CallieRose: Someone asked me if I chose macaroni and cheese on purpose because of Max and Liz in CYN. :lol!: I didn't consciously do that, but it must have been in the back of my mind. What is it with aliens and mac and cheese?
kittens: Welcome! Whoever was following either Dee or Urza, they were being very quiet, very still, and keeping their distance. It would be harder to sneak up on a Covari because of their superior hearing, but not impossible. I would also imagine that even superior hearing would be affected (perhaps even more affected) by ambient noise, such as the noise of the carnival.
Misha: Too short? Awwww! <blush> Thanks, sweetie! Parts do get longer as the story progresses (I'm writing Part 62 right now), but they vary according to what's happening. I would love to post twice a week, but I'm waiting until I get into Story #3 ("Comes The Inquisitor"). I want these to run seamlessly; I don't want to finish Story #2 and say, "Okay, I'll be back in 9 months or a year with the next story!"
Dee will not only meet the hybrids, she will be a relative. She's not an actual character on the show, but she was mentioned briefly in one S1 episode.
With all that she's going to go through, it's only fair that she gets to see the final result. Besides, I like the concept of "full circle". Minanda: I'm glad you enjoyed the discussion Dee and her father had.
I enjoy writing those two. David treats her like an intelligent human being, while still remembering she's a child. Kind of like my parents treated me when I was growing up. ukspacegirl: Urza is probably the most curious of the bunch (with Valeris running a close second), but there is another reason he is so happy about his recent successes and being so useful: He has a monumental mistake he wishes to atone for.
Let's have some fun!
*"Design flaw" reference is courtesy of JadaLyn at The Boardello.
*PART ELEVEN
Dee happily held James’s hand as they walked through the Fourth of July festival, one of her favorite times of the year. It was popular with more than just Corona residents, as evidenced by the number of out-of-towners here. This event was one of the few times of the year where she could wander for quite awhile without seeing anyone she knew.
She had been a little worried at first about wandering around so openly with an alien. But no one reacted strangely, and she relaxed. To all appearances James was human, as human as anyone else there.
But even if James didn’t look like a visitor from another planet, one could argue that he behaved like one. His head twisted from side to side as Dee led him through the throngs, and questions spilled from him at every booth.
<What is this?> he asked as they approached the dunking booth. Dee opened her mouth to answer him, then realized he had used his “mind speech”, and resolved to not answer until he had spoken out loud. No sense in everyone thinking she was crazy.
When she didn’t answer, James looked at her quizzically, then realized his mistake. “What is this?” he asked again, craning his neck to see over the crowd at the booth. “I’ve been watching this for some time now, and I can’t figure out the purpose of this activity.”
Dee watched the latest customer throwing baseballs at the target, trying to send Sheriff Wilcox into the vat of water just below his seat. The Sheriff was dressed in an undershirt and his bathing trunks, and looked to be having a whale of a time.
“People pay money so they can try to throw the ball at that target,” she said, pointing. “If they hit the target just right, the person sitting on the platform falls into the water. The money is usually used for something we need, like the new library they want to build in Roswell.”
James looked from Dee to the Sheriff in obvious confusion. “But why? Why would an enforcer take part in such an embarrassing ritual? Why would your fellow citizens want to humiliate one of their own in such a fashion?”
“It’s not humiliating,” Dee protested. “The Sheriff wouldn’t do it if he thought it was humiliating. It’s just…..fun,” she ended awkwardly. Now that she thought about it, it did look very strange. She wondered what else she was completely used to that would be strange when she tried to explain it.
Suddenly a ball hit the target, and the Sheriff dropped into the water tank amid much cheering. He climbed out, dripping wet and smiling gaily, waving to the crowd. “See?” Dee said. “It’s fun.”
James shook his head, obviously not seeing at all. They moved on.
The next stop was the dart booth. Airmen from the Army base in Roswell were still playing darts, just as Dee had seen from the top of the Ferris wheel. One airman smiled and nodded as they walked up. “What is this?” James asked.
“It’s a game,” Dee explained patiently. The airmen listened, amused, as she went on. “You take the dart—that’s this sharp, pointy thing here, and throw it at the board. The closer you get to the middle, the higher your score.”
One of the airmen good-naturedly handed Dee a dart. She was no good at darts, but for the purpose of demonstration she tossed it at the board, managing to land it on the outer rim. “I see,” James said.
“Care to try your luck, Mister?” the booth operator asked. Dee watched the operator and a nearby airman exchange glances. Clearly they thought James would be an easy target. Dee fished around in her pocket. She had a little bit of money left, but she had wanted to save it for a ride they could both go on, and a snack. Still, a nickel would get James three darts, and Dee suspected he might be a good dart player.
