Alien Sky: Shapeshifters Sequel - AU YTEEN[COMPLETE]

[Kathy W]

TITLE: Alien Sky
AUTHOR: Kathy W
RATING: YTEEN (For occasional language)
CATEGORY: Backstory. No couples. Unless you consider Nasedo and Langley a couple.

SEQUEL TO: Part 1 of this tale is And the Stars Fell From the Sky, which chronicles the shapeshifters journey to Earth and the creation of the hybrids. It can be found here. http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopic.php?t=1302 Alien Sky deals with the aftermath of the crash.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Nothing anyone wants, anyway. I’m just borrowing these wonderful characters to amuse myself. And hopefully you.

Some of the events in this story are taken from Roswell episodes, and some are taken from eyewitness accounts of the “crash”. In addition to characters from the show, there are a few real people in this story. I know precisely none of these people, and am borrowing them strictly for this little tale.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve always been fascinated with what happened before the pod squad hatched. And I’ve had a million questions. Why don’t the hybrids remember more? Why was the Destiny Book in the library instead of in the pod chamber? Why did the Dupes wind up in a sewer in New York City? Was Nasedo really working for the Skins? And so on and so forth.

This is the story from the viewpoint of the shapeshifters; my own little fantasy about what happened, why it happened, and what went wrong. It will probably wind up being six to eight separate fics, each a sequel to the other. They will closely track the show; my intention is not to rewrite Roswell, but to fill in some of the blanks. The story starts on the ship headed to Earth, and will likely end with Max’s encounter with Langley many years in the future. This particular fic covers the period of time from the crash to the capture of the surviving shapeshifters.

Pronunciation and Character Guide:

Brivari—Zan’s Warder: “var” rhymes with “far”
Jaddo—Rath’s Warder: “a” as in “ah”, soft “J”
Valeris—Ava’s Warder: “ler” sounds like “lair”
Urza—Vilandra’s Warder: sounds like it looks
Riall—Zan’s father: Ree-all
Covari—The name of the shapeshifters’ race: Rhymes with “Brivari”
Argilians—The name of Khivar’s race: “g” is soft, like “j”


The shifters refer to each other by their Antarian names. See if you can figure out which of the four is Langley and which is Nasedo.



ALIEN SKY

PART ONE

Pohlman Ranch, Corona, New Mexico, Earth. July 3, 1947, 2 a.m.


Brivari felt wind across his face. He smiled; the breeze was warm and wet, a good feeling. He lay face up, letting the breeze wash over him, enjoying it.

“Brivari, wake up! Wake up!” Hands shook him. He ignored them; he did not want to wake up. Here, it was peaceful.

“Master, are you all right? Is he all right?” an anxious voice asked.

Master? Only one person called him “Master”. And that person was with him on a spaceship, heading toward……wait. Why was he feeling a breeze on a spaceship?

Brivari slowly opened his eyes. Two faces peered down at him, one dark and grim, the other anxious and solicitous. Looking past the faces he could see a gaping hole in the ceiling, and through it was a sky, with constellations he did not recognize. An alien sky.

He sat up so suddenly that he made himself dizzy, and they had to steady him. Looking around, he found himself on the floor of the control center…..or what was left of it. The place was a mess. Consoles had torn loose and landed on the other side of the room, their inner workings exposed and tangled. The emergency lights were on, creating an eerie glow. And everything was wet, dripping wet. Once again I awaken on the floor, he thought wryly. Consistent, aren’t I?

“Did Valeris survive?” he asked Urza and Jaddo in an unsteady voice, as the world continued to spin around him.

“We don’t know yet; we only just regained consciousness ourselves,” Jaddo replied.

“Have we been discovered?” Brivari asked.

“We do not believe so.” Urza this time. “The storm appears to have masked our landing, and we are in an isolated place; no buildings are visible. We have seen no humans. Hopefully we still have a little time before we are found.”

“How much damage did we sustain?” Brivari asked, trying to stand, and failing.

“Too much,” Jaddo replied, pushing him firmly back to the floor. “This ship will not fly again.”

“It doesn’t need to,” said Brivari. “The Granolith will transport all of us back to Antar when the time comes. Is anything still working? Sensors? Navigation? Anything that will tell us where we are?”

“I will investigate,” Urza said, and scurried off.

Brivari looked up through the hole in the hull. Bright stars glowed, and he could feel the water in the wind. “The storm has passed,” he noted to Jaddo. “How long have we been down?”

“Impossible to tell without our instruments,” Jaddo replied. “I should check on Valeris and the hybrids. Wait here.”

“No, I’m coming with you,” Brivari said stubbornly, and tried once again to stand. A sharp pain pierced his leg, and he sank back to the floor.

“The bone looks broken,” Jaddo observed, peering at the injury. “Can you fix it?”

Brivari nodded. “I think so. Give me a moment.”

Jaddo nodded and stepped back. Brivari closed his eyes and concentrated on his leg. After a moment he could see the break, could see the splintered ends of the bone resting near each other. Eyes still closed, he began to shift the ends of the bone, smoothing the splintered ends and knitting the two pieces back together. He worked for several seconds, eyes closed all the while, while Jaddo waited patiently beside him.

When Brivari was finished, he opened his eyes and tentatively stretched his leg. Feeling no pain, he experimentally put weight on it. Still nothing. He took a few steps, and nodded to Jaddo, satisfied. “Let’s go.”

The two Warders picked their way carefully through the corridors of the broken ship, sloshing through the pools of water that covered the floor. Doorways were askew, one of the stasis pods was in the hallway, and Earth’s strange sky was visible through more than one hull breach. Brivari’s concerns escalated as they neared the lab. All was lost if that had not survived.

When they reached the door to the lab, it was jammed. Attempts to open it proved futile. Brivari and Jaddo looked at one another and nodded. Both raised their hands to the door, sending blasts of energy toward it that burned a gaping hole in the middle.

Climbing through, they found the lab in shambles and Valeris hunched sadly over one of the incubators, peering inside as though his heart would break.

Brivari stared at Valeris for a long time before mustering the nerve to ask the question to which he was not certain he wanted to know the answer. “Did we lose them?”

Valeris shook his head. “Some, but not all,” he said in a shaky voice. There were cuts and scratches all over him; he had not taken the time to repair his injuries. “We will lose many more if we do not repower the incubators.”

“The emergency power should be feeding those,” Jaddo said, confused. “I know it’s on—all the emergency lights are on. Why aren’t the incubators powered?”

“I don’t know,” Valeris answered. “I do know that if they’re not repaired the hybrids will continue to die. They were not yet ready to be removed.”

Brivari turned to Jaddo. “You and Urza work on that right away. This is more important than sensors.”

As Jaddo turned to go Urza appeared in the doorway, stepping through the hole, “Master, I’ve managed to get our navigation console working again. Would you like to see?”

“In a moment,” Brivari replied. “First we need you and Jaddo to find out why the emergency power isn’t feeding the incubators. We’ve lost some of the hybrids, and we’ll lose more if these aren’t repaired.”

Urza walked slowly toward the nearest incubator and peered through the lid. Some of the tiny fetuses still had rapidly beating hearts; in others the heartbeat was painfully slow. Many—too many—were motionless, their miniscule hearts visible through their transparent skin, unmoving. Human hearts. Dead human hearts.

Valeris crossed the room to stand at Urza’s side. He limped painfully; another injury he had not repaired. “It’s not your fault, Urza,” he said. “You are not responsible for what happened.”

“How do you know that?” Urza asked, his face a mask of guilt. “I did not realize the braking thrusters were not working. If I had discovered that, I might have been able to repair them in time.”

“ ‘Might’ being the key word there,” Jaddo said. “We don’t know why the thrusters didn’t operate properly. It could have been sabotage. Or just bad luck. It could have been a failure that didn’t show up in diagnostics. We don’t know what caused it.”

“But we don’t know that it wasn’t my fault”, Urza said miserably. “I recommended landing in the storm. I piloted the ship down. I act, and the ship crashes. I fail to act, and Khivar invades the capital. No matter what I do……” He stopped, suddenly aware that he had said too much.

Valeris and Brivari exchanged glances. Only Jaddo looked confused.

“What are you going on about?” Jaddo said with exasperation. He took Urza by the arm and firmly propelled him toward the door. “This is no time for self-indulgent whining! Move!”

After they had left, Jaddo practically chasing after Urza, Brivari heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately Jaddo had not taken Urza seriously; if he had, they simply did not have time for the resulting confrontation. Later. But not now.

“What was all that about?” Valeris asked, leaning against an incubator for support. “He knows more than he’s telling. But he couldn’t possibly be a traitor.”

“I don’t think he is,” Brivari replied. “But one way or another, before this is all through, he will tell me what he knows.”

******************************************************

“Try it now!” Urza called to Valeris. “Anything?”

Valeris heaved a sigh of relief as power surged through the incubators, and the familiar, comforting hum once again permeated the lab. Thank goodness. They had already lost twenty-eight hybrids, and would undoubtedly lose more before this was through. At least this would minimize the damage.

“It’s working!” Valeris shouted back. “I…..wait. Something’s wrong. All the gauges are shifting….they won’t stay put.”

Urza came through the blasted door and inspected one of the units. He fiddled with the controls for several moments, and then shook his head unhappily. “This is a temporary repair at best. The relays were completely incinerated. It looks like lightning may have struck the ship after we crashed, when the hull was breached and it could find it’s way inside.”

“We will need these units for several more weeks at least, perhaps longer,” Valeris worried. “We’re going to have to come up with a permanent repair.”

Urza nodded. “I will see if there is any usable material left that we can adapt to our needs. In the meantime, it looks like you will be able to manually adjust the controls to the settings you want.”

“I shall stay then,” Valeris sighed, “and keep the units as close to the right temperature as possible. You run along and see what you can do about fixing the problem.” He turned to another unit, and nearly fell, his leg buckling under him. Urza caught him just in time.

“You have not repaired your injuries,” he said gently as he helped Valeris to a seat. “You should do that at once.”

“Later,” Valeris said shortly. “I don’t have time for that now.”

“Of course you do,” Urza said. “I will stay and watch the units until you are finished. Just tell me how you want them set.”

“They are set correctly at the moment, but I need you to fix this,” Valeris said, more insistently this time. “As soon as possible.”

“And I shall,” Urza said. “But my temporary repair will hold more than long enough for you to repair your injuries while I see to the hybrids.”

“Urza—they’re dying,” Valeris whispered, his voice breaking. Looking at him, it was hard for Urza to believe that this was a great scientist, a Royal Warder. At this moment he bore more of a resemblance to a grief-stricken, broken old man.

Urza knelt beside him, and spoke as one would to a child. “They are depending on us, now more than ever. We are of no use to our Wards injured. I will watch them,” he said gently, but firmly. “Tell me how you want the units set, and I promise you I will keep them there until you are ready to do so yourself.” He paused. “Do you have the strength to do this yourself, or should I assist you with the stones?”

Valeris shook his head irritably and limped off to a corner, the better to concentrate in privacy. Urza turned back to the units, carefully checking them. He looked through the lids and noted with sorrow that several hybrids were nearly dead. No wonder Valeris was so upset. It had been bad enough to watch their Wards die once, but to watch them die over and over was a special kind of hell. And so it is fitting that I am here now, in this hell, Urza thought wearily, caressing the lid with his long, thin fingers. It was my lack of foresight, my lack of vigilance, that sent us here in the first place.

******************************************************

Jaddo entered the ruined control center to find Brivari poring over the one working console. Navigation, from the looks of it. Wonderful. Now they could see exactly where they would likely be captured.

“I have good news and bad news,” Jaddo said. “Which do you want first?”

“The good news,” Brivari said shortly, without looking up.

“The Granolith appears undamaged, though I can’t for the life of me figure out why.”

“The Granolith will be fine,” Brivari replied, still not looking up. “It is protected by its own forcefield—that would have to be deactivated or severely damaged before any harm would come to it. I am more concerned about the hybrids. Have you and Urza managed to get the incubators working again?”

Jaddo sat on a nearby stool and turned piercing eyes on his companion. “When are you going to tell me more about this Granolith?” he demanded. “What else do I not know about it?”

“Plenty,” Brivari said shortly. “How are the incubators?” Jaddo did not respond, and Brivari finally looked up. “Incubators, Jaddo. The hybrids?”

“Why won’t you answer me?” Jaddo said accusingly.

“I did answer you,” Brivari responded coldly. “I pointed to what was most important—our Wards. I’d appreciate it if you kept your priorities straight.”

Jaddo dropped his eyes, looking slightly abashed. “Urza managed to restore power, but it is fluctuating. Valeris is staying in the lab making adjustments as needed, while Urza attempts a more permanent repair. And we have another problem,” Jaddo added, gesturing toward the hole in the ceiling where the night sky was looking noticeably less dark. “I don’t know how much longer we can stay here. And we’re too far away from the mountains we were heading for.”

“I know,” Brivari said. “This is where we’re going.” He pointed to the screen he had been examining.

Jaddo came closer, peering at the readout. “That’s the old laboratory chamber. Do you think it’s still there?”

“It should be,” Brivari said. “It was carved out of solid rock in the middle of a desert. We need to take a look—at where we are, and where we’re going."

Jaddo stepped back. As Brivari watched he began to change, his proportions shifting. In a matter of seconds he had assumed a completely different form.

Brivari smiled. “Excellent choice.”

*********************************************

I'll post Part 2 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Hi everyone! <wave>

Misha: They certainly could have made the pod chamber after the crash. There were several days between the crash and the capture, depending on which "crash date" you use. Popular dates are July 2 and July 4; I used July 2. They weren't discovered until July 7, so there's room for all sorts of interpretation there. I have the pod chamber already existing because it ties into why Antarians had been coming here in the first place. But more on that later.

Minanda: Humans are coming. Next part. (It's always more fun when humans and aliens play together. )



PART TWO

“Any luck?” Brivari asked, watching Valeris move from incubator to incubator, adjusting controls.

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Valeris responded. “Power is intermittent and weak. I don’t know how much longer we can keep these running.”

Brivari looked through the lid of a nearby unit. The hybrids it contained, though tiny, had rapidly beating hearts; a sight for sore eyes at the moment. “How many will we lose if we can’t restore power?” he asked quietly.

Valeris started to answer, then stopped as Brivari held up a warning hand. “The truth, please. No sugarcoating.”

“Am I noted for sugarcoating? To you, I mean,” Valeris added.

Brivari shook his head. “How do you do it?” he wondered. “Our ship crashed on an alien, and very likely hostile planet, war raging at home, our Wards dead and their hybrids dying, and you still have your sense of humor.”

“Sometimes that is all we have left,” Valeris said simply. “This is one of those times.” He smiled at the look on Brivari’s face as he reflected that that was not quite true. Physically, he was feeling much better since Urza had insisted he repair his injuries; otherwise…..well, he was still working on that.

“How many?” Brivari pressed.

Valeris stretched his legs. His left leg seemed to still need convincing that he had actually repaired it. “It is not as bad as I originally feared,” he said to Brivari. “Not all the hybrids are dying. Some seem completely unfazed by all that has happened. And to specifically answer your question, I have no idea. What I know led me to believe the hybrids needed further time in the incubators. Yet some seem completely unaffected by their time outside them. It could be that the hybrids that have already died or will die soon had other flaws, and would have died in any case. The only way to know for certain how the surviving hybrids will turn out is to let them grow and see what shape they’re in when they emerge.”

“Which will take about twenty years,” Brivari said.

“Which should take about twenty years,” Valeris corrected. “We are firmly in the realm of theory. It’s impossible to tell for sure.”

“Theory,” Brivari said wearily. He gazed through the lid of the nearest incubator at an obviously unlucky hybrid whose heartbeat had slowed to a crawl. “We know so little about this process. We could be going through all this for nothing. It could be completely hopeless.”

“Or not,” Valeris said firmly. “We know a great deal about the individual processes at work here. We have just never combined them in this fashion. The fact that we don’t have all the answers does not mean the answers are bad. We must continue. We must believe this will work. And act on that belief.”

“Even if we’re only pretending to believe it?” Brivari said doubtfully.

Valeris smiled. “Pretending is what we do best, is it not?”

“We may need to become even better at it very shortly,” Brivari said.

“Meaning….?”

“Meaning we may need your particular skills in the near future. Jaddo and I have just returned from scouting the area. The ship is lying against a rise in an uninhabited area, but there are habitations not terribly far away. The storm has apparently damaged much of the humans’ power grid; hopefully that will keep them busy for a couple of days. But we may need more time than that.”

“What are you proposing?”

“There is an old laboratory chamber nearby that Jaddo says appears to be intact. He and I are going to investigate. If it is still sound we can move the Granolith and the hybrids there, but moving everything will be cumbersome. We will need transportation devices and time.”

“Transportation devices should be easy enough to acquire,” Valeris said, “Time, I would imagine, is in short supply.”

