The path through the corn turned left, then right, and left again. It wasn’t really a maze, but it wasn’t a straight line, either. As we wandered, I amused myself by thinking about how much all the battery-powered LED lights on the ground must have cost. I grinned, picturing Hondo taking delivery of a thousand AAA batteries from a dusty Amazon truck, the gears of his nefarious plot spinning in his mind as he unpacked and laid them all out. I imagined him waiting at the end of the maze, a huge carving knife in one hand, a taser in the other, and maybe a prepared firepit in a crop circle behind him. Meanwhile, I could still feel the tension emitting like solar flares from Alyssa and Tyler.

  We reached the fourth turn. Then the fifth. By turn seven we’d plunged beyond any sense of direction, with no comprehension of where we were within the cornfield. We negotiated turn eight and then nine, still without a clue about the point to all this.

  I pushed forward, ignoring the misgivings of my less than steely-eyed companions. Well past the point of no return, it wasn't until the tenth and final change in direction when destiny at last revealed itself at the end of the path.

  WTF?

  We stopped in our tracks. Wide-eyed, Tyler let loose a low whistle. Alyssa’s hand dropped from my arm and she let out a shocked squeak. As for me, I stared without comment, a smile lingering at the corners of my mouth. Inside me, emotions played like a symphony as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

  A sign had been set out ten feet ahead of us. Red and blue carnival bulbs framed a neatly stenciled proclamation:

  Starship Rides - $20.

  A dozen feet behind it waited a simple wood and canvas structure. Like the sign, red and blue lights surrounded what was no more than an open-sided lean to, making it clear no one waited inside.

  There was no sign of a starship, though the clearing in the midst of the corn seemed plenty large enough to fit the robot head.

  There was no sign of Hondo, either.

  "Okay, you got us." Tyler shouted, likely assuming Hondo and a film crew waited just out of sight, hidden in the corn. "Come on out and take a bow so we can all have a good laugh before heading out. And make sure to send us the link to the TikTok vid so we can relive the moment again and again.”

  No one emerged from the surrounding stalks. We remained fixed in place, sharing sidelong glances of confusion, amusement, and remorse. I’d lost out on my last hour of play at VR Awesome to be here. Tyler had put fifty extra miles on his beater, not to mention the gas he’d wasted. And Alyssa had skipped work early and stayed up late.

  All for nothing.

  “I guess he did mean for us to come in the morning,” I said after a pregnant silence.

  Alyssa and Tyler both looked at me before bursting out in laughter. Infectious, I started cracking up too.

  “At least there’s no serial killer out here,” Alyssa said. “Maybe if you come back in the morning, there will be an actual starship waiting.”

  “I can’t come back,” I replied, the thought deflating me in an instant. “I have too much to deal with to sneak back out again. This was my only shot.”

  “I’m so sorry, Noah,” Alyssa said. “I forgot about that. At least we know where this place is. You can come back once things have settled down. Maybe Hondo will still be here.”

  “I doubt it,” I said, hanging my head. I’d convinced myself that this could be something magical. Instead, it was a total bust.

  “You’d better step back,” someone said, walking soundlessly up behind us. Startled, we reacted as a single unit, whirling around to face…

  “Hondo! What the hell!” I cried, a huge grin splitting my face as my emotions did another one-eighty.

  “Hondo’s my callsign,” he answered. “My name is Benjamin Murdock. You can call me Ben. I thought you came for the adventure of a lifetime.”

  “I did,” I said, nodding like a bobblehead. “I totally did.”

  “Geez, man,” Tyler said. “You scared the crap out of us. What’s with all the creepy corn and sneaking around?”

  “You aren’t going to murder us, are you?” Alyssa asked.

  “Murder?” He laughed. “No. I hope you aren’t disappointed. Creepy corn and sneaking around? You can’t exactly leave a starship sitting out where anyone can find it. The next thing you know, men in black SUVs are showing up looking for you, the Space Force is taking potshots at you, and you can’t get from here to the other side of the galaxy without jumping through a thousand celestial hoops. It’s just work, work, work, all the time.”

