The Old Man from Far Away (3)

One day the old man from far away said he would show me where he came from. Myself and the children, my wife would always refuse to follow his whims.

"I cannot spare five thousand years," I said, "Nor travel to the stars."

"It is but five miles," he said. "I will die soon. You are too old, too set, but your children can learn. The knowledge could be kept alive."

We packed for a long journey, for I didn't trust the old man's calculations. 

For a long time I thought I was right to doubt him, indeed I feared far worse. He took us through the middle of the woods. There was no path, in some places we had to wriggle through the trees, I was sure we'd be lost for days as a result, perhaps eaten by bears, or caught by the Wild Things. But he kept marching on merrily, consulting a mysterious metal object he carried. The children didn't complain, as no doubt they would had I been leading them into the deep, dark of the wood, they followed enthusiastically, chatting non-stop. 

Then, in the middle of the woods, in a slight clearing with no path, no human, nothing in sight, he suddenly said "We're here."

You're fucking mad, I thought. "What do you mean we're here?" I said. 

He pointed to a large rock protruding from the ground. "That's my ship," he said.

"You travelled by rock?" I teased. "I thought rocks sank."

"It's not rock," he said, "It's metal."

"Metal sinks as well," I said.

He didn't answer, instead walking over to his ship-rock.  He held up the metallic device he's been consulting throughout the walk here and suddenly the rock opened, revealing it to be hollow inside.

"Well, I'm glad that still works," he said.  

My children rushed over to the open rock. "Be careful," I said.

"It's perfectly safe," the old man said. "Nothing's can get in there, it's solid titanium and built to withstand anything the universe could throw at it."

He went inside and, magically, light appeared from within. "Magic lanterns," said my youngest and all three children ran into the rock-hole.  I was last to arrive and inspected the rock carefully. To my surprise the rock was indeed made of metal, though not a metal I recognised.

I had a greater shock when I entered inside. The 'ship' was much bigger inside than out, clearly most of it was buried underground. And it was alive with flashing lights all over. 

"Welcome to the last spaceship on planet Earth," the old man said. "Welcome to ancient history."