“Mom, why is there a homicidal dinner plate tearing up the freeway behind us?” Noah Hyperion Pax demanded. Strapped into the passenger seat of his mother’s Buick the teenage boy didn’t know what to do first, laugh at the lunacy of the situation or panic at the alien invasion. The flying saucer looked like it would topple out of the sky at any moment. It flipped over itself and swung around like a pendulum, spinning in such a chaotic way it looked like nobody intelligent was steering the craft. At some point the spinning dish shot two blazing arcs, shattering the asphalt road like glass. Georgia Pax skillfully maneuvered around the danger, keeping her cool as only Noah’s mother could.

        “They shouldn’t have been able to break atmosphere,” Georgia muttered.

        “‘They’?” Noah gasped. “You know them?”

        “Vlee,” Georgia said as if it answered everything.

        Noah stared at his mother, trying to find the woman who raised him in the steely eyes of the woman driving the car.

        “How do you know extraterrestrial invaders?” Noah screamed.

        Georgia spun the wheel, yanking the Buick off the freeway. The whirling spaceship fired again, narrowly missing the car each time. One blast was so close it knocked the side view mirror off.

        “Noah, be a dear and get the mini Volt-Cannon from the trunk.”

        “Mini what!” Noah shrieked as he climbed into the backseat. A section of backseat flipped open, revealing a hole into the trunk. True enough, Noah found a futuristic, rifle-looking weapon. “What the heck is this? Why do we even have it?”

        “Aim out the back and shoot,” Georgia commanded.

        “No!” Noah shouted back. “What in the world is happening?”

        The car turned abruptly to avoid another volley from the spaceship, something nearby exploded with a loud boom! Noah slammed into the far side of the car and was thrown back when his mother spun the wheel again.

        “Mom!” Noah shouted.

        “We’re supposed to be in a protection program!” Georgia responded. By the way she said it, Noah felt she wanted to give somebody a piece of her mind.

        “Like Witness Protection?”

        “Yes,” Georgia Pax replied. “…for non-terrestrials.”

        “Alien Witness Protection, why are we in Alien Witness Protection?”

        “I love you honey,” Georgia tried to flash a motherly smile in her rearview mirror. It didn’t come out well. “But you should be able to figure that part out on your own.”

        “We are aliens?” Noah took one more look at the flying saucer. “Ok, fine, I’ll buy that. So why are the Veal attacking us?”

        “Vlee,” Georgia strained under effort, trying to avoid burning wreckage. “Could you shoot now, dear?”

        Something happened to Noah then. Everything seemed suddenly unimportant. Having his mother ask him to shoot down an alien space craft was like being asked to pass the salt at dinner. Despite the shaking of the car, Noah was able to position the mini volt-cannon, wedge it into the crook of his arm and aim at the tumbling airborne dish. His finger was in the process of squeezing the trigger when the hairs on his arms and neck stood up. A blast of electricity, much like a lightning bolt, shot out of the gun barrel. It shattered the back windows and struck the attack ship. Sparks spewed from its side and whatever had made Noah’s cool fell apart.

        “I hit it! I got it!”

        Then the ship fired back and hit the car. The metal suddenly got hot, fire was everywhere; the demolished Buick rolled down the street and ground to a shrieking, sparking halt. Somehow Noah was unharmed and pulled himself out. His mother was already free, helping Noah up.

        “Are you okay?” Georgia asked.

        “Too many questions,” Noah wheezed.

        The attack craft floated above them, spinning fast enough to look like a ball. Now that they were off the highway and outside the car, Noah could hear the alien weapons charging up.

        “Did you by any chance manage to keep the mini cannon?” Georgia Pax wondered. Noah felt his hand twitch on empty air.

        “I left it in the car…” he said, his throat going dry.

        “It’s alright honey,” Georgia whispered, holding Noah close. “I think we bought enough time.”

        There was a flash of sun reflecting off steel. If the gleams of light hadn’t come from the sky Noah would’ve thought it was a glass limousine. Several sleek, silver vehicles shot by. They dropped tiny payloads that caused big explosions on the saucer’s hull. One of the shiny, silver vehicles swung around and landed in front of us. A towering creature that resembled a hammerhead shark appeared. He held a device that cast a blue halo around them; Noah had seen enough sci-fi movies to recognize a force field generator.

        “Took you long enough, Syrnus!” Georgia scowled. “What are Vlee doing in Earth space?”

        “I’ll let you know, Georgia,” shark-man Syrnus replied. Catching Noah staring at him, Syrnus smiled revealing four rows of sharp teeth. He stopped smiling when the flying saucer opened fired. The first targets where the remaining silver fliers. They exploded like moths getting too close to a flame.

        “This is Syrnus, we are under attack by a Vlee Slayer,” shark-face barked into a communication unit. “Requesting instant back-up!”

        No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than the flying saucer began to do something else. A beam of light shot from the bottom of the ship, planting something on the ground; even from the distance, Noah could make out the hulking quadruped form of a massive canine.

        “Update,” Syrnus added. “They brought a Parabeast.”