  Hondo… Or rather, Ben’s mention of men in black SUVs froze me in place, a chill spreading across my entire body.

  “Noah, are you okay?” He asked before making a face. “Oh, damn. I’m so stupid sometimes. Bad choice of words. I’m so sorry about your parents.”

  “It…it wasn’t the government, was it?” I asked, fighting to recover my composure.

  “Not that I know of,” Ben replied. “But I don’t know everything.”

  “How did you know about his parents?” Alyssa asked.

  “How did you know his name?” Tyler added.”He never gave it to you back at VR Awesome.”

  “Reasonable questions, with reasonable answers. And I’ll get to that soon enough. But first, you really should step this way.” He motioned us toward him, and we joined him at the end of the path where it merged with the clearing. As we did, a slight breeze hit me in the back of the neck, ruffling my hair. “Now, turn around.”

  We did, and what we saw took our collective breaths away.

  CHAPTER 10

  “How the hell did you do that?”

  Those were the first words out of Tyler’s mouth as we stared at the robot head starship that had appeared beside the ticket booth as if from thin air.

  It looked just like Ben’s starfighter skin from Star Squadron, except it was significantly larger. At least eighty feet tall, it spiked high into the darkened sky, its corrugated metal grin more sinister in person than in pixels. The gun turrets were there too, huge and menacing, while the unlit spotlights jutted well out, promising a sun-like brilliance when activated.

  The surface of the ship itself seemed to be composed from scrap metal, some new, some rusted, most of it drab metal, the remainder in various colors. I spotted a couple of riveted panels that still had bits of text along the edges. I recognized one as Maersk, the shipping company.

  There was no way this thing was real.

  “That’s some David Copperfield level magic,” Alyssa agreed, apparently unfazed by the starship itself. “Considering the darkness and the uniformity of our surroundings, I bet you hid it from this vantage point pretty easily with mirrors.”

  Ben’s grin hadn’t faded at all when I glanced back at him, wondering how he would take the comment.

  “No mirrors,” he replied. “No tricks. At least, not in a traditional sense.”

  “Is that thing really a starship?” I asked. I had already suspended so much disbelief to keep myself sane today, it was an easy leap to believe it could be, despite all other signs pointing to a scam, a fraud, or a joke.

  “It doesn’t look like much, I agree,” Ben said. “But she’s got it where it counts.”

  Tyler’s head whipped around. “Are you quoting Star Wars?”

  “I’m not an alien, if that’s what you’re asking. In fact, I was you four years ago.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I’ll explain everything once we go inside. First, you need tickets.” He pointed to the booth, where a man and woman had appeared. While the starship’s appearance may have been magical, it occurred to me that they might have been hiding beneath the counter the entire time. They were both just over five feet tall and rail-thin, with short brown hair, small noses, and soft faces.

  “Tickets?” I said. “I don’t have any money.”

  Ben made a face. “How did you pay at VR Awesome without any money?”

  “I snuck him and Tyler in,” Alyssa said. “They weren’t supposed to be there. But you already know that, don’t you?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You knew Noah’s name,” Tyler said. “And what happened to him today.”

  “Well, you caught me,” Ben said. “Badabing badaboom.”

  “Bada-what?” Tyler asked.

  “Sorry. My friend Keep says that a lot. Sometimes it gets in my head and I start saying it too.”

  “I’m so lost right now,” I said, turning to Tyler. “I need to borrow another twenty. You know I’m good for it.”

  “I know, man,” Tyler said, pulling his wallet from his pants pocket and opening it to show he had no cash, “but I’m dry, too…” He looked at Ben. “...unless you take Visa.”

  “Sorry, it’s cash only.”

  We both looked at Alyssa, who was laughing. “You claim to have a starship for rent, but you don’t take credit?”

  “It’s the processing fees,” Ben said. “Our margins are razor thin as it is.”

  “Are you for real?” Tyler asked. “There’s no way you can operate a starship for sixty dollars.”

  “Let’s say I pony up,” Alyssa added. “What does this ride entail? Because right now, I’m betting you have a mobile VR setup, not unlike VR Awesome. You already proved you can get into our systems. You probably downloaded the source code.”

