Galax Virginia

Galax, VA
by Brandon Aaron

          John Evers stretched his long, thin frame and sat in a rocker on the front porch of the Hub Cafe. He was tall for his age, and everyone told him he needed to pack on a few pounds. The Hub was the only diner open after 5:30, and it sat on the hillside looking over the entire town of Galax, Virginia. John liked sitting there in the evening, digesting his dinner, and watching the houselights come on as the sun disappeared. Next to him sat Freddie Tubbs, known as Dimples. Dimples and John worked together at Shaw’s Feed and Seed, where they spent the majority of their time pitching quarters and wishing they were off doing something worthwhile. Many late night discussions were about what something worthwhile would be like and how they would know it if they found it.
          That was one of the reasons they came to the Hub every evening. First of all, they needed to eat a good supper, and Rosy cooked the best meatloaf in town. But the main reason they came was to sit outside and hope to catch and good story or joke from some of the old timers. The Hub was a haven to some of the more colorful characters in town. Some of them had been in the big war, and had good stories about that. Others talked about women, or drinking, or run-ins with the law. The boys were pretty green, and it all sounded good to them.
          The sky darkened as the sun made its final dip, and an old Ford truck pulled in the dirt and gravel lot. It had a three speed on the column, and lurched into the parking space nearest the door. Gus Owens stepped out in his familiar flannel jacket, a cap over his wavy white hair, and saluted the boys. “Hello, hello. You fellows eat yet?” he asked.
          “Yeah,” Dimples said, wishing they had waited on Gus. He always enjoyed Gus’s company, and if he was in a good mood, he usually paid for their meals.
          “So, what kind of adventures are you two lads planning tonight? Chasing women, or chickens, or both? And what would you do if you caught either one?” Gus asked as he stepped on the porch.
          Dimples said, “We’re gonna go down…”
          “Haven’t decided yet,” John said, cutting him short. He could feel Dimples and Gus looking at him, as his cheeks and neck turn red. “I mean, we aint doing anything special tonight.”
          “Nothing at all?” Gus said. “You boys don’t go getting into any trouble now. Maybe I need to quit telling you about my adventures from my wilder days. I might be giving you ideas.”
          “It aint that, Gus. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you might laugh at us, that’s all.”
          “I can’t promise I won’t laugh, but I wish you would tell me all the same,” Gus said.
          “Larry Miller came in the feed store today and said he saw some strange lights last night near Fellows Crossing. They chased him for miles, and it nearly made him wreck. We thought we might ride out and check that out.”
          “Strange lights?” Gus said. “Like an airplane or something?”
          Dimples smiled big. “It wasn’t an airplane Mr. Miller said it hovered in one spot, and then darted off at sharp angles. He said it didn’t make a sound. Doesn’t sound like an airplane to me.”
          “It had crazy lights flashing, too,” John said. “I bet it’s something from Langley Air Force base. We’re going out there when it gets a little darker. I brought a rifle in case it comes for us. You should come along.”
          Gus took a deep breath and sat down on the bench next to Dimples. “No, boys, I don’t think I’ll be going out there tonight, or any other time for that matter. And I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to be near there either. I had a run-in with this sort of thing about 20 years ago, back in ’57 I believe it was. This is nothing for innocent boys like you to be fooling with. I suggest you both go straight home from here.” He looked very serious at them both, and Dimples didn’t want to laugh for fear of offending him.
          John did laugh a little, and said, “What do you mean you had a run-in with this sort of thing? What sort of thing are you talking about, Gus?”
          “I’m talking about a UFO that came to Galax in 1957.”
          “Unidentified flying object,” Dimples said.
          “UFO? You think this thing at Fellows Crossing is a UFO?” John said.
          “Yes I do. Could be they’re looking for me again. They told me they liked my style.” Gus grinned at this. “All the same, better you both stay clear of that place. They might decide to keep two strapping lads like yourselves. It might be more than you could handle.”
          Long John looked as Gus’s face for a sign that this was a joke, but it was a hard read. Gus was a rounder from way back, and his poker face was among the best.
          “You mean you met them?” Dimples asked. “A UFO landed in Galax and you talked to aliens? What planet were they from?”
          Gus chuckled. “I didn’t talk to aliens. That ship was full of people, just like us. They came from hundreds of years in the future. These aren’t spaceships at all, boys, they’re time machines.” There was a long pause as the boys absorbed what they had just been told. Gus rolled a cigarette and lit it with a silver Zippo.
          “Baloney,” Long John said after a few minutes. “If these people can travel through time and go anywhere they want, why the hell would they come to Galax to see you?”
          “They didn’t come here specifically to see me, and they didn’t come just to Galax. They went to many places, and it was their good fortune to stumble upon me.”
          “What did they look like?” Dimples said.
