The UFO Man Has Died

The cemetery was a lot of things, but chaotic was not one of them. Freshly cut grass and rows upon rows of weathered headstones covered the peaceful field. Sam had walked these grounds on a few occasions, always surrounded by a large group of friends, family, and the occasional acquaintance. This time it was different. No one, but him and the priest journeyed to Gary's final resting place. 

Gary was an odd duck to say the least. Around the town, he was known as "The UFO Man," even though he insisted on being called "Eran, Gary Mathers." Apparently "Eran" was the title given to him by the Eranian Guard of the Plesta System after he saved their Queen's daughter. It was one of many stories he told to the entire town and any passerby who would listen to him. Obviously, nobody believed him and chalked it down to him having a wild imagination. With that reputation, it didn't lend to having many friends, which apparently only left Sam. 

Sam saw many foreign names listed who were expected to be in attendance, but when he was the only one at the open casket, he knew those stories were just that. Stories. In no time, Sam arrived at the plot and his friend's night black casket stood over the dug grave, ready to be lowered. Father Heston cleared his throat before he spoke. 

"Do you want me to wait a few minutes for others to arrive?"

"Sorry Father, I think it is just me," Sam said.

Father Heston began his prayer, but it only served as background noise to Sam's thoughts. No one showed up. Surely someone from his stories had to be real? Yeah, his galactic travels were definitely fake, but even his friends? His wife? Was he just that sad of a man, he had to make up stuff to feel important? I could have done more than listen to him talk every Thursday at the bar.

"Amen," Father Heston said and addressed Sam. "Would you like to say anything?"

Sam walked up to the casket and the clouds above him distorted. Neither noticed what was going on in the sky, but it was hard to miss the car-sized flying saucer smash through a few gravestones to the left of them. The ship came to a stop a few yards away and smoke bellowed from an opening hatch. Sam ran to the crash, not registering in his head the craft was alien in nature. 

He got to the edge of the smoke when he saw a short gray humanoid alien stumble out, waving his fist at the sky and coughing. "Watch where you're flying, princess!"

Sam froze, noticing the wrinkly gray skin and large bulb head was not human. An alien?

"Hey, you there in the suit," the alien said, pointing at Sam. "Where's Gary?"

"You…know Gary?" Sam asked, surprised once again the alien even spoke his language. 

"Yes, now where is he? I got to get to work before that Princess up there ruins everything." 

Sam looked up at where the alien was pointing and the sky was filled with different spaceships. Some were small, much like the one in the cemetery, but others were easily six times as big. They all had different shapes and colors, except for ten of them. Those ten reminded Sam of human spaceships he had seen in movies. Rectangular in design, reminiscent of battleships and all patterned in the same gray and red color scheme. One of those broke ranks and came in for a landing. 

Father Heston was thoroughly terrified and made a break for it, leaving Sam to watch in awe as a large ship landed in front of the casket. The alien next to Sam pushed past him, trying to will his little feet over to the casket before whoever was landing got out. 

When the ship touched down, crushing numerous headstones with the landing gear, a ramp shot out of the underbelly of the ship. Soldiers about Sam's height, wearing red armor and armed with spears came rushing out. They reminded him of samurai, except with a sleeker design. The soldiers formed a perimeter around the casket, blocking the short alien from getting to it. 

"Let me by, you brutes!" the alien yelled at the soldiers.

"Stand back. The Queen is disembarking," the soldier responded.

"I'm not here for her. Just need the stiff in the box."

The soldier did not take his words kindly and stabbed him in the foot, pinning him to the ground. There was some cursing and the alien tried to pull out the spear from the ground, but it was going nowhere. 

"You will address him by his title, Eran Mathers, in our presence or I will cripple both your feet."

The alien gave him a harsh look, but did not dare say another word. The rest of the soldiers stood at attention as another figure emerged from the ship. She was definitely royalty, wearing a long red dress which dragged behind her a few feet. Her hair was done up like a large corn cob on top of her head and her feminine features were similar to women on earth. The only real difference Sam saw was her hand had six fingers and her ears were more like red turnips.

She walked down the ramp with tears in her emerald eyes. It made a line of glitter on her face when one tear managed to escape her eyelids and run off her soft cheek. Her body stood poised until she reached the casket, where she collapsed to her knees and sobbed in her hands. The man she loved was gone and all that remained was the pain of her loss. 

