Pioneer: Murphys In Space, #1

Chapter 1

Henry looked up to the stars.

Watcha lookin' at? Martin, Henry's friend, always asked that same question.

Henry shrugged. The sky. He'd discovered long ago that not everyone saw the stars in broad daylight.

You're a dreamer, Henry. Martin wasn't one. He liked his reality on the ground, even when their work was up in the air. Like Henry he was an air traffic controller and like Henry he now was on his coffee break. Henry didn't like the coffee at work. He was happy there was tea. Martin had tried that once and he had spat it out.

I'd rather be a dreamer than someone who claims to be normal, Henry commented. "I'm convinced that normal doesn't even exist."

Martin laughed at that. Henry would never change. "Come on, old grouch. Time's up, we have to go play plane pong again."

An hour later Henry was busy as usual. Making sure airplanes didn't hit each other didn't sound difficult but with so many flying so fast in their limited air space, this was a responsible job. His big screen however was like home for him. He controlled this.

The shift went well until Henry was into the last hour. At 03:24 am precisely a strange line appeared on his screen. A line that shouldn't and couldn't be there. What the...

His supervisor, one Mr Brand, hurried over. ATCs were chosen for their calm and controlled behaviour so Henry's words were cause for some alarm. Henry? Henry just pointed.

Mr Brand rushed off in silence to maintain the peace in the room. The other ATCs shouldn't be disturbed. As he went to make some calls, there was another surprise for Henry. A face appeared on his screen, making the planes he was guiding fade to the background. It was an odd face. It was almost human but there were minute differences. The eyes were a little too big, the nose slightly smaller and the lips seemed slightly too thin. The lips moved as if the face was speaking to him.

Mr Brand returned. The face on the screen vanished. No one else sees that line, he whispered into Henry's ear. The line on the screen was gone. Maybe a hardware glitch. Better take another station, I'll have this one checked.

Henry agreed. He resumed his work, made sure all his planes were in safe positions and quickly moved to another radar screen. Nothing odd happened after that switch.

After their shift, Martin and Henry went for a beer before going home. That had become a tradition between them. To Martin's surprise, Henry looked at him through the half full beer glass. Am I looking better that way? he asked and grinned.

Nah. Just trying something. Henry was still bothered with the strange view he'd seen during his shift. That almost human face. He could still see it, with the planes faded into the background.

Are you okay? Martin wondered about his mate who s seemed a bit off.

Yeah, all fine. I thought I had seen something weird today but it must have been a trick of the light. That sounded good, even to Henry. The thing however was that he knew it hadn't been anything like that. He had seen a face. The men left the bar, wished each other a good sleep and went their separate ways.

As Henry came home he was just in time to see his kids off to school. Behave, you rascals! he called after them, laughing at their responses.

His wife, Hannah, looked at him and shook her head so lightly that he almost missed it, but it was there. She hated his job and the strange hours he worked. However, the salary was good and they needed that. We need a break, Henry.

I know, he simply said before going to bed. They had talked about that several times and they had complained about the raise in rent to their landlord. It was outrageous. Finding a better, cheaper place to live however hadn't been successful yet. Maybe they'd get lucky tomorrow.

*

As Henry had woken up and sat for what was his breakfast, his wife came in with the mail. There's something from a lawyer, she said. And it's for me.

Curiously they opened the official-looking envelope. To their surprise it was an invitation to be present at the reading of the will of one of Hannah's deceased uncles. They had been at the funeral, some time ago, but they'd never foreseen this. The letter said they were expected at the lawyer's office the next day. You may have to go alone, said Henry. The reading of the will was in the morning, just hours after he'd get home.

I'd rather have you with me, Hannah said. She didn't feel like going alone. Henry promised he'd do his best, using lots of strong coffee. That made her feel a lot better.

*

The office they were shown into was spacious and light. Mr Osborne, the lawyer, welcomed them. You're early, but that's fine. They spent the time with more coffee until everyone was there. Uncle Sam hadn't been married so all his belongings were divided between cousins, nephews and nieces. One of his Uncle Sam's friends, a kind lady, was there as well. She got uncle Sam's car, an expensive old-timer.

Everyone was surprised about such a gift. Henry was convinced the lady had been a special friend. The second shock came when three couples heard they had inherited a genuine villa. The lawyer explained at that point that uncle Sam had been one of the lucky investors in a lucrative company. He had sold his interests when the opportunity was best and he had spent that money on the car and the villa. Hannah looked at her husband. If the man had spent all his money on that, would there be anything left for them? There had to be, as they'd been invited.

And now to you, Mrs and Mr Murphy. To you Mr Williams left his beach house. It is located at Freedom Beach, a few hours to the south. You may have heard of it. The lawyer looked at each of them in turn and asked if they accepted these items handed to them through the will. Henry and his wife weren't certain if they should. They already had plenty of difficulties getting the rent paid for their current house. Adding a beach house to that would make life pretty hard.

