To believe that they were on Pluto was practically impossible. But do not believe their own eyes, too, Max and Jennifer could not. It was all on real. To believe in it, they didn’t need to pinch oneself or stab each other with the needles. Max and Jennifer believed their eyes. Tondor got alive, moved from his forward. Yellow wall of the ship brightened, flashed white. One step and formed an oval door way.
Max, remaining in his place with attention was watching how the alien was leaving his ship. He clearly understood that the door way in the wall was designed specifically for Jennifer and him. Tondor had no any need in the door or in the openings. He calmly moved in the open space, and any obstacles were not obstacles for him.
Max and Jennifer, without waiting for a special invitation followed him. Jennifer admiringly looked around and could not help but start to sneakily shoot everything that surrounded her using her phone. Mentally, she urged Tondor that does not do it for someone to show the pictures on the Earth when and if they get back to Earth, but did it for the purpose to look at it more closely in the more suitable and cozy time.
Jennifer kept her mental monologue with Tondor in case if he read her mind. In all science fiction films and novels, the aliens certainly have the ability to read the minds of earthlings. Although, according to Jennifer, to read there was nothing special. Please tell me what unprecedented for himself can read Tondor in the thoughts of any person on Earth while he himself travels through the galaxies, and sees and knows what will never see and never know none of the people? Just people sometimes very opinionated, and too overestimate themselves. Yes, about the shooting. Jennifer eagerly desired to upload all her video to the Internet, uses for this purpose one of the popular social net. She felt just unlucky because she was deprived of this opportunity.
It turned out that Jennifer first set her foot on the surface of the base. Her feet slowly stained with scarlet and burned like two firebrands. Jennifer screamed in fright, jerked, dropped the phone and rushed for it. If it were not Max, who had in time caught her and her phone Jennifer would have stretched on the scarlet surface of the base.
‘Thank you, Max,’ Jennifer thanked, restoring her balance and continuing shooting. ‘I’ m scared. Look what with my feet. It’s burning!’
‘The same as with mine,’ Max said nodding at his own feet. From the toes fingers to the knees Max’s feet glowed like molten metal in the blast furnace. ‘I guess some disinfection or something else.’ He suggested.
Tondor approached. He looked fantastic.
‘Follow me.’
His voice was for Max and Jennifer sounded from different sides, for Max from the left, and for Jennifer behind her back. She even made a move to look back, but she restrained herself. Max and Jennifer silently followed the stranger, without even thinking to ask where he leads them. What for? Have they had any choice? If they hadn’t any choice there at home on the Earth it was naivety to think that they got such choice here on the alien’s base, where he was a powerful lord.
Tondor kept moving forward. Even on his base, he moved exclusively on the surface of the luminous platform. He went forward for ten or more meters. Perhaps he wanted to leave Max and Jennifer alone that they as much as possible quickly got used to the new situation.
‘How are you, baby?’ Max asked quietly, looking around carefully. He somehow had the feeling that someone now pops up somewhere, and pounce on them. Why he did not know.
Hearing so familiar “baby”, especially here, Jennifer smiled.
‘No comments.’ She said. ‘My head is spinning. Do you think we are already in paradise?’
‘Jenny, you’re the atheist, don’t’ you? I think it’s a Pluto and nothing more, just a common planet. And to the paradise we have to fly and fly.’
‘Look, Max, take a picture of me on the background of all this. Maybe he will not see. That is, he’ll see, but maybe he’ll not say anything. Maybe we’ll not go back, but these pictures will be our memory. I’ll make in my phone a photo album and sign it as: “I'm on Pluto in Paradise.” Jennifer smiled sadly and gave to Max her phone.
Max took it and turned it over in his hands. Why not! They have nothing to lose! After a few pictures on the background of flaming buildings, Max returned the phone to the girl.
‘Now it’s your turn, Maxi.’
‘Jenny, you know. I do not like to be photographed. I’m not photogenic.
‘Who cares? Just for me, my love. Hold your poor Jenny. Press me tightly to yourself, and take a picture with her. Maybe she’ll feel a little better otherwise she’ll get crazy.
From these words Max’s eyes filled with tears, and for a moment it was hard to breathe. He just put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her, took a few pictures. Then he kissed the girl's hair.