But James, of course, had no idea he was supposed to pay. He promptly picked up a fistful of darts lying nearby and began throwing them at the board. Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap! One by one each dart landed neatly, expertly, right in the center of the dart board.
Everyone gaped, Dee included. There was a virtual bouquet of darts sticking out of the very tiny circle in the middle of the board. James turned to her and asked, “Is that all there is to it? Not a very challenging game.” The booth operator and the airmen were still staring. Dee squirmed, smiled sheepishly at everyone, and said, “My uncle. He’s new here.” She took James firmly by the arm, and steered him away.
“Did I do something wrong?” James asked, twisting to look back at the dart booth as she led him away.
“No, you did something right. Too right,” she added, casting a nervous glance behind her at the booth. Its occupants were still staring. “It’s not a good idea for you to call that much attention to yourself, James. Remember what you said earlier about not wanting to stand out? Throwing that many darts so perfectly is a good way to stand out. Humans can’t do that. Not very many, anyway. Let’s go look at something else,” Dee said, starting off with James trotting amiably behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What are these creatures?” James asked, eyeing the ponies as they came to the pony rides.
“They’re ponies,” Dee answered. “Horses—baby horses. People like to ride them.” She pointed to a nearby tent. “That’s where they keep the ones they aren’t using now. Maybe we can sneak inside.”
They did. There was no one in there; just ponies, eating, sleeping, looking bored. They shuffled as James and Dee walked around, admiring them.
“What an interesting animal,” James said patting the head of one of the ponies. It chuffed softly, unafraid of him. Dee patted another, wishing she could ride one. “I like to ride these, but you’re too big,” she said to James, still patting the pony. “Why don’t we ride on the Ferris wheel? We can go on that together, and I think you’d li…..James? James?”
She had turned around to find him gone. Anxiously scanning the tent, she didn’t see him anywhere. Where’d he go? she thought frantically, getting down on her hands and knees to look under the ponies, wondering if maybe he was on the floor.
<This is a curious shape,> came a voice in her head.
Dee jerked her head up. “Where are you?” Getting to her feet, she looked around and soon realized her eyes would not help her. None of the ponies looked markedly different from the others.
<Over here.>
“Over where?” Dee asked in exasperation. “They all look alike; I can’t tell which one’s you!”
One of the ponies stepped forward. <I saw this animal in the database, but I was under the impression it was not found in large settlements.>
“What are you doing?” Dee said incredulously. “You can’t just go around turning into things!”
<Why not?> James asked, puzzled. Dee opened her mouth to answer him, then closed it. Well, of course James went around turning into things. Because he could. “What if someone saw you?” she said, looking around nervously. “What would I say?”
<No one else is here,> James said calmly. <I checked.> He stamped his feet a bit, and pulled his lips back from his huge horse teeth. <We have a similar animal back home, but it has an extra set of legs,> he commented, sounding like a teacher in a classroom. He lowered his head and looked down between his legs. <What is all that?>
Dee followed his gaze and pinked. “That means you’re a boy horse, James.”
James raised his head and managed to adopt an expression of consternation in his horsy eyes. <Does the male of every species on this planet suffer from this same design flaw?>
“Missy!” a voice called, making both of them jump. Dee turned to see the pony man poking his head inside the tent. “If you want to ride, little girl, you need to pick a pony out here. These are resting.”
“I’m sorry,” Dee said. She patted James on the nose. “I just wanted to look at the other ones.”
The pony man smiled. “Here,” he said, taking a carrot out of the pocket of his apron. “Give him a carrot. He’ll like that.”
I doubt it, Dee thought. But she took the carrot and held it out to James with mischief in her eyes. “Here, horsie!” she called in a singsong voice. “Want a snack?”
<Why are you speaking to me in that ridiculous tone?> James sounded offended.
“Take the carrot!” she singsonged, waggling it under his nose. When he backed up a step, she commented, “Real horsies like carrots.”
<I’m not a ‘real horsie’,> James announced petulantly.
“Then you shouldn’t be looking like one!” she hissed under her breath. “Now eat it, before he gets suspicious!”
Too late. “They usually love carrots,” the pony man said, walking up to James with a look of concern on his face. “I wonder if he’s sick.”
“Maybe you should take him to the horse doctor,” Dee said impishly. James shot her a withering look, and promptly chomped on the carrot. He looked so silly standing there with the carrot hanging out of his mouth like a cigar that Dee had a hard time holding in a giggle.
“He’s still not eating it,” the pony man said, sounding genuinely worried now. He reached for James, who obediently started munching. “Ah...there he goes,” the man said happily. “I hope he’s okay. Maybe I should keep a closer eye on this one.”