“Jaddo and I will inspect the chamber and make whatever preparations are necessary,” Brivari said. “We can work there during the daylight hours because its location is remote. We will begin moving during the night when we are less likely to attract attention. Hopefully we will be able to accomplish this before we are discovered, as we are bound to be eventually. And if that happens before we are finished…..do you think you are capable of shielding this ship from prying eyes?”

Valeris considered this in silence for a moment. “I could,” he said, sitting down stiffly in a nearby seat, “depending on how many minds I must affect. I can affect many minds a little, or few minds a lot. I don’t know for how long.”

“With luck you won’t need to,” Brivari said. “Do your best. If all else fails and Jaddo and I are not here, you and Urza take the hybrids, board the Granolith and return home.”

Valeris stared. “I studied the ignition sequence; it needs time to reach full power.”

“True, but you can board it at any time after activation,” Brivari answered. “Once you are on board they cannot touch you. Humans do not yet possess the technology to break through the Granolith’s forcefield. You will be safe until it lifts off.”

“And when we reach Antar? Will we be safe then?” Valeris asked.

Brivari put a hand on Valeris’s shoulder. “If it comes to that, it won’t matter,” he said gently. “That will be your only remaining option. If that happens you must take it. As someone recently told me, we must believe this will work. And we must act on that belief.”

“That will strand the two of you here,” Valeris whispered.

Brivari walked to the door. “Yes,” he said. “It would.”

******************************************************

Jaddo shoved aside wires, rooting through the bowels of a console in the control center. He had not had time to do a thorough inspection while in the midst of the crisis; now he had time, but the damage was so severe that it was impossible to answer the question. There were no answers to be found in this mess.

He sat back for a moment, letting a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He had been out for hours covering the path of the ship’s slide. The ground was soft and muddy after the deluge last night, so pushing the ship fragments into the dirt had been easy. But there had been so many, and the larger pieces had to be disintegrated. He was tired already, and the work was only just beginning.

He pulled himself to his feet. As he had said to Urza earlier, this was no time for self-indulgent whining. He would just have to make do. He moved to the navigation console and began to remove the top. One thing to retrieve, then he had done all he could here.

“Jaddo? Is something wrong?”

“Brivari,” Jaddo answered, removing his hands casually from the console. “I didn’t hear you. No, nothing is wrong. I was trying to figure out if the ship was sabotaged or if we were just the victims of bad luck—more back luck than usual, that is,” he added ruefully.

Brivari looked around the ruined control center. “Did you find anything?”

“No. There is too much damage to learn anything useful.”

“Who would have known what ship we would take?” Brivari wondered.

“The same people who know the Granolith exists,” Jaddo answered quietly. Brivari pondered that for a moment, then nodded.

“We should go,” Brivari said. “You said the chamber looked intact?”

“The rock formation is still intact. I didn’t enter the chamber, but it looked untouched. I spent most of my time burying or destroying debris from the ship. The debris will be more visible once the ground dries out, but that should buy us a few days at least.”

“Good work,” Brivari said approvingly. “Let’s go.”

As they moved to the door, Jaddo glanced back at the navigation console. He was not quite finished here, but no matter. It would wait.

******************************************************

The alien sun was just beginning to peep over the horizon when Jaddo and Brivari reached the rock formation that housed the laboratory chamber, deep inside the rock and away from prying human eyes. Brivari had forgotten how huge Earth’s sun was. On prior visits they had emerged from the chamber mostly at night, using the dark to avoid detection. Moving in daylight here was not something he was accustomed to.

“These are located all over this world, are they not?” Jaddo asked, studying the door.

Brivari nodded. “There are dozens of them on this planet. This is the closest.” He raised his hand to unlock the door, then hesitated.

He hated these places. They reminded him of things he would rather forget. The suffering the human subjects had endured was second only to the suffering of his own race. True, they had not killed many. But there were things worse than death, and Antarian bioengineers were nothing if not ruthless. He knew that himself. From personal experience.

“Is something wrong?” Jaddo asked.

“No. Nothing,” Brivari answered. He passed his hand over the door, and a shimmering silver handprint appeared. Placing his hand on the handprint, he was greeted with a grinding sound, stone on stone, the groaning of mechanisms that had not been used in years. The door lumbered open, exposing a blackness so total even Covari vision had trouble penetrating it.

He took a deep breath of Earth’s thin atmosphere. Why did he seem to be having trouble breathing? He shifted his human lungs slightly, and the tightness eased. A little.

He looked at Jaddo, nodded, and stepped through the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll post Part 3 next Sunday.

I'm doing previews on another board, so I'll be tacking them onto the ends of the various parts.

Next week, on Shapeshifters!

Urza begins to tell his story, and....

The shifters have a visitor.

[Kathy W]

Sarah: Thanks so much for stopping by, both this thread and the other one. Most royal courts are rife with intrigue, and I can't imagine Antar being any different.

Minanda: This is only the beginning of their being tired. I have mused on whether or not that was why they were captured--were they exhausted, or injured, or both?

PART THREE

Corona, New Mexico. July 3, 1947, 6:30 a.m.


Mac Brazel plunked some cream in his coffee, causing it to splash all over the kitchen counter. Damn! He grabbed a dishcloth and mopped up the spill, cursing under his breath. He was already late. He didn’t need anything else slowing him down.

Mac grabbed the cup and headed for the front door, moving as fast as he dared while still managing to not spill the coffee. He was going to have to drive with one hand and hold the coffee with the other, but he simply couldn’t get by without his morning coffee. Funny how one still craved a boiling hot beverage even in this sweltering heat. Maybe one of these days auto makers would invent a cup holder for trucks. Now that would be a gift.

He barreled out the front door—and nearly fell headfirst over the small form sitting on the front step.

“Jesus H. Christ! What the hell are you……Dee? My God, Dee, what are you doing on my front step at this hour?” Mac stopped, carefully holding the precious, somehow unspilled coffee, and blushing furiously that he had just cursed like a sailor in front of a child.

“I’m sorry Mac,” Dee said, looking genuinely contrite. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to go the ranch with you today, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss you.”

“Well, why didn’t you knock? Why sit here and wait? I’ll have to go ask your parents, and I just don’t have the time today; I’m running late as it is. Maybe tomorrow, sweetheart.”

“Daddy’s left for work already, and Mommy’s gone into Roswell to do some marketing,” Dee said, looking down at her feet and circling the toe of her sneaker on the front step. “But they said I could go, and I told them I had asked you yesterday and you said it was all right.”

“Oh. I see,” Mac said, as Dee looked up at him hopefully. “So…your parents have already left, and I can’t exactly just leave you here on my front step with nowhere to go, now can I?” He tried hard to look irritated; he really did. But, truth was, it was hard to be irritated with Dee.

“I won’t be a bother,” the little girl stated confidently. “I brought my own lunch,” she added, holding up a metal lunchbox that looked as though it had seen better days. “And I’ll hold your coffee cup for you in the truck.”

Mac smiled. “You’ve got a deal.”

******************************************************

Urza picked his way carefully though the mess in the ship’s hallways as he made his way toward the lab. He hoped nothing else had gone wrong in his absence. It seemed he always made such a mess of things. “Valeris,” he called as he stepped through the blasted doorway.

Valeris had fallen fast asleep, head down on one of the little tables. And the gauges on the incubators had drifted dangerously awry.

Urza rushed from one to the other, resetting them. He had shut down the no-longer-needed navigation console and rerouted power to the incubators. He had only been able to find one viable fuel cell, but hopefully that would be enough to power the incubators as long as Valeris needed them.

Urza leaned against one of the incubators and slid down to sit on the floor. He was exhausted too, as they all were, no doubt. But he would let Valeris sleep for awhile. He had seen no one on his scouting expedition, and there were no dwellings for miles. Jaddo had done a good job of burying debris from their ship in the ground, made soft and muddy by the rainstorm. They were safe, for the moment at least. Safe from the results of his failure to act. I didn’t see it, he thought miserably, head in his hands. Why didn’t I see it?

It had all been so innocuous at first, so typical. Most likely no one had noticed or given it more than a passing thought if they had, least of all him. Vilandra was a beauty; she turned heads wherever she went. So it was no great surprise when one of those heads sat upon the shoulders of the King’s greatest rival.

Urza thought back to the first day he remembered anything unusual. An official function with all council members present, along with their various retinues. Political gossip, small talk, the usual boring minutiae of such gatherings had reigned until the Princess had swept in, effectively ending all conversation.

Urza had been behind her that day, in the guise of a lady-in-waiting. He was accustomed to the silence and the stares; Vilandra had a presence that drove men mad, and women madder. More than one male at that gathering had likely been upbraided by a female companion for gaping openly at the King’s sister. Urza was certain that whenever Vilandra emerged in human form, she would likely have the same effect on humans as she had had upon her own people.

But he had not gaped. He was standing off to one side, smiling a little, with a hungry expression like a beast stalking its prey. His stare had made Urza uncomfortable, and he had shifted his gaze to his mistress to see how she was reacting to this insolence.

Urza knew Vilandra well; he had guarded her from infancy. She should have been annoyed at Khivar’s penetrating stare. She usually preferred to be the aggressor. But instead of the expected annoyance Urza saw something quite different pass between the two, and looking past her to the King, he thought Zan had seen it too.

Then their eyes had dropped, both had moved along, and Urza had relaxed. Khivar was known for his cheek, Vilandra for her wandering eye. It was well known that she had been promised to Rath, although it wasn’t official at that point. He had brushed it off as a passing flirtation, both then and later, when he had discovered the two of them talking by themselves in the garden.

****"Stay away from him, Lady. He is dangerous,” Urza had said, realizing even as he spoke that that was exactly why she found him attractive.

“Urza, you fret too much. I was merely toying with him.”

“You’re wrong, Lady. He was toying with you."****

Vilandra was renowned for toying with men. Not cruelly, more teasingly, but toying nonetheless. This time she was out of her league. She had met her match in the toying department, but was too naïve to realize it.

But Urza had realized it. And extracted from her a promise to stay away from Khivar. A promise she promptly gave, along with apologies for worrying him, both of which he readily accepted.

And that, he thought bitterly, was my first mistake.

******************************************************

The inside of the old chamber was inky black, the air it contained close and heavy. Jaddo and Brivari raised their hands and produced a soft glow which only managed to illuminate a few feet in front of them.

The chamber was a mess. Leftover instruments and containers littered the floor. And clothing. Human clothing.

“It appears they left in a hurry,” Jaddo commented. “Did something go wrong?”

Brivari walked slowly around the chamber. “One of the test subjects was beginning to remember. He had developed something of a resistance to the drugs we used to make him forget, and he was beginning to talk to others. It was decided that leaving immediately was the wisest course of action, just in case anyone believed him.”

“Who would have believed a story like that?” Jaddo asked.

Brivari turned to look at him. “But it was a true story, wasn’t it?”

Jaddo rummaged through a nearby packing container. “Why do you sympathize with them so much? We didn’t damage most of them. Not permanently, anyway.”

“Some of them died, Jaddo. I call that ‘permanently damaging’ them.”

“There are always unfortunate accidents in scientific research,” Jaddo said. “You know that. Accidents happen. That can’t be helped.”

“Like accidents happened with us?”

Jaddo stopped going through the leftover refuse and stood to face his fellow Warder. “That was different.”

“How?” Brivari demanded.

“They are lower life forms,” Jaddo argued. “They are expendable.”

“You realize, of course,” Brivari said quietly, “that that is exactly how we were regarded? And still are, in some quarters?”

Jaddo was silent for a moment. He looked away. When he finally spoke, he would not look at Brivari.

“There are two chambers here. The back chamber is more suitable for the Granolith, but we will need to enlarge it considerably, and that will take time. And energy. I suggest we get started.”

Jaddo did not wait for an answer. He walked away, leaving Brivari staring after him.


******************************************************


“Can we head over that way?” Dee asked Mac, hanging out the window of the truck like a puppy with its tail wagging.

Mac put down the now empty coffee cup and followed Dee’s pointing finger. “Why? What’s over there?”

“My star!” she said bouncing up and down on the truck’s seat. “Another star fell last night in the storm, a big one! There must be something to see. It was huge!”

“You saw a meteor fall during all that mess last night?” Mac asked, incredulous. “Not likely, Dee. Probably just a tree hit by lightning.”

“It was a star,” Dee said stubbornly. “A big one. And it must have left something behind. Please?” she added, seeing the skeptical look on Mac’s face. “I want to add to my star collection. This could be the biggest piece yet!”

Mac smiled. Dee insisted on referring to meteors as stars. A romantic notion if ever there was one, considering that her “star collection” was nothing but a bunch of rocks.

“OK, kiddo,” Mac said obligingly, steering the truck in the direction she had indicated. “That pasture isn’t being used for grazing this year, but we can drive through and around to where I’m going. We made good time on the way here, so I’m not late anymore. Must be I can drive faster while not holding a coffee cup.”

Dee smiled and hung her head out the window again. They rode in companionable silence for several more minutes when Dee suddenly called, “Stop! I see something!”

“Already?” Mac replied, not slowing down.

“No, really, there’s something out there! Something shiny! Please, Mac, please?”

Mac sighed, and brought the truck to a halt. Dee scampered out, eyes scanning the ground for whatever it was she had seen.

Mac waited, tapping his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. It was still early morning, and it was already sweltering. He liked to get as much work done as possible before the sun rose too high. He twisted in his seat, meaning to call Dee back, but his eyes fell on something on the ground about twenty feet away. Something shiny. Something that looked like…..metal.

Metal? This far out on the ranch? What on earth could that be?

Mac got out of the truck, slipping in the soft, rain-soaked earth, and walked toward the object. It was flat, whatever it was, reflecting the already fierce glare of the New Mexico sun. He hoped some idiot hadn’t been on the ranch riding his dirt bike, scaring all the animals. That’s all he needed.

When he reached the approximate spot where he’d seen the strange object, Mac had to hunt for it. Turned out it was partially covered with wet dirt, and apparently only visible from certain angles. It was sheer luck he’d seen it from the truck.

He picked up the roughly square, flat piece of….something…..and examined it closely. It was about two inches square, and silver like aluminum foil. It was certainly as lightweight as foil. But it was perfectly flat, like foil that had been carefully removed from the box. What would a perfectly flat piece of foil be doing out here?

“Mac, look!” Dee shouted, running up to him. Mac turned to see the little girl running toward him, holding a similar piece of shiny stuff. “You have one too! Isn’t it wonderful? Did you see what it does?” While Mac watched, Dee crumpled her piece of shiny stuff into a little ball that looked very much like a ball of aluminum foil.

But not for long. As the two of them watched, one with amazement and one with sheer joy, the piece swiftly straightened out, all the wrinkles disappearing as though they had never existed, leaving in her hand what looked for all the world like a perfectly flat piece of foil. And clearly wasn’t.

“Have you ever seen anything like that?” Dee asked breathlessly. She cradled the fragment carefully, cupping it in her hands like a treasure.

Mac shook his head slowly. “No. No, I haven’t ever seen anything like that at all." He scanned the horizon, looking for anything else even remotely shiny. “What say we hop back in the truck and look around to see if we can find anything else like this.”

“Whoopee!” Dee yelled, and raced for the truck. This was better than she had even dared to hope. She had thought she would need to coax a little in order to get Mac to let her look around. Now he was looking too. All the better.

As Mac started the truck, Dee looked out her window and watched a hawk circling in the sky overhead. It had been flying in neat circles above them ever since they had stopped. Now it appeared to follow them, a ways off to the side, but tracking them nonetheless.

As if it were watching.


******************************************************


Urza flew down the broken hallway toward the lab, deftly avoiding the debris strewn about. “Valeris!” he called before he even reached the door. “Valeris! You may need to hide us!”

Valeris looked up as Urza entered, all agitated and breathless. “What’s happened? Is something wrong? More wrong than usual, I mean,” he added wryly.

“There are two humans nearby,” Urza replied, too upset for the moment to even slightly appreciate Valeris’s attempt at humor. “I think they’re moving away from us, but that could change. Can you do it?”

“Two humans,” Valeris mused. He set down the instrument he was using. Urza moved in closer to see what he was working on. It looked like some sort of book; Valeris had been etching images on its pages. “Are they adults?” Valeris asked.

“One adult, male. One child, female I think. Why?”

Valeris rubbed his head thoughtfully. He had tried this particular ability only a few times, but that had been enough to learn that the mind must be receptive to deceit. For that was what he must do: Deceive the other creature’s mind into thinking they saw something they did not. If the other mind fought back, if its owner truly believed it was seeing what was actually there, or very much wanted to believe that, it became very difficult to convince that mind otherwise.

Children were especially difficult to deceive. Children did not have such a long list of things that could not…..or should not…..be possible. They would believe something no adult would ever believe. They were much harder to fool.

But there are only two, Valeris thought. And once they see nothing they will quickly move on. I hope.

Valeris nodded to Urza. “I will need a few minutes to prepare.”


******************************************************


Mac and Dee were scanning the ground about a mile from where Mac had last stopped the truck. They had found a couple of fragments of the shiny silver stuff, but nothing as large as the pieces they had first discovered.

