the entire human race was in the hands of his thirteen-year-old daughter and her alien acquaintance. It helped him to think that fate had brought them together for this reason, and why would fate bring them together if it weren't to save the human race.

He didn't really believe in fate, he was a scientist, who believed in the laws of nature, chance, and probability, but he had to admit, the concept of fate did help one to cope with certain situations, such as this one. These were thoughts continuously running through Roy Thompson's mind as he concluded his stay in Washington, and took the long flight home.

Once home, he kept busy at the observatory. He was still supplying data on the comet to the government, so they could accurately plot the course of the rockets and satellites. He felt uncomfortable about supplying information that would undoubtedly make things more dangerous and difficult for Born and Jenny, but the information could, and would be compared and confirmed with every other observatory in the world, so falsifying information did not seem like an option.

"Hey Roy, the comet is officially going to be named, _Thompson's Comet,"_ a colleague notified Jenny's father.

"Oh, that's just great! I finally discover something that gets named after me, and it has to be something that wipes out the entire human race. What an honor," he said sarcastically.

While plotting the course of the comet, Dr. Thompson noticed something unusual and puzzling, but something to make his pulse quicken. "Hey Sophie, can you please double check my calculations here?" Roy Thompson asked of his colleague. "According to my figures, the course of the comet has changed slightly. I've checked it over twice and I keep coming up with the same result."

His associate checked his calculations and came up with the same conclusion.

"You're right, Roy, the comet has shifted its course slightly, but it's still going to hit us."

"But what if the shift continued at the same rate? The comet would clear the Earth, not by much, but it would miss us."

"But, what is causing the shift? It just isn't possible. A solar wind couldn't create a shift this great, and certainly not in such a sustained manner," she stated.

Jenny's father tried to suppress a large smile that wanted to spread across his face, and he softly mouthed the words, "Atta girl Jenny, atta girl."

"Sorry, what did you say Roy?" his co-worker asked.

"Oh, nothing, I was just talking to myself," he said, as he secretly pumped his fist under the desk.

The following day Dr. Thompson got a call from NASA.

"Roy, I've gone over the data you supplied from last night, and it doesn't make sense. According to your figures, the comet is slowly changing its course, and we know that a continuous consistent shift like this is impossible. Are you sure about the accuracy of this information?"

"Yes, it is accurate. Don't ask me how," Dr. Thompson said, and then he quickly covered his mouthpiece. "because you wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth...but the comet does appear to be steering away from Earth. If the shift continues at this rate, it may well just miss us. I think we should wait before we take any action at this point."

"You know we can't count on some inexplicable shift to continue, and besides, we launch tomorrow. We can't just put a halt to all of this preparation based on some mysterious movement. If we don't launch tomorrow, it will be too late. I've got to go, Roy. I just wanted to check on the accuracy of those figures. Keep it coming. Bye for now," and he hung up.

"How frustrating!" Roy Thompson said as he hung up the phone forcefully.

"Jenny and Born are managing to divert the comet, and we could ruin everything by launching those rockets and disturbing their progress. I wish there was some way to warn them."

.

The following day at Kennedy Air Force Base in Orlando, Florida.

"How are we doing on replacing those O-rings on number two?" a woman asked a man as they walked briskly down a long corridor bustling with people.

"It was decided there isn't enough time to change them. The test procedure showed they were weak, but they would probably still hold, and even if they don't, we should still be able to maneuver the munitions satellite into position."

"Are you heading to the control room, too?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. I wouldn't miss this," answered the man.

The two proceeded into a large room, full of people and equipment. Most of the men and women present sat in front of computerized equipment with communication headsets on, and at the front of the room, the wall was equipped with many television screens, showing different areas of the two rockets about to be launched into space. The military brass was out in full force, pacing about and talking on telephones. The rockets stood tall, with steam rising. and scaffolding beside them almost as tall as the rockets they supported.

"All is in order. We have completed the final preparations and pre-launch tests," a man in military uniform stated to his superior officer.

"Good, start the ignition sequence."

"Countdown has begun."

A large digital clock at the front of the control room was activated, indicating five minutes and counting down.

It was a dangerous place to be if something went wrong. These brave people were the only ones within 100 kilometers of the site. All hoped for a smooth launch and a timely and accurate delivery of the nuclear payload in front of the oncoming comet. The tension in the control room was high, as it was with the entire population of the world. The clock ticked down to the final minute as the launch technicians monitored the rocket for any malfunctions.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... Ignition!"

The two rockets began to rumble as the rocket fuel within ignited, and billows of smoke spewed from the base. They rose from the launch pads as if in slow motion, breaking away from the wires that attached them to the scaffolding, which distorted from the intense heat, and then retracted.

"Lift off! We have lift off!"

A bright blast of flame shot out of the rear of the huge missiles, as they picked up speed and flew off into the bright blue morning sky.

# Chapter 15

### Extinction or Salvation

Born entered the bridge yawning and stretching after a good sleep.

"How are we doing, Obos?" he asked.

"Progress is slow and methodical. The rotation of the comet is creating more difficulty than I considered, but we should be able to complete the process in time, barring further complications," Obos informed.

"That's good. Jenny! Obos says everything is going well," Born mentioned to Jenny as she entered the bridge. "If the comet holds together and we don't experience any other delays or complications, we should be finished in plenty of time."

"Awesome!" Jenny said. She was feeling more and more optimistic about their chances of succeeding, but she was still cautious not to get too confident, because they still had a long way to go.

Jenny gazed out of the window of the Traveler at the solid wall of frozen matter. The heat from the sun was breaking down the surface more quickly as the comet got closer to Earth's life giving star, the sun.

She was pleased everything was going well, and she thought how fortunate she and every inhabitant on Earth was, that chance, or fate, had brought her together with Born, at precisely the right time.

Was it by chance? Was it fate? Saving Earth was all that mattered. She didn't care if her meeting with Born was a fluke, or destined to happen.

The next few hours went by without event. The procedure was slow, and almost boring. If somebody had of told her a week ago that she would be racing alongside a gigantic comet and she would actually find herself bored, she would have said, "impossible."

"I have picked something up on my sensors, Born," Obos notified. "It is of Earth origin, and appears to be a crude spacecraft."

Born stood up from his seat, squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. "Hmm, I don't like the sound of this. What do you suppose the purpose of it is?"

"That has yet to be determined," answered Obos.

Jenny stirred in her seat, wondering what Earth was up to.

"I have picked up a second and a third such spacecraft. Calculations show, they are moving directly into the path of the comet."

Jenny remembered her father mentioning Earth's only option against the comet would be nuclear intervention. "I know what they are trying to do. Those missiles are probably loaded with nuclear explosives. My Dad said it was our only option, even though it wouldn't work," Jenny explained.

Born scowled. "The only thing they will accomplish is to make our task more difficult and endanger us even more."

