Welcome to the Galactic Shoppers Network Read online

  Welcome to the Galactic Shoppers Network!

  Ian Rodgers

  Text copyright © 2017 Ian Rodgers

  All Rights Reserved

  Dedicated to my grandfather, Carl Rodgers (1933-2017). He lived through four wars and served in one, and never stopped believing in life and love. He leaves behind a wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

  We all love you and miss you, grandpa. Thank you for all the time you gave us.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 1

  “Thank you for coming, Zane. I’m sure he would have appreciated it,” A middle aged woman with grey hair said, smiling sadly at the young man standing next to her.

  “Of course, mom. I have a lot of fond memories of grandpa and I felt that paying my respects was worth a seven-plus hour drive,” Zane said truthfully, sweeping his gaze across the guests. There were quite a few of them, extended family and friends having all gathered to say their goodbyes to Zane’s grandfather, William Pendon.

  Sally Pendon excused herself and slipped into the depths of her father-in-law’s house, a dust rag in one hand. Zane shook his head in amusement. Even after a funeral there was no keeping his mother from tidying up.

  “At least he died peaceful and happy.” Zane turned his head to the speaker, his younger sister Veronica, who was standing nearby with her husband and three year old son.

  “Yeah. I guess in the end that’s all we can ask for. Can’t believe he made it to a hundred! That shock must have been what got him. Glad you could come out.”

  “I could say the same to you. Isn’t Chicago a lot harder to get out of?”

  “No more so than LA, sis.”

  Veronica West grimaced before nodding in agreement. “Tell me about it! It’s like the whole traffic system is run by some sort of demonic computer!”

  “It’s great to see you, too, Vera,” Zane said with a wide smile, embracing his sister with a gentle hug. She smiled fondly at the familiar nickname.

  “I’m pregnant, bro, not made of glass! Gimme a real squeeze!” Veronica joked, adding pressure to Zane’s ribs before releasing him with a chuckle. “And besides, you owe your nephew some huggles too. Come over, Jack!”

  “Wow! You’ve really grown up!” Zane said, leaning down and sweeping his nephew off his feet, and was treated to a shrill chorus of giggles. “Look at you! Are you ready to be a big brother?”

  “Imma be big brover!” Jack said happily.

  “You sure are!” Zane spent a few more minutes tickling his adorable little relative before handing him back to his sister with an apologetic smile.

  “Sorry, I need to speak with mom about some stuff. I’ll see you before you go, though.”

  Zane wove his way through the crowded press of well-wishers who were clogging the rooms and hallways of the old ranch house. It was surprising how many had known his grandfather enough to come out and honor his memory.

  He finally reached one of the guest bedrooms. A lot of the possessions William Pendon had owned were being sorted within. Finding his mother kneeling in front of a collection of containers he coughed slightly to get her attention.

  “Ah, Zane, there you are! Here, hold this for a bit,” Mrs. Pendon ordered, turning around and dropping a hefty cardboard box into his arms. “Honestly, he kept so many odds and ends it’s a miracle I can find anything!”

  “What are you looking for?” Zane asked, gingerly putting down the box as his mother tore through several others nearby. She looked rather tiny amidst the storage units and cardboard containers. Though to be fair, she was average height. She was just constantly surrounded by very tall people, places, and things.

  “Your grandfather has a bunch of baby books I wanted to look through. And there it is! Found it!” the Pendon matriarch declared, removing a large binder bulging with photos and memorabilia. She quickly hurried over to a chair and began to flip through it.

  “Here’s you when we visited the lake when you were three… here’s that sketch you made when you were four… here’s your sister’s umbilical cord…”

  “Wait, he had what now?” Zane demanded.

  “Oh yes. I think… yes, he has yours as well.” Mrs. Pendon showed her son the page where the fleshy string had been preserved. “I would never call him a hoarder, but he kept some bizarre things.”

  “Neat. So, I’m going to find a drink and remove this memory from my head. If you’ll excuse me.” The young man hastily moved away from the album and shot into the kitchen to snag something strong.

  “Dang, bro, you shot out of the bedroom like a bat on fire! Mom going through gramps’ collection of ‘ye olde porne?’” Veronica teased from the refrigerator.

  “Worse. Mom found his version of a baby book. Did you know he kept our umbilical cords?” Zane asked as he sank onto one of the stools near the counter.

  “Ugh, really? I mean, I knew he was a hoarder, but seriously, he had that? That’s weird.” Vera groaned in disgust as she passed Zane a beer from the depths of the cooling unit.

  “Apparently. Speaking of weird things, where’s Don?”

  “With Jack in one of the basement bedrooms. Little guy got tuckered out,” Vera said with a chuckle. “Oh, and don’t call Don ‘weird’ Zane. He just has a different sense of style.”

  “Most people grow out of the emo-goth phase by the time they leave college. He hasn’t, and also somehow makes it work for him in his job. If I showed up to work with piercings and a black tank top I would be ‘politely escorted’ from the building,” Zane grumbled.

