The Race with Time

My name is Jeff Roberts. I was an orphan living in the alleys of New York City when I was a young boy. I had no idea who or where my parents were. I eventually gave up looking for them. I was living the best I could until I found a mole. It looked very young and I knew it shouldn’t be out and about during the day. I dug the biggest hole I could with my hands. I lived with it there until it regained its health. When I started to leave it cried out in a loud, helpless voice. I knew I couldn’t leave it by itself so I decided to keep it as a pet. I named it Fred. One day a general from the military came to speak with me. He said that he had been watching me for a while and said I would be a good recruit in the army. He also said that he would adopt me and I could live with him. Since I had no home and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, I readily agreed. He told me to come with him but I wouldn’t go without my mole. He pondered over it some time and, with some compulsion, finally gave in. I went with him and got adopted. He entered me into a military school. I came out as a private but now I’m a corporal, and I still have my mole.



A large portion of the army got a letter, including me. I dreaded that I was going to get fired and I would have to find another job. Surprisingly, it was a promotion! But it wasn’t the promotion I was expecting. It didn’t tell me which rank I was getting promoted to. All it said was to go to the promotion ceremony and the details were top secret. I was completely baffled and wanted to ask somebody about it, but it said it was top secret. So the next day I went to the so-called “promotion ceremony.” There were about 200 of us, all seated in chairs in front of a huge stage with a podium in the center. We all whispered noisily to each other, asking questions like “What are we doing here?” and “What is this top secret mission they’re talking about?” Then the president himself walked in. We all immediately jumped up and saluted him.



“You may all be seated. We have called you here today because you are among the best of the soldiers we have. You will go on a top secret mission. I know you all have many questions on what this mission is and we will explain all the details later. This all completely voluntary so you can leave now and go back to your regular schedules. Those who would like to stay may stay but may not leave until the mission is over.”

“Can we listen to the details then decide whether we stay or not?” one soldier asked.

“No, you must take the decision now. Those who want to leave may leave now.”

About 50 of them left out the door. I wanted to stay because I didn’t want to do my normal work. I didn’t care if the mission was bad or not.

“Since all of those who do not wish to go on the mission have left, I will begin to explain what exactly your mission is. Scientists at Area 51 have discovered an alien life form and are examining it. Your job is to protect the scientists and their work in case those aliens come or another group tries to steal the specimen. I know most of believe that Area 51 is a hoax, but it is not. You will get there by helicopter and begin the next day. You will be provided with living space and 3 meals a day. You will be given a group and a post where you and your group will take turn guarding the post. You must not leave your post during your shift and you must be on time. Any breaking of these rules will result in punishment which is decided by one of your superiors. You have one day to pack. Meeting adjourned.”



I was somewhat glad with this new assignment. I wanted a nice scene change and it was a new line of work. I couldn't wait to go so I started packing right after I got to my room. I was ready to go!



When I said I wanted a scene change, I didn’t mean a desert with a couple of cacti. I hoped it would be cooler when I got there. Once I stepped out of the helicopter, I was taken aback by the heat and the sand stung my eyes. I rejoiced when they showed me my room. They warned us not to go into the restricted areas and to not venture far from our posts. They gave us our groups and our posts. I was in a group where I didn't know anyone. My post was in the center area outside the front entrance. To make matters worse I got the shift that was around noon. At least I brought a water bottle. My second shift was around midnight so I had to stay awake.



Our shifts began the next day. My first shift was probably the worst experience of my life. I had to stand in the sweltering heat for two hours and I ran out of water. I was so tired when my shift ended that I immediately plopped down onto my bed. I woke up at 7:00. I quickly got ready and prepared for my second shift. I decided to go a little bit early to my shift because I was really refreshed. I casually walked down the hallway until I saw a sign on the wall with the buildings floor plan on it. It had a lot of hallways and rooms and had four basements! I thought to myself what they put in those basements while I walked outside. Once I got outside, I shielded my eyes from the sun. That's when it dawned upon me that it was morning and I had missed my second shift. I started to creep back into the living quarters.



"Where do you think you’re going!?!"

One of the superiors had seen me. I slowly walked back out again and saluted the superior.

"I came for my post, sir."

"Why didn't you come for your second shift, soldier!"

"I overslept, sir."

"You call that an excuse, soldier! As your punishment, go clean the basement!"

"Which one, sir, there are four of them?"

"Now that you mention it, go clean all of them!"



I sprinted off to the basements. I stopped at the closet to pick up a broom. I rushed down the stairs to the basements. There was a small room with two doors on each side of me. Strangely, there were no doors on the wall in front of me. I didn’t take much notice and went into the first basement. The whole thing was somewhat empty. There was a couple of boxes here and there but other than that, nothing. I began sweeping. It was long, tedious work and it got boring after sometime. The floor pattern is what kept me occupied. It swirled to the center tile and the square had a symbol engraved on it, ⇋. I accidently stepped on it and it glowed a faint, green light. I thought it was some kind of experiment the scientists spilled. I finished sweeping the first basement. Once I entered the second basement, I saw the same spiral design. I walked to the center and pressed the center tile again. It also glowed like the first one. I knew that this couldn’t be a coincidence so I rushed to the other basements. I immediately stopped once I stepped out of the second basement. The floor of the room that led to all the doors was glowing the same faint, green like the other tiles. I went to the third basement and pressed down the tile there. The floor of the center room got brighter. I pressed down the fourth and final tile. There was no more light from the floor of the center room, but in the faint light from the light bulb hanging from the ceiling, I saw a corridor on the wall without any doors.