"How long until impact?" Born asked.

"33 minutes," Obos replied.

"Get us out of here, Obos! Abort!" Born commanded.

Obos broke the ship's influence on the comet, peeled away from it, and accelerated to a safe distance, where they waited for Earth's futile effort to unfold. They were still well within the coma, and could see nothing out of the window but a foggy haze of material floating by, but Obos still maintained an image on the video screen, which provided them with a good view of the event.

"What's going to happen now, Obos?" Jenny asked.

"The nuclear warheads will do nothing to re-direct the comet, but there is a good chance they may fragment it. If that happens, we will have to move from piece to piece, and move each portion of the broken comet, which will extend the time required to complete the procedure," Obos explained.

"Hopefully it will hold together," Born commented.

"The comet will strike the first charge in one minute, and the second one shortly after. The third, will be about seventy-five seconds after the second explosion," Obos described.

The first explosion created a blinding bright flash of white light, from which Jenny and Born had to look away momentarily. When they looked back, there appeared to be no change in the appearance of the comet. Obos zoomed in on the affected area, and there was a jagged crater where the explosion had occurred. The second explosion took place, and it too seemed to have no effect on the comet. About a minute later, the third explosion hit, and again Jenny and Born looked away from the intense burst of light. When they looked back at the video screen, they could see the comet slowly splitting apart, into several pieces.

"The third hit found a fracture point. There are now three large pieces, and two smaller ones," Obos notified.

"Well, that did a lot of good. All they have accomplished is to make our task more difficult. They knew it wouldn't work so why even try it," Born said.

"They did the only thing that was within our capabilities," Jenny said, defending her people. "There was no way they were going to just sit back and do nothing. Humans are fighters, and survivors. Even if they knew it had a slim chance of working, they had to at least try."

"I'm sorry, Jenny. I'm just frustrated by the entire situation. Let's get back to work, Obos."

"I'm sorry too, Born. I guess we're all a little tense right now, except for Obos of course," Jenny responded.

Obos maneuvered the Traveler back towards the comet.

"I will move the largest fragment first and work our way down by size. My calculations indicate there may not be sufficient time to move all of the pieces of the comet," Obos said.

"Maybe if we can move the largest and most dangerous chunks, the smaller ones will vaporize in Earth's atmosphere," Jenny said hopefully.

"No, the smallest piece will still be of sufficient size, even after going through Earth's atmosphere, to do a great deal of damage," Obos corrected.

Jenny looked out of the window at the sea of debris hurtling through space. The explosions had broken up the comet and now there was more rubble than before. Large shards of splintered ice and rocky debris darted past them, due to the force of the explosions, and Obos took evasive action in order to avoid the largest pieces.

Obos piloted the Traveler up close to the largest segment of the comet, and again, gently nestled the starship up against it. Jenny looked at the video screen and all of the different views of the fragmented comet provided by Obos. She could see three large chunks of the comet flying side by side through space.

The two smaller pieces were within the three large segments. She observed the largest section, gradually moving and nudging the other pieces aside, as Obos, and the Traveler, pushed it away from its original disastrous course.

.

On Earth, Jenny's father watched the event through his powerful telescope. From his vantage point, nothing had changed. His telescope could not see through the dense coma, so he, and the rest of Earth were unaware that their attempt had only succeeded in splitting the comet, but what he could tell, was that it was still on a collision course with Earth. He hoped Jenny was all right, and that there was still a chance that she and Born would succeed in moving the comet off course.

The rest of the inhabitants of Earth had no such hope. Their only chance had failed.

Roy Thompson continued to monitor the comet and a strange sight puzzled him. There appeared to be a second tail forming, short at first, but very slowly lengthening, and the coma on one side of the comet, seemed to be bulging.

After several hours of study, he finally figured out what was going on. The nuclear weapons had split the comet, and now, Born and Jenny were moving one of the pieces away from its original path, and it was creating its own separate coma and tail. He was relieved that Jenny appeared to be okay, and there was still hope.

It took many hours of pushing until Obos was satisfied the largest piece was no longer a threat to Earth. The computer immediately peeled off, and positioned the Traveler up close to the next largest piece of the comet. This time they needed to push from the freshly fractured side of the segmented comet. Pieces of ice and debris were constantly breaking away from the main body, and vaporizing as they sped through space.

Jenny looked out of the window at the wall of frozen rubble, when suddenly, the side of the comet exploded before her eyes, and large shards of ice and rock ejected from it.

Obos immediately took evasive action in order to avoid the large chunks of flying debris, and a protective panel immediately slid over all of the windows. Jenny could hear the fragments smashing into the outer shell of the Traveler and feel the force of the collisions.

"What happened, Obos?" Born yelled, as large blocks of ice were smashing into the hull of the Traveler and splintering into many shards.

Obos calmly explained. "A pressure explosion from a heated pocket of methane gas close to the comet's surface suddenly broke through and released its energy and large pieces of debris were ejected. We were fortunate the largest pieces narrowly missed us or it could have been disastrous."

"This is too dangerous. I will have to re-evaluate whether we should continue this mission," Born stated, a little unnerved by the narrow escape.

Jenny felt a wave of panic go through her. They had worked so hard and spent so much time to get to this point. To give up now would be a shame. "What is the probability of that happening again, Obos?" Jenny asked. She was hoping it was a rare occurrence and she could convince Born not to abort the mission.

"It is a regular occurrence," Obos stated and Jenny's heart sank. "But the chances of it happening in our immediate working area again are remote." Jenny felt relieved, and shot a pleading look towards Born.

"How much damage did we sustain, Obos?" Born asked.

"We appear to have suffered the hardest hit on one of our hydrogen tanks. It has ruptured the hull and the reinforced tank is leaking slowly into space."

"Is there any immediate danger?" Born asked.

"No, and we still will have plenty of fuel to complete the mission," Obos informed.

"My boss is going to kill me if I get out of this alive. Very well, proceed. I can't believe I just said that," Born said, shaking his head.

Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Born."

"Thank me when we are done...and still alive."

Obos piloted the Traveler back into position. There was a jagged hole in the side of the comet from the methane explosion and a stream of gas was releasing from the cavity created by the blast. Obos again positioned the Traveler against the large fragmented piece and began the long procedure of pushing it away from its collision course.

.

The people of Earth were now aware they had succeeded in splitting the comet, and one of the pieces had changed course sufficiently, so it would now just barely clear the Earth. There was jubilation and renewed hope, maybe the rest of the comet would also veer away from the Earth because of their nuclear intervention. However, how could that possibly happen?

The one segment had obviously been affected by the explosions, because it veered away, while the other piece or pieces had not, because they were still closing in on Earth. Soon the impossible seemed to be happening. Another large segment of the comet appeared to be changing its course, but this was almost twenty-four hours after the nuclear intervention.

