The Visitors Read Free

how could we survive? How would we protect our bodies? What would we wear? NASA wasted no time in creating solutions for these things. Thanks to my father and a team of scientists, we had a protective cream that would allow us to be exposed to very harsh sunlight without harming our skin in any way. It would guard our skin from damage while it kept our body temperature from escalating. When our pores absorbed it, it spread into our bloodstream, protecting our organs in addition to our skin. Fixing our clothing was easy enough – we just had to have them made from a new type of fiber that could resist fire. I was so impressed by the stylish jeans and tops that were created for me from this stuff, even if they felt a little stiff and itchy.
    There were eight members of the crew: me, Luke, our fathers, and the other four crew members I didn’t know quite as well. These members consisted of two females – a doctor and a botanist – along with the flight engineer and the captain, who were males. Though we were all there for different reasons and purposes, we were all ecstatic about the thought of traveling to a foreign planet and meeting new, strange creatures. The nagging fear in the back of my mind of what could go wrong only recently came into play.
    I tried to shake those thoughts out of my head as I sat down in the seat next to Luke. “What do you think they’ll look like?” I asked him.
    Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t help but picture those weird gray creatures with big heads and large, black eyes that you see in the movies. I know it’s ridiculous, but that’s the only frame of reference I have.”
    I laughed. “I keep picturing little, green creatures with bumpy skin.” Luke raised his eyebrows at me and I grinned. “I don’t know where that idea came from. Maybe I saw aliens that looked like that on TV once or something.”
    â€œThey may look just like us, you know. From what the satellites could see, they are about the same size and shape. They’re intelligent. I hope we can communicate with them.”
    â€œYeah, me too,” I agreed. “I’ll be disappointed if it’s like all the other missions, where the species can’t converse with us beyond a juvenile level.”
    Luke’s dark eyebrows furrowed, creating a vertical wrinkle down his forehead. “I was kinda kidding earlier about them attacking us, but you know, we really don’t know for sure what’s gonna happen when we get there. What if they don’t let us stay? What if they kill us all?”
    I shook my head firmly. “That’s not going to happen, Luke. In all of our studies of them, we have never seen them act violently or harshly toward any being. They’re peaceful and sophisticated. I truly believe they will accept us with open arms.” I knew I was trying to convince myself as well as Luke. As we grew closer to our destination, fear was beginning to creep into my mind and overtake my excitement, too.
    I decided to change the subject. “Did you reapply your blocking cream yet?”
    â€œRight before I came in here,” he affirmed.
    I let my thoughts wonder about the many possibilities of what we would find. As far as their technology, I was not as concerned as my father and the rest of the crew were. My excitement came more from the idea of just meeting a new species. Even though I was just a kid, I recognized what a huge opportunity this was. I was determined to make the most of it.
    Luke leaned across my lap to get the soda that sat on the table in front of me. His hand brushed my knee as he grabbed it, and we both moved uncomfortably. My face grew hot and I could see his nervous, awkward mannerisms out of the corner of my eye. I sighed. “Luke, let’s try not to be like this.”
    He smiled. “Like what?”
    I rolled my eyes. “You know what I’m talking about. We’re about to enter a