Invasion of The Frost Heaves

“It’s cold,” Haticat says.

“Yes, it is,” Nathaniel responds, scanning the dumpsite. “Still no gasket normalizers.”

“I found a tri-electric girdle, but we need to modify it to fit our ship,” Doctor Bill says.

“Why do people dump their trash here in the woods?” Fred asks.

“I think they’re just too lazy to drive all the way to the dump,” Nathaniel says. The explorers were on planet Gamma-G5, just outside the human colony of Knottingville. It was early spring, but not all the snow had melted yet. A car drives by, bouncing over the frost heaves.

“This junk is mostly furniture, not ship parts. Why don’t we just make our own gasket normalizer?” Haticat asks.

“We are also exploring. You can learn a lot about people by the stuff they throw away,” Nathaniel says.

Another car drives by but then stops. “Is this more trash?” Fred asks.

It is a police car driven by an adult. “Hey, you four! Stop right there!”

Trying to remember how manners work, Nathaniel finally says, “Hello, how are you this morning?”

“Are you dumping trash?” the cop asks.

“Oh no, we’re picking it up,” Nathaniel answers.

“Trashpicking is illegal,” the cop says.

“But we’re cleaning up litter,” Nathaniel objects.

“That’s stealing,” the cop says.

“But they gave it away. How can it be stealing?” Nathaniel asks.

“In this society we leave things where people wanted them put,” the cop elaborates.

“Really?” Nathaniel comments. “We’re not part of your society.”

“You’re on our planet,” the cop says.

“But we’re in the woods. We are wild animals,” Nathaniel explains.

“All life on Gamma-G5 has been fully domesticated,” the cop says.

“Wow, that’s harder than terraforming! How long did that take?” Doctor Bill asks.

“About two hundred years,” the cop answers. “I need to take all of you in.”

“But…But…” Nathaniel protests.

Nathaniel, Haticat, Fred, and Doctor Bill are left in a locked room with a large bowl of popcorn. They learn that this is the only food on Knottingville, coming in thirty different flavors. “What herb is on this? I don’t recognize it,” Nathaniel asks.

Haticat smells the bowl. “Some sort of grass?”

A Human in a suit opens the door and enters the room. The cop follows and stands behind him. “Hello, Captain Nathaniel. I am Special Agent Rich. I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Okay,” Nathaniel says.

“About how long have you been on this planet?” Agent Rich asks.

“It must be almost six hours now,” Nathaniel answers.

“I see, and how long have you been in the solar system?” the agent asks him.

“From whose frame of reference?” Nathaniel asks for clarification.

Agent Rich sits down. “Were you traveling at relativistic speeds inside the solar system?”

“Yes,” Nathaniel answers.

“That’s very illegal,” Agent Rich responds.

“But I wasn’t in your society at the time. There is no law in space,” Nathaniel says.

“You’re in our society now, so past transgressions can be prosecuted,” Agent Rich says. “How many of our orbiting power plants did you visit?” Nathaniel does not answer. “Captain?”

“Oh, I was just distracted by seeing your nose in that mirror over there. I’m easily distracted. What were you asking?” Nathaniel says.

“How many orbiting power plants did you visit?” Rich asks again.

“Around Gamma-G5?” Nathaniel asks.

“Yes,” Agent Rich answers.

“Zero,” Nathaniel answers.

“Do you own a green saucer ship?” Agent Rich asks.

“Hey, what kind of herb is this?” Nathaniel asks, holding up a handful of popcorn.

“Pay attention!” Agent rich scolds.

“Okay,” Nathaniel says quietly before shoving the whole handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“Do you know anyone with a saucer ship made of green ice?” Agent Rich asks.

“Mo, ugh ack ow eerie coo.” Nathaniel chews and chews and swallows while the agent stares at him. “No, but that sounds really cool.”

“Why did you come to Knottingville?” Rich asks.

“We are explorers,” Nathaniel answers.

“Why now?” Agent Rich asks.

“Because if we came at any other time, then that time would be now,” Nathaniel answers.

Clearly exasperated, Rich finally asks, “Where are your parents?”

Nathaniel gives what he hopes is the safest answer. “I don’t have any.”

Agent Rich finally gets up and whispers to the cop. “He’s just some dumb orphan who arrived here by coincidence. I don’t think he’s involved, but thank you for calling me in.”