"Roy, do you have any idea what the heck is going on up there. Is it a delayed reaction to the explosions? I am totally confused as to why this is happening," asked a military representative over the phone.

"No, it doesn't make sense, does it. Maybe it's divine intervention. I don't really care what the cause of it is, I just hope it continues!" Jenny's father said, excited.

"Amen to that. The whole world hopes so, too."

"That's my girl, keep it up Jenny, you can do it," Roy Thompson muttered to himself, as he watched and charted the comet's movement.

Obos continued the process, moving from fragment to fragment, and progressively moving each piece away from its original disastrous path. Most of the debris released from the comet would burn up in the atmosphere before hitting Earth's surface, but some of the larger boulders and chunks of ice would survive entry, and would strike the planet. There were too many to do anything about, but as long as they hit in unpopulated areas, there was no danger to human life. The two smaller pieces of the comet were the main concern now. They were much smaller, but still of sufficient size to inflict a lot of damage to Earth.

Obos began to move the larger of the two small pieces. It was easier to move than the three large segments, as its mass was far less, so the time required to move it off course was less, but time was running out. Jenny looked out of the window of the Traveler, and she could see Earth in the distance as they moved steadily closer to it. Glancing to the side, she looked at the wall of the next fragment. It was solid ice, and its jagged edges were perceptively being smoothed by its passage, and from the sun's heat.

"We're not going to make it in time." Obos calmly informed. "The closer we get to Earth, the further we need to push so it will clear the planet. We will get this one moved, but we will not have sufficient time to move the final piece off course. It will hit the Earth."

"How big is the last piece?" Jenny asked of the computer.

"Approximately 400 meters in diameter. After the Earth's atmosphere has melted some of it away it will strike the Earth at an estimated size of 25 meters. It will still do considerable damage to the surrounding impact area. And many bits of ice and rock will also survive Earth's atmosphere," Obos described.

"Where is it going to hit?" Jenny asked.

"On its present course it will strike southern Africa," Obos explained.

"In your opinion Obos, where out of the possible options would it be best to aim this last chunk so the least amount of casualties would occur?" Jenny asked.

"A large body of water such as the Atlantic Ocean would provide a good dispersal of its kinetic energy, and it is the largest body of water that we are able to reach. My files on Earth population densities make the middle of the Atlantic Ocean the best option for the least amount of casualties, but only if evacuation of the coastal communities is possible," Obos advised.

"Because of a tsunami?"

"Yes, a swell of water, approximately 50 meters high would flood the Atlantic coastal cities and communities, creating extensive damage and possible casualties," Obos answered.

Jenny thought for just a moment. Born looked over at her, eagerly awaiting her important decision.

"Obos, is there any way to get in touch with my father?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, I can set up communication with any Earth audio unit," Obos stated.

"Great! Please ring the observatory at phone number..."

"The proper connection has already been made," informed Obos. "Just speak normally when your father answers."

"Wow, Obos-you are amazing. Your psychic, just like Relli."

"No, just logical."

The Earth was much closer now, and Jenny could make out the continental shapes of North and South America.

.

Roy Thompson sat in a chair and looked into the viewfinder of the observatory's powerful telescope. He had watched the entire amazing event unfold from his vantage point. He heard his phone bleep and quickly picked it up. He was busy fielding calls from all around the world, and now, one from outer space.

"Roy Thompson," he answered, his eyes still fixed on the final piece of the comet as it sped towards Earth.

"Dad! It's me!" Jenny blurted out.

"Jenny? Are you all right?"

"We're all fine. Dad, you've got to warn all of the Atlantic coastal communities to evacuate immediately! We don't have enough time to move the last piece of the comet! Earth split it when it hit the explosives. We're going to guide the last piece into the middle of the Atlantic!" Jenny alerted.

"Good idea. Good job, Jenny," he said, bursting with pride. "I'll see you soon," he was relieved to be uttering those words.

"Yep, I'm coming home," Jenny trumpeted.

"Okay, Obos, it's all set," Jenny looked over at Born for his okay. She didn't realize it at the time, but she was acting as Earth's only representative in this vital matter, making decisions affecting every human being on her planet.

Born shrugged and said, "That sounds logical to me, go ahead Obos."

He was just relieved the dangerous chore was almost completed, and that he was still alive. Born also realized he was witnessing something special happening to this impressive young earth human.

.

Roy Thompson hung up his phone and immediately hit his speed dial in order to get in contact with the proper agencies.

"But on what are you basing your theory, Roy. This is a huge undertaking, are you absolutely sure it's necessary," was the response he received.

"You've got to trust me on this one, Henry. Have I steered you wrong yet?" Jenny's father tried to convince.

"No. You're information has always been right on the money. It's like you have a contact up there or something. Okay. I'm taking your word on it. I'll get the ball rolling and try to evacuate those cities and communities, but this is a huge undertaking. There are some major cities that will be affected," the official replied.

"Yes, there will be a lot of damage, but hopefully we can limit the loss of life," Roy Thompson said.

.

Obos steered the final small segment of the comet towards the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The fragment was rapidly heating up as it sped into Earth's atmosphere. Flames leapt out and extinguished in increasing frequency and intensity, as it got closer to its eventual impact site. Soon the comet and the space ship were totally engulfed in flame, and a plume of steam trailed behind them. Once Obos had achieved the desired trajectory of the comet, it eased the Traveler away and followed the blazing fireball towards Earth.

"Wow!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Mission completed," the computer announced.

.

Jenny's father watched the final fragment of the comet speeding towards Earth, but in his heart he needed to be home for Jenny's return.

"There is nothing more I can do here. I need to be with my family," he excused himself from his work, but they all understood.

The human beings of the planet Earth were now aware of the astonishing episode that had just occurred in their small area of the vast cosmos. Word traveled fast, and everyone was glued to a radio or a television for the latest update on the killer comet. They were informed that the bulk of the comet would miraculously miss the Earth, but one small piece would soon hit the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

.

For Jenny and Born, their job was complete, they had done all they could.

"Thank you two so much for what you have done for my people. I'll never ever, forget what you have done for us. If there is anything I could possibly ever do for you, I would be honored to be able to repay you in some way," Jenny said. "And I'm really sorry the Traveler got damaged."

Born sat limp in his chair, "Oh, that's all right, I'm hoping that my superiors will be grateful for saving our primary source of water, and decide to be lenient with me. To be honest with you, at this point, I'm just happy to still be alive."

Jenny smiled, and said, "Yeah, us too."

Jenny looked out of the Traveler's window. She felt happy, proud, rewarded and relieved, about what they had just accomplished. Her family and her race were safe. The Earth looked so big, beautiful, peaceful, and safe to Jenny from up here, but she was well aware how vulnerable it really was. The portions of the comet they moved off course were visible in the distance. The re-direction had created a unique curve in the tails of the comets.