“Let’s walk up that way,” Mac said, tucking the pieces safely in his pocket along with the first one he had found. Dee still had her piece. Wild horses couldn’t make her give that up.

Dee looked up at the sky as Mac started off north. The hawk was still there, circling overhead, flying off occasionally but always returning within a minute or two. She trudged after Mac, growing a little discouraged. It was getting really hot out here, and they hadn’t found anything more to speak of. But at least she still had her star piece. She patted her pocket and looked toward the sky again to see if the hawk was still there.

It wasn’t. Dee scanned the sky in all directions and spotted the bird flying away. In the opposite direction.

Dee looked back at Mac. He had stopped, and was once again carefully examining the ground. He looked like he’d be busy for a few minutes at least. She sat down on the ground and waited, facing the direction the bird had taken.

It didn’t come back.

Dee pondered this for a moment in her eight year-old mind. And abruptly reached a decision.

“Mac, I want to walk a ways down that way,” she told him, pointing in the bird’s direction. “Down by that ridge.”

Mac followed her pointing finger. The ridge was a small hill no more than a quarter mile away. The land was flat; he’d still be able to see and hear her. “Go ahead,” he told Dee. “But no further than the ridge, and not over the ridge—I need to be able to see you. When I’m ready to go, I’ll holler.”

“Gotcha!” Dee ran off at good speed. She was a fast runner; she could beat all the boys at recess. Even if it wasn’t ladylike, as her Aunt Emma kept telling her.

She neared the ridge, scanning the sky for the hawk as she ran. Still no sign of it. No doubt any grown-up would tell her it was crazy to chase a bird, that there were birds all over Corona. But this one was different. This one was watching her. She could feel it.

She reached the ridge and took the climb at a run. She crested the top, breathless, and looked eagerly over the horizon.

Nothing. Just the field as always. Disappointed, Dee started walking across the top of the ridge toward the other side. Drat. She had been so certain that something was here…..

She reached the edge of the other side and looked down. And froze.

Oh my.

It was jammed into the other side of the ridge, completely invisible from the side Dee had climbed. Saucer-shaped, battered, and clearly made out of the same shiny silver stuff that she and Mac had found. It was the strangest, most beautiful thing she had ever seen. This was better than all the stars she had seen fall from the sky; this was a spaceship, a genuine spaceship. She was sure of it.

She scrambled down the far side of the ridge, hardly daring to breathe. As she drew closer to the shiny vessel she slowed. Now she noticed the holes: A small one in the top, a couple of larger ones in the sides. There were shiny pieces all around on the ground nearby. Dee retrieved a good-sized one, crumpled it up, and stowed it in her pocket. She knew it would flatten out beautifully later.

She walked cautiously toward the nearest hole and peeped inside. It was too dark inside to see anything, and the bright sun behind her didn’t help. Was it possible there was someone in there? Could they be hurt? Should she go inside, or go back and get Mac? She crept closer; she was about a yard away from the nearest opening. She leaned in, trying to adjust her eyes to the dark.

Two fierce eyes glared back at her.

Dee yelped in surprise as a hawk came swooping out of the hole, soaring up into the sky, screeching as it flew.

“Valeris!” Urza yelled. “NOW!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll post Part 4 next Sunday.

Next week, on Shapeshifters...

What does one do when one finds a spaceship crashed in a field?

and.....is it wise to "phone home" at this point?

[Kathy W]

Hi Everyone!

Minanda: Hint--the human/alien fun kicks into high gear in Part 7.



PART FOUR

“Mac! Come quick! You won’t believe this! MAC!”

Dee flew up the hill and went skittering down the other side of the ridge, stumbling on the loose rocks and dirt. Mac had heard her initial cry and was already almost halfway to her when she reached the bottom and ran to catch up with him.

“Are you okay?” Mac shouted, feeling his stomach knot as he ran. God, he was too old for this. Still, if anything happened to that little girl on his watch……

“I’m fine!” she shouted, finally catching up with him and grabbing him by the arm, pulling him toward the ridge. As if that were necessary. He was heading for it pell-mell anyway.

“What’s wrong? Why did you yell? Did you get hurt?” Mac pelted the child with questions as reached the base of the hill.

“You have GOT to see this! You won’t believe it! Something did fall out of the sky last night! I was right! But it wasn’t a star, it was a……close your eyes!”

“What?!” Mac said in exasperation. They had reached the top of the ridge now and were walking toward the other side, Mac seriously out of breath, Dee barely panting.

“I want it to be a surprise. Close your eyes, please?” Dee pleaded.

Mac bent over with his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. He couldn’t believe it; he'd run all this way just because she wanted to show him something? He glanced up at Dee with a look that made it clear he was not amused.

“You won’t be sorry. It’s really neat!” Dee smiled.

“On one condition,” Mac said, still huffing. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

“Sorry,” Dee said, trying to sound contrite in spite of her excitement. “And it’s a deal. Now—close your eyes.”

Mac obediently closed his eyes. Dee positioned herself behind him and slowly guided him forward till he stood near the edge of the ridge. “Okay—open up!”

Mac opened his eyes, expecting to see……what? What makes an eight year-old girl go all loopy in the middle of a ranch? He scanned the area for several seconds before looking down at the grinning elf behind him.

“Dee, there isn’t anything here. What on earth are you talking about?”

Dee’s smile vanished. She stepped around Mac to the edge of the ridge and stared.

At nothing. Absolutely nothing. The ship was gone; no trace of it remained. No impressions in the grass, no debris, nothing. Well, not nothing, not exactly. There was something. There was a hawk, sitting on a large rock that had not been there a minute ago.

Dee looked helplessly at Mac, who appeared even less amused than before. “It was here,” she whispered. “It was huge, and round, and made out of this stuff.” She took the shiny fragment from her pocket, as if to reassure herself that it was not a dream.

“What was here?” Mac asked. “What did you see?”

“A spaceship,” Dee answered, and rushed on before Mac could protest. “It was a spaceship. I swear I’m not making this up. Do I do that? Do I make things up?” Mac shook his head, but still couldn’t get a word in edgewise. “It was right there,” Dee went on, pointing to the side of the ridge. “It was big and round, like a saucer, and it was broken. There were holes in it, and that bird came flying out of one of the holes when I walked up to it.”

Mac took off his hat and mopped his forehead. It was boiling already, and he didn’t have time for this nonsense. But the kid seemed genuinely certain that she’d seen something.

“Are you sure you didn’t just see the bird fly out of a hole in the ground, or something like that?” Mac asked her. Dee shook her head vehemently, and Mac sighed. “Okay, so there was a spaceship here. Where’d it go? Why didn’t we hear it leave? Hard to miss something like that.”

“He did it,” Dee said suddenly, pointing to the hawk, who had been sitting placidly on the rock throughout this entire conversation. “He’s one of them. He doesn’t want us to see it. Or…..maybe he just doesn’t want you to see it.”

Mac threw back his head and laughed. Normally Dee liked to hear Mac laugh, but not this time. Now it was as if he thought she were silly. Or stupid.

“Dee, I’m sorry, I just don’t have time for stories today. A disappearing spaceship? That a bird took away? He plopped his hat back on his head and started to head back for the truck. “I’m almost done looking by the truck. I want you back there in five minutes. I’ve got a lot to do today; I can’t spend all day watching birds tow away spaceships.” Dee nodded wordlessly as he headed down the slope, chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

Dee turned back to look at the hawk, still sitting calmly on the brand new rock. She couldn’t believe this. I know it was there, I know it! she thought fiercely. She wouldn’t just imagine something like that. Not something she’d never seen before, something that big. And it couldn’t have moved that quickly. Where had it gone?

As she stared, frowning, the air started to shimmer. The scene in front of her, the field, the bird on the rock, began to ripple. For a split second Dee saw a flash of the ship right where she had seen it before, with the bird sitting not on a rock, but on its outer hull. Then it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

Dee scrambled down the side of the ridge and approached the hawk. It watched her closely, but made no move to fly away. She walked toward it slowly until she was about four feet away, expecting it to take flight at any moment. It didn’t.

She squatted in front of the bird and examined it closely. It was a hawk, all right. She couldn’t find anything unusual about it except for the fact that it was not afraid of her. That alone was weird. And enough to convince her she was right.

“It’s your ship, isn’t it?” she asked the bird, dead certain now that this was so. “You don’t want him to know about it because you’re afraid of what he’ll do, of who he’ll tell. I’ll bet you didn’t want me to know either.”

The bird sat impassively, giving not the slightest impression of understanding.

Dee knelt down on the grass and leaned forward, hands on her knees. The hawk watched with that fierce hawk stare that always made them look angry. She had obviously made a huge mistake by trying to tell Mac about the ship, and she meant to correct it. “I have to go now, but I want you to know something before I leave. I won’t tell anyone about you. I’ll keep your secret. I promise.”

She meant it too. Dee knew how to keep a secret. There was no better currency among children than secrets. Your true friends kept your secrets, and the best way to make a new friend was to keep that person’s secrets. Doing each other’s homework, sharing your dessert at lunchtime, walking to school together—those were all fine things that friends did, but keeping each other's secrets was the most important thing of all.

Dee stood up and brushed the dirt off her legs. As she started to walk away she muttered, “Mac better not tell anyone else. They’ll think I’m stupid.”

<Believe me, I understand.>

Dee whirled around and stared at the bird, who had not budged. "What did you say?” she asked incredulously.

******************************************************


Brivari surveyed the work thus far. The chambers were cleared, and the long work of enlarging the back chamber could begin. He turned to speak to Jaddo and was surprised to see him place something on the floor in front of him.

A communicator.

“What are you doing?” Brivari asked, alarmed.

“Contacting home,” Jaddo said, holding his hand over the swirling symbol on top of the communicator. “We were supposed to make contact when we reached Earth, but we have not yet had the time.” The orb started to glow, activated by the energy Jaddo was sending it.

“Stop!” Brivari commanded, whisking the device out from under Jaddo’s outstretched hand. “We contact no one. No one.”

Jaddo looked up at Brivari with amazement. “Why not?”

“Because we don’t know who will answer,” Brivari replied, “or who they’re working for. No one can know where we are. Maintain communication silence.”

“Whatever for?” Jaddo wondered. “Obviously Khivar knows we are here. So what? They can’t follow us.”

“Are you absolutely certain of that?” Brivari asked.

Jaddo’s face darkened. “Aren’t you?” he asked suspiciously.

“If you contact Antar, you have no idea who will answer. Now that some Covari are false there is no way to identify anyone. It is absolutely imperative that our landing site remain a secret.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Jaddo said pointedly, “although I’m getting used to that. And once again I ask, what harm will it do? The Argilians know we were headed to Earth, and why. Even if they could follow us, they won’t be able to pinpoint our location from this distance.

“They can’t pinpoint it, but they can narrow the possibilities. It’s too risky,” Brivari countered.

“I don’t think so,” Jaddo argued. “The benefits outweigh the risks—at least the known risks,” he added darkly. “Even if I do wind up contacting a spy, word will still get back to the loyalists that we have landed safely. Just think what good news that will be. Think what that information will mean to those who thought there was no hope. Boosting the morale of the people and our fellow Covari will bolster their efforts to fight Khivar, and fighting Khivar will eventually help our Wards when they return. We owe it to everyone to tell them of our safe landing.”

“We are not safe yet,” Brivari said firmly, “and no one is to contact Antar. Is that clear?”

Jaddo regarded his companion silently for a moment. “It is clear,” he confirmed. “What is also clear is that you have been lying to me.”

“I have not been lying,” Brivari objected. “Everything I’ve told you is true. I just haven’t told you everything.”

Jaddo’s eyes narrowed at this admission, but he said nothing.

Brivari set the communicator aside. “We have work to do. Shall we?” He gestured toward the back chamber.

“After you,” Jaddo said. “Master,” he added under his breath.

Brivari paused, obviously having heard the sarcasm in Jaddo’s voice. But he elected not to challenge it. Partly because he knew that such a confrontation would use up too much precious energy when they needed every drop for the work ahead. And partly because he knew Jaddo had a point. It was risky keeping information from the others.

But it’s not information, Brivari argued with himself. Merely a long-held suspicion that was never verified. It was pointless to worry everyone when he had no proof. Activating the communicator might very well produce said proof, but if it did, they were in no shape to deal with the resulting consequences.

They would do that experiment later, when they were safely hidden and better prepared to defend themselves.


******************************************************

Dee moved closer to the bird, studying it carefully. Had it just said something? She would have sworn she had just heard it talk. No, not “talk”. Not exactly. She had heard something, but not with her ears. It had been more like a buzzing inside her head, a buzzing that somehow made sense.

She watched the bird for several more seconds, debating whether or not to go closer. Finally she decided against it. Wherever it came from, those talons were still mighty sharp.

“I’ll try to come back later,” she said to the bird. “I’ll…..I’ll bring you something to eat.” The next best thing to sharing secrets was sharing food. “I’ll save some of my lunch, and I’ll ask Mac to stop here on the way out. Will you be here?”

The bird stared. Dee waited. Finally, she gave up. “Goodbye till later,” she called, and turned and walked away. This time no voice whispered, in her ear or anywhere else.

She walked back to the truck where Mac was waiting for her. The hawk followed her, high up in the sky. It was still circling as they drove off.

<Valeris? They’re gone. Are you all right?>

<Thank goodness! That was exhausting. That child was very hard to convince. I lost her for a second there. I’m not certain how much longer I could have held her.>

<Didn’t you tell me that humans don’t communicate telepathically?>

<That’s right. They use physical speech.>

<This one is different.>

<How so, Urza?>

<She heard me.>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week, on Shapeshifters...

How will the others react to the news that the ship was approached by humans? And...

...what happens when Dee returns?

I'll post Part 5 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Minanda: I always thought of mindwarping as just images, with one image replacing another in someone's mind. Dee will try what you propose in a later chapter. Have you been rummaging in my hard drive? :lol!: (And I loved Start Trek IV. )


PART FIVE


“How could she hear me?” Urza asked Valeris. “She wasn’t supposed to hear me! Not only did she see the ship, she heard me! Could this get any worse?” Urza asked miserably, as he and Valeris sat together in the lab.

Valeris rubbed his aching head. He had a massive headache from the deception, much worse than he’d ever had the few times he’d tried it before. But then again, he’d never had to hold it so long. Or had such a reluctant target.

“It might have something to do with the fact that she’s a child,” Valeris said. “Children are harder to deceive because they believe more easily. That same trait could make them more receptive to things an adult could not accept. The human mind is capable of much more than they realize.”

Valeris rose and headed for the food storage unit in the corner. Perhaps if he had something to eat, he would feel better. “The potential of the human brain was the whole reason we started the project in the first place. Humans have no idea what they can do. Sometimes I wonder if that’s because areas of their brains are truly closed off to them, or if it’s because they become conditioned in childhood to think that certain things are just not possible. Their lack of knowledge might be learned behavior, not biological.”

Urza slumped disconsolately, brushing aside the offer of food that Valeris made. He was neither a philosopher nor a scientist, so none of this was very interesting to him. What was interesting was that he had very likely messed things up. Again. “Wait until Jaddo hears about this,” he mumbled. “He’ll have a fit.”

“Watch for her return, and tell me if and when she comes back so I can deceive her again,” Valeris said. “She doubts herself now; the second time should be easier. I hope,” he added, cradling his sore head in his hands.

“Poor Valeris,” Urza said, pouring a cup of hot jero for his friend and pushing it across the table. “Here I sit whining, and you’re in pain. I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time. If she hadn’t see the ship, she wouldn’t have been so difficult to convince. I thought they were heading in the opposite direction.”

Valeris shook his head. “No matter, Urza. It would have been hard to accomplish in any case. I’m not proficient, you know. We haven’t fully explored this particular trait. But we do know enough that I was able to induce it in one of the hybrids.”

“Which one?” Urza asked.

“My Ward, of course,” Valeris said, eyes twinkling. “I induced our respective special characteristics into each of our respective Wards. It will be easier to teach them how to use them; we will have had personal experience. And our Wards should develop abilities we know nothing about because the science has advanced since we were altered. We know how to stimulate parts of the brain that were previously unreachable. I shall be curious to see what our Wards can do after they emerge,” Valeris finished, sounding exactly like the scientist he was.

“Fascinating,” Urza said glumly. “But none of that helps me now. How am I going to explain what happened?”

“Why not just…..explain what happened?” Valeris asked sensibly. “Although you might want to hold off on telling them until they’ve had a chance to rest.”

“Hold off on telling us what?” Jaddo asked, as he and Brivari entered the lab. They looked terrible; exhausted, filthy, completely disheveled. And definitely not in the mood for nosy little girls.

Urza sat transfixed as Jaddo and Brivari stared, waiting for an answer. Valeris sighed. Talk about bad timing.

“I said, hold off on telling us what?” Jaddo repeated with irritation, eyes fixed on Urza.

Urza looked helplessly at Valeris, who shrugged.