  “I didn’t download the source code from your servers,” Ben replied, still showing no signs of insult from our accusations. “And it’s not virtual reality. Head Case is a real, functioning starship. What your money buys is a ride up to orbit for some sightseeing of Earth from space, followed by an FTL transit to Mars, maybe a stop at Venus if we have time, and then back home. It takes about an hour, total.”

  “Did you say FTL?” I asked. Excitement at hearing the letters left me tied in knots that I didn’t have the down payment. “What kind of system do you use?”

  “Standard FTL is based on Alcubierre,” Ben answered, which by itself nearly made my head explode. “The original equations had some incorrect assumptions, but they’ve been corrected and of course, the whole kit has been upgraded over time. It’s pretty ho-hum these days.”

  “For you, maybe,” I replied. “What about energy requirements?”

  “Meg and Leo will be happy to share more details during the ride,” Ben said, pointing to the pair in the ticket booth.

  “Ally, please?” I begged, looking at her.

  “I’ve only got fifteen dollars,” she replied, holding up a ten and some singles.

  I turned to Ben. “Maybe we can wash dishes or something after the ride,” I suggested.

  “I really hate to be the voice of reason,” Tyler said. “Because it’s totally unlike me. But why should we believe this ugly-mug giant robot head is anything more than a scrap metal and cardboard construct?”

  “If we don’t leave Earth, I’ll give you your money back,” Ben answered.

  “But we don’t have any money!” I cried, just about ready to fall apart again. At least, until I noticed how amused and at ease Ben seemed by this entire encounter.

  “Ben!” I turned my head back toward the starship. A blonde-haired guy in a tight black tee and jeans that showed off his buff physique had opened a door in the center of the ship’s grin, making it look as if it had gotten one of its teeth knocked out. The guy spread his hands in question. “Are we taking off or what? Satellite flyover is in less than five minutes.”

  “What?” Ben pushed back his sleeve to check a regular wristwatch. “We should have at least twelve more minutes.”

  “You forgot about that new satellite Starlink launched a couple weeks ago.”

  “They said that was for internet access.”

  “Yeah. Uh-huh. And you believed that? Its signature is oozing surveillance.”

  “Okay, I’ll wrap this up.” He looked at us again as the other guy vanished back into the ship.

  “Who was that?” Alyssa asked. “He’s gorgeous.”

  Ben rolled his eyes. “So I’ve heard. Matt’s my business partner. We’re co-owners of Head Case.”

  “Head Case is the ship?” Tyler said, grinning.

  “Yes.”

  “Cool name.”

  “Thank you.” He shrugged. “ We like it. Anyway, it seems we have to get moving before our little secret is discovered. Since you don’t have any money, I guess this is goodbye.”

  “Wait!” I said, grabbing Ben by the shoulder. He looked at me, then at my hand, and everything in me down to the last atom told me I should let go immediately. “Sorry,” I said, pulling my hand away.

  It was then that I noticed a blue squirrel had appeared on Ben’s opposite shoulder, glaring at me with huge, contemptuous eyes. It buzzed like an angry swarm of hornets, its fur shivering with the effort.

  “Awww,” Alyssa purred behind me. “What is that little critter? It’s so cute.”

  The blue squirrel’s head swiveled toward Alyssa. His buzzing sounded like he didn’t appreciate being called cute.

  “Does it understand English?” Tyler asked.

  “He does,” Ben confirmed. “His name is Shaq. He’s a Jagger. Sorry about his attitude. He doesn’t like it when people touch me.” The creature buzzed more softly in Ben’s ear and nuzzled his cheek. “At least she didn’t call you a blue squirrel,” he answered the creature.

  “And you understand him?” Tyler questioned.

  “Or course. He’s not a pet. He’s an ILF.”

  “An elf?” I asked.

  “ILF,” Ben repeated. “Intelligent Life Form.”

  “Oh, like Alf,” Tyler said.

  “He was an Alien Life Form,” Ben said.

  “Yeah, I know. Same thing, right?”