We were very lucky this time, Jenny thought to herself.

If it were not for her chance discovery of the anti-gravity suit two weeks earlier, she, and every other human being on Earth would be mentally preparing for their fate. How fortunate they had been.

Obos went through a long list of the damage inflicted by the mission, and Born moaned, as if in pain, every time the computer mentioned something.

"When you take me home I'll treat you to a tall glass of cool water, and a nice warm bath," Jenny said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The offer immediately got Born's attention and his mood perked up.

"I've never experienced that before, to be submerged in artificially heated water," he said, with a look of desire, and longing in his eyes.

"Well, you're going to experience one soon, and as many as you want too! You should try having a shower and a Jacuzzi as well," Jenny suggested to the overwhelmed Born.

# Chapter 16

### Triumphant Return

Jenny watched the final descent of the comet. A steady and heavy flow of steam trailed off behind the bright blazing ball of flame as it streaked towards Earth. The speed at which the comet was going to hit the Earth was now more apparent to Jenny.

Obos slowed the Traveler, which allowed the comet to pull away from them. The area was free of cloud, and the flaming comet streaked towards the expanse of blue water.

The fireball struck the ocean and created a momentary crater in the water as the water instantly evaporated upon contact with the comet. The force of the collision pushed the water outwards from the point of impact, deep down to the ocean floor. The comet vaporized from the might of the crash. A huge jet of steam and particles rose from the explosion, and a surge of water spread out in every direction from the center of the blast.

"Whoa!" Jenny exclaimed at the awesome sight. "I hope everyone gets evacuated in time. I'd like to go home now please, Obos. And by the way, good job on that comet," she praised.

"Thank you, Jenny Thompson. Your wish is my command," Obos replied.

The Traveler turned and accelerated towards North America. The Atlantic Ocean, or the Earth for that matter, did not seem so large while inside the Traveler, because it could cover immense distances in a short period of time. At the altitudes it flew, the planet looked like a big ball, an amazing, life-giving globe of water and earth.

It wasn't long before they were hovering over the field close to Jenny's home. Jenny couldn't believe that she was home. She had thought she may never see it again, but there it was, just as peaceful and beautiful as when she had left. They touched down, and Jenny waited impatiently for the door of the Traveler to open.

"Promise you won't go anywhere until I come back for you, okay Born?" Jenny asked.

"I promise," Born replied.

"I'll be back soon," Jenny said.

Born nodded, and opened the door of the space ship for Jenny. She bolted out the door and down the stairs, landing in the tall grass of her beautiful little piece of the Earth.

Everything looked so wonderful, the green trees blowing in the gentle breeze, the glorious blue sky, and their own star, the sun, beat down, and felt hot on Jenny's upturned face. She felt invigorated, and grateful to be alive. The sky glittered and sparkled as she ran home. There was a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors created by the comet, now streaking harmlessly past the Earth.

All of the old familiar sights looked fresh, new, and magnificent to her now. The sound of birds was music to Jenny's ears, and she looked up to see a pair of swallows, dipping and soaring through the air. Grasshoppers jumped out of the way as she came barreling through, and bees were collecting pollen from the wildflowers growing in the meadows.

All of these sights and sounds gave Jenny the feeling of elation, and she wished she were wearing the anti-gravity suit so she could really jump for joy. She could see her house in the distance and wondered who would be home. Home...she was home, what a beautiful feeling. Jenny ran across the yard, up the front steps, and burst through the front door.

"Anybody home?" she yelled.

"Jenny? Is that you?" Relli came running from the kitchen, gave Jenny a big bear hug, and burst into a cascade of happy tears. Jenny's father and brother heard the commotion and came running from different areas of the house. Martin came in and gave Jenny a big hug while he picked her up and spun her around.

"Jenny, you should see the news! The defense department thinks they blasted the comet clear away from Earth!" her brother announced.

"Ha! All they did was break the comet into pieces, and made our job harder, but let them believe what they want to believe. I'm just glad to be home, and relieved that everyone is safe."

" _We_ all know who the real hero is. Welcome home Jen," Martin said, and he hugged his beloved sister again. Jenny's father just stood in the doorway and watched the festivities with a proud beaming smile on his face. Jenny noticed him standing there and walked over to him.

"Well Dad, we did it," she said.

"You sure did sweetheart, come here." And he hugged her tight.

Relli watched, with her hands clenched under her chin, and tears streaming down her flushed, joyful face, while Martin literally vibrated with excitement.

"There should be a ticker-tape parade in your honor," proclaimed Relli.

"Yeah, and a national holiday. Jenny Thompson day," Martin said.

"And, the Medal of Honor," added her father.

"They should create a special honor, just for Jenny," Martin suggested.

However, they all knew the only accolades Jenny would receive, would be the ones she was receiving right now, from her own family, and that was just fine by Jenny. She was satisfied her family was safe, and she had been fortunate enough to be able to turn a desperate situation into a happy ending.

In the recreation room, the news on T.V. caught Jenny's attention.

"How's the evacuation going?" Jenny asked, as she walked into the rec room to listen to the television.

"It seems to be going well, but there are millions of people to evacuate, and only a short period of time to do it," Jenny's father explained. The news program was showing lines of traffic streaming out of coastal towns.

"When will the tidal wave hit?" Jenny asked.

"In a few hours," replied her father. "There may be a few lives lost," he said, and he noticed a sad concerned look come across his daughter's face.

"But don't worry, Jen. You did the best you could. Without you, we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation right now, and if we hadn't of broken the comet apart, that last piece would never have reached the Earth," he tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, ya done good, Jen. You saved billions of lives. You saved our planet," Martin said, as he put his arm around his sister.

"How's Born doing?" Jenny's father asked. "I'd like to see him, and thank him personally, and on behalf of the entire planet."

"Oh, he's okay. He's a little concerned about the damage the comet caused to the Traveler. I promised him a hot bath and a glass of cool water but he doesn't want to have to meet any new people. You know how he is."

"I'm sure we can arrange something. I wish we could help him with the repairs on his ship, but I think his technology is way beyond our expertise," her father said.

"I'd like to make him a big home cooked meal. What does he eat anyway?" Relli asked.

"Good question. I don't even know if he does eat regular food. We've been drinking protein drinks, and surviving on space rations for the last few days. They are very sustaining but not very tasty. But I can tell you one thing for sure, I'm starved," Jenny proclaimed.

"Well, come into the kitchen young lady, and I'll make you what ever your heart desires," declared Relli.

"How about a hero sandwich? That sounds appropriate right now," Martin suggested. They all followed Relli into the kitchen, and continued their reunion celebration.

While Jenny ate, she described all of the amazing things she had seen, and the experiences she had while out in space. Her family sat in wide-eyed wonder as they listened intently to the descriptions of things no other human had ever seen before. Mr. Thompson took notes as Jenny spoke. Later on, while Jenny was helping clean up the dishes, she found a moment to talk to Relli in private.