‘Thank you, Maxi. You’re sweaty when you want. I feel better. Let’s follow our guru. Maybe we’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel.’
Slowly they walked the streets of a strange, mysterious and vast metropolis. There was some kind of lightness and elegance. As if all these buildings were woven of air and light. They turned their attention that all buildings were separated by empty space filled with nothing. From the point of view of Max and Jennifer it could be the streets. But from the point of view Tondor it could be completely something different. They walked and around there was an emptiness. Nobody, there wasn’t even a single living soul. It was hard to believe that this entire huge metropolis belongs to Tondor. Well, to believe in it was not too difficult. Whom else it could belong to except Tondor?
Straight ahead they saw another Tondor. He went to meet them. But how it could be? After all Tondor went before them? Can it be a hallucination or a split of personality? No. it was neither one nor the other. It was another alien whom looked as Tondor. They were like twins or two peas in a pod. Max and Jennifer almost simultaneously said out aloud but not too loud:
‘Tonokor!’
Indeed towards them was approaching Tonokor whom they saw in the first days after they got on the ship of Tondor. The aliens were approaching each other. There was a sinister and mysterious glow of their body, yellow, soft light of their platforms. They were just about to collide with each other if none of them will step a little aside. But there happened something else. Equalized the aliens froze.
Shocked people saw how Tondor’s right shoulder and left of Tonokor merged to form a monolithic mass of some substance. Then they started sharing with their stripes and patches. Black and purple spots slowly crawled from the body of Tondor to Tonokor, who in his turn shared with his fellow his own colorful stripes and patches. Then they divided their bodies and each followed his own way.
Appalled by what he saw, Max and Jennifer did not notice how the scarlet surface of the base behind them silently beginning to swell, rise, take shape in some unknown for them objects. Some of it has the shape which resembled a ship of Tondor. Some of objects and such objects were more at all had resemblance with nothing familiar to them. But all of it without exception was burning with crimson and blue fire. Appearing suddenly it still hovered a few inches from the surface of the base, as if expecting for something.
Tondor stopped, turned to Max and Jennifer his faceless face. For the first time such a strange alien’s voice sounded with a hint of solemnity. He spoke to them and his speech was long. When compared with the single words which he threw from time to time.
‘These space’s ships belong to you. Choose any. You can use it both for missions here on Pluto and for flights to other star’s systems.’
Max listened to Tondor very attentively, but did not seem to hear what he was saying. Or he heard but did not understand the meaning of what the alien’s words.
Tondor went on to say:
‘Power source of each vehicle is unlimited. On board there is a weapon familiar to which you already used on Phobos. Do not linger too long in one place outside the vehicle. In that case the automatic can return the vehicle on the base without you. Keep it in your mind. If that happened it would be difficult even for me to find you. Be careful.’
“It looks like the instructions for the flight.” Max thought. “Is it really he let us alone on his ship? Doesn’t he afraid that we just now will fly away to the Earth, and will tell everybody where we've been, what seen, and as a proof show his ship? No, he is not afraid.” Max argued to myself. He knew they probably wouldn’t return on Earth, at least not now. Why? He did not know. But felt that they would send a ship in a completely different direction. If these are the real ships but not some kind of a hoax.
‘I leave you. Relax. Make yourself at home. Jennifer...’
When she heard that Tondor for the first time apply directly to her Jennifer started, stiffened.
‘What? What?’ She exclaimed with an anxiety.
Tondor did not answer. He began to move away. With each step, his yellow platform was sinking deeper into the thickness of the surface the scarlet base. Here it is barely visible. Another few seconds and they were all alone, in a strange, but such a beautiful, silent world.
‘Max, what he wanted to tell me? Why did not say that? Huh?’ Jennifer grabbed Max's hand.
Max shrugged with his shoulders and sighed with relief. Finally they were alone! Finally, they have no visible supervision. Finally, they can look around, and calmly think.
