The alien pointed directly at Cade and Blake. He stood there completely still. He stared down at the two kids who exchanged anxious looks. Then the alien turned to another one, slightly shorter with a wider face with the same stretched lines and half moon glowing eyes. Incredibly fast monotone voices in some unknown language went back and forth between them. The other alien turned and walked fast back down the stairs while the first one turned his sharp gaze back to the kids. Then he took out a long, bright fiery light and pointed it at the kids…
In Carolmire we work really hard, long hours in the mines. It’s really dark, barely lit by only a few dark orange lanterns. It’s a tough grind, doing the same thing over and over and the aliens always want more and more from us. Their messengers drive us hard every day, and the work is so boring, but we have our ways of getting through.
The kids sat nervously waiting for the slow footsteps walking up the steps. Finally the alien messenger appeared in the dingy lights, growing colder and darker. In a solemn, elevated voice the messenger began:
“You don’t live here, and this city is not located on the map. What are you doing here?” The two kids exchanged nervous half-glances. Cade shifted on the slick floor before answering…
Sometimes we tell dumb jokes to get through, for example, “Billy Bob committed a crime against grammar, what was his punishment?”
“He was sentenced to death!” We tell all kinds of awesome jokes like that, but the real game is trying to make each other laugh but see who can last long enough without laughing, especially when our supervisors are close by. We also get through by singing, back and forth, sometimes really loud so it echoes through the narrow dark tunnels and confuses people, even the aliens…
“We just really like Christmas,” Cade answered.
“Why are you trying to find the secret singer?”
“We just want to know who it is, don’t you?” asked Cade. Blake flashed him a look that said, “What are you doing?” Cade flashed back a twisted, sideways expression.
“You must never interfere with our business,” the messenger said sternly. “Two BlackStar ranked students like you should be focusing on your studies instead of exploring places you don’t belong. You know if you don’t raise your grades soon you will be sent to the Dathmore to perform the work we assign you. The fact that you believe you can find her reveals your poor level of intellect. Students like you cannot solve a mystery like this. You don’t have the intelligence or the work ethic. But more importantly, if you interfere with our business, there will be severe penalties…