"Your visions sure turned out to be right on the money, Relli. I'll never doubt you again."

"Oh yes you will," Relli said.

Jenny looked up from drying a glass. "Just what do you mean by that."

"I just know that your duties throughout the stars are not yet completed. I see more great deeds in store for you. I see the name 'Jenny of Earth' emblazoned across the cosmos, and held in the highest esteem. There are amazing adventures in store for you, and you will accomplish things far beyond your imagination. Just remember, you were chosen for these tasks because of your qualities," Relli reminded her.

"Wow, you were right, I don't believe you," Jenny said, and Relli laughed. "I can't imagine anything more bizarre happening to me than what I just went through, and to be honest with you, I don't even want to think about it. I just want to enjoy the moment right now," Jenny said, drying her hands on a tea towel. "I wish Born were here."

"Why don't you go and get him?" Relli suggested.

"Okay, but everyone needs to stay out of sight until he gets comfortable. Can you tell Dad and Martin? I'll take him directly upstairs to the main bathroom when we come back. He's excited to have the first warm bath of his life," Jenny said with a chuckle.

Relli smiled. "I'll tell them."

"I'll be back soon!" Jenny said, as she ran out the front door, and lightly bounced down the porch stairs.

.

Obos immediately picked her up on its sensors. "Jenny is on the way."

"It's about time," Born said. He was really looking forward to a decadent warm bath, and he had some pleasing news he wanted to share with Jenny.

She ran through the fields, constantly glancing up at the beautiful shimmering lights created by the comet and its fallout. She found it hard to believe, she had just been up there wrestling with a comet. She ran up the spaceship's stairs, and burst into the Traveler panting.

"I'm sorry to take so long, Born. Are you ready for the nice warm bath I promised you? " Jenny asked, as she walked into the Traveler.

Born was suppressing a smile. "I'm all set for it, but before we go, I've got some good news to mention."

"What is it?"

"I've been in touch with Soilanglobe, and you know how I was so worried about the damage to the ship?" Born asked.

"Yeah, how could I forget."

"Well, because we saved my planet's best source of water, I am considered a hero, and all is forgiven! They have recognized that saving Earth will conserve time for my planet by not having to travel another two light years out of our way in order to reach the next closest water rich planet. And, the government has generously offered to pay for all of the repairs on the ship!" Born said, sounding very excited.

"See I told you." Jenny couldn't resist an, _I told you so_.

"And, that's not all," he continued. "I told them this would never have happened if it wasn't for your insistence, so they have invited you to return with me to Soilanglobe, so they may honor you for your bravery, and your part in accomplishing the endeavor."

Jenny beamed. "They are actually inviting a stranger from another planet to come and visit them? Wow, I'm honored."

"Yes. It certainly doesn't happen very often. But that just shows the importance of what we achieved," Born said, sounding very pleased with their accomplishment.

"They figure you have already seen and experienced so much of me and our technology, to shut you out now, just wouldn't make sense. What do think about that?"

"I think its incredible news!" Jenny said. "What a great opportunity! To actually visit another planet!" Jenny's was distracted by the recollection of Relli's prophesy of a second longer trip.

"Do you think you'll be able to get permission to go?" Born asked. Knowing full well, if there was a will, there would be a way of Jenny convincing her father to let her go.

"I sure hope so. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and I don't want to miss out on it," Jenny said.

There was a brief silence, before Born blurted out in animated exuberance, "We're heroes, Jenny!"

"And we're heroes at my house, too. Can you please come over? I promise no one will bother you while you're there. They'll stay out of sight unless you want to meet them."

"Yes, I'm ready for anything. I'm on top of the Earth!" Born said.

"You mean, you're on top of the world," Jenny corrected. "Let's go, fellow hero! Hey, can I wear one of the gravity suits, just for some extra fun for today?" Jenny asked.

"I guess you deserve a reward," Born answered, "But, only if you promise to return it," he joked, and Jenny giggled.

"I wish you could come too, Obos," Jenny said.

"Thank you for the sentiment Jenny Thompson, but unless your house is as big as this field, then it is quite impossible," replied Obos.

"Yeah, I know, but the only reason we succeeded was because of you," Jenny said.

"May I remind you, Jenny, I am machinery and circuitry, built and used by biologic beings."

"We're both machines of different sorts, but you can't fool me, Obos...I know inside that mass of machinery you're an old softie. And you do have a personality and feelings and opinions, I've heard and experienced them," Jenny made her case.

"I have no reply to that data," Obos replied.

"Don't worry, Obos, your secret is safe with me," Jenny said, while Born just shook his head at the whole conversation.

"Is it okay if I wear the one I'm used to?" Jenny asked, referring to the sweatsuit styled gravity displacement suit.

Born looked distastefully at the multi colored and tasseled style of gravity suit, and reluctantly agreed. "Yes, I suppose you have earned it."

They put their suits on and stepped out into the warm, evening air. Jenny and Born powered up their suits, dialed them to the proper setting, did a small test jump, and leaped from the top stair directly to the ground.

"I love this suit," Jenny declared. "Come on Born, follow me. We'll play follow the leader."

"What, is that?" Born asked unenthusiastically.

"You have to do everything I do, okay?"

Born rolled his eyes and trudged after her.

Jenny took the long way home. She wanted to re-experience the exhilaration of total control over the forces of gravity. They ran freely, with effortless strides, and leaped across the grassy fields.

It was a beautiful evening. The setting sun illuminated the remnants of the killer comet and the sky was ablaze with colors. There were tons of small particles and debris still burning up in the upper atmosphere. They were beginning to show up as thousands of shooting stars as darkness began to creep across the land. Jenny loved it. She was on top of the world, her world, which was safe from the comet, streaking harmlessly by.

Jenny felt proud, and satisfied, and grateful to be alive. She ran towards a pile of boulders that lay in the corner of one of the open meadows. She leaped to the top in one bound, planted her foot on the top boulder, then adjusted her gravity displacement suit to make her lighter, and pushed off the rock as hard as she could. She sailed through the air, and landed on the ground halfway into the next field. She was getting rather good at this. Born on the other hand, was having trouble keeping up.

"Come on, slow poke, can't you keep up?" Jenny jokingly challenged.

"No, you're too fast," admitted an out of breath Born.

"We're almost home, follow me," and off she went.

Jenny spied a line of high poplar trees, separating the next field from the one they were currently in. When she got close enough, she leaped clear over the top of them, squealing with delight as she soared through the air, and landed gracefully on the other side. Jenny stopped to watch Born do the same, but instead of seeing him fly over the treetops, he came running through one of the spaces between the trees.

"Hey! You were supposed to jump over top of them!" she shouted, as he came running towards her.