I walked down the corridor cautiously because I didn’t know where it led. I watched out for traps, pitfalls, or any kind of boulders. I think I’m watching too many of those tomb raiding movies. I saw a faint purple light up ahead. I started walking faster. I was amazed at what I saw. There was a huge cavern with immense stalactites and stalagmites. The only thing that was out of place was the lights. There purple orbs mounted on staffs that were stuck inside the ground. They cast an eerie, purple glow onto the whole expanse. They went in two lines towards the center. I avoided going in between the lights in case there would be people traveling to and from it. I slowly creeped far enough away so I wouldn’t be seen but close enough to see using the light. It seemed like miles before I got to the center. I couldn’t believe my eyes on what I saw. There were huge buildings with aliens walking between them. They were going to and fro like this was their home. They were about as tall as an adult, but they were slimy and had a reddish-brown complexion. They had small black eyes and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. I couldn’t see anything like a nose or any ears, but I’m sure they had them. I watched them behind a rock as they worked.



They rarely spoke with each other. When they did, it would be either a sharp command or a request for a break. This was the strictest civilization I had seen. Every civilization had to have a rule- or law-breaker, but it seemed like these aliens didn't have any. I wanted a closer look so I inched forward towards some boxes. While I was still getting there, one of the workers came to get the boxes. He spotted me and hollered to one of the aliens that commanded everybody. He rushed over quickly and called a group of soldiers on the way. They all pointed their weapons at me and said something in their language. Their weapons were long staffs with an obsidian crescent at the top. In the crescent there was a diamond-shaped gold piece with a piece of diamond in the center. They said the command again in their language, which sounded like the cross between croaking and gurgling. I just gave him a quizzical look. Again he said the same thing, except gave motions to get up. So, I got up and went with them.



They poked me in the back until I got to a white room. I believe it was their jail cell or their interrogation room, if they had any. There was a table and a sole chair. The room looked run down and seemed like it hadn't been used in ages. There was a small chink in the wall, so I got up and looked through it. The soldiers were using the stalagmites and stalactites as target practice. They actually shot beams from the staffs! I thought that they were like spears except more lavish. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't gotten up to go with them. I couldn't fathom the thought. I went and sat down on the chair. Then some of the guards came and told me something. I just sat there. They said something different when they called again. It sounded like they were yelling at me to do something, so I got up and went with them.



They brought me into a room with an alien sitting on a big throne. I'm sure he was the leader of the base. He said something in a loud, booming voice. Once again, I couldn't understand anything he said in that language. He said it again even louder this time. I tried to say something the guard yelled at me before. All the aliens were taken aback. The alien sitting on the throne looked very mad and he asked his guards something in their language. The guards immediately grabbed both of my arms and took me to a different room this time.



This room was a lot different than the other one. There were lots of different posters on the wall. There were posters of buildings, their structures, percentage of land and water, Earth’s layers, and the human anatomy. One of the posters stood out though. There was a diagram of Earth with spaceships all around it. There were different colored arrows pointing to different areas. I pondered over it for some time. Then it dawned upon me that it was a battle plan against Earth. This must be the alien's internal base. I had to get out of here and warn more people. And I had to bring some proof. That's when two guards stepped in the room and stood on either side of the door. Then, my eyes fell upon their staffs. I had to get one of those and get out of here. I sat down on the chair and started thinking of ways to get it.



I formulated a great plan and put it into action. I started jumping up and down frantically. The guards snapped into high alert. I pointed frantically downwards towards it. They looked at me strangely. I remembered the human anatomy poster. I pointed toward the poster and pointed down toward mine. They finally understood and brought me to the restroom. I went inside and waited for some time. When I was coming out, I smashed the door back as hard as I could. It hit the guard and he slid towards the ground. I grabbed his staff and shot the other guard. It passed right through his slimy body. He looked down then fainted. I started running toward the entrance I came from in the beginning. By now, the alarm had already sounded and there were tons of soldiers coming out.



They all surrounded me and charged their staffs. I turned my staff on high power using the dial on the side. I pointed the staff right above me and shot it. There was a huge rumbling sound and stalactites began falling all around me. The soldiers ran around frantically and they all got crushed. I took one step when I heard more rumbling. All the fallen stalactites began getting swallowed up by the ground. Soon, the ground gave way under me. I fell down in the wide expanse what felt like hours until I blacked out.



When I woke up, all I saw was this strange contraption. It was as big as a car and it had a door on the side. As I walked towards the door, I heard a small “Yip” behind me. I turned around and saw Fred, my mole! One thing I forgot to mention about Fred is that he can see perfectly fine in daylight, unlike other moles. His eyes grew accustomed to the light the longer he stayed with me. I went through the door and I saw what looked like an airplane cockpit, with hundreds of buttons. I sat down in the seat and made Fred sit next to me. I strapped both of us in. I saw a small compass with a blank screen where the compass needle should be. It was on a pedestal that said "Put in pocket" so I put it in my pocket. There was a big green button in the center. It didn't take a genius to figure out that was the "On" button. I hit the button and waited. The whole contraption lifted off the ground and started to gradually spin faster. It spun so fast that even my hands were a blur. Stars filled my eyes. I blacked out.