‘Who knows? Said what he said or rather he did not say. What do you care? The main thing is that he gone. His presence I already tired with. Listen, Jenny, we’re on Pluto. Cool, huh? Do you believe in it? I'm not. But it’s still cool isn’t it? See what a tremendous towers around us. Maybe will we come into one of it? What do you think? We can choice any. Will lodge here? Never before I had not even dreamed of having my own skyscraper, and then such a big choice! Interestingly, is there an elevator or something like that? Or maybe there are flying stages or some other Pluto’s things unknown to us? Hey Jenny, we were lucky. Such a chance one can get once in a lifetime, but not everyone. And do not ... well, you understand. So ...’ Max turned and with a pace of an owner of the auto show went toward the rows of the vehicles. ‘Now we will select for us some airplane. We’ll fly a little bit. Even if it is a simulator, and someone is watching us across the screen, I do not care. For me, it is a reality. And if it's actually on real even better!’
Alien’s ships ominously and mysteriously hung over the tiny figures of people. The shape of ellipses with built perpendicular or parallel platforms, they were burning, illuminating each other. Yellow, red and blue reflections were lying on the face of Max and Jennifer.
They walked slowly along the alien’s flying vehicles, not knowing which one to choose. Jennifer, on the girl's habit wanted to get pink or red. But she understood that the mission awaiting them was serious, so it is better to do all without the glamour.
Silently, purely instinctively they both stopped in front of the black vehicle. It was less than the size of the ship of Tondor, but looked impressively. It was ten meters in height, and about a hundred meters long. The black body of the spacecraft hovered a few inches above the surface of the base and scarlet, if one looks closely, one could discern that a black body, something light is illuminated. The shape of the space ship looked like a flat semi-ellipse, with a narrow platform which ran along the left side of the body.
‘Looks solid.’ Max said with satisfaction.
‘Even menacing.’ Jennifer agreed. ‘Do you think it really fly?’ She somehow did not believe that they could simply just get on board of the space ship in the steering of which they know nothing about, and also simply take a fly somewhere. It was nonsense for her.
‘If we’ll find the way how to get on board it’ll fly for sure.’ Max joked. ‘Where would you like to fly? I guess probably to your friend in Miami? Just imagine Jenny, they're all on the beach on their very expensive cars, cool and glamorous, but here you then bang, like a sunder bolt from the sky in a spaceship of aliens! I can imagine what would have their faces!’
Jennifer could not help imagining a picture drawn by Max, she began to smile. Yes, that would be great! In such a way comes back home! But she knew. That's impossible. Most likely, the ship will fly anywhere, but not on Earth. And if one thinks about it carefully, she doesn’t want to go back on Earth any more. That sharp, painful, even wistful sense of detachment from everything familiar, native died down in recent days, though not completely disappeared.
Yes, the girls’ jaws would drop down with a surprise.’ Jennifer said with satisfaction, imagine such a bright picture. ‘No, I would fly to ... to ... So, wherever I would flew.’ Jennifer fell in thoughts, trying to remember all her knowledge of the astronomy. Mars, no, they had been on Mars already. On Pluto they’ve just arrived. She still remembered about Jupiter. But she didn’t like it for somehow.
There was still the Milky Way. Yes. Yes! There is one place that she remembered. And that place was called Andromeda! Yes, she wants to fly to Andromeda! Jennifer had no idea where it was situated, but she liked the name.
‘I want to Andromeda. I do not care where it is located.’
Well, yes, if take into consideration that Andromeda is located in the nearest to us galaxy. Did nothing closer could figure out?’
‘Max you care? Maybe it's all a joke and this thing will not fly at all. Let's have something to do. How long can we stand and chat? I had got pain already in my feet. Well, it does not disturb me on real, but it could be.’
‘Okay!’ Max moved to the selected space ship.
‘Max, what happened to it?’ Jennifer exclaimed. ‘It changes color!’
Jennifer didn’t mistake. Really. As soon as they began to approach the space ship, its lighting body began to change! Now it was no longer coal black but was burning purple, while the narrow platform glowed blue.
‘Maybe it activated.’ Max suggested. ‘Well, okay. What a difference to us, what color is. The main thing is that it could fly. I understand correctly?’
Jennifer wanted to say something, but froze in shock. She suddenly desperately wanted Max. So much so, that even frightened her sudden hot desire. Meanwhile, the body of the space ship brightened formed the opening. In the air began to appear familiar already to them the yellow stage. The path to the ship was open.
With a slight but an understandable excitement, Max and Jennifer climbed aboard his own space ship.
 

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