Megan and Her Shrink Ray Gun

Chapter 6: Monday afternoon,, June 16th, 2008

Chapter 6: Monday afternoon, June 16th, 2008

Scrapper sat with Megan’s mother Margaret at the coffee shop. He had just finished telling her a joke, and she laughed.

“You should get a P.O. box so your daughter can’t hide your mail,” said Scrapper.

“That’s actually a good idea!” said Margaret.

“How would you like to go out on a date this Friday evening?” Scrapper asked.

“I would love to!” said Margaret. “Between my co-worker hitting on me, and my daughter holding out for her father to come back from Afghanistan, I think I could use a night out for a change!”

“We could take a taxi,” said Scrapper. “I wouldn’t want you getting arrested for drinking and driving. I’ll pay!”

Scrapper and Margaret exchanged phone numbers, then she drove him back to her house so he could take off on his motorcycle. When Scrapper was gone, Margaret confronted her daughter. who was with her friend Shelly in Megan’s bedroom.

“What made you think you could get away with ditching school? Just because you get home before me doesn’t mean you can hide my mail. Scrapper gave me a good idea, I should get a P.O. box and get all of my mail delivered there, so you can’t pull something like this again. I want you to pick a consequence.”

“More chores?” Megan asked.

“You have two choices,” said Margaret, “No Internet for a week, or you can’t go anywhere for a week.”

“No Internet,” said Megan.

“Get your computer and all of your cables and bring them to my bedroom,” said Margaret. “You can have your computer back a week from today, no sooner! This includes getting on the Internet at your friend's house, too! Or at the library!”

After Megan and Shelly did as Megan’s mother asked, and the two of them were alone in Megan’s bedroom, Megan said, “It’s a good thing you were here, or my punishment would’ve been more severe.”

Holly closed Megan’s bedroom door, and Megan retrieved the shrunken astronauts from the hiding place where she kept them. She had them in a spot where they could hide behind some objects on the desk if Megan’s mother came in.

“Don’t let my mother see you,” said Megan.

“We need you to use the shrink ray device on our reactor, the one I told you we jettisoned in temporal space,” said Captain Vargas. “The current setting of the shrink ray will reduce it down to our exact scale.”

“Where is the reactor?” Megan asked.

“It’s near the crash site, where you found us,” said Captain Vargas. That’s why we got the shrink ray out, so we could reduce it down to our scale and utilize it. That’s when you found us and captured us!”

“We need to have my friend Shelly older brother Chris drive us out there,” said Megan. “He has a station wagon from the late 1950s, anything could fit in the back.”

“He’s at football practice right now,” said Shelly. He should be done in about twenty minutes.”

Meanwhile, at the local high school, Chris Krieger was sitting on the bleachers along with other football players as the coach gave them advice.

“Chris, I don’t know why you’re wearing an ear ring, there are only two types of people who wear them, and there haven’t been pirates in these waters in over two hundred years!”

The other players started laughing. The coach dismissed the players, and Chris went back to his car. Just then, his cell phone rang, and Shelly was on the other end.

“Shelly?” Chris asked.

She asked if he could take her and Megan back to the crash site. When Chris picked them up, Megan told him the truth about the whole situation.

“So you see?” Megan asked. “We have space pirates from the 34th century after us, and one of them is dating my mom. You have to help us!”

When they got to the area of the woods where the crash site was, Chris pulled over on the side of the road.

“Can you prove it?” Chris asked.

Megan pulled out Captain Vargas from her purse. He stood on her open palm, and waved at Chris.

“How do I know he’s not a toy?” Chris asked.

“Ask him something,” said Megan.

“Who am I?” Chris asked.

“You’re Christopher Krieger, Shelly’s brother.” said Captain Vargas.

“That’s amazing!” said Chris.

“We need your help to carry the shrunken space freighter and the reactor away from this area,” said Megan.

“My parents are out of town for five days, and my brother is watching me,” said Shelly to Captain Vargas. “We can bring the shrunken freighter to my house.”

“That sounds like a good plan!” said Captain Vargas. “With Megan’s mom dating Scrapper, I think the shrink ray device should be left there as well.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” said Chris.

Megan, Shelly, and Chris marched through the woods until they reached the crash site. The reactor was still there, as well as the shrunken space freighter. Megan did as Captain Vargas had asked, and used the shrink ray device to reduce the size of the reactor down to the same scale as the shrunken astronauts.

“Wow, you weren’t lying about that thing!” said Chris. “You really do have a shrink ray gun!”

Despite being smaller than the freighter, the miniaturized reactor was still kind of heavy. Megan carried it, while Shelly carried the shrink ray and Chris carried the freighter back to his car.

“It’s a good thing you have an old station wagon,” said Megan. “There’s plenty of room for this stuff.”

The trio rode back to Chris and Shelly’s home, with Chris driving.

“So, what are you planning on doing with that shrink ray gun?” Chris asked.

“We want to shrink people and make toys out of them,” said Megan. “Shelly wants to swallow people.”

"I do not!" said Shelly. "She's lying, Chris!"

“You should only use it to shrink criminals, if you’re gonna do that,” said Chris. “You can go online on Shelly’s laptop and look them up on the sheriff’s website. You could get some bad people off the streets!”

When they arrived, they unloaded the futuristic cargo and set it all in the garage, which was nearly empty, except for a weight set, a tool chest, and an old doll house.

Megan took out the shrunken astronauts and set them with the freighter.

“Do you guys have everything you need?” Megan asked.

“Affirmative!” Captain Vargas replied.

Megan and Shelly went to Shelly’s bedroom, while Chris went to the living room to watch a baseball game on television.

“Let’s do what Chris told us, and find some criminals to shrink!” said Megan.

"From now on, don't tell my brother that I want to swallow shrunken people!" said Shelly.

"Why not?" Megan asked. "What's he going to do, tell your mom? She would never believe him!"

"There might be a way for them to find out we really have shrunken people," said Shelly. "I just don't want them thinking I'm some kind of a cannibal. If you tell them about me wanting to swallow people, I'll tell your mom you're over at my house on the Internet!"

"I won't say anything, Shelly!" Megan replied.

Meanwhile, Scrapper pulled up on his motorcycle at the motel where his two brothers were.

"Did you get the device?" Slackjaw asked.

"I should be able to get it this Friday," said Scrapper. "I'm going out on a date with the girl's mother, and I should be able to get access to it."

"Why didn't you just storm in and take it?" Gator asked. "Then our mission would be accomplished, and we could return to our own time."

"I don't want to create an incident that could get the government in our own time to draw attention to us and think they have to travel back here. The better we can blend in here in this primitive time, the better. If that means staying here a little longer, then so be it!"

To Be Continued!