Sam took a few steps forward, feeling compelled to comfort the grieving woman. The soldier gave him a warning glare.

"Do you mind? I'm a friend of Gary's," Sam said, pointing to the casket.

The soldier stared at him for a few moments, deciding what to do. Sam couldn't tell what the soldier was thinking since their faces were completely covered in red and black masks. The woman's wails became louder and the soldier nodded to Sam.

"Thank you."

Sam went up to the woman and kneeled next to her, laying his hand gently on her back. She continued to cry and grabbed him by the shirt, using him as a towel. 

"Why? Why did I have to be such a fool!" she wailed into his shirt. 

"You're not a fool." Sam patted her on the back, trying to reassure her. 

"I should've left everything behind. Our kids were old enough to rule. I thought I had more time!”

Sam's eyes got big. If this alien was saying what he thought she was saying, that would make her…Princess Parhan. Gary mentioned he married the Queen's daughter, but nothing about kids.

"It's okay, Princess Parhan."

The woman wiped her tears and looked up at him. "I haven't heard that title in a long time.”

"Gary told me quite a few stories about you. I didn't believe any of them, but seeing you in person, it is hard to refute now."

"What did he say?"

"He told me about how he saved you from a group of bandits.”

"He jumped on a moving starship for me. I still remember it like it was yesterday. The way his hair flipped in the wind. His strong arms held me tight after fighting off those barbarians." Parhan wrapped her arms around herself, reliving the memory in her head. It brought a smile to her face, but didn't last as the casket reminded her where he rested today. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"Doctors said radiation poisoning. I guess he was trying to make a spaceship in his garage."

Parhan broke down in tears once again. Sam held the slouching woman who cried into his chest.

"He was trying to get back to me. I marooned him here!"

"No, you didn't–"

"Yes I did! How could I be so stupid?"

Sam let her cry for a few minutes before he found the right words to comfort his friend's wife. 

"You know, for as long as I knew him, he never complained about not being with you." Sam said and Parhan lifted her head to face him. "He spoke about you and all the people in his life with such passion. Never a bad word, except for those darn Carosains."

Parhan laughed and sniffled. "That sounds like Gary.”

"One time, I did ask him why I never met you. And you wanna know what he said to me?" Sam asked. She nodded, clinging to his every word. "He said, 'She needs to be with her people. When the day of peace comes, she will return to me. Whether that is in this life or the next, it doesn't matter. I know she loves me and she will always have my love as long as there are stars in the galaxy.'"

Parhan's lips quivered and wanted to cry, but she had no more tears to give. "What is your name?"

"Sam."

"I will not forget you, Sam," she said and stood up. Parhan put her hand on the casket and whispered. "I will see you again. I promise."

No more words were uttered as she turned and left. She signaled to her guards and they all followed her, except for one who retrieved his spear. The blade left a large oval hole in the gray alien's foot, but no blood. The gray alien ran up to the casket, trying to figure out how to get it open, while the last soldier approached Sam. 

"Can I ask you something?" the soldier asked.

"Sure."

"Did Eran Mathers ever mention his children?"

"I don't think he knew he had children. How many did he have?"

"One hundred and seventy three."

Sam coughed from the sheer shock. "Woah. I'm positive he didn't know that. He would have definitely bragged about it."

The soldier stood up a little straighter and clicked his boots together. "It was an honor meeting you."

Before the soldier could turn away, Sam asked a question he thought he knew the answer to. "Let me guess, you are his son?"

"Have a good day, sir," he said, turning away and left up the ramp.

It didn't quite sit right with Sam for his son to leave without more, even if they had never known each other. There was no way to send him his inheritance, so he left him with the only thing he had time for. An offer. 

"If you ever are back on Earth, don't be a stranger. I know his stories by heart if you ever want to hear one."

The soldier turned on his heels and lifted his spear. In the blink of an eye, he wound up and threw it. Sam didn't get time to react as it flew past him and struck the gray alien who was stomping on the casket.

"I'll be back for my spear. Until we meet again," the solider said and the ramp closed behind him. There was a quiet rumble and the ship took off, back up into the sky. The fleet of ships all began to turn away and without warning, disappeared without a trace.

Sam smiled, watching the empty sky. "Damn Gary, you really were a galactic adventurer."

***