TRY THIS TRIP

by Unknown Author

Originally appeared in This Magazine is Haunted issue 16 in 1958.

Ellen Henderson was doing her best to remain calm and cool. She clenched her two hands. She was determined not to lose her temper under any condition whatsoever. She even forced a smile to appear on her face as she began speaking to her husband, Frank.

One week ago at seven o'clock, you left this house. You said you would drive out to the Wilmont Dairy and get a quart of strawberry ice cream for the children. Mrs. Piedmont saw you take the car from the garage. You drove down Main Street. Officer Donalds waved a hand at you. We know that you stopped at the Wilmont Dairy at seven twenty. The clerk did sell you a quart of ice cream. When you didn't come home by nine, I became worried. You never did such a thing in your life. You are noted as a very punctual man.

Ar eleven o'clock, I called up Chief Bryans. A half-hour later, they told me they found your abandoned car at the side of Highmont Park on route 22b. They started to search the area. For the next three days, we had the police, the volunteer fire department men, the scouts, the state police, and your friends looking for you. You were away from home for a week. I'm not even going to ask you where you were or what you did. Just answer a straightforward question. What happened to the ice cream?"

Frank Henderson looked at his wife's face. Then he saw the grim look on the faces of the people around him. What should he say? If he told them the truth, would they believe it? Inwardly he sighed a bit. At least he could tell them what happened to the ice cream.

"They ate it. Liked it very much. Even wanted more," he said softly.

"Who are they?" demanded Chief Bryans. "Surely you must know something about the people with whom you were."

"They happen to be Venutians," was the information given.

There was a deadly silence in the room. People looked at each other. Mrs. Henderson felt like crying. Jim Waters, the reporter, asked for a bit of clarification.

Venutians? I know every country in this world. Where is their land located? Now don't tell me they came from Venice."

"They came from the planet Venus," continued Frank Henderson. "I'll tell you exactly how I met them."

"Go ahead," suggested Dr. LeRoy. "You will probably feel better, and so will we."

On the way home from the Wilmont Dairy," explained Frank Henderson," I decided to take the shortcut. So I turned left and went on route 22b. I slowed down as I approached High mont Park. It has been almost deserted since they built the new highway. Anyway, it was nighttime. I saw a peculiar greenish-pink light. So I stopped my car. You found it just where I left it. But for some reason, I took the ice cream with me. It was packed in one of those containers to keep it cool and hard.

I followed the beam and saw this small torpedo-like craft. There were three little men around it.

"Something is wrong with the contact switch," said one of the men to me. Later I learned his name was Gori Slazoti.

Another man opened the door. I walked in with them. After all, the least I could do was try to help people in difficulty. I played around with one of the switches. Suddenly the craft left the ground.

"He fixed it," one of them shouted. "Must be an Earth genius."

We went up and up. They looked at the package I had and asked me what it contained. I told them it was strawberry ice cream. So they all tasted it, liked it very much. Then we stopped flying. The door opened. We were in a gigantic spaceship. It seems this spaceship came from the planet Venus. It had sent out a little ship to look over the world."

"Wait a minute," interrupted the reporter. "I have followed you carefully. But how come they spoke English?"

"They spoke Venutian," explained Frank Henderson. It seems they had developed a system of thought transference. Look, we have invented a machine. You put into it a sheet written in English. Photoelectric cells pick out the letters and words. And translate them automatically to another language. The Venutians are just a little ahead of us in this matter."

"Suppose we skip the language detail," said the Police Chief. "Did they take you to their planet or keep you in the spaceship?"

"I was in their spaceship," continued the interrogated man. It certainly had a lot of conveniences and new things. Take the matter of food. The Venutians had two kinds of pills that they used. One was an energy pill. It made you very strong. The other was a tissue growth pill. It enabled you to resist illness and helped the tissue heal in an accident. They fed me those pills."

"That's all you had to eat while you were away from home?" asked Jeff Simerson, a close friend of Frank.

"Yes," was the reply. "They even permitted me to take some of the energy pills with me. I have one now in a little bottle. All I have to do is put it into my mouth and swallow it. See that iron bar in the corner? I can bend it in half easily."

"Take the pill and show us," suggested Dr. LeRoy.

Frank' started to fumble in his pockets for the bottle. He took out his wallet, keys, and other papers.

"'I must have lost it," he sadly admitted. "I was going to show you how strong it could make me."

They all looked at him and felt they didn't believe a word of it. His wife took his hand and held it.

"They were very nice to me," he said. "Gori Slazoti wanted to help me. He felt people wouldn't believe a word about what I would tell them. However, he said I shouldn't worry. They had been in secret contact with Washington for some time. As soon as they landed officially, he would come and see me right here. Straighten things out with my family and friends. In addition, he owed me a quart of ice cream for the kids. He wanted to meet them."

There was increasing tension in the room. Ellen turned to her husband.

"Tell us something about the big spaceship. I'm sure the children will want to bear the story later."

"They apologized for its condition," he told her. "Said it was only a prototype. But actually, it was the finest successful one to make the trip from Venus to Earth. It took them a long time to work out the fuel problem. A hundred years ago, they discovered a fissionable material named Gynere. The problem was how to carry a sufficient amount for such a long trip through space. A young scientist hit upon a novel idea. If he could get Gyoere to grow, the amount should be constant. So that is why they can start with a given amount of Gynere and end up with the same amount.

They had bunks in the big spaceship for the crew. They kept in contact with their home planet using a large television screen. They used it to introduce me to some of their leading officials. First, they wanted to take me back with them to Venus. But I said it would upset everything. Furthermore, the children did expect the ice cream.

So they decided to let me go home. But I did insist before I left on a promise to come here and straighten things out. Satisfied?"

"No!" boomed the voice of the reporter. "If I were to publish that story, do you realize what would happen to our circulation?"

"It ought to increase the circulation," pointed out Frank. "Since every word I told you is the truth."

The Police Chief arose from his seat. Suddenly the door opened, and several army men entered. In their midst was a little man.

"Gori Slazoti!" greeted Frank.

"Hello, Frank," smiled the little man. "I explained to them in Washington that seeing you came first. We couldn't discuss anything officially until I helped you clarify your situation. Anything you want me to tell them about your trip on the spaceship?"

Ellen Henderson met the situation with a bit of diplomacy.

"Nothing at all. Would you like to meet the children? They are at home with my mother."

"Excellent idea," said Gori Slazoti. "When you and your family come to Venus, you will meet my children. But I mustn't forget what I brought."

One of the army men handed the Venutian a package that he gave to Frank in turn.

"There's the ice cream for your children. Now let's all go to your home and enjoy it."

END