The Invisible Rocket Ship

Wordsworth returned the hammer to her belt, and then placed both hands in the air and pushed forward until they came into contact with the rocket ship again. She pressed as hard as she could...it was there, she could feel it, she wasn't imagining this.

Now, what was she going to do about it?

Why in the world would a rocket ship land on the top of the Polar Bear Library? Was it some kind of terrestrial craft, which had just come down accidently? Or did it actually originate from beyond the stars?

Wordsworth grinned. It would be so cool if a door in the ship would suddenly shimmer into existence, and Captain Kirk walked out to say, "Hi, we've come for your help. Know any whales?"

But that was fiction, and this was fact. Although as it happened she did know a few cetaceans, being a frequent visitor at the North Star Aquarium.

"I could also introduce you to a few pinnipeds," she said to the imaginary Kirk inside her head.

Enough of this. She was dithering. What was she going to do?

She could call someone, have them come, and by the time they came the rocket ship could have taken off again...and she'd have no proof that it had ever been here. People would doubt the veracity of her claims and she couldn't blame them.

But...what if she were to spray paint the cloaking device? If the spray paint would cling to the cloaking device...or forcefield or whatever it was...she could then take a picture of it with her cellphone and at least have some kind of evidence to show people.

Wordsworth hurried back down into the library.



Vocabulary
terrestrial - pertaining to, consisting of, or representing the earth as distinct from other planets
originate - to begin at, to start from
cetaceans - Any of various aquatic, chiefly marine mammals of the order Cetacea, including the whales, dolphins, and porpoises, characterized by a nearly hairless body, anterior limbs modified into broad flippers, vestigial posterior limbs, and a flat notched tail
pinnipeds - belonging to the Pinnipedia, a suborder of carnivores with limbs adapted to an aquatic life, including the seals and walruses
dithering - to act irresolutely; vacillate
veracity - correctness or accuracy
forcefield - region of space throughout which the force produced by an agent or several agents, such as an electric charge, is operative

Cultural References
Wordsworth grinned. It would be so cool if a door in the ship would suddenly shimmer into existence, and Captain Kirk walked out to say, "Hi, we've come for your help. Know any whales?": Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The Enterprise crew (albeit in a Klingon vessel) must go back in time to find a whale, to transport to the future, so that it can communicate with a whale-like species who requests for communication are destroying the Earth.