Reversal

Will A. Sanborn

7/29/93
Revised 1/15 - 1/17/94
Third Revision 11/23/99

Jack Smith sighed rather loudly as he trudged alone through the fields of New England. He was home from college for the long weekend of Thanksgiving and was feeling extremely bored. The cold grayness of late autumn didn't help his mood either. He'd been feeling morose for quite sometime, and it seemed as if nothing interested him anymore. Classes hadn't been going that well, and he was beginning to wonder just exactly what it was that he wanted to do with his life. There were times when he felt as if he were trapped by his daily routine. He did have a few friends, but they'd been strangely distant over the past few weeks, perhaps put off by his moodiness.

He let out another sigh, wishing that he could snap out of this depression. About the only thing that seemed to give him any joy now was his reading. He'd always been an avid reader, but over the past few months he'd been reading more and more, drawing himself further inward. Now he was using his books as an escape, anything to get away. During the past several weeks, he'd become quite the armchair explorer.

His let his mind drift to his latest fantasy, one based on the story he was currently reading. He liked reading science fiction the best, because of the strange and wonderful opportunities it offered him. "Just imagine of all the worlds out there, just waiting to be explored" he mused to himself. "If only I could get out of here."

It was starting to get dark, and he realized that he should turn around soon, since he'd gotten himself a good distance away from home. Looking up into the sky he caught the sight of the Evening Star. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight..." he whispers softly to himself.

Suddenly, as if in answer to his dreams, a bright light appeared on the horizon. He watched, transfixed, as it grew steadily nearer, taking on a distinctive shape. He was left breathless as he saw the craft hovering briefly overhead, then coming down to rest not more than fifty yards from where he stood.

Not believing his outstanding fortune, Jack walked briskly towards the ship, not for once feeling any fear, for he was far too excited to feel anything else. He reached the ship and paused, standing in awe in front of it. The hull was made of a smooth, shiny material, with no apparent breaks on its surface. Looking it over, he estimated the ship's length to be about one-hundred and fifty feet long. "It's a lot smaller than I expected," he spoke to himself, "it must just be a scout ship."

As he stood there, looking upon the spectacle confronting him, a seam formed on side of the ship. As he watched, the split in the hull stretched to form a hatchway, and without making the sound, the portal opened. A moment later two helmeted figures emerged. They noticed Jack but made no moves towards him. Instead they consulted their hand-held instruments, apparently testing for the atmosphere's compatibility. After what seemed like to an eternity to Jack, as he stood there, his heart pounding in his ears, they finally removed their helmets. Even all of his reading could not have prepared him for he saw.

The aliens who stood before him were bipedal, but they could not exactly be considered humanoid, at least not in the strictest sense. Their species seemed to have descended from foxes. Foxes that had not only learned to walk upright, but had also most-assuredly developed a method of faster-than-light travel to bring them to his corner of the universe. He stood there, a mixture of confusion and awe on his face, studying them, as they in turn also studied him.

Both of the creatures before him were female, which would make them vixens he thought to himself. He then chuckled softly, briefly finding humor in the situation, as a strange idea for a movie title popped into his mind, Teenage Vixens from the Planet X. Staring at the pair of aliens in front of them, his mind stirred with many thoughts. Although they were rather odd looking, he did find them intriguing, as well as strangely attractive. Their fur was not the same color, one of them was a deep red, while the other's coat was of a reddish brown. Both of the vixens had a white patch of fur on their necks, which continued downward into their flight suits. He saw that they also had tails protruding from the back of their suits. He also noticed that those suits managed to cling quite tightly to their bodies, greatly enhancing their well-built physiques. He chuckled inwardly once again, thinking how this was really turning out to be a B movie after all.

The three of them stared at each other for a few moments, then the vixens began talking to each other. At first their speech was incomprehensible, but as one of them made adjustments to her instruments, he was then able to understand what they were saying. He could tell that they were still not speaking English, but his mind somehow managed to perform the translation. He felt a shiver run through him as his brain got used to the feeling of it, then he felt another jolt of excitement hit him as he heard what they were saying. "Yes, I agree, he is rather cute. I think we should invite him aboard" the brown vixen was saying to her companion.

Turning to Jack, the red one then addressed him. "Hello, my name is Tarna, and this is Leela. We are explorers from the Alpha Centauri system."

"Uh, hello, my name's Jack" he managed to stammer out.

"Nice to meet you Jack. On our brief stop here, we were looking for a companion to accompany us on our journeys. How would you like that?"

He couldn't believe the sudden turn of events. The prospect of exploring space with these attractive aliens seemed almost too good to be true. It took him a couple of seconds to get over his excitement and then answer them. "You mean you're offering me the chance to travel with you, just like that?"

"Yes Jack," Leela replied with a slight giggle, "doesn't that sound fun?"

Realizing that he was faced with a chance of a lifetime that he could not pass up, Jack nodded to her, then said "of course it does, where do I sign up?"

Smiling at him, Tarna reached out for his hand. "Well then, let's get going, we've got adventures ahead of us." Taking his hand in hers, she then led him towards the ship, with Leela following closely behind.

Inside the cockpit, Leela sat down in front of the control console, while Tarna brought Jack back to a couch which they both strapped into. The takeoff was incredibly smooth, in fact had he not been looking out a view- port, Jack wouldn't have known they were moving. As the landscape retreated away below them, he only felt a slight pang of sadness at leaving his old life behind, which was overwhelmed by his excitement at the adventures that lay ahead of him.

The ship moved quickly, and within minutes they were in orbit, out there amongst the stars. It was then when he noticed Tarna's hand lightly caressing his upper leg. Another shiver ran through him, but he had no time to sort out the strange mix of feeling her touch gave him. Instead his attention was drawn to the sight of their ship, as it came into view. His mind was overwhelmed by the image of it, the sheer size of it mesmerized him.

After they docked their craft, they un-strapped from the couch and headed out through the portal into the ship. Jack followed them as they led him out to a large corridor that seemed to span several hundred feet in either direction. As he gazed around with wonder, Leela turned to them and spoke. "I'll go to the navigation room and set in our course. You can show Jack around a bit. I'll meet you two for supper in an hour and a half." With that she turned and was off.

Turning to him, Tarna then smiled again. "I'm really glad that you decided to come with us, Jack. I think you'll like it here. We're going to have a lot of fun together." She then threw her arms around him, surprising Jack by pulling him a tight embrace. As she moved her hands up and down his back, he was stunned and confused. His hands did however manage to think for themselves and return the hug, a little clumsily at first, but then relaxing slightly. After several minutes, Tarna released him from her grip. "Come on, I'll show you around."

"Oh there is just one more thing Jack" she added. "I need you to put this on." Reaching her hand inside her flight suit, she fished a narrow band of black fabric from it. Attached to the middle of the band was a metallic strip lined with several small flashing lights.

"What's that for?" he asked, looking at her holding it up to him.

"Why it's a collar of course. This way we'll always know where you are. Our last pet ran off and managed to get himself killed..."


Copyright 1993, 1999, Will A. Sanborn - was1@shore.net