        What happened next was a blur. Somehow the alien creature crossed the distance between it and Noah in three bounds. It jumped right through the force field, tackled him to the ground and knocked Syrnus aside. The thing weighed a veritable ton! Noah felt his rib cage would pop like a piñata. The alien bulldog’s saliva dropped down on him in thick globs but its breath was far worse. Another two seconds and the parabeast would have disemboweled him, but Georgia leapt onto the parabeast’s back and jammed her hands into the gill-like slits along its neck. The creature howled in pain and tried to buck her off, but Georgia hung tight. Syrnus picked himself up and drew his firearms. He fired at least a dozen times into the monster’s flank before it turned its attention to him. Even with Georgia atop it, the monster attacked Syrnus. The shark-man’s laser guns might as well have been water pistols. The last thing Noah saw was the Vlee ship retrieving their attack dog, his mother still clinging to it.

        When Noah came to, the first thing his felt was a chill. He was cold. He mumbled something unintelligible and tried to roll over. With his eyes squeezed shut he couldn’t see who reached out to stop him from turning.

        “It’s alright,” the voice beyond his vision crooned. “You were having a nightmare. You’re safe, now.”

         Nightmare? That’s a relief, Noah thought.

        “Where’s mom?” he muttered, eyes still firmly shut.

Nobody replied.

Slowly a sick feeling began to take hold of Noah’s stomach. He opened one eye and forced himself to ask a scary question. “How much of it was a nightmare?” he wondered. Noah got his answer when the speaker came into sight. He was a nine foot tall, slender, long necked, blue creature…with deep, searching eyes. Definitely not a terrestrial; thankfully the cool of the room kept Noah from freaking out. His body was relaxed, but slow to respond. Maybe they’d given him something to sedate him. The willowy, thread-man-giant from another world offered Noah a strange looking grin. Noah could only guess that maybe the alien was trying to look friendlier.

“I’m in an asylum now, right?” Noah said hopefully. “Medicated or something?”

“No kid.” A man appeared by the alien’s side; a real, honest to goodness, human man. He wore a white lab coat, dress shirt, and a pair of tinted spectacles. He had a neatly trimmed reddish brown beard and green eyes. There was also a warm, fatherly air about him that Noah found particularly soothing. Until the man looked him in the eye and said, “This is all happening.” Noah dropped his head on the metal table he was laying on with a bang.

“I am Dr. Weston,” the human guy continued. “My partner here is a Vbeluni from Sector 06.”

“I am Dr. Prof. Siliconicci,” the gangling Vbeluni tried to grin again. “But feel comfortable to say Prof. Sili.”

Dr. Prof. Silly? Noah pulled his arm over his face and groaned. Apparently Dr. Weston took that as permission to continue.

“According to your file, you were completely unaware of your extraterrestrial heritage. Is that correct?”

Noah didn’t answer.

Dr. Weston cleared his throat, “We would like to help ease you into this.”

“Where’s my mom?” Noah’s voice broke.

Prof. Sili answered, “INN is searching for her as we speak.”

That piqued Noah’s interest. He mustered his strength and managed to sit up. He became distantly aware of bandages around his arms and chest. As the doctors explained things to him, he toyed with the wrappings.

“INN is the name of the protection program your mother was under,” Dr. Weston clarified. “You were born on Earth under her human identity, and as such, the program extends to you. As Georgia Pax, your mother was placed in First Degree security; codename: Alter Ego. She was given a human identity and credentials and was hidden among the rest of the human population along with an undisclosed number of extraterrestrials.” Dr. Weston flipped through panels on his tablet and scanned a certain document, reading as he found pertinent info. “Your mother’s birth name was Illuna Suru-Pax. Both your mother and father came from Niravan.”

“My father?” Noah stopped teasing his bandages.

Dr. Weston nodded, rummaging through his digital papers for more data. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “Hyperion Pax, the hero of Deep Space and Avenger of the Alachlor System. Died in combat.”

Noah felt the room begin to swim. He put his head into his hands and tried to think. He had known his father was dead. But Noah had never imagined his father was any kind of hero, let alone from another planet. Dr. Weston glanced up from his tablet and watched Noah go pale. He calmly placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” he whispered. “Take your time. Professor Siliconicci and I will show you where you’ll be staying until we find your mother.”

Noah followed along numbly. Professor Sili took the lead and opened a door to the corridor. The hallway was air conditioned but nowhere near as nippy as the room Noah woke up in.

“Welcome to Second Degree,” Prof. Sili orated. “Codename: Hourguard. Here you are protected 24/7 by your American Military as well as INN Keepers from around the cosmos. You will have access to the gymnasium, library, cafeteria, conservatory and barracks…”

Dr. Weston steered Noah to a window and pointed outside.

“Oh yes,” Prof. Sili bobbed his head emphatically. “The glass is impact resistant, able to keep out…” Noah no longer heard a single word the tall, blue alien scientist said. Dr. Weston had whispered something in his ear that seemed ridiculously stupid. Dr. Weston said, “Others call it, Area 51.”

Noah shook his head dazedly, “Insane.”

“You’re very fond of that delusion,” Dr. Weston grinned. “I think you’ll start to believe it once you’ve met your roommates.”

“‘Roommates’?” Noah repeated.