  “Alf was a puppet. And Shaq’s only an alien on Earth.”

  “Where did you get him?” Alyssa questioned, shoving an elbow into Tyler’s ribs to get him off the subject.

  “I didn’t get him,” Ben stressed. “I befriended him.”

  “In a galaxy far, far, away?” Tyler asked.

  “Actually, yeah.”

  “So why aren’t we going there instead of Mars? I’d love to see some other ALFs.”

  “ILFs,” I corrected.

  “To-ma-to, to-mah-to.”

  “I think a round trip from Earth to Mars for twenty bucks from each of you is a pretty fair deal,” Ben said.

  “Except we don’t have sixty bucks and you don’t take credit,” I reminded him.

  “Which I can’t,” he reminded us. “See you around.”

  He shifted to head for his ship. I jumped into his path. “Wait, please. You know what happened. My heart already broke once today. You showed me that advertisement at the end of the game. There had to be a reason for that. Maybe you know how much I love space stuff. Maybe you got my Google search history so you know how much research I’ve done. What you offered me is a dream come true. What you offered me…I dragged my friends out here in the middle of the night because it was too good not to look into. Too good to be true, but it is true. I wasn’t sure before, but unless you crossbred a squirrel and a tarsier monkey and dyed its hair blue, that’s a real alien, and that…” I pointed to Head Case. “…is a real starship.”

  “See,” Tyler said. “Alien.”

  “Please, Ben. I’ll do anything. Work the galley. Swab the poop deck. Whatever you want.” I fell to my knees, clasping my palms together and looking imploringly up at him. It was admittedly a pathetic display, but I’d never wanted anything more.

  Well, there was one thing I wanted more, but that was impossible. Unlike this.

  “I know you want this, but have some pride,” Tyler said in response to my groveling.

  Alyssa surprised me, joining me on the muddy ground, getting her knees wet and dirty to beg beside me. “Please, Ben. Noah’s a nice guy. He’s really hurting right now. I don’t think anyone would enjoy or appreciate this more.”

  Ben gazed at us without speaking, his eyes shifting expectantly to Tyler.

  “Are you going to make me beg?” Ty asked.

  Ben shrugged.

  “Come on, T-Bone,” I said.

  “Fine,” he said at last, dropping to his knees on my other side. “But only because I didn’t want to risk the last few miles on the Kia for nothing. Just please don’t ask me to swab the poop deck. I don’t know what that is, but I have coprophobia.”

  “What’s coprophobia?” Ben asked.

  “I’ll tell you once we’re on board.”

  Ben nodded. “All right. Get up. You’re making me feel guilty. Follow me.” He stepped around us as we returned to our feet, leading us to the ticket counter. “Meg, Leo, this is Noah, Tyler, and Alyssa.”

  “How do you…” Alyssa trailed off before she finished asking how he knew her name.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Leo said with a smile.

  “I’m more pleased than he is,” Meg said.

  Seeing them up close, it was obvious they were siblings, maybe even twins.

  “You are not,” Leo countered.

  “Sure am.”

  “We’ve got three minutes to bounce out of here,” Ben said. “Can we stow the bickering until we’re airborne?”

  “Sorry, Captain,” Leo said. They both reached under the counter. Leo produced two robot head shaped badges, Meg one.

  “These are both tickets and comm badges,” Ben said. “Just like Star Trek, tap it and say the name of the person you want to talk to, and it’ll ping them.”

  “Which one of you is Katzuo?” Leo asked, looking at the back of one badge.

  “That’s me,” I replied, barely able to contain my excitement. I burst once he handed me the badge. “This is so amazing already. I can’t believe any of this is real.” I froze as Leo handed Tyler his badge.

  “Noah, what’s wrong?” Alyssa asked, noticing my sudden distress.

  “What if this isn’t real?” I asked. “What if this is a dream? Or what if I died in the accident, not my parents, and this is purgatory or something? Or what if I suffered a traumatic brain injury and I’m in a coma right now?”I suddenly couldn’t breathe, panicked by the idea that things were even worse than they seemed.