          “If they were people they looked like us, dummy.” Long John said. Dimples ignored him.
          “Well, the whole ship was filled up with women. There wasn’t another man in sight. And they were the prettiest women I’ve ever seen,” Gus said. “Everyone of them was buck-ass naked, too.”
          Both boys smiled big at the thought of this. “Time-traveling nude women,” Dimples said. “You had to like that.”
          “I liked it very much, and I still like it.” Gus said. “I suppose I should tell you the whole story now that I have your attention.”
          “You’d better,” John said.
          “The best I can remember, they came upon me mid-stream. I’d tell you that was what signaled them, but I’ve never been one to brag. Let’s just say I was in the right place in the right time.”
          Gus Owens was well on his way to the bottom of a bottle of whiskey. He was listening to his favorite channel on the AM dial in his father’s 1952 Ford, desperately trying to keep it in the road. He only had one working headlamp, and the road was dark and dusty. As he crossed the wooden bridge at Fellows Crossing, he pulled to the side of the road to relieve himself. He watched dust particles dance in the beam from the Ford’s one good eye, and tried to shoot them down. This was no easy task since it required him to stand up straight and focus. He was so preoccupied with peeing at the dust that he didn’t notice the sky brightening a bit. A rotating disc of sleek metal and shining lights slowed, descended, and positioned itself immediately overhead. Hundreds of rotating lights outlined the craft, and one big spotlight shined directly on him. Gus covered his eyes with one hand and shook dry with the other. He could hear faint music, but couldn’t look directly into the light. He suddenly felt his feet swing free as he left the ground, and was pulled headfirst into the ship.
          It wouldn’t be right to say the first thing Gus noticed were the shining walls of the interior, or the colored lights that came from everywhere, or the rhythmic music that also came from everywhere and nowhere. That’s because the first thing Gus saw were breasts. Lots of breasts. He could see at least fifty women, all of them dancing, dining, and laughing together. Gus had an uncontrollable smile on his face until he realized he was still holding his peacemaker in his right hand. “How do, ladies,” he said as he tucked in and zipped up.
          A woman came over to him and smiled. As tall brunette watched him zip, she introduced herself as Jana and said, “There’s no need for that. Clothing isn’t optional here, so you can lose the outfit, cowboy.”
          Gus thought about it one second before he started undressing. He had to sit to take his boots off, and was embarrassed at the small amount of gravel that fell out. His toes peeked through sock-holes. He found himself nude and standing in less than a minute. When he stood, Jana was there with a drink. “Whiskey?” she said. Then, she looked at his clothes piled in the floor. On the band of his underwear, written in black marker, was ‘Leon’. “Either that’s a designer label, or you’re Leon.”
          Gus took the drink, and finished it quickly. He had forgotten about wearing his father’s underwear. They were the only clean pair he could find that morning. “If by designer you mean borrowed from my dad, then yes. What kind of place is this?” he said. “Am I in Heaven?”
          Jana laughed. “No, Leon, you’re on the Royal Escape cruise ship. Its based out of New Miami, part of the Carnival Yesterdays tour line.”
          “A cruise ship?” he asked.
          “We’re all on vacation. It’s a travel package.”
          “I’m afraid I need another drink,” he said.
          “You can have anything you want here,” Jana said.
          “In that case a sandwich would be good, too.”
          As he ate his sandwich, Jana showed Gus around the Royal Escape. It was larger inside than he would have guessed. The main room, she called it a ballroom, was flanked by many smaller, private rooms. When he asked her about the control room or cockpit, she told him that room was off limits to guests.
          She also told him more about her vacation. It was a two-day package she bought from an advertisement. She couldn’t afford to be off work for anything longer than that. The trip included eight stops, all in different decades, and all across rural America. “Unfortunately I couldn’t afford to go to bigger cities. Big cities are too dangerous, too high profile. From what I have read, the rural encounters are more rewarding, anyway.” The majority of women took the cruises in hopes of a guilt-free fling. Everyone on the cruise was promised a romantic interlude with a local, and sharing was common. Jana had picked Gus, and after they finished he was free to move on to any of the other women.
          “Finished what?” Gus asked.
          “Sexual intercourse,” she said. “I want a baby, and I need a willing partner to impregnate me. How is your sperm count?”
          Gus almost choked on his sandwich. “My sperm count? I’ve never counted them,” he finally managed.
          Jana laughed at this and said, “You are a funny man. I think you will do just fine.”
          She led him to a private chamber, padded and wrapped from floor to ceiling in a fabric Gus had never seen before. “Here we are,” she said.
          He didn’t see anywhere to set his glass down, so he tossed it into a corner.
          “Would you believe me if I told you this was my first time with a real man?” she asked.
          “Would you believe it if I told you nothing would surprise me at this point?”