Eventually Nathaniel and crew are given small fines for trashpicking but are told they can pay later and let go. “So, we have quite the mystery,” Nathaniel says.

“What mystery is that?” Haticat asks, confused.

“Who has a ship made of green ice that visited some of the orbiting power plants and where is this ship now?” Nathaniel says.

“Oh, that one,” Haticat replies.

Asking around town, they learn much about the power plants. There are fourteen solar panels in orbit, each nearly a square kilometer in size, that beam down energy in the form of masers (microwave lasers) to special antennas that power the several towns. Just three days ago, the three panels capable of transmitting to Knottingville shut down. Everyone who can is running their appliances on gasoline and conserving power. “I bet it’s the climate. The sun has been awfully erratic. First flares, then dimming. Everyone knows that it’s been a hard winter. The frost heaves are twice as big this year,” one old man says.

“Don’t be stupid. It must have something to do with that ship three months ago,” a different old man says.

“What ship?” Nathaniel asks.

“The green one. It visited exactly those three panels. Then it landed east of here,” the man says.

“Nobody knows that it landed,” the first old man says.

“Farmer Jasper said it fractured and melted just north of his field,” the second old man says.

“If he’s telling the truth, why did he take so long to tell anybody?” the first man asks.

“I don’t know. Ask him. Anyways, I believe him,” the second man says.

Nathaniel continues to ask questions of adults and boys alike, learning that the space force is preparing to send astronauts up to repair the panels. They also learn how to find Jasper’s farm and hitch a ride there.

“Something knocked over all these trees,” Nathaniel says, looking around the woods north of the farm. Like with most trees on the planet, the bark resembles bread crust and the trunks resemble baguettes. The wood of some trees broken open is indistinguishable from white bread.

“I’m reading slightly elevated levels of chlorine, iridium, and bismuth above background,” Doctor Bill states.

“That could be a melted ship,” Haticat comments.

“Without some solid artifact, I’m afraid my scan is inconclusive,” Doctor Bill says.

“Whatever it was came from that direction. See how the upper branches are damaged,” Nathaniel points out.

“And the upper needles have turned purple. That’s not normal,” Haticat adds.

“Let’s follow its path and see if anybody else saw anything,” Nathaniel suggests. His crew follows him through the woods. He snacks on some smoky cheddar habanero popcorn from his coat pocket as they cross the road. The frost heaves are very bad here. The pavement is cracked.

“What’s that smell?” Fred asks.

“It smells like trash,” Haticat says.

“There’s probably another dumping site upwind somewhere,” Nathaniel says and keeps walking.

Soon they enter the yard of a large house. A boy plays with several rabbits outdoors. “I’m investigating a mystery. Did you see anything unusual in the sky three months ago?”

“You mean the green ship?” the boy asks.

“Yes,” Nathaniel says.

“It flew right over my house. My parents weren’t home, so they didn’t see it. They told me to stop telling stories,” the boy says.

“Tell me everything you remember,” Nathaniel says.

“I heard a loud hiss and looked up just in time to see it go over. It was shiny, like green ice, and parts of it were glowing. It was cracked and pieces broke off. I picked one up. It was melting fast, so I put it in a jar,” the boy says.

“Do you still have it?” Nathaniel asks.

“Sure, I buried it in my sandbox so my parents wouldn’t find it. They never let me keep anything I find that’s weird.” He takes them to his sandbox and digs up the jar. “There.”

Doctor Bill scans it while Nathaniel stares at the green liquid inside, holding it up to the sunlight. “It contains chlorine, iridium, and bismuth, just like the crash site. It also contains many organic molecules, especially guanine and cytosine.”

“Aren’t those parts of DNA?” Fred asks.

“Yes,” Doctor Bill answers.

“What’s DNA?” the boy asks.

“It’s a type of chemical that makes cells grow a specific way. Different kinds of DNA can form cells into animals, plants, mushrooms, or into other… What’s the word that means things? Uh…oh yeah, things,” Nathaniel says.

“You’re weird,” the boy says.

“Yes,” Nathaniel agrees. “We live outside society, traveling from planet to planet, exploring and solving mysteries, our experiences and education changing us. We are not girls or adults, but no longer true boys, either.”