  “You’re a corporate wage slave for an IT firm, bro. You write code and that’s about it. Plus, I know you can work from anywhere so why you live in Chicago is beyond me as well.”

  Zane sighed in annoyance and massaged his forehead slightly. It was getting late, he’d spent a few hours getting to the butt end of Colorado and then a few more mingling with people he barely knew, was starting to feel drunk without the joy of alcohol, his contact lens were drying out, and his younger sister was teasing him about his life. Yup. Definitely a family reunion.

  “So, are you staying the night?” Vera asked after a lull. The older brother nodded after a long pull from his bottle.

  “Yeah, I didn’t have time to book a motel room for the funeral, and now that it’s over mom wants my help finishing up the sorting. I’ll be staying here a few more nights.”

  “Are you going to keep it?”

  Zane leaned back against the counter in thought.

  “I honestly have no idea. Gramps left it to the both of us, but you don’t want it and like you said I can work anywhere. Would be nice to get out of my pitiful apartment. But the thing is, do I want to live out here? I don’t think I could survive for long in the countryside.”

  “Well, just think about it. This is grandpa’s legacy, and I think he’d have liked for one of us to live here. Even if it does have a problem with clutter. And if you really don’t want to, I suppose we could sell it or use the place as a vacation home,” Veronica mused.

  “Zane! Veronica! I found some more of your grandfather’s ‘collection!’ Can you check
through it, please?” A voice from the rear of the house called out.

  The two siblings shuddered at that before heading into the bedroom. Beloved grandfather or not, an antique porn collection was definitely weird.

  “Yes, mom, I’ll be careful. Yes I know the house is old. Yes, I understand the insurance policies for it, we went over them together, remember? No, I haven’t found a girl yet mother, stop asking!” After a few more minutes of one sided conversation Zane finally managed to hang up. With a grunt he put away his cellphone and stared up at his new home.

  Following the funeral for Grandpa William, Zane had made up his mind. It might be old and occasionally infested with bats but it was a good, sturdy ranch house. A bit far from civilization out near Colorado’s border with Kansas, but many degrees superior to the cramped confines of his Chicago apartment.

  “Well, here I am. Here’s to a new life, gramps. Watch over me, and make sure I don’t stumble onto any more strange junk,” Zane murmured as he rapped his knuckles on the doorframe before heading inside.

  Most of the house had been furnished, and though a lot of odds and ends had been divvied up by family and friends there was still plenty of furniture and supplies.

  After wandering through his house for a while making sure his luggage was unpacked and intact he removed his phone and dialed a number.

  “Hello, Phil? Zane here. I just moved in, and should have the Wi-Fi running in no time. Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure, I can take a look at the code over the weekend. I’ll have a report drawn up soon. Alright, thank you again for giving me some time off. Bye.”

  “Well, now that that’s finished, time for food.” Ambling about the kitchen revealed two things. He’d need to buy more edibles soon, and that he had no idea where anything was.

  His cellphone ringing made Zane pause in his exploration.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Hey, Vera. What’s the occasion?” Zane asked, checking a cupboard.

  “Just making sure you didn’t explode or anything while moving in,” his younger sister chuckled. “But seriously, how’d the move go?”

  “Fairly well. Except somehow the Internet connection to the house is down and it’ll be a while before it’s up and running again. Oh, and I have no idea where the dishes and such are,” Zane admitted as he opened up a drawer.

  “Sounds riveting,” Veronica snarked. “Anyways, I’m actually calling because my doctor’s appointment went… differently than expected.”

  “Is everything alright?” Zane inquired, a note of fear tinging his voice.

  “The baby’s fine, but they wanted to double check some stuff. It didn’t seem serious, though. Just a heads up that we might not make it for Thanksgiving. We’re still having it at home, right?”

  “So the legend foretold,” Zane joked, trying to cover up his earlier unease. Veronica just laughed.

  “Talk to you later, bro. And if you find any more of gramps’ collection, I actually know a guy who’d pay top dollar for the stuff.”

  “You know the weirdest people,” Zane said with a roll of his eyes. Another laugh was his response and the line went dead.

  A quick glance at the clock on his phone told him it was later than he’d thought.

  “I guess it’s take-out for tonight,” the newly forged homeowner grunted as he closed the last of the doors in the kitchen.

  “Let’s see, pizza is always open…” Before Zane could even finishing typing in the number for the store, a blurt of static hit his ears the same time an explosion ripped his eardrums apart.

  Waves of pressure assaulted him, and Zane cried out at the two-fold attack on his senses. He fell to his knees, an instinctive act that gave him a good angle to look up through the clerestory windows that encircled the kitchen. And it gave him a perfect view at the heavens.

  A crackling bolt of orange screamed down into the distance, seeming to push apart the stars themselves as it fell to the Earth.

  As soon as the glowing object vanished from his sight the strange pain that had struck him faded, and Zane managed to stagger to his feet. He tore open the backdoor and stormed out, trying to pinpoint the crash site.

  In the distance a thin plume of smoke drifted into the air, barely detectable in the darkness of night. From the direction it came from Zane guessed it was in the old fields that belonged to his grandfather.