"If I had attempted that stunt, I would have ended up hanging from one of the tree branches," Born admitted.

Jenny laughed at the picture created in her mind. "We'd better get home. It's getting dark," she said, as she looked up at the incredible scene of flashes of light streaking across the early night sky.

# Chapter 17

### Another Prophesy Beginning to Take Shape

Jenny and Born ran into the yard and walked up the front steps of Jenny's home.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to meet my family, or do you want them to stay out of sight for awhile?" Jenny asked her honored guest.

"Maybe we could just wait a short time before I meet everyone. I'd just like to relax for awhile," Born answered.

"Done! I already told everybody to stay out of sight unless I go and fetch them," Jenny promised.

She opened the front door of her house and invited Born in. He looked rather uncomfortable about the situation, but stepped into Jenny's home and looked around at the spacious interior.

"It is very beautiful," Born complimented, as he studied the furnishings and the pictures on the walls. "Yes, this is a very nice, roomy living quarters, Jenny. You are very lucky to live in such luxury."

"And, very lucky to still have it. Thanks to you and Obos." Jenny led Born upstairs and down a long wide hallway, past several doors leading to different rooms, some open, some closed.

"This is my room," Jenny said, as they came upon a well-used door, with some old stickers and tape marks on it. Born looked around at the cozy looking room. The light- blue color theme caught his eye as he scanned the books and the furniture, and a shelf around the entire perimeter of the room, filled with plush animals of every color.

"Very comfortable looking," complimented Born.

"Thanks. This way to the bathroom," Jenny motioned.

She led Born in, and pointed out the amenities.

"This is the sink, for quick wash-ups and brushing teeth. And this is the tub, where you can soak or have a shower."

"It's incredible! The entire room is dedicated to water."

"Yeah, I guess it is. I'd never thought of it that way before," Jenny admitted. She felt more respect and reverence for a room she had always taken for granted.

Jenny noticed Born looking curiously at the toilet. He bent down to get a close look at the water inside of the bowl. Jenny reached over and pushed down the flush lever.

"Oh, my goodness! What is this device for? Washing your feet?" Born asked, and Jenny burst out laughing.

"No, you sit on the seat," Jenny said.

"You sit on the seat? What on world for?" Born asked.

Jenny didn't answer, but looked at Born intently, hoping he would figure it out so she wouldn't have to explain it.

"Oh, yes, I see," Born said, finally realizing. "Water even for that?"

"Yep," Jenny said.

"It certainly is impressive," Born said as he looked around at the gleaming dark blue tile, and the matching sink with its shining chrome.

"Relli has left some towels there for you," Jenny said, and she knelt down to turn on the water. "This is hot, and this is cold." She demonstrated as she began to fill up the tub.

"You can control the temperature of the water to your preference by turning these taps. But make sure you turn them off before it gets too high, so the water doesn't overflow. Will you be okay once you take off the gravity suit?"

"Yes, I should be fine," Born replied.

Jenny filled up a glass from the sink faucet and placed it on the edge of the bathtub.

"Here's a glass of cool water for you to sip on while you're bathing."

"Just yell if you need anything or need help. I'll be listening for you. Take your time, and enjoy."

"I will," Born said, eagerly looking at the tub.

Jenny left Born and closed the door behind her. She noticed that Martin's bedroom door down the hall was now open, and his light was on. It had been all Martin could do not to come out of his room until beckoned, but he had managed to keep his promise.

Jenny thought of a funny trick she could pull on her brother and she crept quietly towards his room. She pulled out the control module of the gravity suit and turned the dial until she was weightless. Jenny floated off the floor and she arranged herself into a lying position.

"Martin, can you come here for a sec please?" she called.

Martin jumped off his bed, where he lay flipping through a hot car magazine, and made his way quickly to the door of his bedroom. He poked his head out of the door just as Jenny was floating by, looking very relaxed indeed, with a little smirk on her face.

"What the!" he exclaimed.

Jenny broke out laughing at Martin's shocked expression. "Cool, huh?"

"Amazing, and to think I was making fun of that suit," Martin said in wonder.

Jenny continued to drift down the hallway with Martin following close behind. She grabbed a doorframe on her way by and pulled herself into the room beyond.

"What does it feel like to be totally weightless?" Martin asked.

"It feels incredible. Moving around is so easy, my body feels unbelievably strong without any gravity constantly pulling me down."

She began to demonstrate some of the amazing feats that she was now capable of performing. She bounced from wall to wall, and floor to ceiling, sometimes pushing with her hands, and sometimes with her feet. Martin's face lit up. She was rebounding about the room like a human pinball.

"I have to be careful in a small area like this. If I push off too hard, I can go out of control. As long as I don't push off too fast, and get used to the size of the room before I try anything fancy, I'm okay."

She tried to do a flip but miscalculated and kind of crashed into the ceiling.

Martin chuckled.

"See what I mean," Jenny said smiling. She pushed herself with her hands toward a wall, and then lightly sprang towards the floor, where she landed on all fours, and then pulled herself along the floor with her hands while her body hovered above it.

"It's like swimming, only the water is now air, and it has very little resistance compared to water," Jenny explained.

She turned the dial on the controller in order to provide some gravity.

"Gravity does definitely have its place though. It keeps everything in position," she said, as she lightly jumped about the room. She hopped over the back of a small couch, and landed slowly and softly into the plump cushions.

"Cool. Can I try it out?" Martin asked.

"I don't know, Martin. We would have to ask Born if it was okay," Jenny said, and Martin let it go.

"I'd better see if Born is all right," Jenny mentioned.

"How's it going in there, Born?" Jenny asked.

"Glorious," he answered.

"Are you up to meeting my family later?" Jenny asked hopefully.

"Yes, I will meet your family," Born announced. "Just give me some more time to relax."

"Yes!" Jenny said to herself as she pumped her fist. "That's great. I'll get them to wait in the rec room for us. I'll come back and check on you later," she said, and she bolted off to prepare her family.

"Is he okay?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. Can you come down to the rec room and wait with Dad and Relli please. I'll bring Born down to meet you all as soon as he's done."

"Yeah, sure. This is going to be strange, meeting an alien. This whole thing is totally weird. I still have a hard time accepting all of this is really happening," Martin admitted.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Jenny agreed as she led the way downstairs.

.

Ah, this is the life, Born thought, as he lay comfortably in the warm water while sipping from the glass. He reminisced about the last several days, and thought about how this thirteen-year-old human had changed his life for the better. He knew he would miss her if she could not accompany him back to Soilanglobe.

Jenny's exuberance, and joy of life, had made him feel like a young sixty-year-old Soilan again. He also thought about how he would have to travel to the planet Spacemark Four to get the necessary repairs on the Traveler, before he could begin his long journey home.

