This wasn’t his first tour of duty; he’d been stationed here twice, though it was his first visit to this southern continent.
He shuddered and quivered: his body’s rebellion. How did the grey techs do it? It wasn’t only the unimaginable distances; it was the way the sleep reversed most signs of aging. Think what that did for his pulling-power; it had to be worth a little sickness.
Beneath him … white, a blanket of cloud … his craft cut through it … it thinned …
Woah! Shit! No!
He’d have hit the brakes hard if his craft had had them.
Land in the high places, the grey techs said, where the natives can’t see your craft.
Yikes! But what were those natives doing, building houses up here?
Semjaza pulled up, a steep bank to his right.
Too late; ill-judged. His craft smashed into the mountain’s granite face.
Wordcount: 148
Written for What Pegman Saw: Cusco
crispina kemp 
Hair-raising ride through the Andes. Great story.
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I thank you. Fun to write. And where else to have free-riding aliens … according to some. 🙂
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Sci-fi riff, eh? Unusual for you. But then Cuzco is an unusual place.
H.P. Lovecraft theorized that one of his alien races did just this, land in high places, which, he explained, is why parts of Vermont, the “Green Mountain” state (for you Brits who don’t know that), were unsafe.
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Thanks, Brian. It’s not entirely new, though it is newly written. Inspiration was taken from a story, which remains on my hard-drive/back-burner, part-written, itself inspired by the notion of Ancient Aliens. One day I might return to it. When I’ve had enough of Fallen Angels!
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Ok, I wasn’t expecting that ending! What a ride!
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I thank you. Result of watching Ancient Astronaut videos on YouTube 🙂
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Wow that height is dizzying just from the picture. Awe inspiring. This is my first intro to Pregman. I like it.
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I thank you. 🙂 It was fun.
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Brilliantly told, Crispina. I want to know more about sleep reversing the aging process though…
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As I explained, earlier, to Brian, this was inspired by a story I started and put on back-burner. The ‘visitors’ (observers) are shunted about the universe by the grey-suited techs who, by some wizardry, manipulate time and space. I think it has to do with those excess 22 dimensions that collapsed into our remaining 4 (argueably 5) dimensions during the first nano-second after the Bang. Werll, that’s my theory. I shall one day return to that story. It was fun.
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This instantly made me think of Chariots of the Gods/Ancient Aliens. I like how you’ve told this from the alien’s POV. Great to see you as always!
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I thank you. Once I’d found the view I had to writre it. Fun!
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One of my favorite hikes is in the NC mountains – it includes the site of a plane that crashed in the 70’s under similar circumstances.
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Well, not war, but fog and mountains and whatnot.
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Mmmm. 🙂
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Er, just a plane crash on a mountain… my commentvis a disaster, haha…
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Yep, got it. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Gosh! A real alien astronaut?
Okay, I don’t really believe that of the pilot. But … unfortante for the pilot, and passenger.
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What a ride, Crispina! Love this viewpoint… sucks for the poor bugger who misjudged…
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I thank you, Dale. And from my reply, you can see that I’m back from my walk. Feeling tender in places.
Yea, I enjoyed writing that 🙂
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Indeed! Hope not too tender…
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I’ll heal. 🙂
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I’ve no doubt.
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This is great, Crispina. Can see this a longer piece, following the pilots through other civilisations, onto other quests. Great write
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As you might have noticed from my replies to earlier comments, this was inspired by a fiction currently on back-burner; the figure of Semjaza already created, the grey techs and thier multidimensional time-travel always in place. Maybe one day I shall return to it.
In the meantime, glad you liked. 🙂
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It’s a fascinating concept. Love a bit of time travel. Just wondering what complications would arise from such adventures … Hope you get to enjoy that world again soon
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As you know, I have other projects that take precedence.
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Yes, you certainly do 🙂
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Yea, update next Sunday, though I don’t have much to say this time. This past month I’ve been working on Lauren’s novel, copy- and line-edit before she submits to agents.
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Wow, is Lauren at that stage? That’s fantastic. I did enjoy her novel. So excited for her
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Me too. But it could be delayed for reasons not mine to say. 🙂
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