“I know I should,” Dee muttered, drawing a <Mmph!> from James, who was still chewing. Serves you right, she thought severely. Still, she allowed herself a moment’s pity for him. She hated raw carrots. Too hard.
“Come on out,” the pony man was saying. “Children shouldn’t be in here.” He held open the tent flap, ushering Dee out. She looked back once at James, who was still chewing with a flinty look in his eye, and followed the man outside. As she left she heard a familiar noise behind her, and smiled. James had spit out the carrot.
A line had formed, and the pony man scurried off to tend to his customers while Dee waited impatiently for James to come out. He was there in less than a minute. <That wasn’t very nice of you,> he said reproachfully.
“It wasn’t nice of me? What about you? You say you don’t want to call attention to yourself, and then you go and turn into the first animal you see? What if someone had seen you? You have got to be more careful!” she finished, realizing that she sounded an awful lot like a lecturing parent.
James looked at her a long minute, then looked away. <I’m sorry. I was just….curious. And your horse reminds me of our kumini. I used to take that form and give the Princess rides on my back when she was little.> He looked—and sounded—so wistful that Dee felt her anger evaporating.
“Look, let’s just go find something we can do together. I saved some money—currency—for a ride. Let’s go on the Ferris wheel. It’s one of my favorites.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they reached the Ferris wheel, James studied it for several minutes in silence. <This is the device on which I saw you earlier,> he said at length. <What is its purpose?>
“It’s a ride,” Dee explained, hanging over the fence that had been erected around the Ferris Wheel. “People like to ride on it because it’s fun.”
James studied the wheel again. <It goes around in a circle,> he announced.
“Yes.”
<And that is fun?>
“It goes around fast, James. That’s the fun part.”
James looked confused, but joined her in line. It was short, and they were heading for a car in no time. The previous occupants exited looked greener than Rachel had earlier. <Are they ill?> James wondered, watching them leave.
“Some people get sick on rides like these.” The ride operator who was latching their car gave her a funny look.
<And that is fun?>
“No, of course that isn’t fun,” Dee said impatiently. “I don’t get sick, so it’s fun for me. And James,” she added, suddenly realizing something. “I told you not to talk in my head.”
The ride operator gave her another, longer funny look before heading back to his controls and advancing the wheel. It gave a lurch and sent their car soaring into the air, prompting the usual screams from the other riders. James looked around in surprise.
<Why are they screaming? Are they frightened?>
“A little,” Dee yelled over the wind of the Ferris Wheel.
<So they’re not having fun?>
“Yes, they’re having fun!” Dee squealed, as the wheel made another dizzying descent. “Sometimes people like to be scared, James. That’s part of the fun.” She realized she wasn’t making sense, and didn’t much care.
<Do humans always emit such noises when they are having fun?>
“James?”
<Yes?>
“Just shut up and enjoy the ride!”
He was obediently quiet as the wheel spun. The operator once again had it going at a good clip, so she was almost weightless as their car plunged downward. She closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation, and was genuinely sorry when the wheel stopped and began unloading passengers.
<Now I see why humans like this,> James commented, watching people climb off.
“Oh? Why?”
<It is probably the nearest you will get to flying.>
Dee smiled, knowing he must be right. He could be a bird, so he would know what flying felt like. “James?”
<What?>
“Don’t talk in my head.”
When their car approached the bottom, James pointed. “What is that? Is that another ride?” he asked, remembering to use physical speech for once.
“Yup. We call that a merry-go-round.”
“A horizontal circle this time,” he observed in a wondering tone. “Aren’t those horses?” Their car reached the bottom, and the operator started to unlatch the door.
“Uh huh. You sit on the horse and it goes up and down and around and around.”
“Why would someone choose to ride a synthetic horse when real horses are only a short distance away? And why are they so colorful? Are their natural colors not sufficient?” The ride operator raised an eyebrow.
Dee sighed. She was getting tired of explaining human fun to James. She had wanted to show him the American carnival experience, but dunking booths, dart games, and rides all sounded so stupid when she tried to explain them. Time for a snack. I know,” she said, eager to change the subject. “You asked about colorful food. Let me show you some. But you have to promise,” she said, hopping down from the car. “No more turning into something else.”
“I promise,” James said solemnly, as they walked away from the wheel with the ride operator gaping at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James tagged along, still looking this way and that, until they reached the nearest cotton candy stall. “How about this?”
Cotton candy in every conceivable hue was arrayed at this stall, which was Dee’s favorite every year. The woman who ran it mixed her own colors and flavors, and even created stripes and polka dots. She was peering down at both of them now, a massive woman who looked like she spent a good deal of time sampling her own wares. “Back again, are you Dee?” she asked, eyes twinkling. “What’ll it be this time?”
