Alien Caller (11 page)

All of which
left him neatly impaled on the horns of a dilemma. He could trust
these people, hoping they were as decent as they seemed, and
everything might come up roses. But they could also be lying,
preparing for war, and he could be failing his country. Or he could
go the other way and report them. In which case if they were lying
he might be saving his people from an early defeat. But if they
were telling him the truth he'd be condemning all of mankind to a
rough future.

It was a lot to
decide based on a single meeting, and a few impressions. But there
was one thing that could take precedence over everything else. He
could tell later if it suddenly turned out that these people were
enemies. Even if he was captured. He could set up an email drop box
with a timed release of information. But he couldn't untell what
had been told. That he knew, had to be his guide.

“Fair enough. I
won’t tell anyone anything. For now. Not if what you say is true.
But, and this is a serious problem. I’m an ex-agent, as apparently
everyone already knows.” He was still somewhat bitter about the
fact that so many of his secrets were public knowledge. Clearly he
hadn’t been doing a good job of remaining unnoticed. Missing the
fact that there had been an alien arrival and a conspiracy among
his neighbours was also a black mark against his record. His skills
were slipping.

“I get
interrogated every six months with lie detectors used by
experienced analysts just in case I’ve been contacted by any
enemies of the country. My next session with the white coats is in
about five months, and I won’t be able to keep this from them. I’m
skilled at lying, but they’re better at finding the truth.” Of
course his visitors didn’t want to hear that, and he watched their
faces fall just like any other man’s, but they still had to know.
He’d given them a deadline by which time they had to leave, and
they all knew that. Of course they had another option, and he
didn’t like the idea of being killed by them so he could keep their
secret, but it was a very logical solution. Still, looking in his
guest’s eyes David could see no evidence at all that the thought
had even crossed his mind.

“Five months.
Lar that’s just not good!” Oddly enough it was Alice who
complained, yet it also matched perfectly with everything that
she’d just told him. These people were her friends and she didn’t
want them to go. “You must have some sort of way around it.” But he
didn’t. David could see that much in his carefully neutral
expression, and with it the unexpected idea that he didn’t
particularly want them to leave either.

“Maybe we can
do something to affect their machines, but I don’t really know.
It’s not something we’ve ever had to do before.” Lar turned to face
her and then unexpectedly took her hand in his, patted it and held
it close, a gesture with so much humanity in it that David was
shocked by it. Shocked but also pleased as it confirmed so much of
what he’d been told. Words were important, but a simple act of
caring said so much more.

“Still we have
five months before then, and we shall make the best of those
months. You and your friends will not be forgotten by us, and we
will make sure of your health before we leave.”

But Alice
wasn’t so worried about her health, David could read that much
clearly. It was about friendship. He thought on that as he watched
Lar go to help his colleagues with their equipment, a floating
stretcher of some kind which they were carrying in through the
door.

Clearly more
had been going on here than just an alien visitation. His
neighbours had been making friends, good friends, and so too by the
looks of things had their visitors. That was something he liked,
and also something he didn’t want to intrude on. Having so few
friends of his own as most were dead or lost to time and the
demands and secrecy of intelligence work, he treasured the memories
he had of those he had once called friends, and he hated not being
able to return to them.

Yet like it or
not he was a threat to that friendship. It was something to think
on as he watched the others preparing to take Cyrea home to her own
people and to her own friends.

“So who won
anyway?” Alice’s question brought him back to the moment, and he
turned back to see her still sitting there, studying him closely.
His elderly neighbour was grinning from ear to ear as she asked the
unexpected question, and there was a distinctly mischievous light
in her eyes, which caught David by surprise. But by then he’d
already been through too many shocks already and it took him a
second to understand her meaning, and then as he saw her surveying
the wreckage of his living room, a few more to realize she was
actually curious about their fight. Yet Alice hated fighting of all
sorts. It was at the same moment that Cyrea seemed to grasp her
thoughts.

They both burst
into life as they each explained that they had, and that they’d
gone easy on each other, never really wanting to cause serious
harm. They stopped just as suddenly as they each understood that
the other was saying exactly the same thing, even though they had
no idea of each other’s language. All the while Alice looked on and
laughed quietly to herself, no doubt considering calling them
children once again.

“So Cyrea, you
could have kicked his butt easily but instead decided to let him
think he was winning to see what he’d do, and because he was kind
enough to look after your injuries. And David you think you were
clearly winning but felt sorry for her injuries and her gender,
which is why you let her go.” They both looked at each other and
then quickly looked away, embarrassed and confused.

“Perhaps a
rematch then. Without the weapons of course.” David started
studying the far wall intently about then while Cyrea paid careful
attention to his bookshelves. It wasn’t just the embarrassment of
having been caught fighting by an elderly lady; it was the sudden
memory of what else they’d felt as they struggled, and David
suddenly knew that it hadn’t only been him.

“It’ll be
interesting to see who’s skills were the best. Whether strength and
size beat speed and agility. Claws against fists. Human karate
against Leinian eki. But you two would need a referee. Someone to
keep the rules and make it a fair fight. No telling what you might
do otherwise.” She didn’t know the half of it David thought, and
then worried that she might. There was something distinctly
mischievous in the old woman’s eyes.

“But for now,
Cyrea needs her rest and care. David you’re also exhausted. You’ve
probably had little sleep and that’s been followed up by the
biggest shock of your life. There’s been too much excitement for
one day.” David tried to protest that he wasn’t really that tired
though in truth he was. Two nights without much sleep, followed by
major shock after major shock. Alice was right; he was exhausted,
and he needed to process what he’d learned. He just didn’t want to
let the moment pass.

