Time Traveler: E234. Shocking News (Part 1)

The Shen household, 6 a.m.

Someone seemed determined to break down the door, judging by the desperate way they were knocking.

The frantic knocking obliged Dylan and Karen to pause their breakfast.
“Who can it be at this hour?” Karen asked.
“No idea, it’s barely 6 am.” Dylan replied.

“Mom, Dad, please open up, it’s us, Dustin and Jul!” Dustin exclaimed from the outside.

“Dustin and Jul? What are they doing here so early?”, Karen was startled.
“I don’t know, but they sound like it’s something urgent.”
“Well, let’s go,” Karen answered, as they both jumped up from their seats.

As soon as Dylan opened the door, Juliette threw herself into his arms.
“Oh, Dad,” she sobbed.
“Thank God you guys are awake,” Dustin blurted out.
“It’s our usual time… Though not yours, is something wrong?” Karen asked.
“Yes, we need your help urgently.”
“Our help? With what?”

“Honey, you’re shaking, are you okay?” Dylan asked, stepping back to look at his daughter.
“No, I’m not. Something terrible’s happened”, Juliette wept.
“Oh, my God. is it Rowie?”, Karen asked.
“No, Rowie’s fine,” Juliette replied. “It’s Robin.”

“Robin?”, Dylan looked surprised. “What happened to him? Was it serious?”
“Where is he?” Karen asked.
“We don’t know,” Juliette whispered.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”, Karen asked.
“Did he decided to go back to the future or…?” Dylan started.
“It’s none of that”, Dustin answered.
“Then what? Please, be more specific,” Dylan pleaded.

“We’ll explain everything. Shall we go inside? It’s not good news, so I think you’d better sit down,” Dustin suggested.
Dylan and Karen wouldn’t sit down, so, once in the living room, they received the shocking news on their feet.

“Robin abducted by an alien ship? How? When?” Dylan inquired.
“It happened around three this morning. A ship came down into his garden and abducted him in front of his wife,” Dustin reported.
“Oh my God, that must have been what we saw last night,” Karen muttered.
“You saw it too?” Juliette asked.
“Well, actually, we just heard it. When we went out to look, it was gone”, Dylan explained.

“See, Dyl?” Karen whipped around to face him. “I told you that didn’t seem from this world, but you didn’t believe me!”
“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you, I just said it could have been a plane or something”.
“It wasn’t a plane,” Dustin chimed in.

“And it definitely wasn’t from this world, we saw it up close, didn’t we, Jul?”, he added turning to his sister.
“Yeah, well… At first, I thought it was a plane too, or a rocket. But after what happened to Rob, I have no doubt about it. It must have been alien, the way it roared and all those flashing lights… it was really scary,” Juliette concluded breathlessly.

“Scary and fascinating at the same time,” Dustin added excitedly.
“Please, Dad, you have to help us rescue Rob,” Juliette begged.

“Of course I want to help you, dear, but how?”
“I don’t know, maybe if you talk to your friend, Dr. Bjorn Beaker?”
“Bjorn?” Dylan startled.
“Yeah, maybe he knows what to do,” Dustin added.

“Wait, why do you think he could…?”
“Cause he’s a scientist, he must know about these things, right?” Juliette cut in.
“And because of the rumors going around that he’s been in secret contact with aliens, of course” Dustin concluded.
“Yeah, about that…” Dylan began.

“Those aren’t rumors,” Karen interrupted. “It’s true. Bjorn has had not one, but several close encounters of the third kind.”
“Karen,” Dylan protested

“How do you know that, Mom? Dad? Did Bjorn tell you something?” Dustin asked.
“Worse”, Karen hurried to answer. “He introduced us to his E.T. friend.’”
“Kay, please…” Dylan begged.

“Whoa, whoa. Hold on… E.T.? Bjorn Beaker introduced you guys to an alien?”, Dustin intervened.
“You mean you’ve had close encounters too?” Juliette seconded him.

“What are you waiting for, Dyl? Tell them,” Karen muttered.
“I- I don’t know if it’s a good idea…”
“Robin was abducted. And it’s very likely it was them, or to be more exact, her.”

“Her?” Dustin snapped.
“Who are you talking about? Who is her?” Juliette demanded.

Dylan sighed. “Okay, guys. Listen… Yes, Bjorn has been in contact with aliens, and… your mother and I have too.”
“What?” Juliette and Dustin exclaimed at the same time.

“So you’ve actually been in contact with aliens? Since when?” Dustin interjected.
“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Juliette complained.

“First off, it wasn’t aliens, plural, it was just one, a girl to be precise,” Karen corrected.
“For goodness’ sake, Kay,” Dylan protested.
“An alien girl, are you guys serious?” Dustin reacted.

“Dad, would you explain what the hell is going on here?” he demanded. Dylan cleared his throat as their children looked at him in disbelief.
“All right, before we get into that, there’s something even more important you guys need to know.”
“What could be more important than you guys having close encounters of the third kind?” Dustin remarked. “Robin. And his DNA.” Dylan replied.

“Dyl…” Karen mumbled.
“What’s going on with Robin’s DNA, Dad?” Dustin pressed.
“Do you have the test results yet?” Juliette joined in.
“Yes,” Dylan answered without hesitation.
“Oh my God, Dyl,” Karen groaned.

“What happened to waiting for the right moment?” she complained.
“This can’t wait, especially after what happened to Rob,” Dylan replied.
“So you do have the results”, Dustin affirmed.
“Since when?” Juliette wanted to know.
“Uh, a few days ago,” Karen answered.

“Days?” Juliette exclaimed.
“You’ve had them for days and only now you’re telling her?” Dustin claimed.
“We wouldn’t want to scare you,” Dylan told Juliette.

“Scare me?” she snapped. “Why? What’s wrong with Robin’s DNA?”
“Enough suspense, guys, just talk already”, Dustin urged them.
“Guys, calm down, okay?” Dylan answered.
“Calm down?” Juliette whined. “You’ve been hiding vital information, and you ask us to calm down?”

“We weren’t hiding it, we were just waiting for the right moment to tell you,” Karen explained.
“Well, now’s the right time, so let’s hear it,” Dustin countered.
“All right, Dyl, go ahead and tell them.”

Dylan took a deep breath and was about to speak, but the sound of footsteps on the staircase forced him to remain silent.
“Hey, can I join the conversation?” the youngest of the Shens asked, stopping at the doorway.

Everyone turned toward him at the same time.
“Logan, you scared the hell out of me!”, Karen protested.
“We thought you’d be asleep at this hour,” Dylan added.
“I’ve been awake for a while, I heard you guys talking, so…”
“What exactly did you hear?” Karen asked.

“Everything,” Logan replied. “That Robin was abducted by an alien spacecraft. That Dr. Beaker and you guys made contact with, um, alien visitors, and… what’s the deal with Robin’s DNA, by the way?”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about now,” Dylan said. “But first, I must warn you this won’t be easy to take in, especially for Jul, so I suggest that you all calm down and take a seat. Your mother and I will explain everything…”

(To be continued)

Credits for the poses in this episode goes to @poses-by-bee for her Convo/Emotions Poses Sets 2, 3 and 4, and Cuddle Sad Poses. Thank you very much, Bee! 🤗🩷