by Saxon Andrew
She used her credit card several times on the parking meter and she finally just paid for ten hours. She waited on the bench until nightfall and the temperature began falling quickly. She looked up the street at the New World Tavern, stood up, and went inside.
• • •
A Meter-Maid drove along the street writing tickets for expired time on the parking meters. She stopped the cart and went to the meter beside the red flyer. She looked around and dropped something out of her bag. She used her foot to push it under the car and went back to her cart. She immediately drove away.
• • •
Nicole sat at the bar and after a few hours, she decided the alien had left for a new hiding place. She looked out of the front glass and saw it was high tide; she had been here for hours. Suddenly, she heard in her mind, “You need to go to your car, put the musket in the front seat with you, and await further instructions.”
Nicole thought, “But…” She could tell the mental link was broken. She got up, paid her tab, and walked out of the tavern. She opened the trunk, took the long container out and put it in the flyer’s front seat on top of her suitcase; there wasn’t enough room for both in the trunk. She closed the passenger door and started to get in but stopped to look around. The Meter-Maid ducked behind a car down the block and stayed there for a few moments. Nicole sat down in the driver’s seat, fastened her seatbelt, and suddenly, the armored floor of the car disappeared, and the seat fell out of the car. She reached across and grabbed the musket and held it tightly to her chest as her chair fell into a hole under the car. She screamed and looked above her and saw the hole she was falling in was closing up above her. She looked down and saw some kind of port on the top of…something… was directly below her. It appeared to be constructed of some type of transparent material. She screamed again as she felt the ground shake violently as she fell into the port.
The seat landed and a moment later, her suitcase fell in beside her chair. She sat inside some kind of machine that wasn’t very big. It began moving ahead and she saw it was moving in another larger tunnel. She looked over her shoulder and saw this tunnel was also closing in behind her. The…machine began moving faster and then it started moving uphill. It entered water and she looked over her shoulder and saw the tunnel was completely closed behind her. The thing she was in sped through the water, but she was amazed that the water didn’t appear to be disturbed by its passage.
The small ship, that’s what it had to be, flew through the water for thirty minutes and then it came out of the water and went vertical. She was gripping the musket with a death grip as the craft flew into a dark sky and then turned west. She knew it was west because she saw the lights of Plymouth passing far below her. She could see through the walls of the craft in all directions and it seemed she was flying with nothing around her.
The craft slowed after a few moments and began moving toward the ground. She could see the lights of Plymouth in the distance and she looked where the craft was headed and saw lights that were scattered. The craft landed in a clearing and she heard a click behind her. She turned and saw an open port. She was still in the car seat; so she removed the seatbelt, lifted the musket, grabbed her suitcase, and walked out of the rear of the small ship. As soon as she stepped on the ground, the port closed, and it immediately lifted into the sky. It disappeared from view almost instantly and she stared at the sky looking for it. After a moment, she blew out a breath and looked around; she was standing in the middle of a playground. It took a few moments for her vision to adjust and then she saw the car parked at the side of the playground; there was a man leaning against it. She walked over carrying the musket and her suitcase and saw it was the man from the tavern. She looked at the car and shook her head, “Why are you driving the ‘Original Bad View’?”
The man laughed, “It doesn’t draw attention. I’m thankful you remembered to grab the musket before you exited your car.”
Nicole shrugged, “My suitcase must have fallen through behind me.”
He opened the passenger door and nodded, “Please get in.”
Nicole put the musket in the back seat as the man put her suitcase in the trunk. She got in the car as he cranked it. He drove about two hundred yards and parked in front of a large camping trailer. He took Nicole’s suitcase out of the trunk, went to one of the camper’s doors, and opened it. He turned and waited for Nicole. She took the musket out of the back seat and walked up the steps into the camper. She turned to the man, “What in the hell is going on?”
The man looked at her and pointed a remote at a television. It immediately came on and Nicole saw blazoned across the top of the picture, TERROISM IN PLYMOUTH!! He turned up the volume and she heard a report saying, “…knows why this has happened but there is nothing but twisted wreckage remaining of the flyer. Pieces of it have been reported to have landed more than a mile away causing fires. The emergency responders are fighting the blaze of the car here as others are moving around Plymouth putting out fires…”
The man lowered the volume and said, “It was the only way to get you out alive.”
“YOU COULD HAVE JUST WARNED ME NOT TO GO NEAR THE CAR!!”
The man shrugged, “That wouldn’t have allowed me to keep our deal.”
“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”
The man looked up and said, “I told you I didn’t make a deal.”
Nicole heard in her mind, “Even if she didn’t recognize it as a deal, your statement made it a deal.”
Nicole fell back on the sofa and fought to get her emotions under control. After a few moments she turned to the man, “Why?”
“Please just call me Charles.”
“Charles, why couldn’t you have just warned me?”
