Chapter Two
THE day following the strange baby-sitting experience was overcast with rain expected.
"Aren't you supposed to report things like flying saucers?" Gomer asked. He had come to Company B's duty hut to see if perhaps Carter had changed his mind about the green light being a meteorite.
"It wasn't a flying saucer, Pyle!" Carter was loosing patience. The previous night, Gomer had said the very same thing eight times.
"We don't know that for sure, Sergeant," Gomer insisted. "We should report it."
"Pyle, no one's going to be interested in a story about a green light which was 100% natural."
At that minute, the telephone rang. Absent-mindedly Carter picked up the receiver. "Hello, Company B."
"Carter, what trick of yours is this?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Charley?"
The caller was Sergeant Charles Hacker from the mess hall.
"You know very well what I'm talkin' about!" he said angrily.
"I don't either!" Carter protested.
Gomer was puzzled. "What's going on, Sergeant?" he asked.
Carter waved him off.
"Is this your way of getting even with me because I won our last bet?" Hacker continued. "Plastering pictures of aliens all over the mess hall? You know I don't believe in life on other planets, Carter!"
Carter was dumbfounded. "What? Pictures of aliens?"
Hacker seemed to realize that Carter was genuinely shocked. "You really don't know anything about it?" he asked more quietly.
"No! Of course not, Hacker!" Carter said, puzzled at this latest turn of events. "I don't believe in aliens any more than you do, besides."
"Well, someone sure wanted to get even! These crazy pictures are everywhere!"
Carter attempted to cut the conversation short. "Yeah, yeah. Well, we'll have to figure out who did it. Just leave the pictures up and we'll be over shortly."
Hacker wanted to question the "we'll" part, but Carter hung up.
"What happened?" Gomer asked.
"Oh, someone put pictures of aliens all over Hacker's mess hall and he thought I did it," Carter replied.
"Shazam! Who would put pictures of aliens everywhere?"
"Who knows? But I'm sure it's nothing serious. Probably just a practical joke."
"Are you sure, Sergeant?" Gomer said next. "Maybe it's another mystery!"
Gomer, Carter, Boyle, and Hacker had all solved a puzzling rash of jewel thefts recently in Secret of the Jewel Pendant. Carter wasn't particularly crazy about the idea of solving another mystery so soon, but it did look as though it was turning into one.
Carter headed for the door. "Well, whatever it is, let's go take a look at these pictures, Pyle."
Gomer followed his sergeant out the door and down the road that led to Company C. "But, Sergeant, why would someone post alien pictures in the mess hall? And doesn't it seem odd that it would happen right after we saw that green light in the sky? Maybe it's a warning from the aliens that they've landed on Earth!"
"Pyle!" Carter exclaimed, annoyed. "Don't be ridiculous!"
"Well, it's a possibility, Sergeant," Gomer replied.
Carter didn't know what else to say so they walked on in silence.
"See, Carter, look at that!" Hacker gestured at the pictures. "Someone's plastered my mess hall with pictures of extraterrestrial beings!"
"It's weird, alright," Boyle remarked, walking over to Gomer and Carter. "If this is just a prank, it's some weird one."
"Oh, I'm sure that's all it is!" Hacker said, slightly miffed. "It makes sense. Someone knows how much I disbelieve in life on other planets and decided to drive me up the wall by posting pictures of aliens everywhere!"
Gomer shook his head sadly. "Shame, shame, shame."
"Do you think we should call the police?" Boyle asked.
Hacker dismissively waved a hand. "No. I'm sure it's just a prank, so there's no need to get the MPs involved. Let's just get this ridiculous pictures off the wall and forget about it. Do you mind?"
Boyle sighed and removed the closet picture to him. He wasn't so sure it was a prank, but he had no way to prove it.
"Why would it be anything more than a practical joke?" Carter demanded.
"Well . . . isn't it odd that it would happen right after we saw that green light in the sky?" Boyle countered.
"Corporal Boyle's right, Sergeant," Gomer spoke up. "It is odd."
"Oh, Pyle! Don't be silly!" Carter snapped back, disgusted. "Whoever did it probably thought it was the opportune time to pull a prank like posting pictures of E.T.s in Hacker's mess hall, because everyone's mind would be on aliens!"
Boyle looked doubtful. "I hope you're right, Vince."
"Sure I'm right!" Carter insisted. "It was a prank!"
Gomer and Boyle exchanged worried looks.
"What's that?" Carter asked, pointing.
"An article," Boyle replied simply, then began to read. "‘Millions of Southern Californians witnessed a green glow in the sky last night. More than 74% fear that Uncle Sam is having an alien invasion.'"
"Including me!" Gomer broke in.
Carter glanced at him, slightly annoyed.
"‘The glow vanished on the coast that borders North and South California,'" Boyle continued, "‘claim the sailors and passersby who were on docks or ships at the time. This glow has caused an international panic for the millions of people who believe in extraterrestrial life. The ones who do not believe in E.T.s say that the glow was either a natural cause or maybe a new means of air transportation developed by a foreign country to stalk the U.S.'"
"Hey! That's a possibility we didn't consider yet," Gomer exclaimed. "That it's connected with espionage!"
Carter snapped his fingers. "Hey! Maybe that's more plausible than a natural cause! Why didn't I think of it before?" He stared at the ceiling, looking thoughtful. "Now let's see . . . what countries aren't on friendly terms with us right now?" he mused.
To Boyle in a low voice, Gomer said, "Shazam! That's terribly possible, Corporal!"
Boyle nodded. "Yeah, that's true, Pyle. Maybe it is espionage and we need to check it out."
"Vince . . ." Boyle began, but got no further.
"Not now, Boyle! I'm thinking!" Carter replied.
Boyle turned to Gomer, amused. "Well, while he's thinking, maybe we ought to actually find out which countries might be planning new devices to spy on us. And we shouldn't completely eliminate the possibility that it did come from outer space."
This time, it happened just as the sun was lazily beginning its disappearing act behind the Western sky.
"Mom and Dad had to run off to San Francisco," Denise announced over the phone.
"San Francisco?" Carter repeated, shocked.
"Uh huh. We tried to call Mary Ann Harper—she lives next door—but then we remembered that she has a PTA meeting tonight. So we decided the only thing to do was call our favorite Marines again."
Carter glanced uncertainly out the open door. "Well, here come the others now. Hold on." Carter placed his hand over the receiver and said to Boyle and Gomer as they were entering, "Lodge kids."
He didn't have to elaborate.
"Shazam!" Gomer cried. "Why in the world do their parents keep leaving them alone?"
Carter shrugged. "Who knows?" He glanced at the telephone, then back at the others. "Do you guys have any plans for tonight?" he asked.
Boyle and Gomer exchanged looks. "Well, we were going to go to the town library," Boyle began, "but we can cancel that."
Gomer readily agreed. "Oh, yes! Helping those little kids is far more important!"
And so the three Marines departed for yet another horrendous baby-sitting adventure with the Lodges.