“Two humans approached this area today,” said Valeris. “We did not want to worry you, so I was advising Urza to not raise the subject immediately upon your arrival.”

“Where are these humans now?” Brivari asked.

“Miles away,” Urza answered in a tentative voice.

“You let them go?” Jaddo asked incredulously. “Two humans approached this vessel, and you let them go? Just exactly how stupid could you be?!” Jaddo said, advancing on Urza.

Brivari stepped between Jaddo and Urza, giving Jaddo a warning glance. He turned to Urza, with Jaddo fuming behind him, and said, “Who were they? What did they see?”

Urza looked from Brivari, with his penetrating gaze, to Jaddo, obviously annoyed, to Valeris, who gave him an encouraging nod.

“It was a male adult and a female child,” Urza said in a shaky voice. “The child briefly saw the ship, but then Valeris disguised us. The male saw nothing.”

Brivari looked to Valeris for confirmation. “It was difficult,” Valeris allowed. “Children are not as easy to deceive as adults are, but I managed. We are safe for the moment.”

“These humans should be removed at once,” Jaddo said flatly. All of you should know that.”

“It is my opinion that having a child out there with what will sound like a fanciful tale is markedly preferable to having a couple of bodies lying around,” Valeris said dryly. “Or missing. The last thing we need are more humans looking for those two at their last known location.”

Jaddo started to argue, but Brivari held up his hand for silence. “For now we do nothing,” he said, looking back and forth from Jaddo to Valeris. “Missing people cause inconvenient questions. And it is doubtful anyone would believe her if she told what she saw. At the moment, she is a greater liability to us dead than alive.”

“I should go out at once and made certain there are no humans anywhere nearby,” Jaddo said, heading for the door.

“No,” Brivari said firmly. “You are exhausted. We both are. We spent the entire day tunneling through rock. Get some rest. Urza will keep an eye out for anyone approaching the ship.”

“As I understand it, Urza supposedly was keeping an eye out, and the ship was approached anyway,” Jaddo said angrily. “He has proven himself incompetent to perform that task.”

“No,” Urza said quietly, surprising them all. He looked frightened and his voice was not entirely steady, but he stood his ground. “I am not incompetent. I alerted Valeris, and he shielded the ship. I did the best I could. Unlike you, I do not hold myself to an unattainable standard of perfection.”

Jaddo advanced on Urza so quickly and with such rage that Urza backed up until he bumped into the wall. “You,” Jaddo seethed, absolutely furious now. “I am so sick of you! I have had to put up with you ever since our Wards were betrothed, all because Rath insisted I tolerate you for Vilandra’s sake. She loved you. She wanted you well-treated. I cannot imagine how she survived as long as she did with a Warder as inept as you!”

Urza remained flat against the wall during this barrage of abuse, eyes growing wider with each additional insult. He had known Jaddo hated him, of course; everyone knew that. His opinion of Vilandra was not much better. But even Urza had not expected this.

Brivari stepped forward into the subsequent heavy silence and put a hand on Jaddo’s arm. “We need to rest. We will deal with the humans if and when we need to.”

“May we at least expect him to do his duty if the humans return?” Jaddo said acidly. “Or is that asking too much of Vilandra’s pet?”

Urza winced at the epithet. Valeris shook his head sadly. “Urza did do his duty,” Brivari argued. “Dead bodies are a liability. People start looking for what killed them. Now go,” he said to Jaddo. “You’ve said enough for now, don’t you think?”

“Missing people may cause inconvenient questions, but they do have one redeeming feature—they cannot speak.” Jaddo glared at each of them in turn before striding through the blasted lab doorway and noisily down the hall.

“He is frightened and exhausted,” Brivari said gently to Urza. “And he’s taking it out on you. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know that,” Urza replied. “But he meant what he said. He hates me.”

“He does not hate you,” Valeris said, “difficult as that may be for you to believe. As you noted he is a perfectionist, impatient and unforgiving, with himself as much as others. Give him some time to rest, and I’m sure he will see the sense in our decision.”

Urza slowly straightened up. “I should scan the area again. Unless you would prefer to do that yourself?” he asked, looking at Brivari.

“Of course not,” Brivari answered. “I do not share Jaddo’s opinion of you, Urza. The two of you are very different, that’s true. You told me you live by our rules, and I believe you. You will do what is best for our Wards.”

A look of surprise crossed Urza’s face. “I will certainly try, Master.” He turned and left.

“He told you something,” Valeris said, watching Urza’s retreating figure.

“Not exactly,” Brivari answered. “But he did admit he knows more than he is willing to tell.”

“That’s how you knew ‘Balor’ was lying?” Valeris asked. Brivari nodded.

Valeris gazed at the door through which Urza had just left. “And you trust him?” Brivari hesitated this time, but nodded again. “Is that wise?” Valeris asked.

“He claims he can tell me what he knows only if necessary, as it was when Orlon contacted us. He says he gave his word that he would keep his knowledge to himself.”

Valeris’s eyes narrowed. “To whom?”

“He didn’t say.”

“So you’re just going to let this go?”

“For the moment,” Brivari answered. “We have other concerns now, and I believe he will break his word if need be. But what I said earlier still holds: Before this is over, he will tell me what he knows.”


******************************************************


Jaddo collapsed on the sleeping platform, almost too exhausted to move. Blasting through tons of rock had been hard enough; shifting again and inspecting the nearby town had been harder. He had barely had enough energy left when they returned to shift to his normal form. For a few minutes there, he thought he would have to rest as a bird.

At least the news from the town had been good. The storm last night had knocked down trees and power lines, and caused all manner of other damage. The humans were scrambling to fix it, all the more so because tomorrow appeared to be some sort of holiday. They were satisfactorily preoccupied, too busy with their own affairs to notice anything out of the ordinary.

But now he learned that the ship had been approached by humans on the very first day, and allowed to live by that idiot Urza. “Unattainable perfection” indeed. The concept of perfection was lost on Urza. He obviously did not realize the danger they were in. And why should he? Until recently his Ward was never in danger. Rath and the King lived constantly with the threats which accompanied their positions, while the Queen and Vilandra did not make such interesting targets. He really couldn’t expect either Valeris or Urza to understand the peril of their current situation.

He could see why Vilandra liked Urza. She found him amusing, and tolerant of her fickle tastes. Urza was content to stand around while Vilandra was the life of the party, whatever party she was attending at the moment. Thank God he was Rath’s warder and not hers. She would have driven him crazy.

Not that Rath didn’t have his moments. His final instructions remained a mystery.

****“Wait here,” Rath had ordered him. “You will be needed here if I do not return.”

“Return from where?” Jaddo had queried, mystified. “I should be at your side, as I always am.”

“You cannot help me this time,” Rath had replied. And Jaddo had had no choice but to watch from an upper palace window, as Rath had gone to the gate with whatever soldiers he could muster to meet an army that should not have been there.****

The thought of Rath deliberately leaving him behind while heading out to meet an enemy no one knew was coming tortured Jaddo day and night. There was only one logical conclusion for Rath’s behavior: He knew. Rath knew they were coming, and he also knew what would happen to Jaddo if he were caught betraying the King. When a traitor was executed, his Warder, if he had one, was executed too. By leaving him behind, Rath had bought him time. Time to flee, if flight proved wise.

Were you trying to save me? Jaddo wondered for the millionth time. Were to trying to ensure my survival in case you were caught? Or were you afraid I would discover your treachery? If so, why not just kill me and be done with it?

Jaddo rolled over on the sleeping platform, suddenly no longer sleepy. This was his worst nightmare, the one that could keep him awake even through profound exhaustion: The image of Rath standing at the gate without his guardian. Alone. Unprotected. While his Warder watched from the relative safety of an upstairs window.



******************************************************


Dee climbed the ridge with her lunchbox in her hand, puffing a little as she scrambled up. It was late afternoon, blazing hot, and she was tired. Mac was waiting for her in the truck, put out by her insistence on leaving some food for the bird they had seen earlier. “Birds feed themselves,” he had grumbled.

Dee held her breath as the walked across the top of the ridge. Would he be there? Was she right, or was she completely losing her mind?

She smiled as she looked down the other side. The hawk was there, sitting on the fake rock just as before. She scrambled down the other side, not even bothering to try and see the ship. She already knew it was there.

She walked right up to the hawk, confident it would not fly away. It didn’t. She set her lunchbox on the ground and opened it.

“I don’t know what you eat,” she said, “but I thought you might like to try some of our food. You know, Earth food.” She took out a bologna sandwich, one of two she had made that morning, an apple, and a bottle of Coca-Cola, and placed them on the ground. “I don’t have a bottle opener,” she said apologetically, “but seeing as how you’re from outer space, I’m sure you’ll find a way to get that bottle open.”

Dee shut the lunchbox and looked at the hawk, who had not moved a muscle from his fake perch. “I won’t tell,” she said firmly. “I promise. I won’t tell anyone.” She waited to see if this would break the ice, and listened carefully to see if she would hear those words in her mind again. Nothing.

Time to try something else. She’d promised to keep a secret and offered food. The next item on her “how to be a friend” list was the party invitation.

“You might want to come into town tomorrow. It’s a big holiday here, the birthday of our country. There’ll be a parade downtown at noon, and tomorrow night they’ll shoot off fireworks after it gets dark. If you’ve come here to watch us, you might want to see that.” She stood up. “If you come tomorrow, look for me. I’ll be at the parade and the fireworks.” She began to walk away.

“One more thing,” she said, turning around. “If you need any help, come get me. My name is Dee Proctor, and I live on Baldwin Street. I know you’re a good outer space person because if you were bad, you would have tried to hurt me. But you haven’t. And I won’t hurt you either. Because I’m a good Earth person.” She smiled, pleased with her ‘welcome to the planet’ speech, and scrambled up the ridge.

Urza waited until he heard the truck drive away.

<They’re gone, Valeris.>

<I know, Urza. Their minds are out of range now.>

<She brought us food.>

<Human food? I’ve never seen any. Bring it in.>

<Soon. I want to be certain they have gone. And Valeris?>

<Hmm?>

<What are “fireworks”?>

<I have no idea.>

Urza followed the truck at a distance for several miles. When he was satisfied they had gone, he headed back for the ship. He liked the child. She reminded him of happier times, simpler times. So much like her when she was that age. So very much like Vilandra.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week, on Shapeshifters....

Urza goes to town to do the grocery shopping, and...

Dee goes to town for the parade, and....

Well, you get it. They're both in town.

I'll post Part 6 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Minanda: Ahh, I knew someone was in my hard drive. Before this story is over we will find out what Rath did and did not know, and how he knew Khivar was coming.

Time to bring the two new friends together.



PART SIX

Corona, New Mexico. July 4, 1947, 10 a.m.


Urza soared over the town on his hawk’s wings, delighting in the warm thermals that allowed him to hang in the air while the current carried him upward. Flying had always been a joy; flying in Earth’s thinner atmosphere was beyond joy. He could go so much faster, so much higher, all with little effort.

He dropped lower to get a better look at a crowd of humans gathering at the end of the long road that cut through the center of the town. Curious. They didn’t seem to be doing anything. Many were dressed in matching clothing, while others wore garments so outlandish it was amazing they were out in public. Urza wondered if this was the “parade” the child had spoken of yesterday. The child who called herself “Dee Proctor”.

No time for that now; he was on a mission. They had two pressing needs: Transportation for the Granolith and the hybrids, and food for themselves. Virtually all of their food storage units, which hadn’t been full to begin with due to the hasty nature of their exit, had been damaged in the crash, and their contents contaminated or spoiled. They would need to rely on this planet’s resources to sustain themselves from now on.

And what odd resources those were. Valeris and Urza had puzzled over the child’s offering of food while Brivari and Jaddo slept.

Valeris had gingerly unwrapped the soft, stacked square from the shiny, thin metal in which it was wrapped, and placed it on the table in the lab. The shiny metal looked remarkably like the material their ship was composed of, minus the strength and the memory—when crumpled, it did not spring back. Urza passed the hard, round, red object from hand to hand inquiringly. The bottle of brown liquid sat unopened.

Valeris peeled apart the soft square to reveal something pink, something yellow, and something red on the inside.

“What do you suppose the colors mean?” Urza asked. “Is it some sort of decoration meant to make their food look better?”

“Perhaps,” Valeris replied, “although it could be meant to make it taste better. Something we wouldn’t know about.”

Valeris reassembled the square and took a small bite. Urza watched him closely. “Well?”

Valeris swallowed, and shrugged. “Would you like to try some?” Urza shook his head, turning his attention instead to the liquid.

There was a metal cap on the bottle of liquid which refused to budge. This must be what the child had meant about needing a “bottle opener”. Humans, of course, would not be able to remove the cap the same way he could. Urza passed his hand over the cap, dislodging it—and scrambled backward as foam erupted from the bottle, spewing all over the table and dripping onto the floor.

Valeris set down the square and inspected the liquid closely. “There is gas in this beverage,” he said finally.

“Why would they put gas in their beverages?” Urza wondered. He stepped sideways and landed in a puddle of the brown stuff. It was sticky.

“I have no idea,” Valeris replied. “I’m not the least bit familiar with Earth food.” He picked up the bottle and took a sip of the liquid. “Odd,” he said, passing the bottle to Urza. “Very odd.”

Urza gingerly took a sip. His very first Earth food, and it had exploded all over the lab and made a mess. He rolled the strange liquid around in his mouth. It tingled, creating almost a burning sensation. This beverage exploded inside the bottle and the mouth. Still, it was not entirely unpleasant, and he was hungry. Urza drank the bottle of brown liquid while Valeris finished the food square. Then both turned their attention to the red ball.

It was very hard and shiny, and had a small stick coming out of the top. A plant, by the looks of it. Urza attempted unsuccessfully to open it with his hands. He dropped it on the tabletop to no avail. Finally Valeris passed his hand over it, neatly slicing the ball in half to reveal a hard, white interior.

“I wonder how humans consume this,” Urza mused.

“With their teeth,” Valeris commented.

“They have teeth large enough to eat this?” Urza asked.

“Humans have quite large teeth,” Valeris replied. “In the back of their mouths, I mean. For chewing. Perhaps this is an indigenous plant which requires large teeth to consume.” He looked thoughtful. “There is one way to find out.” Urza watched while Valeris shifted to human form, which forced him to squat on the floor now that he was all out of proportion to his surroundings. He experimentally ran his newly shifted tongue over his newly formed set of human teeth. He picked up one half of he red ball and bit into it, sending a shower of liquid into the air. Urza watched closely.

“Not bad,” Valeris said finally. “A great deal of work to consume, but quite filling. Try it.”

Urza sighed. He did not like human form; he felt so huge and gangly. Besides, there was no need to shift entirely. Urza shifted only his head into human form, and sank his human teeth into the other half of the red ball.

Valeris burst out laughing at the sight of a human head on an Antarian body. “My goodness,” he chuckled. “Don’t let that child see you like that. That, my friend, is the stuff nightmares are made of.”

That had been Urza’s last meal. Brivari and Jaddo had eaten the last of their remaining food when they had awakened, ravenous, several hours after they had fallen asleep. Neither had been pleased that the child had approached the ship a second time, but Urza was able to assure both of them that this time the child had seen absolutely nothing.

There was some good news. Their one remaining fuel cell was holding, stabilizing the incubators. Brivari and Jaddo reported that the laboratory chamber was suitable for their purposes, although the effort to make it large enough had temporarily depleted their abilities. Last night both had been so weak it was frightening. They were better this morning, though, and planned to start evacuating the ship that very night. And they needed a transport vessel.

There were several large vessels located a short ways from the town, but too many people were milling around for Urza to get a good look. So he had returned to town, hoping to find a similar vessel to inspect while the inhabitants were busy with their "parade.”

There! Behind that building. It was not quite as big as the others he had seen, but it would serve to answer some questions. Urza flew carefully around the area, checking for any sign of humans. No one was there. He landed next to the vehicle, and sighed. In order to look at it he would have to shift. After taking one last, furtive look around, he began to shift to human form.

He shot skyward, wings lengthening into arms, spindly legs bulging, talons growing into feet. He felt like a giant. Humans were so tall compared to Antarians, it was almost like walking on….what was that word he had learned in the database? “Stilts.” After seeing what the humans in the town had been wearing, Urza wasn’t certain what type of clothing would be appropriate. He hazarded a guess, and began to inspect the vessel.

Urza tried the back door of the transport vessel; it was locked. Passing his huge human hand over the latch, he heard a "click", and the door swung open.

Yes, this would do nicely. This particular vessel was small, but there were larger ones available close by. They would need to make several trips, but a device such as this was serviceable.

Now…..how to operate the thing? Humans were still using fossil fuels, so it must have an engine and a holding tank for the fuel. Urza opened the door at the front of the vessel and climbed up into the seat. A circular wheel was in front of him—directional controls, he supposed. But how did one start and stop? He leaned over to examine the pedals he found on the floor.