          “Make sure you don’t pull out.”
          “I never do,” he said. “Here goes nothing.”
          As they made love, Gus looked down at Jana, taking her all in, trying to burn the moment into his memory. It was the most surreal thing of his life, and his most memorable one. He couldn’t help thinking about how right it felt. Afterwards, he lay on his back breathing, wondering why he didn’t sweat. He could feel no air, but the temperature stayed perfect. Cathy was beside him. She held both knees against her chest.
          “Why are you doing that?”
          “This increases the chance of fertilization,” she said. “What are you thinking about, Leon?”
          “My dad’s car. It needs a headlight,” he said.
          “Oh,” she said, looking a little puzzled. “Tell me about yourself.”
          “I work at a hardware store. I’m trying to keep out of the mines, unlike everyone else in town. On the weekends I go to the drive-in or ride up to Roanoke. I like to get drunk and hang out with my friends. I think about leaving Galax. There isn’t much to tell you really.”
          “Do you have a girlfriend?”
          “Not really,” he said. He was quiet for a minute, then, “Why the heck would you want to get pregnant with the likes of me?”
          She told Gus about the world she came from. Men and women didn’t have intimate relationships anymore;; everyone had sex with a machine. If you wanted a baby, you ordered it to your specifications and a lab makes everything from cryogenic matter. Everything was totally automated, and you get to choose all the options you want. Jana chose to book a trip from Carnival Yesterdays, to try and get the real thing. “That way you leave it up to chance, but you get a baby the natural way. I decided I wanted to carry my child, to give birth. It didn’t feel right ordering one from a menu. I guess I’m old fashioned that way.”
          It sounded so foreign to Gus. “So all these women want my baby?”
          “No,” Jana said, laughing. “Most are just really horny.”
          “I can relate to that. They should have a talk with some of the girls in Galax. Now what about this sharing thing?”
          “Would you be up to it? It’s really up to you,” she said.
          “I don’t know how up to it I am, but I’m not ready to go back to town just yet.”
          Gus turned out to be up to it after all, and enjoyed the company of a few more ladies that night. They were just horny, though. No more babies. He never saw Jana again.
          Gus had no idea how long he had been gone, but when he got back his car was out of gas and stalled. He watched the ship rise and shoot over the treetops, never making a sound other than the familiar music. The battery was drained, so Gus locked it up and started walking towards Galax. It was miles of country road, but he didn’t mind. Visions of Jana and friends filled his head that night, and many nights after that.
          “Pop sold that car with one good headlight. Never did get it fixed,” Gus said. He gazed across the broad valley at the lights of town. It had been a long time since he last thought about Lana.
          “Damn, that’s hot,” John said. “Really, I don’t know what to say.”
          “So you’re telling me that UFOs are full of people from the future?” Dimples asked. He looked as if he might fall out of his chair at any moment.
          “That’s what I was told. I mean, that’s from my one experience with them. Do you think creatures from another world would come all this way to see us and not say anything?”
          “And all those flashing lights that everyone sees. Those are from the dancing inside, like a floating disco?”
          “Yep. Hell of a party.”
          “Okay, I have a question,” John said. “What about all these people getting anal probes? You hear about that happening all the time. Did they do that on your trip?”
          “Nope, not on my trip. I think that’s a different cruise, for a different set of customers, if you know what I mean. My guess is that would be a ship full of horny men from the future. Whatever you do, don’t let that one catch you. I would be telling you a different story tonight if one of those ships picked me up.”
          “Damn,” Dimples said. “Do you think what Larry Miller saw was a ship full of women, or men?”
          “I think it was women,” Gus said. “They probably marked this area good picking after they found me. They did say they liked my style. From what I have heard and read, most anal probes occur in the Midwest states. That must mean they like farm boys.”
          “Why did your dad have ‘Leon’ written in his drawers?” Dimples asked.
          Gus leaned out of his chair and stood, stretching high. “That was his name, Dimples. A good coal miner always writes his name on his drawers. I need to get some supper in me before I starve to death. I’m craving a tuna sandwich and a glass of sweet tea. You boys have a good evening, and stay out of trouble’s way. Remember my story, and stay away from Fellows Crossing. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Like I said, no telling what they might do. They might decide to keep two strapping young lads like you. Goodnight, boys.” He laughed at this and went inside.
          It was darker now, and the half moon waned behind clouds. Dimples stared at it, and then caught himself searching the night sky. He caught John out of the corner of his eye, and saw he was doing the same. It was some time before either spoke.
          “Well, that was a story to remember. Are we still going or what?” John said. “It is getting pretty late.”
          “It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll go with you if you want to check it out.”
          “You think Gus was pulling our leg or what?”
          “I don’t know,” Dimples said, “but if we get picked up by a ship full of men, I’m kicking your ass.”