“Relax David.
You’re still bursting with questions, so many in fact that you
can’t think what to ask first.” She apparently understood him
better then he would have thought, something he wasn’t entirely
happy about. But then she had already been through this herself he
realised. She had a head start on him.

“But you can
ask them tomorrow as easily as today. Our friends will still be
here, and they’ll still be happy to talk. I promise you that. And
while you’ll no doubt turn back into an army agent man again in a
few hours, they won’t try to harm you or force you into anything.
The most they’ll do is leave, though that would be terrible enough.
We don’t want them to leave.”

David nodded.
That much he believed of Alice. She was telling the truth. She
liked these aliens, these people, and perhaps not just because of
the way they looked out for her health. Alice was always a good
judge of character, or at least so she claimed, and to her these
people were decent enough. But then David had already found them
much the same, or at least they gave a good impression of being
decent. At least they did after one meeting. Still it was something
that surprised him. He wasn’t sure what he had expected of an
alien, but even among his own he found few people he could
trust.

What was it
that the man had said, about the similarities between them? That
they looked at the universe in much the same way. He was right.
David had found Lar both direct and without guile, and he was
trained in judging character. Unexpectedly he found himself not
only without any doubt that the man had spoken the truth, but also
that he was a good and decent individual. Not a criminal, not a spy
or an agent, not anyone reprehensible.

It was a
strange thing for him to realize, but in time he suspected he could
have gotten to like these people too. But they didn’t have time.
Sooner or later their secret would be out whether he released it or
not, and then they would leave. And until that time, he couldn’t
afford to have too much contact with them himself. He was
ex-military, ex-agency and someone who could and rightly should act
as a safety between them and the Earth. To be too friendly with
them would be to compromise his neutrality. Besides, the more he
knew the more he would tell and if they were who they claimed to
be, then he didn’t want to tell anyone about them. That was a
surprise, and yet in some ways it wasn’t.

It took a toll
on him just to admit it even to himself, but he didn’t like who he
was, who he’d worked for, what he’d done, or worse, what his
previous employers had done, and though he had a duty to them, that
didn’t mean he wanted to carry it out. Especially when he had a
fair idea of what they would do to these people, if they got the
chance. And aliens or not, these he was almost certain, were good
people. They might not be American, they might be illegal aliens,
and there was something of an irony in that very concept, but they
absolutely didn’t deserve to be harmed.

Unless they
were enemies after all.

“You’re right.
I’m tired and shocked, and I need to think.” It was the absolute
truth and a major understatement. Most of all what he needed to do
was to simply digest his day, let it sink in to his already
overworked brain, and try and decide if he was insane, a traitor,
or simply a man doing the best that he could in an impossible
situation. That he already knew, was going to take time.

“And you -.”
Her voice trailed off, the question unfinished. But he knew what
she was asking. That she needed to be sure.

“I won’t do
anything Alice. Not yet. On that you have my word. Not until I can
be sure, and even then, I’ll give you warning. There is no
advantage in a battle even if these people are enemies. There will
be no mass invasion of troops here, I promise.” It seemed to be
enough as Alice started looking a little less worried, a little
more relaxed. Meanwhile her friends were busy helping his former
assailant on to the stretcher they’d bought, a typical enough unit
with only one minor difference from the one that he’d seen every
day in the army; it floated on air. It cushioned Cyrea's weight as
she sat down on it and then she leaned back while others helped
swing her wounded leg around on to it. David tried hard not to
stare at that, knowing that just that single stretcher, or the
technology in it, could revolutionise the Earth, and quite probably
destroy it. Lar was right on that. And David knew he was right in
doing nothing. Not until he could be absolutely sure. Not until he
knew what the consequences of his actions might be.

He needed to
think.

“Then perhaps
tomorrow we could return, and you could even visit our ship.” Lar
had returned to the couch as Cyrea was being floated out of his
house.

“Not tomorrow.
I need time.” David shook his head, knowing what he was saying was
scarcely the beginning of what he needed. He didn’t even know what
he needed.

“But I have
Alice’s number. I’ll call when I’m ready. And for the moment you
have a patient to attend to.”

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

After the
meeting Alice decided to take one of the floaters back to the
Leinian ship instead of her truck. She could come back for it later
and David wouldn’t care if her truck stayed behind for a while.
Besides, there were things to discuss that were far more important
than her battered pick up’s location. Things like making sure that
everyone was safe and her friends didn’t have to leave.

David would
have been surprised to have seen Alice get in one of the floaters
with Lar as they left that morning, though they were both sure he
watched them go. He would have been more surprised by their
conversation though. Then again, maybe not, Alice thought as they
flew gently through the air. He was a smart man. A good judge of
character. And most important of all, he was a better man than he
gave himself credit for. There was a lot of pain and sadness in his
soul, an unhealthy dose of guilt and shame as well, but she was
certain he was genuine in his wish to put his past behind him.

She said as much to Lar and as
usual got little more than a non-committal grunt as he too
reflected on what had been said. But that wasn’t enough for her for
once. Not when everything was once more on the line. Her health,
her family’s health, the entire community’s health, even the health
of the surrounding lakes and forests, there was simply too much at
stake to let him get away with a grunt.
The Leinians had done so much for
their community. They would continue to do more if they stayed. And
ultimately if everything went as it should, they would do the same
for the rest of the world. That could not be allowed to
fail.