The Rhucktok Project

Chapter 1

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.” Sarah thought as she looked up into the night sky.

Every night Sarah goes out onto the back porch and sits on the swing. She stares up at the night sky and thinks about her husband who is no longer with her. His last mission was unsuccessful and he lost his life. She often wonders what discoveries he would have made had he stayed alive and had been able to continue his space explorations.

“Sarah honey, you really need to stop doing this to yourself. It’s been over a year.” Sarah’s mother says as she walks out onto the porch. “Jacob wants to say good night to you.”

Margaret moved in with Sarah and Jacob after the passing of Sarah’s husband Ben. She is 53 years old, having had Sarah at the young age of 19 years. She regularly wears her light brown hair up into a bun. Her small amount of gray hair can be seen framing her face.

“It’s ok Mom; I’m ok. I like thinking about Ben. I think about the good stuff. It gives me comfort and makes me feel like he’s still with me. Yeah, it’s sad sometimes for me, but at least the hurt helps me to know I’m still alive, right?” Sarah says with a one-sided smile. She stands up and turns to go into the house. As she walks towards the door, she sees the concern on her mother’s face. “Really, Mom, you don’t have to worry about me.” she says as she puts her hand on her mother’s arm.

As Sarah walks into the house she hears Jacob yelling from the bedroom.

“Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Where are you? Mom. Mom. Mom.” Jacob says in a monotone voice.

“I’m coming Jacob. Hold your horses.”

“Mom, you know I don’t have any of those.” Jacob says concerned that his mother doesn’t realize this fact.

Jacob is a 6 year old boy with a love for anything involving Space. He wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an astronaut when he grows up. He has dark brown hair like his father’s, but has his mother’s eyes.

As Sarah walks down the hallway towards Jacob’s bedroom, she glances at the pictures hanging on the wall. She had taken a picture of Ben as he was leaving on his last mission. She had it framed and hung as a reminder of him and looks at it everyday. As she reaches the entrance to Jacob’s room, she sees that he is under the blanket, but is sitting upright.

“Ok, young man, it’s time for you to get some sleep.” She says as she walks over and sits down on the edge of his bed, facing him. She kisses him on the forehead and gives him a hug. “Did your grandma read you a story?”

“Yes, ma’am, she did. It was a good one too!”

“Awesome,” Sarah says with a smile as she directs Jacob to lie down and pulls the blanket up over him. She gets up from the bed and walks over to the door. “I love you sweetie.” She says as she reaches for the light switch.

“I love you too Mommy. Good night.”

Sarah turns the light off and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her but leaving it at a crack’s distance.

As she walks back down the hallway, she thinks about how much Jacob looks like his father. She smiles at the thought that she received something so precious from a man who has been everything to her. At the end of the hallway, she enters the living room. The lights are dimmed and the news is on the television. She continues through the living room and into the kitchen where her mother is finishing up her baking.

“Mom, you really shouldn’t work so hard all the time.” Sarah says as she takes a seat at the table.

“Nonsense,” her mother says as she pulls the last batch of cookies out of the oven, “I enjoy doing things for my favorite people in the whole wide world.” Margaret joins Sarah at the table and puts her hand on top of Sarah’s hands that she is now clutching together.

Sarah takes her mother’s hand into hers. “Thank you, Mom, for taking such good care of us.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Sarah. I’m your mother; that’s what I do.” She says with a smile. “Now, how about a cookie? I know how you have always loved them straight out of the oven, nice and warm. And then you can get some sleep. You know you have an important day tomorrow.”

“I think I will have a cookie, but first I’m going to take Max for a walk. I know he’s been waiting for awhile. Love you mom.”

“Love you too, dear.”

Sarah stands and walks into the living room. She grabs her jacket and puts it on. “Max, come on boy.” She yells as she grabs for the leash and the flashlight.

Max runs into the living room excited to go out and waits patiently for the latching of the leash. As the two walk out of the front door, Sarah clicks on the flashlight. She leads Max down the steps and walkway, and then turns left to head down the neighborhood sidewalk that runs parallel to the street.

