Alien Coffee by John H. Carroll Page A

“You were amazing. I’m glad we brought you with too. Things
would’ve gone much worse without you.”
    “I’ve landed us in a safe location,” Sclurp
told them over the intercom. Jillian jumped and looked around. The
voice sounded so close and the advanced technology surprised her
once again. Nyxulla raised a questioning eyebrow and Jillian just
shrugged in embarrassment. Having known such things all her life
made the alien woman take it for granted. It would be like taking
someone from medieval times and putting them in front of a TV or
radio.
    Jillian followed everyone outside into a
field of dark green bushes covered with white flowers. The powerful
aroma brought to mind sweet jasmine tinged with the scent of
coffee. She inhaled deeply and felt slightly intoxicated.
    Nyxulla used a long device with three wands
at the end to find the nearest snail. Everyone stood back a ways
while she manipulated a screen on the main body of the device. The
wands began to glow, as did the snail they were aimed at. With a
loud pop, a snail shaped ship appeared much like the one the group
had used to travel there. Nyxulla turned to the despondent teens
and pointed at the new ship. “There you are. You’ll be tracked the
entire way, so go straight home.”
    “But we didn’t get any coffee,” the boy
whined.
    “I think that’s for the best at this point.
You’re already in enough trouble,” Buffy told them. “Go on, get out
of here.”
    They glared at Buffy and Nyxulla, but got on
board without another word. A minute later, the ship rose into the
air before turning invisible. Jillian assumed they were flying off
toward home. “What sort of drive does it use? Does it travel faster
than the speed of light?” she asked.
    The three aliens exchanged glances. “Light
has nothing to do with travel nor does its speed,” Nyxulla told her
hesitantly.
    “And it’s a high crime to tell you how travel
does work, so please don’t ask,” Buffy chastised gently before
turning to Sclurp. “I see you landed us in a coffee field. It’s a
waste of time considering they’re flowering and haven’t developed
berries yet.”
    Sclurp looked around in dismay. “Oh, dude . .
. that sucks.”
    “I’m not a dude,” Buffy informed him.
“Jillian has more than enough coffee already. Let’s go.”
    “Berries? I thought coffee came from beans,”
Jillian responded in curiosity. She had never really thought about
how the beans were grown.
    “Yeah, the beans are inside the berries.
We’ll just stop and get another sack instead,” Sclurp told her.
    “No. We will not stop. She already has a
sack,” Buffy disagreed.
    It looked as though the two would get into a
bigger argument when Nyxulla stepped between them. “Buffy’s right
on this one. Jillian has a bag already and we need to get back so I
can file the report, which I’m not looking forward to.”
    She led the way back to the ship. Sclurp
sulked, but went to the cockpit and flew while Nyxulla and Buffy
began their reports at the table with Jillian sitting in her
original seat. Nyxulla brought her another cup of the quxoma juice.
During the journey back, Jillian stared out the window and
reflected on the events of the previous few hours while sipping the
juice.
     
    ***
     
    The air of the hangar was only slightly
cooler than the jungle they had come from. Jillian suspected all
three of her new friends came from warmer and more humid climates.
Upon reaching the sitting room, the aliens stopped suddenly and
Jillian ran into Buffy who was just in front of her.
    Sitting quietly on one of the benches with
hands in his lap was a well-dressed, blue-skinned alien with a
large, round head and milky purple eyes. “Congratulations on
rescuing the teens. The boy’s father is very powerful and will be
thrilled they didn’t die.” The imposing alien’s voice was deep and
sonorous, like a soothing narrator. However, there was an
underlying tone that made it seem somewhat threatening.
    “Thank