“Just one cone this time, Mrs. Avery,” Dee said politely. “For my friend.”
“A friend, eh?” boomed Mrs. Avery. “Well, any friend of yours is a friend of mind.” She leaned in and whispered confidentially, “You're one of my best customers, y’know.” Mrs. Avery grabbed a cone and held if aloft. “A free sample for Dee’s friend,” she said to James, smiling. “What’s your pleasure?”
James turned, confused, to look at Dee. “She wants to know what flavor you want,” she whispered to James. When James didn’t respond, Dee made a command decision. “He’ll take blue, regular flavor,” she announced.
Mrs. Avery obligingly stirred a small amount of cotton candy onto the cone and handed it to James, who looked at it curiously. “Thank you,” he said, bowing slightly. Mrs. Avery looked amused. She was used to people thanking her, but not bowing. “My pleasure,” she said. “You both enjoy yourselves now.”
Dee pulled James over to a nearby picnic table and sat down. He was staring at his candy, clearly not sure of what to do with it. Dee pinched off a piece and put it into her mouth. “See? Like this,” she said. “It’s sweet; it’s good. And you don’t have to chew it. I think you’ll like it—try some.”
James copied her, pulling off a piece of the stuff and warily placing it in his mouth. He looked surprised, pulled off another piece, and ate it. “It just melts,” he said wonderingly.
Dee nodded. “Isn’t that cool? I love this stuff. Doesn’t it taste good?”
James shook his head. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Why not?”
“We cannot taste,” James said, finishing off the candy as he spoke. “I shall have to rely on your opinion of what it tastes like.”
Dee looked at James, horrified. “You can’t taste anything? You come from another planet where people can change their shapes and build spaceships, but no one can taste anything?”
James shook his head again. “Most of the people on my planet can taste, just not my race. Our organs are constantly changing shape, so the nerve pathways for some of our lesser senses never do become patent.”
Dee wasn’t quite sure what all of that meant, but at the moment, she didn’t care. “Lesser senses? I can’t imagine even being interested in eating if I couldn’t taste. But you needed food, so you do have to eat, right?”
“We get hungry, just like you do,” James confirmed. He smiled at her. “Do not feel badly for us. We have never been able to taste, so we do not feel we are missing something. There are compensations to being who we are.”
Behind them the band stopped playing, and the lights began to dim. Dee stood up. “They’re almost ready to start the fireworks. I’d love to watch from up on the hill, but I think it’s pretty well packed now. Let’s see if we can find another good place to watch from.”
“Where will these ‘fireworks’ be?”
“Over that way, toward the open end of the field,” Dee said, pointing.
“I know the perfect place from which to watch,” James said, in his textbook perfect English. He strode off confidently, with Dee scrambling to keep pace behind him, finally stopping when he reached the wall of the school where she had first called up to him.
“James,” Dee said, panting. “We can’t see anything from back here.”
“Not here,” James said. “Up there.” He indicated the roof he had recently occupied as a hawk.
“All well and good for you,” Dee said, annoyed. “I can’t get up there; there’s no ladder, no stairs, no anything.”
James smiled. “Remember I mentioned ‘compensations’?” He passed his hand over the bricks on the wall, and the bricks began to move. One by one they protruded from the wall, some horizontally to form steps, some vertically to form hand holds, all the way up to the top.
Dee’s mouth dropped open. James looked pleased. He motioned for her to go first. “I’ll go behind in case you slip.”
Dee grinned from ear to ear. This was so neat. Compensations, indeed. Knowing a space alien had to be the neatest thing in the world.
******************************************************
Urza followed the child up his makeshift ladder. She was a good climber, agile and strong, and she made it to the top without incident. He retracted the bricks, and they settled down on the roof facing in the direction she had indicated earlier, far enough from the edge that they would not be seen from the ground. They could see most of the crowd, however. Everyone was moving to whatever spot they had chosen for watching the fireworks.
As Urza scanned the throng below, he caught a glimpse of something he did not expect. It was fleeting, disappearing almost as soon as he’d seen it, but unmistakable nonetheless. The faint, yet obvious trace of a fellow Covari out there in the crowd.
Urza sighed. Most likely it was Jaddo, come to check up on him. Let him look. They’d see if Jaddo, the great strategist, would think to look on the roof. Urza was enjoying himself far too much to let Jaddo irritate him tonight. He settled down to watch, unaware of what had passed so closely below, and how lucky he had been that it had not thought to check the rooftops.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next week....fireworks, anyone?
Dee and Urza have a political discussion...
One of those following them steps forward, and....
Someone gets hurt.
I'll post Part 12 next Sunday.