Born didn't like going to Spacemark Four, the land of the giants as he referred to it. He felt so small and vulnerable there. Born thought about how lucky he was to be alive, and he almost wished he could stay with Jenny and her family, and enjoy an abundance of water every day, but he knew he must go home. His people were in need of the water on board the Traveler.

.

"Born said he's up to meeting you guys," Jenny said excitedly. "Just remember, even though he's an alien, he's just like you and me," she said, and turned to go back upstairs.

"Everything is set Born, but take your time. I'll be next door in my bedroom if you need help," she called through the closed bathroom door.

"Okay, I'll be out in a few minutes," Born called back. He finished his bath and struggled out of the tub. He was quite relieved to finally his suit back on.

"Ah, that's better," he sighed, feeling a little tired and sleepy after the exertion and warm bath. He opened the bathroom door and peeked out, then walked down the hall and into Jenny's bedroom. He found her lying on her bed reading a book.

"Feel better?" asked Jenny.

"Yes, thank you. It was a splendid experience," Born said.

"Are you ready to meet everyone?"

"Yes, I think so," Born said reluctantly.

"Don't worry, they're nice people," Jenny said, as she hopped off her bed. They went downstairs and found Jenny's family watching the news on TV.

"Oh, hello Born, it's nice to see you again," Jenny's father greeted.

"Hello Mr. Thompson," Born responded.

"Please call me, Roy."

Born nodded.

Jenny finished the introductions, "This is our housekeeper, Relli, and my older brother, Martin."

"I am pleased to meet you all," Born said.

They sat there in stunned silence at the sight of an alien in their own home, and tried not to stare at Born's flamboyant outfit. Jenny's father broke the uncomfortable silence.

"I am so glad to get the opportunity to talk to you again. On behalf of the entire planet, I would like to express our gratitude for what you have done for us. Words just don't seem to be enough. I wish there was some way to repay you."

"You're planet has already given us so much. We have collected water here for centuries, and now we are able to come back and continue to collect water for centuries to come," Born said.

"I am very honored to meet you, Born. Thank you for saving us, and for keeping our Jenny safe," Relli said. "I have a strange feeling we have met before, but of course that is impossible."

"Yes, quite impossible," Born agreed.

Martin piped in. "Yes, thank you. It's hard to believe water is so rare for you, and we are your main source of it."

"Yes, clean fresh water is very rare in this small area of the galaxy. We were lucky to discover Earth many centuries ago or we may have perished as a race," Born explained.

"So, you would have perished too if our planet was destroyed by the comet?" Martin asked.

"Most life forms would have been wiped out, but the Earth itself would have survived the collision. However, you are correct. It would have affected us enormously. Water collection here could not have resumed for years, until the aftermath of the collision settled down. Even then, the water would have needed to be put through an extensive filtration process because of the particle fallout created by the impact. We would have had to rely on our secondary water source, but it is not nearly as convenient as Earth, so saving your planet is very important to us, too. As a matter of fact, I have been in touch with my planet, and Jenny and I are considered heroes."

"As you are here, well at least in this house," Jenny's father said.

"You know what too, Dad?" Jenny said, but didn't wait for a response.

"Soilanglobe has invited me to go there to be honored as a hero along with Born, but they ask that the invitation be absolutely confidential," Jenny said.

"No one would believe us if we blabbed anyway!" Martin said. "You're so lucky!"

Jenny's father was silent though.

"Dad? What do you think?" Jenny asked hopefully.

"I think we just got you back, and I don't want to lose you again," he replied.

"Dad, this is a great opportunity for me, for us. I will be able to see things you have been studying for years through your telescope, but I'll be able to see them up close. I'll see things no human has ever seen before. I can experience another species' customs and culture. If I had the opportunity to go to, say Paris for a year, and you trusted the people I was going to be with, wouldn't you let me go?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, but this is totally different, Jenny," her father protested.

"Why, just because it's away from Earth? The danger is over. This is a fun educational trip. You trust Born don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, of course, I trusted him with your life, didn't I?" he replied.

"Well then?" she felt her side of the discussion made the most sense.

Born was enjoying this. It was nice to see somebody else pressured relentlessly by Jenny for a change. He wondered how long it would take Jenny's father to give in. Born just relaxed and listened, and was glad it wasn't him.

"Jenny, why do you do this to me? We just got through one trying, stressful situation, and now you want to put me through another?" he said, sounding very frustrated. "How long would she be gone, Born?"

Well that was quicker than Born had expected, he knew Jenny had just got her way, again.

"Approximately a year. She could keep in touch with you, but if you get homesick Jenny, there is no way to come back sooner," Born warned.

"I'll be fine. I'm not saying I won't miss everyone, because I will, but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. I'll see things that no other human being has ever seen, or even dreamed of seeing. Dad, for the enrichment of us all, you should give me permission to go."

"What about your schoolwork? How are you going to keep up with that?" her father challenged.

"Obos can easily take care of that. It can pick up Jenny's grade curriculum from the school computer, and keep her up to date with her lessons," Born offered.

Jenny's father turned to Relli and Martin. "What do you two think?"

Martin gave his opinion first. "I wish it was me going. I think she should go. I'll miss her, but this is a once in a billion lifetime's opportunity."

Relli looked at Jenny with a soft, gentle smile. "She should go. I trust Born, and I think it's important that she goes. I believe this was destined to happen, in the stars, so to speak. I believe Jenny has been chosen for this, and there is important work for her to do out there, just like she was chosen for the task she has just completed here on Earth. There is greatness in her, she's born for it, I can feel it."

Mr. Thompson and Born shared a skeptical look.

"What is your opinion on the invitation, Born?" Jenny's father asked.

"My reasons for wanting Jenny to come along are a little selfish. I enjoy her company. I would welcome her presence on board the Traveler during the long journey. Although I cannot guarantee her safety, we have many safety mechanisms built into the Traveler, and I will protect her to the best of my ability. She will experience and see many new things, and she will return enriched and enlightened. This is all I can say. The difficult decision is yours to make."

"I suppose my reasons are a little selfish as well. I know she will be safe under your care, but I can't stand the thought of being without her for an entire year. But, the opportunity is incredible, so, I reluctantly give my permission," Jenny's father announced.

"All right!" Jenny shouted.

"Congratulations, Jenny," Martin and Relli said as they hugged her.

"Maybe, I'm just a little jealous too," added Jenny's father. "I've spent most of my life studying and trying to make sense of the cosmos, and I **,** would dearly love to be able to go and see everything up close. I would be able to unravel some of the mysteries that have puzzled us for decades."

"Don't worry Dad, just make me a list of the questions, and I'll do my best to discover the answers for you. I'll return with the secrets of the universe," she proclaimed.