“There you are!” said a sharp voice. Urza jerked upright. “I’ve been looking all over for you! You’re late! Get in here and get to work.”

Urza stared, open-mouthed, at the large, chubby human standing outside the nearest window. This was not good. Not good.

“Let’s move!” the man said, walking away. When Urza did not follow, he turned, exasperated. “Look. I’ve waited around for you all morning. I’m not waiting any longer. No job, no pay. Now get in here, and stop wasting my time.” The man indicated the back door of the building in front of them. “We have to get the food down to the festival organizers before the parade starts. I want you to load this truck and drive it downtown. Move it!”

Food? Truck? Urza watched the man walk away. A chance to operate this….this “truck”, and obtain food.

He got out of the truck, and followed the man inside.



******************************************************

“Here we are,” Mac said cheerfully, as he and Dee approached Chambers Grocery Store. “We’ll just pick up a few things for the block party tonight, and then get down to the parade.”

“Are they open?” Dee asked. “There’s no one around.”

“I saw Bill Chambers a little while ago,” said Mac. “Said he was heading back here because the food never got delivered downtown, and he suspected the new hired hand never showed up. I told him I needed a few last minute things, and he said to come on down. Ah, there he is. Bill!” Mac called as he opened the door to the store.

Dee liked Mr. Chambers. He was a big, beefy man, just like a grocer should be. Bill shook Mac’s hand and gave Dee an affectionate pat. “Pick out whatever you need, Mac. I’ll put it on your bill. I need to stay out back and supervise this nitwit,” he said, indicating a man stooping to pick up a box several feet away. “Get a load of that business suit. He must think he’s some hotshot. Showed up two hours late, can you believe it? Found him sitting in the cab of the truck, looking like he had no idea what he was doing there. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how I get anything done around here with help this bad. Last one I hired just up and left without even telling me. Took me a week to figure out he wasn’t coming back. You there!” he called to the man, who had just come back into the store after taking out the box. “There’s a stack over here that needs to go too. On the double!”

Dee watched as the man obediently headed for the stack of boxes Mr. Chambers had indicated. But he paused along the way to look at the loaves of bread, the trays of sausages, and the hunks of cheese displayed in the case by the cash register. “I think he’s hungry,” Dee whispered to Mr. Chambers. She kept her voice very low so as not to embarrass the man. The war might have vanquished the Great Depression that her parents talked about like it happened yesterday, but there were still an awful lot of hungry, out-of-work people out there who were too proud to admit it.

The man turned at the sound of her voice. He stared at her, a penetrating stare that made her uncomfortable. How had he heard her? She had whispered so softly, and he was at least 15 feet away.

Mr. Chambers looked abashed. “Is that true?” he asked. “Are you hungry?” The man nodded wordlessly.

The grocer sighed. Things were supposed to be getting better, but hungry people still seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. “Tell you what,” he said to the man, who was still staring at Dee. “Load these up and deliver them on time, and I’ll let you take some food along with your pay.”

The man nodded silently, and headed toward the stack of boxes that still needed loading.

A bell tinkled. Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox came in, mopping his forehead with a handkerchief. It was blazing hot outside, as usual. “Mac, I got your message,” George said. What’s so all-fired important it couldn’t wait ‘till tomorrow?”

“George!” Mac exclaimed. “What luck seeing you here! You have got to see what Dee and I found on the ranch yesterday. It’s just amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it! Can I bring it by your office today?”

Dee’s ears pricked. Apparently so did the handyman’s. He slowed his packing, and half turned to look.

George sighed. “Mac, I’m not in my office today. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s July 4th. My day and night will be spent trying to keep petty thieves out of Corona’s businesses and rounding up teenagers drunk on cheap booze. And trying to make sure no one loses a hand or a leg to a firecracker. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Whatcha got, anyway?”

“We found some pieces of the most wonderful stuff, George! It looks like metal, but it’s not. You can fold it, or squish it, and it springs right back. It is truly amazing!”

George stared. “Bits of metal? This is all about bits of metal? From what? Did a car, or a truck, or a dirt bike crash out there?”

Mac shook his head. “We didn’t see any wreckage. Although Dee thought she saw a wrecked spaceship,” he added with a smile.

Dee’s heart leapt to her throat. No one could find out. She’d promised. The handyman had taken a step forward, and was looking at her intently. He looked upset.

George smiled as he looked at Dee. “A spaceship? Is that right?”

Dee shrugged her shoulders and tried to look nonchalant. “I was just teasing Mac,” she said casually.

“What?” Mac protested. “You swore up and down you’d seen a spaceship. You even told me that bird was from outer space!”

“A bird?” George said, still smiling. Dee relaxed a bit. This would be much easier if they all thought she was crazy, galling as that might be. She shrugged again, and tried to look embarrassed. Which wasn’t difficult, as everyone was staring at her now, including the new handyman. Especially the new handyman.

“I guess she was pulling my leg,” Mac said affectionately, tugging a lock of Dee’s hair. “Did a good job too. For a moment there I almost saw a spaceship.” Dee kept smiling. The handyman took another step forward.

“Well, George, I’ve got some things to pick up for the block party tonight,” said Mac. “Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll be sure to bring those pieces I found for you to look at.”

“I’m sure it’ll be the highlight of my week,” George deadpanned, as Mac walked away.

George turned to Dee. “So. A spaceship. Say, whereabouts did you see it?”

<Don’t answer that.>

Dee whirled around, looking frantically from side to side. She had heard that voice before, just a whisper inside her head. Now it was stronger—but where was the hawk?

“Dee? I asked where you saw the spaceship,” George tried again.

<Please. Do not reveal us. We mean you no harm.>

Dee looked up into the eyes of the handyman, who was still just standing there and had yet to speak a word—out loud.

“It’s you,” she whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week....

Wanted: One child, about 8 years of age, preferred female, to teach one alien about dressing, speaking, and driving. Must be fairly intrepid and able to think on your feet. Easily intimidated types need not apply.

I'll post Part 7 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Minanda: Someone on another board suggested that the aliens should discover rum next, to go with their Coke. That'll take their minds off their troubles.

Let the games begin!




PART SEVEN


“What do you mean, ‘It’s you’? It’s who?” Sheriff Wilcox asked, confused.

Dee was staring at the handyman, completely ignoring the Sheriff. Was this a different……er……visitor than the bird? But then how would he know about her?

“Dee?” the Sheriff prompted.

Dee turned around to face the Sheriff. “I’m sorry, Sheriff. This is a little embarrassing. I was just having fun with Mac. Telling a tall tale. Sounds like he bought it,” she added, doing her level best to look sheepish.

Sheriff Wilcox smiled. “Sounds like you did a very good job,” he chuckled. He plopped his hat back on his head. “I’ll be curious to see what’s got him so worked up. It’ll be something different anyway. You enjoy the parade now, you hear? And the fireworks too.”

Dee nodded, and waved as the Sheriff left the store. Mr. Chambers reappeared from a back room. “Aren’t you finished yet?” he asked the still staring handyman. When the handyman did not reply, Dee stepped between him and the rapidly reddening Mr. Chambers.

“It’s my fault, Mr. Chambers,” Dee said contritely. “Sheriff Wilcox and I were talking with this....man, and we distracted him from his work. I’m sorry.”

Mr. Chambers looked the handyman up and down. “Talking, eh? Haven’t heard him say ‘Boo’ since he got here.” He turned to Dee. “Mac asked me to take you downtown with me. Let’s go.”

“I’ll go with the handyman,” Dee said. When Mr. Chambers turned a skeptical eye on her, she added quickly, “He’s new in town, and doesn’t know his way around.”

Mr. Chambers sighed. “I didn’t realize you were new here. You probably got lost on the way here, didn’t you? Is that why you were late?” When the handyman nodded again, Mr. Chambers held out his hand. “Well, why didn’t you say so? I would have understood. I should properly welcome you.” He extended his hand. “Welcome to Corona, sir.”

Dee bit her lip. The handyman stood there looking blankly at Mr. Chamber’s hand. Of course he would have no idea what a handshake was.

Before Mr. Chambers could get angry about his handshake being refused, Dee sidled up to him and whispered in his ear, “He’s really shy, Mr. Chambers. And really embarrassed he was so late. He probably thinks he doesn’t deserve that handshake.”

Chambers nodded and lowered his hand. “Ah, well, that’s all right son,” he said clapping the man on the shoulder. The man flinched. “Now, now, don’t be so touchy. I’m not sore. Just pack this all up and deliver it, and I’ll make sure you get a nice ‘Welcome to Corona’ gift basket when you get back. Okay?”

The handyman was watching Dee, who was standing behind Mr. Chambers. Dee nodded her head. The handyman nodded his head.

“Good, good,” Mr. Chambers said, obviously pleased with his own largesse. He picked up his hat. “Nice of you to show the newcomer around, Dee. See you downtown. You take good care of her, mind you,” he added to the handyman. “She’s one of our favorites.” He patted Dee on the shoulder and left.

Dee whirled on the handyman. “What are you doing here? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?”

<We were hungry. And we need transportation.>

Transportation? That must have been why he was sitting in the truck when Mr. Chambers found him. “Why do you need transportation?”

<We need to move some things off our ship before we are discovered.>

“What…..wait a minute.” Dee had not yet asked the most obvious questions. “Are you the same….person I talked to yesterday?”

<Yes.>

“Why aren’t you a bird?”

<I can take many forms.>

Whoa. She had not been expecting this. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Are you a boy or a girl?”

<Neither.>

“Neither?”

<I am whatever I am at the moment.>

“Oh.” Next question. “Why do I hear your voice in my head?”

The man paused, as if considering his words. <We are not certain.>

“We? There are more of you?”

<Yes.>

Well, that was kind of exciting. Maybe there was an entire delegation here from another planet! “Can you talk? I mean, like we talk?”

<We are capable of physical speech.>

Physical speech. That must mean talking with your mouth, instead of the in-your-head type of talking. “If you can talk, I mean, out loud, then why don’t you? It’s going to look weird if you never, ever say anything.”

The man looked at his feet. Dee would have sworn he looked embarrassed. <I scanned your language. But I am afraid of making a mistake and drawing attention to myself.>

Dee had no idea what “scanned” meant, but she understood the drawing attention to yourself bit. “Okay,” she said, deciding that someone needed to take charge. “First things first. Finish loading the boxes while I look for some good clothes for you. Mr. Chambers probably has some extra work clothes in the back. Then I’ll show you how to get downtown.”

The man looked at his clothing. <Is this not suitable?>

Dee shook her head. “It’s all wrong. You look like you’re on the way to the office.” When the man looked unconvinced, Dee said, “You’ll definitely attract attention if you wear that downtown.”

The man seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded. <Show me what proper clothing would look like.>

Dee walked over to the window and motioned for the man to follow her. She pointed to a man standing across the street. “There. See? Like that. Overalls. A short-sleeved shirt because it’s hot out. Work boots. Like that.”

<Turn around.>

“What?”

<I would prefer you not watch.>

Watch? Watch what? What did he intend to do—strip, and swipe the clothes off the back of the man across the street? Nevertheless, Dee turned around, all the while keeping her ears pricked for the slightest sound behind her.

She heard nothing. Mere seconds later, the man said <Is this better?>

Dee turned around. And gaped. He was wearing an exact copy of what the man across the street was wearing, right down to the pattern on the shirt. “How did you do that?” she whispered.

<The same way I am no longer a bird,> he said simply.

Dee shook her head. “It still won’t work. People might stare if you’re wearing exactly the same thing. Make the shirt a different color. Yes, I know,” she added. “I’m turning around.”

A few seconds later the man had changed the color of his shirt to a bright blue. “Very nice,” Dee said approvingly. “I like the color.”

<It is the color of your eyes.>

Dee stared at the stranger a moment, and then smiled. She was beginning to like this silent, funny little man. “Do you have a name? What shall I call you?” He didn’t reply. “Everyone has a name,” Dee pointed out. “People will ask you what your name is. You’d better have one ready.”

<Why don’t you think of one for me.>

Dee shoved her hands in her pockets. “I don’t supposed you’d tell me your name? I’d love to hear a name from another planet.” The man stood silently, waiting. Not today, it seemed.

She considered. Her grandfather’s name? No, too old-fashioned. Her father’s name? Too confusing. What about her uncle’s name?

Dee thought about her uncle, the wonderful man who had gone to war and come back only a shell, and even that had not lasted long. She missed him; her father missed him terribly. And this funny, quiet man reminded her of him just a little.

“Okay, then. If I get to pick, then I will call you……James.”

The man nodded, picked up a box, and headed out the door. Dee sighed and followed him. So much for her grand gesture of naming Earth’s first visitor from another planet.


******************************************************


Brivari walked into the lab to find Valeris closing the lid of an incubator with disturbing finality. “How many are left?” he asked quietly.

“Only six complete sets in good shape,” Valeris replied heavily, “plus a few extras that don’t look as if they’ll make it.” His tone made it clear this was not good news. He had not expected an attrition rate so high. Then again, he hadn’t expected to crash into an Earth field either.

Brivari sank into a chair. “I suppose we should be grateful we have any left at all, after what happened,” he said sadly. “Where is Urza? I didn’t see him on my way here.”

“I sent him out to locate transportation and hopefully some food,” Valeris replied. “With any luck he’ll have found something by the time night falls.”

“Good,” Brivari replied. Reaching for the pot of jero, he emptied the contents into a cup. He took a sip and grimaced. Cold. He hated cold beverages.

“At least I saved you the last cup,” Valeris said, smiling at the look on Brivari’s face. “Urza did manage to repair one of the fuel cells. The incubators are now stable; that should help. Allow me,” he added, pushing aside Brivari’s hand and placing his own over Brivari’s cup, using his own energy to heat the contents. “You shouldn’t be using your energy on anything you don’t have to. Your abilities were severely diminished yesterday.”

“Am I so bad off that I can’t heat my own beverage?” Brivari asked teasingly. “I have largely recovered,” he added to an obviously concerned Valeris. “We’ll move the hybrids tonight.”

Valeris took a deep breath. He had been anticipating this conversation. Dreading it, actually. He disliked admitting his weaknesses. But his experience with the humans who had approached the ship had convinced him he was right.

“I don’t think you should move them right away,” Valeris said carefully. “You should move the Granolith first.”

Brivari blinked. Once. Then twice. He sat back in his chair and studied Valeris for a moment, as if he thought perhaps his friend were crazy. Finally he decided to forgo all the objections that immediately came to mind, and simply asked, “Why?”

Valeris smiled. “You think I’m unstable, don’t you? Are you afraid this thinner atmosphere is affecting my judgment?”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” Brivari said dryly. “But we’ll set that aside for the moment. Why would you, a scientist, put your creations in jeopardy for one moment longer than necessary?”

“Leaving them here a bit longer does not place them in any more jeopardy than they are already in,” Valeris replied. “In fact, I would argue they would be in less jeopardy by waiting.”

“What if we are discovered?” Brivari asked.

“We have already been discovered,” Valeris pointed out. “Which is precisely what led me to this conclusion.”

Brivari looked confused. “Explain.”

Valeris pulled up a chair and leaned forward across from Brivari. “When I needed to deceive the human man and child yesterday, I realized anew just how difficult it is to convince someone that something they want to see is not there. It is so much easier to hide something that someone is not expecting to see in the first place."

“I’m not following,” Brivari said tiredly.

“Who do you think will come for us if we are truly discovered?” Valeris asked.

“The military,” Brivari answered promptly. “Soldiers.”

“Exactly,” Valeris said triumphantly, as though his point were made. When Brivari continued to look blank, Valeris continued, “And when those soldiers arrive, what will be the first thing on their minds when they see a crashed alien ship?”

“They’ll be looking for aliens,” Brivari said, “especially alien technology.”

“Yes,” Valeris agreed. “They will be looking for technology. They will want to see technology. And it will be very hard to convince them that technology is not there. Not to mention the fact that the Granolith has a huge power signature which is very difficult to hide.”

“And the hybrids?” Brivari asked.

“Soldiers will not be expecting to see human-appearing fetuses. That will be the last thing they expect to see. Hiding the hybrids will be relatively easy. If it comes to that, I can hide only the hybrids and myself and let them pick apart the rest of the ship. That will keep them very busy and buy us time. I should be able to convince them that the lab door is really a solid wall with nothing behind it. If it comes to that,” he concluded.

Brivari shook his head. “We aren’t talking about just a few soldiers. If and when we are found, there will be dozens of them. You said it was difficult to affect so many minds at the same time.”

“I said I could fool many minds a little, or few minds a lot,” Valeris corrected. “This would fall into the ‘many minds a little’ category. Fooling that many people into thinking something as large and powerful as the Granolith is not there would be next to impossible. I’m simply not that skilled,” he added, looking genuinely upset that he did not have more to offer.

Brivari smiled. The thought of Valeris being unskilled was amusing. “Moving the Granolith may take a couple of days. Are you sure you want us to do it this way?”