Oh, but you needn't worry about that, dear Mrs and Mr Murphy. With the beach house comes a bank account that will ensure you'll be able to maintain the house for at least ten years. Hannah was in shock. She wondered what she'd done for uncle Sam to be rewarded so generously. The lawyer explained that Hannah had looked after Uncle Sam several times when he'd been very ill. Without that care he wouldn't have lived to obtain his fortune. This, so the lawyer said, is his way to say thank you. Because you simply helped without asking for anything, despite being in rather dire straits lately.

But anyone would have done that, she said.

The difference is that you actually did it, said the lawyer. He handed them a few photographs of the property which was bigger than they had dared to hope. If you accept the beach house, we can go to the official signing of the papers as soon as these are prepared.

Henry was fully awake now. No amount of coffee could have managed this. They were going to have a real, everything-paid-for beach house? Hannah beamed. It was obvious she'd made up her mind already so he grinned and nodded. Turning down something like this would be crazy, and a lot had been said about Henry, but never that he was this crazy. Everyone felt they'd been handed the best deal so the lawyer could get to work on all the papers. He said he'd call as soon as things were arranged.

*

This is madness, isn't it? Henry left the driving to his wife as he was seriously tired.

Hannah agreed, but she was happy that they were going to have this house. We could live there, she said. The idea appealed to her already, as that would do away with their money problems. Henry wasn't so certain yet but her enthusiasm proved to be contagious.

We're first going to get the paperwork behind us and have a look at the house once we have the keys, he said. Hannah agreed. That words made sense. It would take a few weeks for all the paperwork to be done anyway.

*

That evening, during their first break, Henry told his friend and co-worker about their lucky streak.

You're kidding. Martin stared at Henry's face but saw no sign of a joke. You're not kidding. Lucky bastard, congratulations!

Henry told how this had come their way. Martin was really happy for his friend. He knew Henry and Hannah had to live carefully, so this was wonderful. They talked about it until they had to get back to work.

Most of the night went by without strange things happening. Henry was relieved that his shift was almost over; just one more hour. Then it happened again. His screen changed. His planes faded to the background and there was the odd line again. It was longer than the first time he'd seen it. Blinking didn't make a difference. He was about to call his supervisor when the face appeared. Two faces, in fact, both trying to fit into the screen.

Both faces were talking but without a sound. Henry was clueless as to whom they were talking to: each other or him. He did see that these were different people than the face he'd seen before. People? Well, they looked human enough. They were a man and a woman. As suddenly as they had appeared, they also vanished, after which Henry's planes returned and everything was fine in the air.

On the way home he thought about the weird faces but couldn't make any sense of them. He hadn't mentioned them to Mr Brand, out of fear he'd be sent to a doctor. Henry didn't need a doc, he just needed some time off work. He was convinced of that.

As he came home, Hannah had a surprise to tell him. You won't believe this, she said as he sat eating. I've looked up Freedom Beach. Henry waited. She usually didn't take so long if she wanted to tell him something. It's a... nude beach.

Henry dropped his fork. A what? She repeated it and it sounded the same. A nude beach. And you're sure about that?

She assured him she had checked it twice. The place was where naked people gathered.

Did you know your uncle was one of those? Henry couldn't believe that. Hannah assured him she'd had no idea. And now what? He already saw his dream of working a more human shift evaporate.

Hannah didn't have an immediate answer for him. She suggested they could at least go there and have a look at the beach house. Then we know what and where it is, and maybe we can estimate a price for which we can sell it. That made sense, but still Henry didn't feel happy.

What about the kids? he asked. They couldn't leave those two at home.

Hannah saw the problem. The weather was nice so there was a clear risk of running into naked people there. At least they didn't have relatives near there, so the chances of meeting someone they knew were slim. We'll have to take them with us and tell them about this before we get there. The question of who would do so hung between them like a hornet's nest. Neither wanted to touch it. For Henry the solution was to go to bed first.

Chapter 2

And so we've decided to go and look at the beach house, said Henry, after very carefully telling their children about the location of it. If you don't want to come, we understand.

A nude beach? How cool. Mark, their fifteen-year-old, took the news very relaxed, the way he took almost everything. Henry sometimes wondered if the boy could be shocked by anything.

Suzy, their seventeen-year-old, didn't take it so well. I'm not going to do it. Kill me if you want but I'm not going let everybody see my big butt and my floppy... Suzy didn't complete her sentence.

Boobs, Mark helpfully filled in, ducking away from the slap his sister had in mind for him.

Mark! No such words, his mother warned him. She did have to laugh as he claimed that it was what she was going to say anyway. He was right, and Suzy's blush proved it.

I'm staying home, Suzy decided. You can go and be stared at for all I care. Let people laugh at your tiny... thingy. She tried to bluff her brother, who argued that she had no idea of the size of his thingy. Henry put a stop to their argument by saying that Suzy could stay home if she wanted. She was old enough, and responsible too. Mark couldn't be accused of that yet.