“This deal my computer thinks I made with you requires me to answer your questions for four weeks. The Governments in the East have put a huge bounty on your head and there is no way I could keep the deal if they thought you were still alive. They believe you were killed tonight, so they won’t be looking for you.”
“You could have just taken me somewhere else where they won’t be looking for me.”
Charles rolled his eyes and said, “Amug help me!” He turned back to Nicole and said, “And just how do you think they found you in Plymouth?”
Nicole stared at him and said, “I have no idea? I took plenty of time to hide my tracks.”
“And just how do you hide your tracks from a satellite?” Nicole stared at him and Charles added, “Those satellites can see you clearly from space and they’ve been programmed to search for, not only your color of hair and body shape, but also the fine bones in your face. The moment you stepped out of your car in New Port, they determined your location. A team was immediately dispatched to remove you.”
“How do you know that?”
“I listened to them talking about it,” the computer replied.
Charles leaned in and added, “You are not a trained field agent, and even if you were, changing your hair color or anything else you try to do will not hide you from those satellites. That boss of yours knew it and I’m shocked he allowed you to even go on this so-called mission!” Nicole was shocked by Charles’ statement and her eyes moistened as she felt betrayed by the only man she trusted. Charles fell back in his chair and said, “Nuts!”
Nicole looked at him and said, “What?” as her tears began to fall.
“He had you tracked by his own satellites and field agents were alerted to keep an eye on you as you moved this way. He figured he could keep enemy agents off you long enough to carry out your mission.” Nicole blew out a breath and Charles leaned forward again, “But he is incredibly stupid; there’s no way to keep them from killing you before his agents could react in time. Hell, he doesn’t even remove the ones he knows about much less the thousands he doesn’t!” Nicole looked up at Charles and he said in an even tone, “The only way for me to keep them off you for four weeks is to make them think they killed you. They’ll now remove the prog
ramming about you in their satellites and use more important issues in their programming; you are no longer an issue.”
“Couldn’t you have just taken me on board your ship and had our discussion there?”
Charles’ eyebrows came down, “Have you forgotten who you work for? You may not say anything about me right now, but I have no assurance you won’t reveal anything you learn in the future. I still don’t trust you and the only reason you’re here now instead of being tiny pieces of DNA is that musket. I will not reveal anything to you that could be shared with your boss.”
Nicole pulled herself together and nodded, “I understand.”
• • •
Grant looked at the wreckage of the armored flyer and slowly blew out a breath. He turned to Alex Whitlock and asked, “Is there any traces of her?”
Alex shook his head, “Sir, the fire was so hot that any traces of her would have been vaporized. It was even hot enough to vaporize her bones.”
Grant blew out a breath and then had a thought, “Show me the recording of the explosion taken by the satellite.” Alex opened his tablet and started the video, “Slow it down to one hundredth speed,” Grant ordered. Grant took the tablet and stared at the recording. He watched it until it concluded, and he handed the tablet back to Alex.
“Is something bothering you Sir?”
“No, it’s just a hell of a way to die.”
Alex shrugged, “It was pretty much instantaneous.” Grant nodded and turned back to the wreckage. The satellite recorded the Meter-Maid placing the bomb and she had been captured and taken in. She managed to activate a suicide device in her arm and died before she arrived at headquarters. Grant lifted his communicator and said, “Captain Kelly, I’m ordering every known opposition agent to be removed.”
“What do you mean by removed Sir?”
“By any means possible Captain!”
“Yes Sir. I’ll start moving on it now.”
“Try to take them out simultaneously Kelly. I don’t want them going to ground.”
“Yes Sir.”
Grant continued to stare at the wreckage and planned to call a meeting on his arrival back at his office. He was considering having Alex stunned and examined to within an inch of his life by a medical team looking for suicide devices. Then, and only then, would he be questioned. Alex was the only one that knew about Nicole’s mission. The Opposition used the powerful bomb to make sure she did not contact the Old One. What Alex didn’t know was that Captain Kelly had given Nicole one of the new lasers for defense. There was no secondary explosion in the main blast which had to mean that laser wasn’t in the flyer when it exploded; that might mean she wasn’t either. But that was something he would not reveal…to anyone. Grant thought about it and smiled. He’d leave Alex in place and use him to track other Opposition agents.
• • •
“Have they declared the woman dead?”
“Yes. Our satellite confirmed that she was in the car when it exploded.”
The man hesitated and then knew he was being paranoid, “Reprogram the satellites to search for our next targets.”
“I will begin immediately.”
• • •
Nicole looked at Charles and asked, “Are you human?”
“I told you that you can ask questions about history. I didn’t say anything about questions directed about me.”
“Actually, you did,” the computer interjected.
Charles rolled his eyes and said, “Now you’re starting to get on my nerves! What did I say which leads you to say this?”