"We'll settle for you coming home safe and sound," added Relli. "Now what can I get you from the kitchen. You must be famished after your long and dangerous mission, and Jenny told us about the tasteless space rations you have to exist on. Please come into the kitchen and sample some of my tasty creations," Relli insisted, as she led Born towards the kitchen. Jenny smirked at Born as he was escorted by, looking somewhat bewildered. Martin turned the news back on and sat down to listen.

"It's funny how quickly we accept things, isn't it, Dad?" Jenny said.

"How do you mean?" he asked back.

"Well, if someone had told us two weeks ago what was coming up in our lives, it would have been totally unbelievable. Now the danger is past and we have an alien as our houseguest, and I'll be going on a long trip into space. It's funny isn't it?" She found it hard to believe what a whirlwind her life had suddenly become.

"Yes, I guess you're right. After the initial shock of certain things, our race does seem to be able to accept and cope quite well. I suppose it's a built-in survival mechanism."

"Has the tsunami hit yet?" Jenny's attention was diverted by the sound of the news on television.

"Any minute now," Martin answered from his spot on the couch.

"I sure hope everyone got out on time," Jenny said, as she and her father joined Martin. They listened intently to the expressionless female announcer on television, talking about the comet and its fall-out, and the fast approaching tidal wave.

"There are reports of damage caused by smaller bits of the comet striking the Earth all the way from South Africa through to Europe in decreasing frequency as we travel northward. The evacuation process of Atlantic coastal regions in now in full swing."

The coverage shifted to scenes of bumper-to-bumper traffic as citizens tried to escape their coastal homes, and then a view of streaking meteorites inflicting damage on buildings and property. The footage was riveting. Streaking fireballs from the sky exploding into remote and populated areas, and minute-by-minute coverage of the tsunami as it bore down on the many shores it would affect. "Now to our eye in the sky, Samantha Edgar."

"I'm just over the city of New York. The tsunami is getting bigger as the mass of water is forced upwards by the rising elevation of the shallows, and it is moving at an alarming speed. The water on the shoreline is being drawn back, a sure sign that the tsunami is imminent. A huge wall of water is swelling right before my very eyes. It's cresting! Hang on !"

The gigantic wave crashed over and buffeted the small helicopter about in a rush of wind and spray.

The wave ripped buildings from their very foundations. It swept away anything not attached to the ground, and carried it away into the city. Rivers of water washed through the manmade Manhattan canyons of glass, concrete and steel. By the time the pilot had righted the helicopter and the camera was focused back on to the city, the main wave had hit and very little was left standing on the shoreline.

In the middle of the damage, however, standing tall and proud still, and waste deep in the still rising water, was The Statue of Liberty, holding her torch high, as a beacon of strength, resilience and hope. The world had been very fortunate to escape with only a scratch, and it would surely repair and rebuild the damage caused by the small piece of the killer comet.

"I sure hope everyone got out in time, but I suspect there will be some casualties," Jenny's father said as he switched off the TV.

"I wish we could have moved the final piece in time," Jenny said sadly.

"Most of the damage is to property, and millions of lives were saved because of your's and Born's heroism. Please don't feel responsible. You did everything you could, and the entire world owes you a debt of thanks," her father said.

"Thanks Dad," Jenny said, and gave him a hug. They went into the kitchen and found Born sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by a variety of different foods, and he sampled little bits of everything.

"Oh, this is good," he said of the sweet potato. "Oh my, this is incredible!" he raved of the apple pie.

"Yes, try everything Born," Relli said.

"Got enough food there, Born?" Jenny asked, smiling.

"Well, you know how it is when you've been on space rations for awhile," Born said, looking a little embarrassed.

"You're right, I do know." And she grabbed a plate and a fork, and carved a big piece of the apple pie.

"And I'll be on them again soon, so I'm going to take full advantage of whatever my stomach will hold now," she said, and sat beside Born.

"When were you planning on leaving?" Mr. Thompson asked.

"I was planning on leaving tomorrow, if it is convenient," Born mumbled through a mouthful of pie.

Jenny's father frowned. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"I'm sorry, but my people need the water I carry and we must stop for repairs and do some trading on the way, which will delay us further, so I must leave as soon as possible."

"Well, I guess you had better go pack as soon as you've finished up."

Jenny looked over at her father and nodded while she chewed.

"A whole year you say. I hope I can last that long," Jenny's father said.

Born ate his fill, thanked Relli for the wonderful foods, complained he ate too much, and then took his leave.

"See you tomorrow, and thanks," Jenny said.

"You're welcome, Jenny. See you tomorrow," Born said, and he struck out towards the Traveler, rubbing his swollen belly as he went.

Jenny went upstairs to pack, and although Born had instructed her to pack light, she wanted to be well prepared for the long journey, so she packed an array of comfortable clothes and personal items. The business card Relli had given Jenny when they first met caught Jenny's eye as it lay on her dresser. She squinted to make out the reverse image in the mirror of Relli's full name, _Rellet Caidoz,_ and read it backwards. " _Zodiac Teller."_ Jenny laughed. "Good pick, Relli," she said to herself.

.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny with the promise of fresh adventure, and Jenny was very excited and anxious to get going. She had a good breakfast of Relli's delicious blueberry flapjacks she loved so much. Martin was nearly vibrating out of his chair at the thought of seeing an extraterrestrial spaceship.

Everyone was ready to go by 8:00 am. The air was cool and the ground was wet with dew. No one spoke too much on the way to the Traveler and Mr. Thompson occasionally shifted hands while carrying Jenny's medium sized travel case. Martin and Relli gasped at their first sight of the large spacecraft. The stairs were down and Born stood in the open doorway at the top. Jenny turned to say good-bye to everyone.

"We'll miss ya, Jen," Martin said as he gave his sister a hug.

"I'll miss you guys, too. Don't give Relli too much grief," Jenny ordered.

"I won't," Martin promised, with a slight blush.

"Take care of yourself," Relli said. "And remember, this is your destiny. Just follow your heart and all will work out as it is written." Then, gave Jenny a big hug.

"You were right, Relli. Things are already starting to take shape. I'm excited, but nervous," Jenny admitted. "Hopefully I can discover the meaning of your reoccurring dream."

"Just remember what I told you."

"I will. Thanks, Relli. Or should I say, Zodiac Teller," Jenny replied, and Relli just smiled.

Jenny's father frowned at their mysterious conversation. "Whatever that all means, and I don't even want to know."

"Don't worry, Dad. I don't even know what she means most of the time," Jenny admitted, smiling, and Relli gave Jenny a final wink.

"Good bye, honey. We'll miss you, keep in touch." her father said.

"I will," Jenny promised. She took her suitcase from her father, gave him a final kiss on the cheek, and climbed the stairs. Jenny waved from the top of the stairs and the door slid closed in front of her. Obos collapsed the stairs into the side of the Traveler.

The spaceship then rose slowly and silently straight up, until it was well above the treetops, and then it quickly accelerated away into space.