“How old are you?” the boy asks him.

“Um, Haticat, how old am I?” Nathaniel asks.

“Fifty-nine,” Haticat answers.

“How did you not die?” the boy asks.

“With great difficulty,” Nathaniel answers. He continues talking with the boy for a while, who introduces them to his animal friends that live in the area, including three wolves, nine rabbits, one deer, and one lintamon, a tyrannosaur-like creature with the head and fur of a polar bear. They ride it through the forest, following the path of the ship.

Then they hear a sound. It comes from the direction of town. Riding into town, they discover that the maser collector antennas have melted and bent over. The control center for the space force launch pad is on fire. Other parts of the town are also on fire. “Why?” the boy asks.

It gradually comes out that soon after the astronauts boarded the solar panels, their radios died and minutes later a series of high energy maser blasts targeted the town. The adults are calling it an accident, but Nathaniel is suspicious. A day later, one of the rockets returns, but no one exits. Nathaniel sneaks onto base to confirm six bodies were removed from the ship. That’s interesting; they’ve been drained of all guanine and cytosine,” Doctor Bill reports.

“Knottingville is being invaded. I just don’t know where the invaders are,” Nathaniel says.

The following day they are back to the scene of the crash to look for any clues they might have missed. They walk the same path through the woods and across the road as before. “Hey, I smell popcorn,” Nathaniel comments.

“Oh, me too,” Haticat says.

Nathaniel takes in a deep breath. “Smoky cheddar habanero. I had that the other day.”

“I smell car exhaust,” Fred says, standing further away.

“Come to think of it, I was right here the last time I had it,” Nathaniel says.

“Are these frost heaves bigger than before?” Haticat asks.

Nathaniel bends down to look closer. He smells the cracks in the pavement. The popcorn smell is definitely from underground. He walks close to Fred and smells the cracks there. They smell like exhaust. “Doctor, I have a theory for you.”

“Okay,” Doctor Bill says.

“A tribe of fluid creatures is looking for food. They freeze themselves solid to conserve calories. Then they find a planet with domesticated animals and a ring of satellites. An elite team is dropped off onto these satellites to oversee the invasion while the rest are sent to the planet. The ship lands, melts, and the creatures seep into the ground, filling up cracks in the soil, freezing and expanding and causing the surface to bulge in great frost heaves. Then when the thaw comes, they erupt from the ground and the hunt begins. What do you think so far?” Nathaniel asks.

“It’s possible,” Doctor Bill says.

“However, hunting Humans is dangerous and there is safety in numbers. To ensure they all rise at the same time, they must communicate while inside their cocoons of ice. Therefore, they use a smell-based code, repeating the smells they receive to pass on the message, but also unwittingly repeating any passing smells that happen to interrupt,” Nathaniel says.

“Hmm,” Doctor Bill comments.

“We need to find out what’s underneath,” Haticat says.

“Yes,” Nathaniel agrees.

Doctor Bill starts a scan. Just then a car goes by. “Get out of the road, you stupid kids!”

“Something is fuzzing up my scans. I’m not getting anything precise,” Doctor Bill reports.

“Can we use a heat ray to melt the ice?” Fred asks.

“No, I have a better idea,” Nathaniel says.

Nathaniel and his crew return to his ship for some equipment and return to mount a beam emitter onto a tripod. Nathaniel flips a switch and a red beam shoots out. Soon, the boy they met before arrives, riding a wolf followed by two other wolves. “What are you doing?”

“We’re seeing what’s under the ground,” Haticat answers.

“This beam adds negative charge to matter, causing it to repel itself apart,” Nathaniel says. Tiny specks of pavement fly off the mound.

“Wow, cool,” the boy says. Another car drives by.

It is another half hour before the cop drives up. He parks and gets out of his vehicle. “You boys are blocking the road.”

“Technically, we’re only blocking half the road,” Doctor Bill says.

A large patch of pavement is gone now. Underneath, green ice sublimates rapidly under the effects of the charge ray. “What on Gamma is that thing?” the cop asks.

“It’s a monocharge dispersion emitter,” Nathaniel answers.

“I don’t know what kind of toy that is, but it needs to come down and all if you need to get out of the street. It’s the rules,” the cop says.