A few houses up on the left, she can see Mrs. Patterson coming down her walkway waving at her. She sees that there is a police car parked at the next house up where the Rhodes family used to live. The house has been empty for about a year. People say that the family left during the night, abandoning the house. No one has seen or heard from them since. People generally just leave it alone aside from keeping the grass cut.

“Sarah, Sarah,” Mrs. Patterson says as Sarah reaches her walkway, “I’m so glad you’re here. Hi Max.” she says patting Max a couple of times on the head.

“What’s going on over there Mrs. Patterson?”

“Well, I was out in my backyard when I heard a commotion next door. And screaming; I heard weird screaming. I called the Police just to check it out, you know. Probably just a bunch of kids up to no good.”

“I’m going to walk over and find out what’s going on. You might want to go inside Mrs. Patterson, just in case. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Good idea, sweetie. It’s past my bedtime anyway. Talk to me tomorrow and let me know what happened. Good night Sarah.”

“I will. Good night Mrs. Patterson.”

“Be safe out here walking Max.” Mrs. Patterson says as she turns and walks back to her house. She turns and waves one last time to Sarah before going inside and closing the door behind her.

Sarah walks up to the abandoned house next door. She reaches the edge of the lawn just as Officer Matthews comes around the house from the backyard.

“Good evening Fran, I mean, Officer Matthews.” Sarah says catching herself.

“Girl, don’t be so formal.”

“What do you mean? That’s how I show my respect.” Sarah says as she smiles, but then turns serious. “So what’s going on? Did you guys find anything?

“Not so far. Charlie is still looking around in the back but pretty much we’ve been all over this place, and looked inside, but nothing. And there’s no sign of forced entry. Whatever it was, it’s gone now.”

“All clear in the back,” Charlie yells as he comes around the side of the house.

“Ok, great.” Fran says looking back at Charlie with a nod. She turns back to Sarah and places her hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Well, just give us a call if there’s any other disturbance here. We’ll call Mrs. Patterson tomorrow just to let her know we didn’t find anything.”

“That would be great.” Sarah says happy to know the phone call will be taken care of. “I’ll see you Friday night?”

“Girl, you know I wouldn’t miss it for the world! And you don’t need to be walking Max by yourself Sarah. I trust you have your piece on you?” Fran says in a concerned voice.

“Max is all the protection I need, but yes, I do have it on me. Never leave home without it, right?” Sarah says chuckling.

“Not a laughing matter, Sarah. You don’t know who could be lurking in the shadows.”

Fran motions to Charlie and the two start walking towards the police car. “See ya soon. Bye Maxy baby.” Fran says as she gets into the passenger side of the car.

Sarah directs Max back onto the sidewalk and as they begin to walk away, Sarah is startled by a sudden crash coming from the house. She turns to catch Fran and Charlie but they had already pulled out and are driving down the street, too far away for them to see her.

“Come on Max.” She says as she directs him back onto the property. “We’ll just take a quick look see, ok? What could happen, right?”

As she cautiously walks towards the house, she hears what sounds like something hitting the floor. “Ok Max, remember you are here to protect me.” She says nervously as she shines the flashlight into one of the windows. She does not see anything, so she takes a couple of steps around the corner of the house to the next window. This window shows into the same room but gives another view. She is able to see that there is a cubby-type space near a closet door. As she moves the flashlight, she catches a glimpse of something that she doesn’t recognize. Sarah quickly moves back towards the front of the house and, finding the key where the family would always keep it, she unlocks the front door and cautiously enters the house. She works her way slowly through the living room to the room where she saw the anomaly. Max stays by her side but does not appear anxious or agitated, but rather calm and casual. She notes his calmness and hopes that it’s because there is nothing lurking in the darkness.

As she enters the room, she can see each piece of furniture as the light from the flashlight shines on them; the room kept exactly as it was when the family left it behind. She reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out a handgun that she keeps with her on her night walks with Max. She walks over to the space where she saw the anomaly, but she sees nothing there. Puzzled by what she may have seen, she continues to look around the room, holding on tight to Max’s leash and the flashlight with one hand, and the gun in the other. Not seeing anything, she decides to check out the rest of the house. As she begins to move towards the door, she hears a sudden sound behind her. Startled by the sound, she swings around, gun and flashlight pointing towards where she heard the sound. Not seeing what made the sound, she slowly begins to step backwards. She begins to turn again towards the door when out of the corner of her eye she sees movement. She quickly turns back again to see a man standing in front of her wearing a brown trench coat, black pants and black shoes. He is wearing gloves and a black fedora hat. His face is a chalky white and she is surprised to see that he is wearing sunglasses.