  “Don’t see that every day,” Zane murmured. Meteorites strikes were rare, but to be honest he doubted most space rocks emitted a glow like that, or a mind numbing screech.

  “Curse my curiosity,” Zane griped as he ran back into the house to find his car keys.

  Chapter 2

  After some thought, Zane decided that his own car, a 2010 Ford Focus, was not going to be the best choice for venturing off road onto fields at night. To that end there was only one other choice: his grandfather’s beat-up pick-up.

  It was a truck that had probably existed since the sixties, and whatever make it had once been was lost under countless repairs and paintjobs. It almost looked like a Frankenstein vehicle. But it was durable and the only ride Zane had that could handle the lack of roads in the fields behind the ranch house.

  “Gah! Stupid… Shit! Does this thing even have suspension anymore?!” Zane cursed. Only choice or not, he was starting to regret it since he couldn’t feel his posterior anymore.

  “Come on, you stupid junk heap, just a few more feet,” Zane urged before he finally caught of glimpse of his destination in the headlights. He drew up alongside the impact site with a sigh of relief and let the car idle, keeping the lights on so he could see what exactly had ended up in his new backyard.

  The object that had fallen burning from the sky lay in a shallow crater, dirt and grass nearby smoking slightly. Cautiously, Zane stepped forward, avoiding the hot stones lest his rubber soles melt, to peer into the pit before him. His first thought, that it was a meteorite, was dashed as soon as he looked at the center. Metal, cherry red in some places, twisted and torn in others, lay softly hissing and popping in the chill night air. Most of the mysterious object was hidden beneath inch-thick plates of silvery metal that had peeled back in places, revealing what lay under it. Three feet wide and tall, spherical in shape with long tendrils and spines increasing the size by about a foot, with a glass screen slightly cracked in the upper left corner.

  What’s more, small red lights flickered within the depths of the machinery, possibly broadcasting something or other.

  “Holy shit.” Nothing else really seemed to fit the moment. Zane turned around and dashed back to the truck, pulling out a length of sturdy rope that ended with a small steel hook; perfect for towing other vehicles or dragging a downed space-thing from its crater.

  He carefully slid down the five or so inches to rest at the bottom of the indentation, tow-rope in hand, and latched the hook under a lip of metal. Once it was attached and seemed sturdy enough, Zane clambered out and hopped into the truck, revving the engine and putting pedal to the metal. Whatever it was, it weighed a ton, probably literally, and the pick-up strained to budge it from its hole. But the sturdy old truck pulled through, and with a crunch of displaced earth the object dislodged from its resting place and bounced jerkily up to ground level out of the crater.

  “Ok, let’s see here,” Zane muttered to himself, shutting off the engine and stepping out of the pick-up. The object was free from its entrapment, but now a new problem faced Zane. What was he going to do now?

  This thing was clearly heavy, given how the truck, admittedly an old and slightly worn down one, had struggled to move its weight. Lifting it into the back of the truck was therefore impossible without more tools or equipment. And even if he did get it into the bed of the pick-up, where would he go? The garage back at the farm was cluttered with quite a few bits of run-down farming equipment, but if he moved some stuff around…

  Zane shook his head. No, that wouldn’t work. Well, it would, but this thing was clearly more advanced than a tractor, and woul
d stick out like a sore thumb. And that was the most crucial problem.

  This thing was advanced. As in, secret military satellite advanced. Zane was hardly an idiot with machines and technology, but he could tell with a glance this was more complex that anything available on the market, at least legally. If he didn’t get in trouble with authorities of some sort he’d be extremely surprised. But leaving it lying in the field was also just as bad an idea as bring it with him, if not more so.

  With a heavy sigh Zane crouched down and peered at the crashed object. Whatever the shell was made of it had diffused the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry to a mere finger tingling warmth. Not to mention the spiky oval inside seemed utterly untouched from the collisions it had gone through.

  After staring at the fallen machine for a long while, Zane shrugged weakly and clambered back into the driver’s seat. A sputtering roar of the engine shook the silence of the night, and the truck crawled off into the night, dragging the space-metal behind it across the field back towards the ranch-house.

  “Urk,” Zane grunted as he struggled to shift the object. He’d managed to drag the whole thing back to the ranch house thanks to the hard work of the truck, but getting it into the house was several times harder.

  Though the metal of the object was lighter than he thought, it was still a seven foot oblong with a sphere inside it. And so, city boy that he was, Zane finally gave up after a bit and left the space debris on the floor of the garage.

  “Hmm.” Zane gave a hum as he finally had a chance to examine his finding.

  The metal was more of a bluish silver now that he had a decent light source with which to look at it. On closer inspection the ‘shell’ was more like a container and possessed what he assumed were hinges to allow it to open.

  Though the impact had melted one of these, a few minutes with a crowbar pried enough of the lid open so the spherical device inside was laid bare.

  The upper corner of the screen still had a crack, and a few odds and ends were clearly bent or damaged, but the worst of it seemed to be where a chunk of the sphere’s rear was partially melted. A red light was blinking near the screen, likely stating there was a problem.