Harry nudged his friend on the bar stool next to him and whispered from behind his glass of beer, “Hey, isn’t that the drummer from that famous ‘60s rock band?” He motioned to a man with a gray beard sitting alone across the room.
Tom swallowed his mouthful of warm beer and put his pint on the bar before responding. “Yeah, why?”
“Well, I was always a big fan of his until he died about ten years ago.” Harry took a quick sip of his beer and then hid his face behind the glass. “I just don’t see how it could be him.” He just stared at the drummer lost in thought, wondering.
Tom nudged his friend out of his revere and asked, “If you’re that puzzled about the whole thing, then why don’t you just go over there and find out if it’s really him? Ever since those aliens came down a few years ago, there’s been all sorts of strange happenings these days. Maybe he did come back from the dead.”
“I guess you’re right. It’s not going to hurt to ask him” Harry put his glass on the bar and said, “I’ll be right back.” He brushed his hair back with his fingers to make himself more presentable and headed over to the drummer’s table.
Stretched out and sipping a whiskey while watching the latest news report, the drummer glanced up at Harry and asked, “Anything I can do for you? ‘Cuz you’ve been staring at me for some time now.”
Harry rubbed the back of his head in nervousness and replied, “My buddy and I were talking and I noticed that you look a heck of a lot like that drummer from that famous Rock ‘n Roll band. Would you happen to be Ring—“
“Easy there.” The drummer cut Harry off in midstream. “Why don’t you take a seat? I’ve some time before my mates get back, you know.”
Befuddled and not quite sure what to do, Harry took a seat.
The drummer leaned in close and whispered, “I suppose I should tell you that I don’t go by that name anymore. Too many old associations with the past, you know. My fellow Earthlings get a bit nervous when they hear that I’ve come back from the dead.” He sat back in his chair and said, “You can call me Richard.”
Harry nodded and smiled in trepidation. “You caught up in all that alien stuff that’s been happening the last several years?”
Richard patted his knee and laughed. “You wouldn’t believe the half of it.” He took another sip of his whiskey and adjusted a large gemstone ring on his right hand. “It’s my first time back on Earth, you know, since the aliens brought me back. I’ve wanted to tell someone the story, but most people these days don’t have time to stop and talk. Or have a good laugh.”
Harry brightened up and shrugged his shoulders. “Hell, I’m always up for a good story. Plus, I’m a bit of a drummer myself and have always admired your work. I’m all ears.”
Richard drummed his fingers on the table and looked back over his shoulder. “My mates will be back in a few minutes so I’ll make this short. It’s a bit of a funny story I suppose. You see, after I died about ten years later I woke up on this strange planet with all these aliens around me. Not the bug-eyed kind that they used to show in movies in my day, you know. These aliens were very similar to the ones they’ve been showing on the news lately. Anyway, I said to the nearest one, ‘Where am I and all?’ They told me I was on the planet Trajis and then said that their people loved my music so much that they came to Earth, dug me up, and brought me back!”
Harry slapped his knee and laughed. “Yeah, but how did they come across your music? If I remember the news reports correctly, there’s no way that the radio waves from your early broadcasts could have reached there yet. It’s over seventy light years away!”
“Well, here’s the part that really got me.” Richard leaned in closer and said, “The aliens had these impersonators in our universities back around the beginning of the century and this one alien used a peer to peer program called BitTorrent to download some of my music. He, well, she, I mean, it—ah, whatever, liked my music so much that he brought all my solo tunes back with him to Trajis and I became an overnight sensation!”
“You’re pulling my leg, right?”
“You know, they really dug me. I got set up with a recording contract, started some touring, and have myself a nice pad out there.”
“So, what you doing back here?” Harry heard the bathroom door open and saw a few heads turn to stare at whatever was coming out.
Richard shrugged. “Wanted to get me some smokes and have a few whiskeys before I headed back out on tour.”
Two enormous zucchini-like creatures about eight feet tall came up behind Harry. Their deep bass voices, spoken in Trajisian, shook him in his seat. A bit nervous, he slowly turned around to see their finger pods swirl in excitement and tried not to stare at the Beatles wigs they wore.
“Well, my mates say it’s time to go.” Richard patted Harry on the shoulder. “It was good talking with you.”
“Any words of advice for a fellow musician before you leave?” Harry put out his hand and Richard gave a firm shake and said, “Yeah, I’ve some advice for you. Let those university kids spread your music around through as many peer to peer programs as they can because, in the end, you don’t really know how it can help you. Look at me!” He flashed Harry a smile and showed off the rings on his hands. “I’d still be communing with the worms if it weren’t for that!”
Harry laughed to himself and waved as he sat back watching Richard and his two new pod mates saunter out of the bar.
If you like this science fiction story, be sure to check out my Jovian Gate Chronicles short story collection.