“Where on Earth did he come from?” She thought. She sees a weapon is his hand and quickly raises her gun to point directly at him. “Drop your weapon!” she yells.

“You first.” He says calmly.

"What? No! Drop your weapon now!” Sarah says as she moves in just a little closer.

“I never give up my weapon, but I assure you that I won’t hurt you. It’s just a taser gun, see,” he says as he moves the weapon with two fingers so she can see it.

“That’s not like any taser gun I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen them all. Now I’m only going to ask nicely one more time. And I want you to keep in mind that I have a gun AND a dog. Now, drop your weapon!” she says as she takes aim.

“Well, as you can see, your dog isn’t the bit anxious about me.” he notes, as does Sarah. “Please don’t be alarmed, Sarah, I am a peaceful person and I mean no one any harm.”

“How do you know my name?”

“It’s my job to know everything about everything in the surrounding area. For instance, I know that your name is Sarah Briggs, wife of Benjamin Briggs. Your dog’s name is Max, and you live with your son Jacob, and your mother Margaret. I know everything there is to know about you, Mrs. Briggs, right down to the special way you like to put on your perfume.”

“Who are you?”

“If you would lower your weapon, I’m sure that I can offer some clarity. Please, Mrs. Briggs.”

Sarah looks at Max who doesn’t appear to be alarmed and is actually surprisingly relaxed. “I’m going to lower my weapon but I swear you better not make any sudden moves or try anything funny. And take off those sunglasses.”

“That wouldn’t be the best idea at this time. And since you are no longer an acting police officer, can we keep the demands at a minimum?”

Surprised by his knowledge of her, she agrees. She motions to him to sit down and they both move to chairs that are situated near the windows.

“You might want to start by telling me exactly who you are and why you are in the Rhodes’ house.”

“Alright. My name is a bit complicated, so you can just call me Michael. And this house just so happens to belong to me. The Rhodes were gracious enough to allow me to purchase the house from them. Since I needed it right away, they agreed to leave everything. They took only what they needed.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you need this house so badly that you would force a family to sell to you and send them off without all of their belongings?” Sarah’s eyes widened as a horrible thought entered her mind. “Are they alright. Did you do something to them?”

“I assure you that the Rhodes family is doing well. They simply relocated near some relatives and have adjusted fine. They are quit happy, actually.”

“Mrs. Patterson said she heard a bunch of commotion and screaming.” Sarah recalls.

“Oh, well, that was Zuon. He’s what you might call a pet. Like a dog. But without a bark. More like a ‘cry’ or ‘call’ if you will. But to you all it might sound more like a scream. And the commotion she heard was probably the portal.”

“Portal?” Sarah says in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“Where is Zuon right now?” Sarah says looking around.

“Oh, well, he’s at home.”

“Let me guess; through the portal?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

“Right. Listen, you need to start giving me something more substantial or this little meeting of the minds is going to be over real quick!”

“I understand. Forgive me.” Michael says respectfully. “We are a race of people looking for our planet. We are called Rhucktok. Many years ago we were taken from our home and placed in captivity on another planet. We escaped the planet on a ship we built in secret. We have traveled through space to find our home; utilizing wormholes to get around, which is how we made it to your solar system. I am a Scout sent to collect information.”

“Why would they just take you all like that?”

"That's your first question? No surprise or disbelief in what I just said to you? Interesting."

"Oh, well, my husband and I always felt like there were others out there. So, no, there's no disbelief I guess."

“Okay. Well, lets just say we possess special abilities that are of great benefit."

"Can you prove that you are who you say you are?"

"Oh, so now you wish to have proof? I have no problem giving you the proof that you desire." Michael takes a breath. "I am truly sorry, Sarah, we weren’t supposed to disturb you until it was time.”

“Time for what?”