“I’m sure,” Valeris said firmly. “Moving the hybrids last will also delay the disconnecting of the incubators until the last possible minute. I know they will reconnected to the fuel cell that Urza repaired, but there will still be at least a few hours while they are not connected. Delaying that for even two days may help.

“Very well, then,” Brivari sighed. “I can’t say I’m thrilled about it, but we’ll do it your way.”

Valeris put his hand on Brivari’s shoulder. “Thank you, old friend,” he said warmly. “I appreciate your trust in me.” And then, with that characteristic twinkle in his eye, “What do you think Jaddo will say?”

Brivari closed his eyes. “Let’s not go into that right now, shall we?”


******************************************************


Dee followed “James” out to the truck and watched as he loaded the remaining boxes. “Close the latch,” she told him, as he started to walk away with the back doors gaping wide open. He closed the doors and slid the latch firmly shut. And then just stood here, like he had no idea what to do next.

“You get in there,” Dee said indicating the driver’s seat. “I get in on the other side.” She climbed in the passenger seat and turned sideways to face him. She had made up her mind that some education was in order before James hit downtown.

“Listen. You need to know some things before you talk to any more humans. First of all, when we meet each other we say, ‘Hello’. And when we leave each other, we say ‘Goodbye’.”

<I know that.>

“But you can’t just think it. You have to say it. Out loud. What you call ‘physical speech’. Humans don’t do……thought speech,” Dee said, leaving aside for the moment the obvious fact that she did “do” thought speech for some reason. “Now, repeat after me: ‘Hello’.”

James just sat there, silent as always. “James,” Dee said in exasperation. “You said you didn’t want to call attention to yourself. Well, not talking—I mean our way of talking—is definitely going to call attention to yourself. Is that what you want?”

James shook his head. “Okay, then. We should practice a few things you need to know so you don’t call attention to yourself. Say ‘Hello’.”

“Hello,” James said, in such a perfectly normal voice that Dee was surprised. She wasn’t certain what she’d been expecting, but a completely normal voice wasn’t it. “Very good,” she said approvingly. “Now, say ‘Goodbye’.”

“Goodbye,” James responded obediently. Dee nodded. “Now, when someone holds their hand out like Mr. Chambers did, you’re supposed to shake it. Like this.” She extended her hand. When James did not extend his, she reached over, picked up his hand, and placed it in hers, pumping his hand up and down. His hand felt like any other hand, warm and dry. Nothing to make you think you were shaking the hand of someone from another planet.

<What is the purpose of this ritual?>

“It’s how we say ‘Hello’.”

<Didn’t I already say ‘Hello’?>

“We don’t always shake hands when we say ‘Hello’. Just sometimes.”

<When?>

Dee opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. Explaining your customs to a spaceman was hard. “Just ‘Hello’ is fine,” she finally told James. “But if someone sticks their hand out, you shake it like this. Got it?” James nodded.

“Good. Now, I’ll show you how to get downtown. Start the truck.” James looked at her blankly. Dee’s heart sank. “You don’t know how to drive, do you?”

<Don’t you?>

“Of course not! I’m only eight! Well, almost nine, but that’s still way too young to drive. Take the key and start the engine.”

<Key?>

Dee stared at the ignition. There was no key. And Mr. Chambers hadn’t handed James a key when he had left. She smacked her hand to her forehead. “No key? Great. Just great.”

<Is that bad?>

“Yes, it’s bad! We need the key to start the truck.”

<Start it doing what?>

Dee rolled her eyes. “The engine, James. We need the key to start the engine. You must know what an engine is. There must be one on your spaceship. You know—the part that makes it ‘go’?”

<I know what an engine is,> James said, sounding slightly offended. <Where does the key go?>

“You stick it in there,” Dee said, indicating the ignition, “and turn it.”

James smiled, the first time he had smiled since Dee met him. And then he did something extraordinary. He held his hand over the ignition for a moment. His hand seemed to glow, and to her astonishment, the engine roared to life.

James placed his hands on the steering wheel and looked very pleased with himself. <Is that better?>

Dee nodded, staring. She really didn’t understand why she was so surprised. After all, if a bird could turn into a man and change his clothes without…..well, without changing them, why shouldn’t he be able to start a truck with his hand?

Time to move on. Pointing at the floor, she said, “See those two pedals?” James nodded. “The one on the right—my side—makes the truck go. The one in the middle makes it stop. The one way over on the left—your side—is what you press when you shift the shifter lever.” Dee paused; this was going to be hard. She’d watched her Mom and Dad and Mac drive countless times, but she still wasn’t quite certain exactly how it was done.

James was looking from one pedal to another and back with obvious confusion. “Okay. Step one,” Dee said. God, she hoped she got this right. “Push in the pedal way over on the left. That’s the ‘clutch’.” James obeyed. She shifted the shift lever into reverse. “Now, slowly take your foot off the clutch.” James took his foot off the clutch and the engine promptly stalled.

Dee sighed. “No, you have to let it out slower.” She shifted back into park. “Try again.” She watched, agog, while James started the engine again with his glowy hand. He depressed the clutch, she shifted into reverse, and James slowly removed his foot from the clutch. So far so good.

“Now, gently press the pedal on the right,” Dee instructed. James pressed—and the truck shot backward.

“Push the brake—I mean the middle pedal. No! Wait! Push the clutch, then the brake.” But it was too late. James had pressed the brake first and stalled the motor.

Dee slumped in her seat. She had seen it done enough times that she might be able to do it herself—if her legs had been long enough to reach the pedals, which they weren’t. What were they going to do? “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I’m not a very good teacher.”

James smiled at her. It was a nice smile; a warm smile. A very human smile. <You are a very good teacher. You have taught me enough that I can now do it my way.>

“Your way”? What was he talking about?

James shifted back into park, restarted the motor, and bent over in his seat. He passed his hand first over the pedals on the floor, then over the shift lever. As she watched, fascinated, the pedals and the lever began to move. All by themselves. In perfect synchrony the clutch depressed, the shifter shifted, the clutch released slowly, and the accelerator went down. They backed smoothly away from the building, James turning the wheel expertly. Apparently he didn’t have any trouble with steering wheels.

Dee’s jaw was in her lap. “How….,” she began.

<The controls now respond to my thoughts. It is better this way. I am not yet used to this form.>

Form? Of course. He had been a bird only yesterday. And birds didn’t drive cars. Quite unexpectedly, Dee began to giggle.

<Is something funny?>

“Oh, only the idea of me trying to teach a space alien who was a bird yesterday and a human today about how to drive a truck,” Dee said, giggling even more.

James smiled his nice smile again. It was good to know that people on other planets found things funny too. He drove the truck to the edge of the parking lot.

“Turn left,” Dee instructed. “Whenever you turn, you need to flip that lever by the steering wheel. It blinks a light and tells the people behind you which way you’re turning.” James nodded, and passed his hand over the turn signal lever, which promptly joined the list of controls which responded to his thoughts.

Dee smiled as they pulled out onto the road. This was kind of fun. Imagine, going to the Fourth of July parade with an alien. The only bad thing about all of this was that she couldn’t tell anybody.

Well, maybe not the only bad thing.

“That’s a red light, James! Stop! STOP!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week.......

"James" (Urza) gets some traffic lessons, and.....

Dee gets a good look at "James's" line of work when they meet the town bully.

I'll post Part 8 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Vanda: Torn loyalties are a problem, especially for alien/human hybrids.

Minanda: It's a good thing Urza didn't need me for a driving lesson. I couldn't drive a stick shift if my life depended on it. (Dee's advice is courtesy of my husband, who can drive a stick.)




PART EIGHT

The truck screeched to a halt, throwing Dee and the alien forward. Dee sat, panting, looking out at the other drivers scowling at them. James merely looked confused.

“Okay. Traffic law lesson,” Dee said firmly. “See those things hanging up there?” She pointed. James nodded. “Those are traffic lights. Red means stop. Yellow means it’s going to turn red, so slow down. Green means go. Do you see that red sign a ways down the road?” She could only just barely see the stop sign in the distance, but James nodded. <Yes. It says, ‘Stop’.>

“Right. You have to stop at stop signs, just like at red lights.”

<If the red light had said, ‘Stop’, I would have known to stop.>

Dee sighed. “The light just turned green. You can go now. See that yellow line in the middle of the road? Stay on the right side of it.”

They drove along in silence without further incident. James might be clueless when it came to driving, but he certainly learned fast. She studied him in detail for the first time, looking sideways at him so he wouldn’t feel she was staring. He looked about average height, brown hair, brown eyes. He looked…..well, he looked like anyone. No one would ever have picked him out of a crowd as the least bit weird or unusual. Not based on his looks, at least.

“You’ll drive straight down this road for awhile. Stopping at red lights and stop signs, of course,” she added. James nodded. Dee decided to try the conversation thing again.

“You haven’t told me why you’re here. What are you doing here?”

<Hiding.>

“Hiding from what?”

<Our enemies.>

“What do your enemies want?”

<To kill us.>

Dee fell silent, looking out the window. She knew about enemies who wanted to kill you. So did her father. Her uncle did too. Or, rather, he had.

“So, what do you do? I mean, what’s your job? Back on your planet, that is.”

A pause. Then, <I protect.>

“Protect what?”

<Not what. Who.>

“Okay, protect who?”

<My Ward.>

“Ward? Is that like a prisoner? Are you a jail warden?”

James smiled unexpectedly, the largest smile Dee had yet seen him wear. He seemed to find her question funny.

<No. My Ward is not a prisoner.> Then his face darkened, as though another, less amusing thought had occurred to him.

“Turn left here,” Dee said, pointing. “You can pull over by the side of the road like those other cars did.”

James obediently parked the truck, and both of them got out. Townspeople running the various food stalls were already lining up, happy that the food shipment had finally arrived. James unlocked the back door of the truck, and there was a brief flurry of activity as the boxes were distributed. Dee sat on the back of the truck, swinging her legs and chatting with everyone. Corona was a small town, and she knew basically everybody.

Including the bad news at the end of the line. Dee stiffened as Denny Miltnor and his band of thugs swaggered toward her, eyeing the last boxes of food. Denny was bad news when he was all by himself, and he had four other pieces of trash with him.

She looked around for someone to call to, but they had parked on a side street. There was a good deal of noise because all of the bands were practicing, making a cacophony which would drown out any cries for help. Denny followed her gaze and smirked. Obviously he’d already thought of that.

“No one around, DeeDee,” Miltnor said in a singsong voice. His cronies smiled. “Now why don’t you fork over some of that food. Who wants to pay when you don’t have to, right guys?” he called back over his shoulder. Each piece of trash obediently bobbed his head up and down. Always best to agree with Denny Miltnor. Bad things happened to those who didn’t.

But Dee Proctor had a stubborn streak that ran a mile wide. Which was not necessarily a good thing in a situation like this. She hopped down off the truck bed to face him down. Or rather, face him up. Denny was easily twice as tall as she was, and twice as big around.

“Get lost, Denny,” she announced, in the biggest voice she could muster. This had a curious effect on Miltnor’s band. All of them, every single one, doubled over in laughter.

“And just what exactly are you going to do to stop me?” Miltnor asked, between spasms of laughter. “Are you gonna stick your tongue out at me, or something horrible like that?”

James suddenly appeared around the end of the truck. Every head swiveled to look at him. Miltnor spent a scant few seconds appraising the newcomer, and apparently decided he didn’t present much of a threat.

“This your boyfriend?” he jeered at Dee. “Kinda scrawny, don’cha think?” He tittered again, sending his cronies into more fits of laughter.

But Dee was looking at James. He looked different. He no longer had that kindly look in his eyes, or a confused look, or even a blank look. He looked…..dangerous. Not angry, exactly. Just dangerous. Looking at him, Dee found herself feeling uncomfortable for the first time since she had met him, either as a bird or a human.

“Leave,” James ordered Miltnor, in perfect physical speech.

Miltnor gaped for a moment at this thin, not very tall man, who had committed the incredible stupidity of challenging his territory. He walked up to James and stood nose to nose with him. That was his trademark: Get in their faces, intimidate them. That was what Denny did best. “Are you talking to me?” he inquired of James in a tone of mock amazement. “No, that can’t be, could it guys?” His friends behind him smirked and shook their heads. “Because no one—no one—would be so stupid as to tell me to leave,” Denny said confidently. “So you couldn’t be talking to me, could you?”

James’s eyes looked cold, so cold Dee could have sworn they were made of ice. He took a step closer—no easy task since Denny was practically on top of him already—and said in a tone that would have frozen boiling water, “I told you to leave. I will not warn you again.”

Miltnor hesitated. This was unfamiliar ground for him, the undisputed bully of Corona. Who did this jerk-off think he was, anyway? There were five of them and only one of him. And that twit of a girl. But no one challenged Denny Miltnor and got away with it. No one.

Miltnor tried to stand a little taller. “You. Get lost, or we will pound the living daylights out of you. Go on! Scram!” Miltnor waited. James did not move.

Dee was starting to get worried. She did not like the look in James’s eyes, and Denny was too cocky to even consider the idea that he could be in real danger. “I wouldn’t bother him, if I were you,” she said to Miltnor. “He’s a lot stronger than he looks.”

Miltnor looked at her in disbelief. “Him?” he asked incredulously, pointing at James. He looked back at James, and suddenly Dee just knew Denny was going to do something idiotic. “NO!” she yelled.

Too late. Miltnor launched himself at James while his pals laughed.

It happened so fast that afterward, Dee could never quite sort it all out. She remembered seeing Denny lunge toward James, and then Denny flew backward for no apparent reason. James had his hand up, palm out. It was the same hand that had started the engine and magicked the pedals in the truck, only now it was somehow holding Denny Miltnor against the wall of a nearby building. Because that’s where he was, pinned to the brick, hanging like a rag doll about six feet off the ground. And James was standing several yards in front of him, palm outstretched, completely calm and unfazed. In direct contrast to Denny, who was trying to say something and wasn’t able to get the words out. He seemed to be having trouble breathing.

For a few seconds, no one moved. Dee’s hand was clapped over her mouth. Miltnor’s friends gaped. Then, as one, the four fellow thugs charged at James.

They never made it. James casually flung his free hand—his non-pinning-Denny-to-the-wall hand—over his shoulder. Four thugs launched into the air, flying gracefully back about ten feet, landing in a heap in the middle of the road. They sat there for a moment, disoriented, then rose as a unit and ran off howling in the direction of the parade stands.

Dee found her voice. “Let him go, James,” she said shakily. “He won’t bother you now.”

<He threatened you.> Pause. <He threatens us.>

Dee heard shouts and the sound of running feet. The thugs were bringing help. “James, you have to put him down. People will see. Humans can’t do things like this.” The running feet were getting closer. “James, if anyone sees you, they will know you’re different. You didn’t want to attract attention, right? Do you hear that? People are coming. You have to put him down.”

James appeared to cock an ear. The crowd was almost upon them. James slowly lowered his hand and Denny slid down, landing heavily at the base of the wall. His hand flew to his throat and he gasped for breath.

Around the corner came his buddies, followed by Mr. Chambers and about thirty other people. Such a turnout for Denny Miltnor, Dee thought wryly. The thugs’ story must have been good.

Bill Chambers skidded to a halt in front of them, his eyes darting from Dee to James to Denny, and back to Dee again. “What’s going on here?” he barked. Then, to Dee, “Are you all right, sweetheart? Did someone try to hurt you?”

Miltnor got there first. He had apparently relocated his voice. “He,” Miltnor croaked, pointing a shaky finger at James, “he tried to kill me!” He coughed, unable to say more. His chums took up the chant. “Yeah, that man of yours tried to kill Denny! He was choking him, holding him up on that wall there from all the way back here!”

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Dee held her breath. Hopefully no one would pay much attention to the boys’ wilder claims. They told so many tall tales; this one was most likely no stranger.

As expected, Mr. Chambers completely ignored Denny’s buddies. “What happened here,” he said sternly to James.

“They threatened the child,” James replied.

“He tried to kill me!” Denny managed to croak again as his buddies nodded vigorous agreement.

“Is that true?” Chambers asked, although he didn’t sound very unhappy. Nobody liked Denny Miltnor or his posse.

“I never touched him,” James replied. And Dee realized that was true. James had not laid a finger on Denny. He hadn’t needed to.

Chambers walked over to Miltnor and pulled him to his feet. He looked him up and down and, apparently satisfied that Denny wasn’t injured, said, “Go home, Miltnor. And take your trash heap with you. You must be going soft if you have to pick on little girls to mark your turf.” He shoved Miltnor toward his buddies, who looked as though they were going to protest. But after looking around at the stony faces surrounding them, they apparently thought better of it. They surrounded Denny and slunk off.

Chambers turned to James. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate you looking out for the girl. And my merchandise. That lot of ruffians causes no end of trouble all over town.” He paused. “Just exactly what did you do that sent them all into such a tizzy?”

“I protect,” James answered simply. “That’s what I do.”

Chambers nodded slowly. “I see,” he said, in the tone of one who does not see at all. He looked at Dee, who stood silently off to one side. No way was she telling what happened here. Not that anyone would believe her anyway.