“You can’t move it until its cycle is finished or else it will cause a catastrophic discharge,” Nathaniel warns.

The boy whispers to Haticat. “What is he doing? You can’t argue with adults.”

“Nathaniel does,” Haticat answers.

“If you don’t get out of the street, I’ll have to arrest you again. Now give me that toy.” The cop reaches for the machine, but the moment he touches it, he reels backwards from the shock and sits on the ground.

“I warned you,” Nathaniel says.

Doctor Bill scans him closely. “Are you experiencing any heart symptoms?”

“I’m fine. I…” The cop suddenly stares straight forward then he grabs his gun. Nathaniel, Haticat, Fred, and Doctor Bill each grab their guns. By the time they realize the cop is not pointing his firearm at them, a black blur rushes by and covers the cop. There is a scream and a shot and the flowing black figure races into the woods. Nathaniel and Fred fire lasers after it but miss.

“He’s dead. His DNA has been completely depleted of cytosine and guanine,” Doctor Bill reports.

“We need to catch that thing,” Nathaniel says.

“It’s too fast,” Fred complains.

The local boy picks up the dead cop’s gun and then whistles. A few moments later, the lintamon thunders into view. “Come on.”

They chase after the creature as it hops from tree to tree, never touching the ground. It stands horizontally with its feet grasping the trunks, two giant eyes watching its pursuers below. They chase it for a while, but it eventually speeds up and loses them.

“Look, it’s bleeding.” Fred points to drops of green on the ground.

“The cop must’ve hit it,” Haticat says.

“Then follow its trail,” Nathaniel orders.

They follow it to a small house isolated from its neighbors. The green drops lead right up to the door. The five boys hold their guns tightly and slowly open the door. It is dark inside. Most corners are in shadow. They check under furniture and behind the curtains. Then they enter the kitchen. A robe draped over a chair spooks them, but the room is clear. Then they enter the living room and meet an adult walking out of the bedroom. “What are you doing in my house?”

“Are you alone?” Nathaniel asks.

“That’s a rude question,” the adult responds.

“You’re in danger. You need to get outside now,” Nathaniel says.

“Excuse me, you need to get out of my house before I call the…gak!” In a sudden wave of black from above, the adult is covered and then pulled behind the couch. The boys fill the couch full of holes with their lasers.

There is no sound. They tentatively peek around the corner. The adult is dead on the floor with laser burns, but no creature. They look around and see it standing on the kitchen ceiling, big eyes looking at them. “Haticat, you and Fred go around the other way and cut it off. The rest of us will chase it,” Nathaniel whispers. Haticat and Fred run through the other doorway toward the outside door. After giving them a couple seconds, Nathaniel fires.

Hit, the creature falls to the floor, spreading into a billowing mass of black. Then it is on its feet and running away. Doctor Bill and the local boy shoot at it as it rounds the corner. Before they can round the corner after it, they hear laser fire. Haticat and Fred have hit it too. It sits on the ground, looking like a burnt pancake. All five boys shoot it now and it dries up into a crusty film of black. “Oh, that smells like garbage!” Fred says.

“We need to warn the town,” Nathaniel says.

The adults are skeptical at first but the dead police officer and the dead alien convince them. They ready for war. In the meantime, the smell of the freed creature awakens the others and they begin to push through their cocoons of green ice and pavement. People arriving from the outskirts of town by car say there are hundreds of them. “I ran one over and it got back up and chased me.” Road blocks are set up to meet the hordes of invaders from outside town. Some frost heaves are downtown. The police shoot those creatures as they emerge.

Nathaniel, Haticat, Fred, and Doctor Bill find their bed ship and travel to the orbiting space stations to eliminate the aliens there. They lock the station controls first and then scan for alien chemistry, climbing up and down the entire structure. The aliens hide in every dark corner, especially above eye level. After killing them all, they move to the next station, and the next.

When it is all over, Nathaniel eats a bowl of apple jelly, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate syrup as his ship speeds away from the planet. He is tired of popcorn. “That was scary; we should do it again sometime.”

“Yes, but maybe after a few days of rest first,” Haticat says.

“Why? Are you getting old?” Nathaniel asks.

“Maybe. No system lasts forever,” Haticat says.

“Well, I plan on lasting a very long time,” Nathaniel says.

“Me too,” Haticat says.

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