“Allow me to play the conversation:”
• • •
“I know. But if I can get you the musket, will you allow me some time to just discuss some of America’s history.”
“How much time?”
“Four weeks; that’s all I want.”
“I could tell you everything in less than ten days.”
“How long have you been around watching humans?” Charles was silent and Nicole said, “Your last name, Guetteur, means watcher in French. How long have you been doing it?” Charles was silent and Nicole begged, “Please tell me!”
“Since the beginning,” Charles answered softly.
“What beginning?” Nicole asked.
“Since human’s ancestors lived in the trees in Africa.” Nicole’s mind was stunned by the revelation. “And I can tell you that humans are trying harder today to cause their extinction than at any time in their past.”
Nicole gathered her wits and said, “Do we have a deal?” Charles was silent and Nicole added, “I’ll not reveal anything I learn and will keep your existence secret.”
“Before I tell you anything, get my musket and then we’ll talk.”
• • •
“By saying that you could cover everything in ten days and then revealing how long you’ve been here, you opened that topic for questioning…or do you see it differently?” Charles lips were curled and the computer repeated, “Do you?”
Nicole stared at Charles and saw he was angry, so she kept silent. “Maybe, just maybe, it was inferred.”
“Inference is permission.”
Charles blew out a hard breath and said to Nicole, “Our computers are tasked with making sure we follow our ethics at all times. I can’t really blame it; it’s only doing it’s function. The mistake was mine.”
“Are you…human?” Nicole asked.
“In a manner of speaking, I am.”
“I don’t understand.”
Charles shook his head and looked up, “I know, I know, vague answers aren’t allowed in communications.” He turned to Nicole and said, “In order to explain my answer, it will take a lot of time.”
Nicole sat back, “I have four weeks. Take your time.”
“I’ll just answer your question directly; I did not originate on this planet and I’m a different species from humans.”
“But you said you were…in a manner of speaking.”
“My DNA is now mostly human,” Charles answered.
“How did that happen?”
Charles sighed and shook his head, “I guess there’s no way around it.”
“It’s your fault,” the computer remarked.
Charles nodded, “I know.” He turned to Nicole, “I was forced to change my DNA in order to be able to live on this planet.” Nicole blinked and Charles raised his hands, “About four hundred thousand years ago, I was traveling through this galaxy inspecting things of interest when my ship had a major malfunction. The fuel tank on the stardrive that allowed me to travel faster than light speed ruptured. It was only a matter of seconds until the drive exploded and I was forced to jettison it. I barely managed to move away in time to avoid the explosion.”
Nicole nodded, “What happened then?”
“I was trapped in space just outside this star system. I sent an emergency message out requesting assistance and then started moving into this star system toward a possible habitable planet.”
“Shouldn’t help have arrived by now?”
Charles shook his head, “Our faster than light communications went out with the stardrive unit. My species lives about ten million light years from here. It will take another nine million years for the message traveling at the speed of light to arrive to my species. I was trapped here, and no help was coming for a long time.”
“So, you’re a castaway trapped on Earth.” Charles nodded. Nicole’s eyes narrowed, “Are you going to live that long?”
Charles snorted, “I’ve already lived a lot longer than that.”
“Get out of Dodge!” Nicole replied in shock.
Charles stared at her and smiled slightly, “I think it might be refreshing to share this tale with someone else. My species doesn’t age like any other life form. I don’t want to claim to be immortal, but we’re pretty close to it if we’re not.”
Nicole shook her head, “I’d die of boredom if I lived that long.”
“Time moves differently for my s
pecies; we just don’t seem to notice it passing. Our minds are curious about anything and everything and we have an innate ability to focus on things for an extraordinary length of time; boredom has never been an issue for me and probably never will; it’s not how we’re made.”
“Don’t you miss having someone to talk with?”
“I have my computer who fills that need.” Charles looked up, “Although sometimes he’s a pain in my…”
“Hey, hey! There’s a lady present,” the computer interrupted.
Charles chuckled, “Yes there is.” He turned to Nicole, “I think you get the picture.” Nicole smiled and nodded. “Before I lost my communications, I would occasionally contact some of my friends and tell them about something I found interesting.”
“Then wouldn’t they miss hearing from you and worry about you?”
Charles rolled his eyes, “I’d only do that about once every quarter of a million years or so. No, they won’t worry if I don’t contact them.”
Nicole nodded and said, “So your species are loners. How do you have children?”
“I’ve never heard of that happening.”
“WHAT?!”
Charles shrugged, “My species evolved from a primitive structure composed of billions of…cells isn’t the appropriate term. Ummm…maybe spores would fit the description better. Each of those spores evolved into a single intelligent organism. As the spores evolved, they eventually became who we are today. I don’t know if sometime in the really distant future we might find we can produce those spores and bring new members of my species into existence. However, that is purely speculation. We’ve not been able to do it yet.”