“We’ll take these last boxes,” Chambers said to James. “Drive the truck back to the store and load up a box of food for yourself. Make that two boxes,” he added, patting James on the back. “For a job well done. And here’s your pay.” Dee gaped as he handed James a crisp, one dollar bill, and stood waiting for James to thank him. But James merely took the money, nodded, and headed for the driver’s seat. Chambers watched him go, baffled.

“Thank you, Mr. Chambers,” Dee said, filling in the silence. “I know he appreciates it. He’s just not very talkative.”

“Humph,” Mr. Chambers said. “Well, at least I got to hear him say something. I was beginning to wonder if he could talk at all.”

“I’m going back with him,” Dee said as casually as possible. “I’m not certain he knows his way back. The parade ends right near the store, so I’ll just catch it at the end.”

“Are you sure?” Mr. Chambers asked.

“I’m sure.” Dee turned to make her way to the passenger’s side. Bystanders drifted away, the excitement over. Dee put her hand on the door handle, and was stopped by Mr. Chambers’ voice.

“Dee? I just remembered something. How did you get down here? The key to the truck is in my pocket.”

Dee swallowed. She wasn’t used to lying. “There was a key in the truck, Mr. Chambers.”

Mr. Chambers looked doubtful. “Really?” he asked. He took a few steps toward the truck. Please don’t look, Dee thought fiercely, knowing full well there was no key. How would she ever explain?

Mr. Chambers was still walking toward the truck, patting his pocket. “How can that be?” he asked. “I’ve got both keys right here in my pocket.” He pulled the keys out as he spoke.

Dee was quietly panicking. She looked frantically at James, who, as usual, seemed unperturbed by any of this. “Gold keys,” she babbled, half to Mr. Chambers, half to James. Did James even know what color gold was?

Chambers reached the window. Dee smiled at him and didn’t move aside. She looked at James; his hand was over the keyhole. Oh my God. Is he going to start the truck and drive away?

Mr. Chambers leaned in the window, forcing her to move a little aside. “What key have you got there?” Dee held her breath. James still held his hand over the keyhole, staring intently at the keys in Mr. Chambers' hand. She frantically searched her mind for an explanation. Any explanation. Even a lame explanation would be better than none at this point.

And then James moved his hand. In the keyhole was a gold key. Mr. Chambers squinted at it suspiciously. Dee stared at it, hoping her extreme surprise wasn’t too awfully noticeable.

“Let me see that,” Mr. Chambers demanded. Oh no, Dee groaned. James might have magicked up a fake key, but it would probably not stand up to close scrutiny. James obediently removed the key and handed it over.

Mr. Chambers held James’s key next to his own. It was a perfect match, right down to the lettering. “Well, I’ll be darned,” he said in an awed voice. “I had no idea I had a third key. When the hell did I have that made? Oh. Sorry, dear,” he said to Dee, ashamed at having sworn in front of a child. Mr. Chambers handed the key back to James. “Leave that on the counter at the store, will you?” James nodded. Mr. Chambers opened the door to the truck. “In you go,” he said to Dee, who gratefully climbed in. The sooner she was out of here the better.

“Bye now. You take good care of her, you hear?” Mr. Chambers said. James nodded, put his hand over the key, started the truck, and pulled out onto the road.

Dee sat silently, staring at James. The new gold key was still in the ignition, but Dee knew very well that key was not what had started that engine. James stared calmly ahead, seemingly unaffected by all the hullabaloo. He looked harmless again, even vaguely friendly.

But Dee had seen the look in his eyes when she was threatened. He had told her his job was to protect someone, and she had no doubt that James was very good at what he did. So good, in fact, she had the uncomfortable feeling that if Mr. Chambers had not stopped him, James might have killed Denny Miltnor.

“I protect. That’s what I do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week......

Dee's reaction to Urza's "protection", and....

Urza and Dee discuss what will happen if the aliens are found, and.....

Urza recalls more about Vilandra and Khivar.

I'll post Part 9 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Minanda: When I first started watching Roswell, I thought that Nasedo felt the way he did because of his imprisonment back in 1947. Then I learned that two shapeshifters had been captured, and it wasn't made clear which one had been held for three years. If it was Nasedo, that might have something to do with why he dislikes humans so much.

ukspacegirl: By the end of the story only two of the original four will be left, so it'll be a 50/50 toss-up as to who's who.




PART NINE

Urza steered the truck back toward the food store in silence. It was not necessary to ask for directions; he had memorized the route on the way there. He was quite pleased with most events so far. He had located a source of transportation, learned how to operate it, and found a source of food. Even Jaddo might have been pleased with him. Emphasis on the might. There was that one little problem that had come to light, but he meant to correct that before he left.

He glanced at the human child sitting next to him. Whereas before she had been friendly and talkative, now she seemed uncomfortable. She kept slipping sideways glances at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. But Covari peripheral vision was excellent, and he wondered what was bothering her. She was sitting so close to the door that he got the distinct impression she wanted to be as far away from him as possible. Was she frightened? Why would she be? He had made no move to harm her. Indeed, he had protected her from harm. <Is something wrong?>

She was silent for a moment. “Where’d you get that key, James?”

<I fashioned it from the metal supporting the steering device,> he answered, hoping that would settle whatever was bothering her.

It didn’t. Her face remained troubled. <You are angry?>

The child shook her head. “No, I’m not angry. I’m……I’m a little scared.”

<Of what?>

“Of you, that’s what,” she said forcefully.

Now it was Urza’s turn to be troubled. <Why would I frighten you?>

The child looked at him incredulously. “You almost killed someone back there!”

<You are frightened because of what I did to the boy?>

“No. He had that coming. I’m frightened of what I think you would have done if someone hadn’t stopped you.”

<The boy is a friend of yours?>

“Who…Denny? No way! He’s the biggest bully in town. He’s always beating people up, and threatening everyone, and messing up all their stuff. He’s no friend of mine.”

<Then why does my stopping him upset you?>

“I’m not upset that you stopped him; I’m glad you stopped him. I was afraid you were going to kill him. He’s a jerk, but he doesn’t deserve to die because of it.”

Urza sighed. The cry of, “Don’t hurt him!” was familiar. The last time he had pinned someone to a wall like that, it had been Khivar. Urza had discovered them meeting in the garden after realizing that Vilandra was not where she had told him she would be.

**** “Stop it! You’ll hurt him!” she had cried. As if that were a bad thing.

“Go ahead,” Khivar had said—or rather, squeaked—as Urza held him pinned to the wall with his mind, invisible hands squeezing his throat. “Kill me. Let Zan try to explain how I died in his palace.”

Urza would have dearly loved to snap his neck right then and there. But Khivar was right; his dying in that manner would prove problematic for the King. So Urza had released him suddenly, letting him crash to floor with that maddening look of triumph on his face, although he had continued to struggle for air for several long, satisfying seconds.

Triumphant or no, Khivar wasn’t taking any chances. He knew what Royal Covari were capable of. He beat a hasty retreat, while Urza turned to face down his frantic mistress. ****

“Just tell me one thing,” the child was asking. “Were you trying to kill him?”

<No.>

They had arrived at the food store, and Urza steered the vehicle back into the place where he had found it. The girl had visibly relaxed. This was apparently the answer she had been looking for, and he was glad to see her mood improve immediately. <I am not familiar with Earth’s food. Would you help me pick out something we could eat?>

The child smiled. She clearly enjoyed being needed. She had proven her worth today by shielding his identity and helping him obtain the things they needed. She was a useful ally, even though she didn’t understand Royal Warders. “Were you trying to kill him?" Warders did not “try” to kill—they either killed, or they did not.

If I had wanted him dead, he would be dead.


******************************************************


Dee led James into the store and pointed to the counter. “Put the key there,” she instructed. James obediently set the key down, then paused to inspect the cash register. <What purpose does this device serve?>

“It holds the money.”

<Money? Do you mean currency?>

“Well, that’s a fancier word, but yes, that’s it. You know, like the dollar bill Mr. Chambers handed you. Lucky!” she added. What she wouldn’t give for a whole dollar of her own.

James removed the bill from his pocket. <Is this a lot of money?>

“For driving one truckload of food downtown? You bet it is!”

<How can you tell?> James asked, examining the piece of paper closely.

“By the numbers in the corners. The bigger the number, the more it’s worth. That’s a one dollar bill. The number in the corner tells you how many dollars it’s worth. That has a '1', so it’s worth one dollar.”

James continued to look blank, so Dee tried again. “We use money to buy things. You give Mr. Chambers money, and he gives you food. Don’t you have money on your planet?”

<No.> James turned his attention to the aisles of food.

“Okay.” Dee grabbed a couple of boxes that were leaning against a wall, plopped them on the counter, and tried to imagine a world without money. “Did you or……your friends like anything from the lunch I left yesterday?”

<Lunch? Oh, yes. The food. We appreciated your kindness.>

“You’re welcome,” Dee said proudly.

<I’m welcome to what?>

“That’s just what you say when someone says, ‘Thank you’, which means they’re grateful for something. They say, ‘Thank you’, and you say, ‘You’re welcome’.” Working with James reminded her of babysitting her two year-old cousin.

<Oh. Well, then….Thank you.>

“You’re welcome,” Dee repeated, feeling like a broken record. “Now—the lunch?”

<We liked the soft square, but not the hard, red food. I liked the beverage. Though I do wonder why you put gas in your beverages.>

Dee smiled. The aliens liked Coca Cola. Now why did that not surprise her? “So….sandwiches, yes. Raw fruit, no. And some bottles of Cocoa Cola. Coming right up.” James wandered off, poking at packages. She grabbed some bread, and some peanut butter and jelly—that was soft. Some coffee too, because everyone knew grown-ups liked coffee, for some odd reason. Personally she thought it tasted awful. Her mother had laughed when Dee had spit out her one and only sip of coffee, saying, “It’s an acquired taste.” Perhaps, but Dee had made up her mind never to acquire it. She had resolved then and there to become a tea drinker.

What else? She packed a few more soft foods into the boxes and paused at the soup. Hefting a can of Campbell’s Vegetable Beef, she considered—soup was relatively soft, wasn’t it?

<What is this?>

Turning around, Dee saw James standing at the meat counter. “That’s meat. Some of that is soft. Would you like some?”

James was looking at her wide-eyed. <Meat? Do you mean…. flesh?>

“Well…..yes,” Dee answered uncertainly. James looked shocked. “Is something wrong?”

James shook his head gravely. <No. I understand this is a primitive planet.>

Primitive? Because they ate meat? Dee opened her mouth to point out that at least one of them had eaten her bologna sandwich yesterday, then thought better of it. She hastily exchanged the vegetable beef soup for plain vegetable and changed the subject. “So, tell me—why do you like soft food?”

<We do not have teeth like yours.>

That would make it hard to eat apples. “Don’t you have any teeth?”

<Yes. But they are smaller and fewer in number.>

“But you have human teeth now,” Dee said, packing as she talked and sidestepping the issue of James earlier having been a hawk with no teeth at all. “Why not just use your human teeth?”

James looked wistful for a moment. <We could. We did. It is a matter of……what we are used to.>

He’s homesick, Dee realized. And who wouldn’t be, God knows how far from home? She double-checked the contents of the boxes, making certain that all the food was soft. When she turned around again, James was behind her.

<There is one more thing I need before I go.>

“What?”

<I need to know where the one you call ‘Mac’ lives.>

Dee went cold. This didn’t sound good. “Why do you need to know that?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

James took a step closer. <He has pieces of our ship that he intends to show to enforcers. I must retrieve those pieces. We must not be discovered.>

Dee squirmed. She had a piece of their ship too, a rather large one she was loathe to give up. “Why don’t you just leave the ship? You said you came here to hide. Your ship doesn’t seem to be the best place to hide.”

<We will leave the ship when we are finished removing what we brought with us. Until then, we must not be discovered.>

“What did you bring with you, James?” Dee asked slowly. “Something that could hurt us?”

<No.>

“Is it…..is it a bomb?” Dee had read all about the bombs dropped on Japan a couple of years ago. She sneaked the newspapers out of the trash when her parents weren’t looking.

<We did not bring weapons. We did not come to hurt you. We only mean to hide.>

Dee boosted herself up on the counter and swung her legs back and forth. “James, did you ever think that maybe you’re going about this all wrong?”

James cocked his head as if puzzled. <Explain.>

“Okay, say you get the pieces of your ship that Mac has. He’ll just go out looking for more. And he’ll probably find more. You can’t crash something as big as your ship and not leave pieces behind.”

<Perhaps. But taking what he now has will slow him down.>

“Why don’t you just go to the sheriff and tell him who you are and where you’re from? Tell him you need to hide here, and that you aren’t going to hurt anyone. Won’t that be better than slinking around and worrying about getting caught?”

James smiled, the same kind of smile that Dee found maddening on her parents’ faces whenever one of them thought she was just too young to understand. <They would not understand. They would fear us.>

“Well, sure. At first. But I bet they’d come around. Look how nice Mr. Chambers was to you today.”

<He was kind because he thought I was human. He thought I was like him. If he knew the truth, things would have been different.>

“How will you know if you don’t try? If you don’t give us the chance?”

James was silent for a moment. Then he completely changed the subject.

<There was a war on this planet recently, was there not?>

“Yes……World War II. But what does that have to do with anything?”

<An evil man did horrible things to people because they were different.>

Dee shuddered. She had read accounts of what Adolf Hitler had done to people. Live people. Maybe she should stop digging up those newspapers. “He was nasty, James. The people here aren’t like that.”

<Are you sure?>

His tone—even his “inside-her-head” tone--made her uncomfortable. What was he getting at? “I’m sure,” she said with all the finality she could muster. “The people here in Corona aren’t like Hitler. They would never do things like that. But what does all this have to do with telling the sheriff the truth?”

James leaned in closer and looked her directly in the eyes, as if he wanted to make very certain she understood. <If we are caught, those who catch us will do exactly the same things to us.>

“Of course they wouldn’t,” Dee protested, laughing a little at the thought that anyone she knew could ever be so wicked. “And anyway, how could they even if they wanted to? You’re obviously from a place that knows more than us. They couldn’t do that to you if they tried.”

<We are stronger, true. But not invincible.>

“I know that no one here would treat you that way,” Dee said, starting to become annoyed.

<Perhaps not. But those they would tell would treat us that way. People fear what they do not understand. They fear that which is more powerful than they are. That is true of all people. Your people….and my people.>

Dee hesitated, considering this. She knew what she wanted to believe, but she really had no idea what would happen if an alien ship was discovered parked out on Pohlman Ranch.

James was still looking at her intently. <I need to know where Mac lives. If you won’t tell me, I’ll have to find out myself.>

“I’ll get the pieces for you,” Dee said slowly. “It will be safer if I do it. If I get caught, I’ll just say I was looking at them. But I still think you’re worrying about nothing. I still think that if you asked for help, they’d help you.” She sighed. “Where should I bring them after I have them?”

James smiled again. <I have been wondering what “fireworks” are. Will you show me tonight?>

“Fireworks are like big, colorful explosions in the sky. They start at 10 o’clock tonight at the carnival in the field by the school."

<What is a ‘carnival’?>

“It’s…it’s….well, there are rides, and games, and food.” James looked blank, and Dee struggled for a better explanation. “It’s a celebration,” she said finally. “That’s the best way to describe it. We celebrate by getting together and doing things that are fun.”

<So humans celebrate and have fun by….setting off explosions?>

“Just come and see,” Dee replied, shaking her head and smiling. She had to admit that when he put it that way, it did sound weird. “How will I find you?”


<You won’t. I’ll find you.>

James picked up the boxes of food and headed for the door. He paused when he reached it and turned around. <The word was ‘goodbye’, was it not?> She nodded.

< ‘Goodbye’, then.> He pushed his way through the door without waiting for an answer.

Dee watched him go, thinking about how she was ever going to explain what James was going to see at the carnival. And about how he was going to get all of that food back to the ranch. And about the other reason she had offered to get the ship fragments from Mac’s house.

She was afraid of what James might do to Mac if Mac found him there.


******************************************************


Urza walked away, wondering what ironic twist of fate always found him arguing the nature of evil with young women. At least the human girl was a child; she could not be expected to understand completely. But Vilandra had not been a child, and she also had failed to understand.

After Khivar had left, still clutching his throat in that oh-so-satisfying fashion, Urza had whirled upon his mistress with fury. Their argument had been long and loud. He insisted Khivar was up to no good, that he was using her; she insisted that deep down he was a good person, that he really loved her. Half truths, Urza thought bitterly. He was always adept at half truths. Oh, Khivar really loved her all right. He loved her for the access she gave him, for the pain it would cause Zan to see his sister fall in love with his rival. But Vilandra, awash in the glow of her crush, could not see that. And finally Urza had marched straight upstairs, inviting himself into the King’s bedchamber in the middle of the night to inform him that something had to be done about his sister.

And that was my second mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week......

