The Unknow - Three Friends and the (...) Starship (1) (Patreon)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Everything that appears here, in this story, only exists in my mind, anything that resembles reality is coincidence or fortuitous. . .

( hopefully there will be many of these 💓, or not, who knows 😭 )

THREE FRIENDS AND THE (IMPERIAL) SPACE-ELF STARSHIP

Part 1 - The Place

Daniel was a bright young man of just 22 years, who was studying for a career in electronics. Technology was his great passion. As it was for the 24-year-old Susana, whom he had met in the penultimate year of his studies and the two had immediately connected. Aside from what they studied, they both shared the obsession of proving that extraterrestrial life existed.

Both were now, after hurriedly leaving the campus where they were studying, heading out for the desert. Their destination was the Yermo Negro, the old lava fields, where they were going to meet Daniel's friend, Paolo, about 27 years old, a person whom Susana didn't like very much because he always made all the women, and especially her, feel inferior, having to look up to him.

Paolo had called Daniel several hours before and had been very excited and confused. He had spoken so fast that Daniel had been barely able to understand him. He claimed that he had found something very momentous, something that was going to change everything. But between how nervous he was, how fast he spoke and the poor phone signal coverage he had, Daniel had barely understood anything else.

As soon as their schedules in college allowed they had rushed off to join Paolo in the desert. It took them more than three hours to reach the place for which Paolo had sent them the GPS coordinates. They recognized the place immediately by his yellow motorcycle, which was parked in that immensity of black dust. It was a point in the middle of the vastness of that desert of black sand. Only a formation of sharp rocks stood not far from them.

Like a damn, made of what seemed to be a burst of magma that had cooled so quickly, that the formation retrained the threatening shape of the moment of the eruption. A memory of the outbreak in the immensity of that uninhabited land where no plant grew.

Susana was already regretting not having worn her sporty outdoor fashion outfit that day, with the sleeveless, turtleneck nylon beige catsuit and her military boots. She was wearing a cropped polo shirt, cut off shorts, a shiny pantyhose and her sneakers with high wedges, like a good heel addict.

Daniel for his part was suffering from the heat too, his long pants were making him sweat buckets. His feet were baking in those synthetic leather shoes and his polo shirt was starting to show the first sweat stains. Both realized that they had left the campus unprepared, wearing the wrong clothing and bringing not enough water.

"Do you... do you see him anywhere?" Daniel asked Susana, putting his hand on his forehead to be able to see better, due to the sunlight, despite the black ground that absorbed it, radiating back a scorching heat.

"That asshole better be here," Susana replied while trying to find Paolo among the rocks. "Damn, it's hotter here than in Hell."

"Hey guys!" They heard Paolo shouting from the magma formation. "Up here, come quick!"

Daniel and Susana, watched him wave from above. They both looked at each other, snorted resignedly and grabbed their backpacks, to set off to the top of the formation. Neither of them, at that moment, imagined what Paolo was going to show them, buried under a dense layer of formerly molten stone.

After climbing among the rocks, while Susana cursed, fearing her new pantyhose might tear and afraid of staining her wedge slippers, they met up with Paolo.

With Paolo leading, they entered through an almost invisible opening in the rocks. And then went through a natural corridor inside the magma formation, which seemed to have been caused by hot gases during the eruption. Luckily it was a little cooler in the shade of the corridor. On arrival at the other end Paolo proudly showed them his discovery.

Susana and Daniel rubbed their eyes and pinched each other to make sure the weren't dreaming. Before them was something that clearly was not of natural origin. What seemed to be the entrance of a spaceship, and clearly of non-human manufacture was in front of them.

And it was not a figment of their imagination!

to be continued...