Skyquakers Read Online Free Page B

of
town. He used his binoculars again and swore, despite the intense brightness,
that he could see little specks of light coming down from the sky , instead of
going up. The point where the beam hit the earth was obscured by land and
hills, so he could not see what was happening, but he could certainly hear it:
the boom as the light struck the
ground, the whirring of jet-like turbines, picking up the dust and echoing
across the bushland. Skyquakers , he called the
invisible masters of the storm. Cool name; he made it up himself.
    So, what now?
    It was dangerous, he knew, but if there was ever a chance to
spot the return of the humans, then Ned wanted to be the first one to welcome
them back with open arms. Likewise, if it was something less inviting coming to
his planet, he wanted to be the first guy to grab a big, pointy stick and tell
them to go home. He began to feel the excitement brewing. This was it: it was
over. Everything was going to be okay. Almost a month on his own, but somehow
he had survived. Had it been a test? A cruel, cruel joke? Did he pass?
    With haste, he rounded up some things: his knife, his
binoculars, and his bicycle. He rode towards the beam, just outside of town. It
was still there, humming away, giving off a bright light and thunderous sounds.
He rode to a plateau scattered with spiky shrubs called Five Rivers Lookout, a
mound which overlooked a wetland. At the top of the plateau, he abandoned his
bike and crept to the edge on his stomach, watching through the binoculars.
This beam was enormous. Ned estimated it to be at least 500 meters wide. Specks
of light floated down from a spiralling eye in the clouds like loosely-thrown
confetti, and, in the same fashion that he had seen the beams vaporise solid
objects and absorb them skywards, they now appeared to be creating solid things
on the ground using a reverse mechanism. Ned watched glittery dots float down
and form a shape on the earth, growing speck by speck into a solid, rectangular
object. It was a slow process, creating the four walls inch by inch,
solidifying from nothing but dust. It was unclear what the object was going to
be yet, but it was wide and metallic, like a large warehouse or some sort of
enormous aircraft hangar. He scanned the walls, trying to get his bearings on
how big it was going to be, and then he saw a living creature emerge.
    ‘Holy sh —! ’
    He tore the binoculars from his eyes, as though he had seen
something too bright. He took a few deep breaths before he dared to look back.
    From behind one of the walls came two figures. They appeared
to be inspecting the structure, watching it grow from the dust, chatting to
themselves about it with head nods and hand gestures. They stood inside the
pink beam unharmed, dressed in glossy, high-tech astronaut suits with oval
heads, rubber gloves, and thick boots. On each of their backs was a scuba tank,
strapped to their shoulders, with a hose connecting it to their hoods to allow
them to breathe. The suits were grey, plain, without
any symbol or flag, giving Ned no indication of anything. The only thing which
frightened him was their height. From a distance, it was hard to compare, so he
took reference from a nearby tree. By the height of that tree, Ned concluded
that those two walking, talking figures were about two and a half metres tall. At least.
    Skyquakers .
    There was a third figure now. A human appeared. He was so
small compared to them. He wore a business suit with a tie and nice shoes,leather ones. He had slicked back hair and was well-groomed. He looked
up and spoke with the hooded giants, who cranked their long necks down to see
him. This human was also unaffected by the beam, and remained as a solid entity
within its circle as around him the warehouse continued to grow taller. The
three spoke for a while. The human pointed around, directing their attention to
a tree, to the rivers, to the ocean, and then, finally, he pointed directly at Ned,
and the two hooded things