Dee has a talk with her father about what might happen to aliens who decide to drop in, and.....

The shapeshifters comment on their groceries, and....

How do you find an alien at a carnival?

I'll post Part 10 next Sunday.

[Kathy W]

Hi everyone! Thanks to all who stopped by.

CallieRose: Glad you made it here. I've still got to get to that "Work By Author" section. Now that summer is here, I'll have more time.

When I started researching for this story, I was struck by how much time passed between the "crash" and discovery, and then again by how much time passed in "Summer of '47" between discovery and the shapeshifters showing up to rescue the pods. There are generally two dates given for the "crash"--July 2nd and July 4th. Mac Brazel went to Corona's Sheriff with his pieces of debris on July 6th, and the Army arrived on July 7th. So 2-4 days passed before whatever it was was discovered.

In "Summer of '47" discovery is placed on July 7th, but the shapeshifters don't show up until the night of July 10th. I've often wondered what took them so long. Were they still settling in at the pod chamber? Were they injured? Had they made earlier, unsuccessful attempts? Stay tuned.




PART TEN

Corona, New Mexico. July 4, 1947, 8 p.m.



Dee and her friend Rachel squealed as the Ferris wheel whipped toward the sky, the ground seeming to fall away from them. As they crested the top, for one brief moment they could see the entire town before plunging downward, almost becoming airborne as they dropped. The ride operator had this wheel going really fast, and Dee loved it.

Rachel, however, was looking a bit worse for the wear. After a few speed-of-light revolutions, she had started to look a bit queasy. Dee was desperately hoping Rachel wasn’t going to throw up all that cotton candy and soda pop they’d had not too long ago. She’d seen someone throw up on a Ferris wheel once, and it hadn’t been pretty.

The wheel finally slowed and came to a halt, cars swinging, as the operator started to unload the ride. Dee cast a nervous glance at Rachel, who was turning an interesting shade of green. “Are you okay?”

“My stomach feels awful,” Rachel complained.

“We’ll be down soon,” Dee said comfortingly. To herself, she thought, Over the side, Rachel. If you have to barf, do it over the side.

The wheel gave a lurch, and Rachel moaned. They moved forward a few cars, then stopped again, right at the top. Perfect. Dee ignored her groaning friend and scanned the area from this wonderful vantage point.

The school’s yard had been transformed into the annual Fourth of July festival complete with the Ferris wheel, a pony ride, numerous games, and enough food vendors to feed an army. Or perhaps she should say the army. Airmen from the nearby base in Roswell were here in force, buying up soda pop by the bucket and trying to best each other at darts. From the way some of them were staggering around, Dee suspected they’d had more to drink than just soda pop.

She anxiously scanned the festival grounds, the tiny midway, the vendors. Where would James be? He had said he’d find her, but Dee was too excited to just hang around and wait for him to show up.

Despairing of finding James on the ground, Dee shifted her search to the rooftops. He may have decided to show up as a hawk, although that had its problems too. Hawks usually didn’t fly at night. Some people might find a hawk out at night to be odd, but not odd enough that they would reach the conclusion that the hawk was really an alien from another planet. Or perhaps he would come as something or someone completely different. Dee really had no idea just how many different ways James could make himself look.

There! On the school roof. A red-tail hawk, looking like it wanted to join the party. He probably does, Dee thought. She definitely got the impression James didn’t get out much.

Now for the hard part. How to get up to the roof? The school was locked, so the usual methods wouldn’t do. Dee couldn’t see any way of getting up to the roof from the outside. James would have to come to her.

The wheel lurched forward again. They were almost down, and judging from the look on Rachel’s face, that was very good news indeed. Dee leaned over the edge of the car and saw Rachel’s father looking concerned. “Rachel’s not feeling well,” she called down to him. “I think she might be sick from all that food we ate.”

Rachel’s father scurried over to the ride operator and had a hurried, whispered conversation with him. The operator promptly advanced the ride so that Dee and Rachel’s car could be unloaded. Smart move, thought Dee. He doesn’t want to have to clean up a messy, smelly car.

Rachel stumbled out into her father’s waiting arms. “Go lay down, Rachel, and you’ll feel better. I’m going to see my folks for a minute. I’ll catch up with you later,” Dee said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Rachel, still green, nodded listlessly, and her father led her away.

Dee turned and headed for the school. She was sorry her friend had gotten sick, but there was a silver lining to this cloud. She had already planned it all out so that her parents would think she was with Rachel’s family; the only fly in the ointment had been how to give Rachel and her family the slip. Now they were all too preoccupied to ask questions, allowing Dee to slip away to do something she was quite certain no one in town had ever done. No one on Earth, for that matter. She was going to meet an alien. Dee smiled. Having secrets was fun.

She slipped her hand into her pocket, and the smile slid from her face. Having secrets had its downsides too, she had learned.

Earlier that day she had casually wandered into Mac’s house. She was such a frequent visitor there that no one had commented on that, neither Mac nor his wife. It hadn’t taken any time at all to find out where they were. Her heart had been pounding so hard when she had scooped them into her pocket that she was certain that everyone could hear it miles away. Any minute she had expected someone to come exploding through the door of Mac’s study and yell, “Thief!” But no one had heard her, and she had escaped uninterrupted, her booty safely in her pocket. She had gotten away with it. She had been a good thief. The prospect was not appetizing.

Later she had tried to console herself by telling herself that the fragments really weren’t Mac’s at all, that they really belonged to James and whoever else was on his ship, and she was merely returning their property. That had worked for a little while. But as the day wore on and her conscience clamored for attention, she sought out her father for advice on something that had been bothering her ever since her conversation with James in the grocery store that morning.

“Daddy, I need to ask you something,” she had said to her father, who was comfortably ensconced on the porch with a glass of iced tea, reading the newspaper on this fine, holiday afternoon.

“What’s up, kiddo?” her father asked, peering around his paper.

“You’re going to want to put the paper down for this one,” Dee said seriously.

David Proctor smiled. “I see,” he replied good-naturedly, neatly folding his paper and setting it down on the nearby table. “Okay. I’m all ears.”

Dee took a deep breath. “All those terrible things that Hitler person did to people. Would anyone in our country ever do something like that?”

David Proctor stopped smiling. “What on earth would make you ask a thing like that?”

What on earth. If only he knew how appropriate that expression was. “Please, Daddy, don’t quiz me. I need to know. The people here would never do anything like that, would they?”

Dee had expected her father to immediately say “No, of course not. How could you ever think such a thing?”. But he didn’t. He looked away, across the street, past the neighbor’s houses lined up in neat rows with their neat lawns and neat window boxes full of flowers. Dee knew what he was really looking at. Her father had served in the war, and he had seen things he did not like to talk about.

Sometimes late at night, Dee heard her Mama and Daddy talking downstairs. She would creep from her bed, silent as a cat, and sit quietly at the top of the front staircase. Their living room was just to one side at the base of the staircase, and her parents voices floated straight up to her. She loved sitting there in the dark, hearing them talk and learning all sorts of things she wouldn’t otherwise know. When they had company over it was even better. Who knew that the mailman was a secret gambler? Or that Mrs. Tildon had lost all of her hair and was wearing a wig? It was a good feeling to lean against the stair railings, warm and sleepy, her parents voices drifting up to her. Most of the time it made her feel safe, like all was right with the world.

But sometimes what she heard was unsettling, if not downright upsetting. She had first learned that Uncle James had died by listening at the top of the stairs. And then there were the times when her father told her mother the things he had seen in the war. His voice would shake, he would start to cry, and Dee would grip the stair railings hard, listening. She had never seen her father cry except at Uncle James’s funeral.

He had never said a word to Dee about what had happened over there. The war was a frequent topic of discussion with her friends, and she continued to sneak the newspapers that were so carefully stashed away, but she never raised the subject with her parents. Now she had to—she had to know what would happen to James and the rest of them if anyone found out they were there. She just couldn’t believe that anyone in America would do things like that. Yet here was her father not saying that they wouldn’t, not saying anything at all.

“Daddy?”

David Proctor looked at his daughter as if he had forgotten she was there. “What would make you ask such a thing?” he repeated.

“That’s not important. Suppose, just suppose, that someone different showed up. Someone who was different from all of us. Do you think people would help them? Or would they try to hurt them because they were different?”

“Different how?” her father asked. “Do you mean they’re black? Or Asian? Or—or German?” Her father hesitated on that last one. Anti-German sentiment was still running high.

Dee shook her head. “More different. Much more. Say—someone from another planet. Someone who isn’t human.” She paused, holding her breath, just waiting for her father to burst out laughing or accuse her of teasing him.

But David Proctor was used to “what if” questions from his daughter, and the look on her face made it clear she wasn’t teasing. He had no idea what she was getting at, but no matter. She deserved a straight answer. And that was the hard part. David didn’t believe in lying to children. He didn’t tell his child things she didn’t need to know, but he didn’t lie to her either. Call it judicious revelation. Or parental guidance.

“All right,” her father said. “Let’s say there was an alien here from another planet.” Dee was relieved to see her father was at least pretending to take her seriously. “If I knew this alien, I would tell them to high-tail it out of here as fast as their feet would carry them. Or tentacles. Or whatever. Because I wouldn’t want to know what people would do to someone like that if they caught them.”

Dee sat back and stared, wide-eyed. “But…..this is America, Daddy! We don’t do things like that here! Wouldn’t people help them? What if they were just here to hide? Not to take over the earth, or anything like that, but just to hide? Do you really think people would want to hurt them?”

David Proctor rubbed his hand through his hair. God, this was hard. How did you explain to your eight year-old daughter that monsters are everywhere, in every country? That “things like that” don’t just happen “over there”?

David sat forward in his chair and took his daughter’s hands. “Dee, listen to me. I love this country. I fought for it once, and I’d fight for it again. But I’ve seen what people do when they get scared. People everywhere. Even people here. When people get scared, they do all sorts of things they would normally never do. They justify it by telling themselves that they’re really just protecting themselves, or their families, or their countries. That’s what Hitler did. He convinced the German people that he was trying to protect them, and in his own twisted way, he was. He truly believed that what he was doing was right. People can convince themselves that just about anything is right if they try hard enough.”

Dee’s father dropped her hands and gazed at her sadly. “I wish I could tell you that it couldn’t happen here, but I can’t say that. I can say it’s less likely to happen here. Or that if it does happen, that someone is more likely to find out about it and put a stop to it. But I can’t promise you it will never happen in this country. I wish I could.”

Dee’s father reached up to touch her cheek. “But it’s over now, kiddo. The war’s over and Hitler’s dead. The world rose up and stopped him. That’s the important part to remember.”

Dee had nodded, hugged her father, and thanked him for listening. Then she wandered back into the house, leaving her father to muse on the strange way that children had of expressing their fears. Imagine presenting such a question in terms of an alien coming to earth. Damned inventive of her, if you asked him.

And Dee had patted the fragments in her pocket then, as she did now, feeling less guilty about having taken them. Because her father had said essentially the same thing that James had said: People fear what they do not understand. Which meant that James really was in danger of discovery, she had done the right thing by retrieving the fragments, and she was doing the right thing now by bringing them to him. She still didn’t really believe that anyone in Corona would react the way James thought they would, but if there was even a small chance that they wouldn’t be welcomed, then it was best to help them stay hidden until they could get off their ship. Then they could work on convincing people that there was no reason to be afraid.

She reached the school building and gazed up at the roof, two stories above her. She couldn’t get up there, so he would have to come down to her. This side of the building was hidden from the crowds, so thankfully no one would see her talking to a bird. “James!” she called up. “You have to come down here. I can’t get up there.”

She jumped as James appeared out of the shadows in human form.

<Do you have the ship fragments?>



******************************************************



Urza inwardly sighed with relief as Dee pulled a cloth out of her pocket and handed it to him. He unwrapped the fragments and inspected them closely. There were several. None very large, but large enough to prompt questions.

Urza rewrapped the fragments and pushed them into his own pocket. The child had done well. He had seen the one called "Mac" at this communal gathering, so with luck it would be several hours before he missed his treasure. Automatically, from habit developed over long years of practice, he bowed to the girl.

<I extend to you the King’s gratitude.>

The child blinked. “King? What King?” she asked. Then her eyes grew large, and she started to get excited. “Do you mean to tell me that one of those…those people you protect is a King? A real King?”

Urza nodded. <My Ward is the sister of the King, what I believe you refer to as a ‘princess’.>

“A princess? Wow!” The girl’s eyes were shining. Urza was confused. What was making her so happy? <Surely you have people of similar rank here?>

She shook her head. “Nope. We have a president. No kings or princesses. Wow!” she said again. “This is the first time I’ve ever met anyone who actually works for a king! Or a princess. This is so cool! Wait till everyone hears about…..”. She stopped, suddenly realizing that telling people about her momentous discovery was impossible. “Oh. I can’t tell anyone about it, can I?” She shrugged. “Oh, well. Can I meet them?”

<I’m afraid not. But we are their representatives. Meeting us is an honor in itself.> That was certainly true on Antar. Covari were both feared and respected, but Royal Covari had an aura all their own.

“Did the King and the princess eat the food I helped pick out?”

Urza smiled. <No. They do not eat…..quite the way we do. But we enjoyed it. We do have a question to ask.>

“What’s that?”

<Why is the food on this world so colorful?>

“I…..I don’t know. Is that bad?”

Urza shook his head. <Not bad. Just different.>

The child looked perplexed. Certainly all of them had been perplexed a few hours earlier, as they had gathered around something the box proclaimed to be “macaroni and cheese”.

Valeris had carefully followed the instructions on the package that shouted “Kraft!”, wondering aloud just how big of a cup of water a “cup” was. When he was finished they had gingerly sampled the gooey, chewy food, and mused on its bright color.

“Perhaps humans find monochromatic food boring?” Valeris had suggested.

“Wouldn’t it be just like humans to waste time and energy making their food look pretty,” had been Jaddo’s contribution to the discussion.

“It is visually appealing,” Brivari had commented. “Even this ‘soup’ has bits and pieces that are different colors. Apparently that is important here.”

“I like the colors,” Urza had added, causing Jaddo to roll his eyes.

They had all been suitably impressed with Urza’s food delivery, and his description of available transportation devices and how to operate them. Brivari had been very pleased. Even Jaddo managed to look vaguely impressed. Vaguely.

The conversation about the fragments that must be retrieved had not gone as smoothly, with Jaddo arguing forcefully that they should not be relying on a human child for their protection, and Urza arguing just as forcefully that the dramatics which might be necessary to find and retrieve the fragments themselves would likely alarm the humans to the point where movement around the area would be compromised. This had gone on for several minutes, until finally Brivari had stepped in.

“Urza will go to the gathering planned for tonight to see if the child has been able to retrieve the fragments. It would be preferable for her to obtain them for us. If she does not,” he said, turning to Urza, “you will retrieve them yourself immediately. By any means necessary.”

And Urza had bowed, smiling, while Jaddo scowled. For this meant that Brivari was giving Urza a chance to do things his way, and that for some reason, he did not feel that Urza’s trust in the human child was entirely misplaced.

And so Urza had come to this place and perched on the roof, watching with fascination as the humans arrived and engaged in all manner of odd activities. He was heady with the excitement of a freedom such as he had never known, combined with a newfound sense of power among his peers. He had been the first to forge a relationship with a human, a human who was proving to be very helpful indeed. He had never felt so strong, so respected, so useful. His Ward would be proud if she were here.

Urza looked down at the quizzical child, still puzzling over his comment about their food. <I have a great many questions about what is happening here tonight. Would you answer them for me?>

The girl smiled. “We have a little while before the fireworks start. Come on. Oh, and James?”

<Yes?>

“If we’re going to walk around together, you can’t talk in my head. I can’t answer you like that, and if I talk to you out loud while you’re not saying anything, they’re going to lock me up.”

<Lock you up? Why? Would you have broken a law?>

“No, no,” the child said. “That’s not what I meant. I meant….oh, never mind what I meant. It’s just that you have to talk with your mouth if we’re going out there. Okay?”

Urza assumed that “Okay” meant “yes”. <Okay.> Then, as the girl looked at him skeptically, he caught himself. “Okay,” he said out loud.

The girl looked exasperated. “You know what the worst of it is? I’m so used to you talking in my head that I’ll probably just go ahead and answer you anyway. It’s funny how something I didn’t even know was possible just a couple of days ago is something I think is perfectly normal now.” She took Urza’s hand. “Come on. If you like colorful food, I’ve got some things to show you.” She closed one eyelid but not the other, a gesture that was lost on Urza. But he let her take his hand and guide him toward the bright lights, strange sounds, and odd contraptions that made up this fascinating, confusing human gathering.

Neither of them noticed the figure hidden in the shadows, silent, immobile. It waited until they had moved a ways away, then crept silently from its hiding place and followed them.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week:

Recipe for Fun: Take one curious alien and one friendly human child. Add one carnival, complete with rides, games, food, and fireworks. Mix well. Hold on tight. Enjoy.

I'll post Part Eleven next Sunday.