Just a Hole in a Cave
By: Daneel Craig Roth
Camping had been fun, but it would be good to go home too. I was in a cave of St.. Petersburg sandstone. It was called Eli's Cave. All of the sudden the wall next to me collapsed to reveal a circle of blue light. "Wow," I said not realizing I had just made the understatement of the century, "It's a spatial rift!" I knew that because I'd read about them in some of my books - but I never expected to see one.
I also never expected to see a monster, but as I looked through the portal that's exactly what I saw. It must have seen me too, because it started to come through the portal. But as it did, it started to turn into a human.
That startled me! I thought I saw a monster - but I guess I was wrong, because the thing coming out of the portal was a human. He was a boy about eleven years old, with blond hair, green eyes, and a blue snake around his neck.
"Look out!" I shouted suddenly, surprised at myself. "There's a snake on your neck!"
"That's no snake!" he said, almost like he found it funny. "It's just my pet. His name is Yinta. That means small one. Don't be afraid; he's harmless... for now," he said - then he grinned.
"What do you mean 'for now'?" I asked cautiously.
"I'll tell you sometime," he said.
"Why don't you tell me now?" I asked "We can go talk in my cabin!"
He nodded, then got a funny look on his face, curiosity, I think. "What's a cabin?"
"A cabin is a sort of home," I said. "It's where we stay when we're at camp."
"So, you're at camp too, huh?" he said, surprised, when we got to the cabin. "I was at my military camp when I found a cave. I was curious, so I went inside it and saw a blue portal - and I thought you were a hideous monster!"
"So did I!" I laughed. "But you don't look hideous now."
"That's because the spatial rifts transform our shapes when we move between worlds," he explained. "If you came to my camp, you would look like one of us."
"Who are you?" I finally asked. "What are you? Where are you from?"
He replied, "I am Prince Charone of Ice planet, I am a Freezoran. Who are you?"
This was getting silly. Here I was, talking to some kid who claims he's an alien, when it's probably just a kid from school - someone I hadn't met yet. I was the newest kid there, and people sometimes play games with the new kids. Maybe this boy knew I liked science fiction and was teasing me. Still, he was pretty convincing.
"I am Daneel of Earth. I am a human," I said.
We talked for a while. When I asked where exactly he had been he said, "I was in military camp learning to be a fighter. Why were you in that cave?"
"I was here for learning about nature - and for recreation - you know: fun!" I said.
"You have camps for that?" he said. He sounded surprised!
"Of course! Don't you?" I asked.
"Not when you have a war," he said bluntly. "I don't have time for fun. I spend my time learning to be a soldier so that I can lead my troops when I'm king."
"That doesn't sound very fun," I said.
"It isn't," Charone said.
"So why don't you stop the war?" I asked.
His eyes went wide. "I never thought of that! We've been so busy fighting that we haven't had time to think of stopping the war! Daneel, you are a very smart human!"
"Thank you!" I said.
That night we saw a full moon and I asked, "Do you have a moon?"
"Thirty-seven," he replied.
"Wow," I said dully. "Do you see many stars at night?"
"No," he said in reply, his eyes were fixed on them though. "The moons block them out. Your stars are very pretty. Maybe when I come back here, we can use my spaceship to go visit them," he said.
"WOW!" I said, excitedly.
"But I can't come back until I stop the war," he said.
"So go stop the war, Charone, and then you can come back and we can have fun!"
"I will, Daneel. One year from now, the war will be over and I will come back to visit you! Will you here then?"
"Yes! Same time next year," I said in return.
"Good-bye," we said in unison and that was that.