ever, with a leaning tower of books and articles next to the old computer monitor. Even her airplane models, cluttered in a corner, remained untouched.
“You look disappointed,” said Charlie, laughing. “What were you expecting?”
Marina shrugged. She had been secretly nourishing the faint hope that something extraordinary would happen in her life. But who was she kidding? She was forty-one, and nothing extraordinary or exciting had happened since she had moved there. What amazing thing could ever happen to a former aerospace engineer running a tiny observatory in the middle of nowhere?
As she finished that depressing thought, Marina noticed a faint emerald trail in the air, like a brushstroke nearly washed away by water. Lying at the end of the trail, on the floor, was a crystal sphere that was roughly the size of a marble, and which emitted a faint blue light.
“Feel this, Charlie,” she said, picking up the sphere. “It’s warm!”
Before Charlie could touch the sphere, however, it jumped from Marina’s hand, flooding the room with a light so bright she and Charlie had to cover their eyes. When they looked again, they both staggered backwards, nearly bumping into each other. In front of them stood a man with intensely lilac eyes and short, gel-covered black hair that shot upwards, as if deliberately taunting gravity. He was wearing a white suit, though it looked nothing like a suit Marina had ever seen, for it was made of a white, velvet-like material, and the jacket had curly silver lines elaborately embroidered on its left side. Instead of a lapel, the suit rose straight up all the way to the neck, and was closed with five unusually large, crystal black buttons, each with a white flower drawn on it.
Realizing that Marina and Charlie were surveying him – speechless and wide-eyed – the man gave them a self-conscious smile, and nervously clutched the silver sling bag he carried with him.
“May the universe enlighten us,” he said. “I am Lendox. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”
“What invitation?” asked Marina, before she could stop herself.
“He’s going to kidnap us, and take us to his planet!” screamed Charlie, pulling out an old revolver he had no idea how to use.
“If you had not made the energy link with your hand, I would still be waiting,” Lendox continued, calmly showing them the crystal sphere that was now attached to a bracelet on his wrist.
“How did that get there?” asked Marina, noticing that the sphere was no longer shining.
“All roomix hang from bracelets,” said Lendox, simply. “They return to the owner’s bracelet as soon as one exits.”
“You’re telling me that thing’s a spaceship?” asked Marina, dying to know what kind of technology could do something like that.
“It is a traveling room,” explained Lendox. “The passenger sits inside, and the ship takes it to different locations. Once you get to your destination, you exit the roomix, and carry it with you until you need it again.”
Marina stared at Lendox, confused. What was he talking about? Why would anyone need a traveling room if they had a ship to begin with? And where was the ship? She was about to begin asking questions, when Lendox turned to Charlie, whose shaking hand was still locked around the revolver.
“You might as well lower your weapon,” Lendox said, sympathetically, “unless, of course, you truly intend to damage my energy field.”
“Your energy field?” repeated Charlie, horrified. “You’re a g-ghost?”
“You may be assured that I am quite alive,” replied Lendox, looking somewhat amused at Charlie’s reaction. “I am real, just like you, and I mean no harm.”
“That’s what they always say,” muttered Charlie, somewhat ashamed by the calm demeanor of Lendox, who waited patiently until the old security guard finally decided to put the revolver away.
“I assume you have many questions,” Lendox started once more, “and I am ready to answer them on behalf of Miriax.”
“Who’s Miriax?” asked Marina.
“It is my planet, and I am its vice consul,” said Lendox. “I will show you where it is.”
He now pulled a glove out of his bag, and squeezed his left hand into it. Marina and Charlie watched in amazement as luminous drawings of several planets began to take shape inside his opened palm, and then gradually floated outwards, filling the room.
“The star chart is drawing itself,” Lendox observed, as several planets and moons settled around Marina and Charlie, like giant air balloons falling lightly on the floor. “It will only take a moment.”
Marina glanced at Charlie, who stood gaping as the planets gently arranged themselves. Clearly, he had no doubt that Lendox was telling the truth. Could Lendox really be an alien, though? And what kind of a name was Lendox, anyway?
“That’s impressive,” she said, walking around the planets as if she were a space giant taking a stroll. “I think you have the wrong space chart, though. This is the solar system, and I’m pretty sure Miriax isn’t part of it.”
“Not in this dimension,” Lendox replied, “but let me show you a different picture. I will overlap what you see with a chart of my dimension.”
Lendox closed and opened his hand once more, and a planet left his hand and appeared on the star chart, settling close to Earth. It was lilac and green, and had a small, emerald-colored moon in its orbit.
“This is Miriax,” he said.
Marina stared at the space chart in disbelief.
“Are you saying that you’ve been there all along, and we simply haven’t noticed you?” she cried.
“You would only notice us if you had technology that could chart other dimensions,” he replied, matter-of-factly.
“So you live on this planet, which is right next door?” she asked, still not fully convinced.
“Yes, but in a parallel dimension.”
“Ok,” she said. “I’ll go along with it for now. If you’re not human, what species are you?”
“I am mirian,” he replied. “The ecosystem of my planet absorbs surplus energy from Earth, and then recycles it. Even though we are separate species, we have much in common. Earth cannot survive without Miriax any more than Miriax can survive without Earth.”
“You lost me,” said Marina, shaking her head. “What energy are you talking about?”
“Allow me to explain the relationship between the two planets,” said Lendox, calmly. “Every time a human emits any kind of positive energy, our planet processes it and sends it back to Earth. This process is what enables humans to have inspiration, imagination, love, kindness, hope – in short, all of your most precious qualities.”
Lendox closed his hand into a fist and the star chart vanished. Marina had to admit she was beginning to believe his story.
“These guys have been in our backyard all along,” Charlie whispered. “They even speak our language!”