The few days that separated them from the moment they'd go to Freedom Beach passed by quickly. Henry sometimes was waiting for another interruption of his work by the odd faces but they stayed away. He was glad about that; they made him jumpy and wonder about his sanity.

*

Everyone comfy? He looked back at Mark, who didn't hear him. A game on his phone and earbuds closed him off from the real world.

Hannah grinned and assured him she was fine. I'm not certain if I'm looking forward to this but we decided to go so let's go.

They drove off. The first hour they chatted about the possibilities the beach house might offer. As they got closer, the conversation faded. Being aware they were getting closer to that place seemed to stamp the words nude beach onto every thought they had and pushed away for that same reason.

Freedom Beach. Hannah almost automatically read out the sign as they passed it. She noticed Henry's momentary loss of control over the accelerator. She couldn't blame him. If it had been her driving they might have turned around already. We'll be fine, Hannah said, trying to convince him as much as herself.

The last few miles passed by quickly. A large sign welcomed them to Freedom Beach, and warned them that they would most likely encounter nude people 'beyond this notice'. In the rear-view mirror Henry noticed that their son had suddenly lost all interest in his game.

Their first 'confrontation' with naked people occurred less than a mile down the beach road. They'd already passed lots of nice houses when they saw a group of men and women, young and old, walking through the sand. Some carried balls with them, and each of them had a towel. They waved as the car passed.

Jesus, that's Becky Mulligan! Mark turned around as the group was already behind them. Or could be. Henry and Hannah looked at each other. God, I didn't know she has... Mark started, but his mother cut him off.

We are not here to gawk, young man.

I hope she didn't see me if it was her, the boy said.

And how did you recognize her? Henry was curious about that as none of the people had been wearing clothes.

Her hair, Dad. She has great hair. Blue as the sky. And great legs, the boy added. He smiled to himself.

Aren't you a little young for that? his mother asked. And if I saw who you mean, her hair was purple. She didn't get a reply. Mark's phone lay alone and forgotten on the back seat next to him.

This is the house. Henry pulled into a decent driveway that led up to a house that, to him, looked like an estate. It was quite a few sizes larger than where they currently lived. Uncle Sam had been doing well, that was clear.

Hannah checked the house number. Yes, this is it. It looks even bigger than it did in the pictures, she said. Without a thought she left the car.

Oh, hello, you must be the relatives of poor Samuel. A rather round woman looked over the low fence that separated her own house from the inherited one.

Hannah almost stumbled as she noticed the woman wore nothing. Ehm, oh, ehm... Yes. Hello. She wondered where to look. We are.

Mark, be kind or be quiet, Henry cautioned his son before getting out of the car.

Sure, Dad. Mark slipped out of the car, phone in hand.

The nude woman smiled at him. You must be the son. You have your mother's face.

I do? Mark looked at his mother. No one had ever said that before. The neighbour lady welcomed them to Freedom Beach and wished them a nice day. After that she started working in her garden. Henry and his family went to the front door of their beach house and tried not to stare.

The house was clean. Suspiciously clean, even. Hannah didn't understand that; Uncle Sam had died weeks ago so he hadn't dusted here, that was certain.

He didn't have much furniture, Mark said after a quick look around. The boy was right. The huge house was nearly as Spartan as traditional Japanese houses that Henry had seen in images. Everything one would need to live a comfortable life was there, but nothing more.

Maybe he liked to live simple. Henry looked at Hannah who shrugged. She hadn't had much contact with her uncle lately. That was why she was still dumbfounded over this inheritance.

Can I go upstairs and check things out? Mark sounded very eager. Maybe there aren't even real beds! Those words worried both his parents so all three went upstairs.

Real beds. Hannah was relieved about that. Mark promptly lay down on one. Mark! Not with your shoes on! Of course her warning came too late.

The boy, tall for his age, looked down at his feet. This is really a long bed, he said. Was Uncle Sam that tall? He said he didn't remember the man at all. Hannah didn't remember her uncle being so tall either. To their continuing surprise they found more beds, all of the same, strange size. Henry suggested something about kinky parties but Hannah shot him a look that shut him up. Uncle Sam hadn't been that kind of person.

After a thorough investigation of the beach house, the family sat outside, on the patio in the back. There they'd found a large garden with a comfortable sitting arrangement. They had even discovered something nice in the well-stocked fridge.

This would be a nice place to live, Hannah said, looking out over the garden. Henry agreed. If this place hadn't been on this beach, he wouldn't have hesitated for a moment. It would mean the end to many of their problems.

I could live here, their son said.

But you need to go to school, son. That's too far from here.

Oh, you needn't worry about that. The voice of the neighbour lady was loud and clear. She came outside. The two patios were separated only by a low hedge. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but it's hard not to hear what you're