E.B.E. 21- the Hunt

by Peer Lehregger

  Hannes imagined that they would eat together and that Ibby would also enjoy eating the food. He opened his eyes again and looked thoughtfully at her face, at the black eyes, and at the bone eyebrow structure. She looked at him expectantly, her head crooked. But Hannes was still in his mind. He wondered what it would be like to have a relationship with an alien, a being that did not come from this planet that was alien, another knowledge, another intelligence, alien ethics, alien morals. Maybe the kiss of Ibby was a kind of Cain’s Mark, a kind of Judas kiss, maybe the kiss would also mean his own end within 24 hours ... He was surprised that the communication with Ibby had gone so smoothly and apparently would go on smoothly. He was surprised that she had integrated so well into his everyday life. The question, Hannes thought, is that he didn't know what to do next. No work, money from any dimension, sure, materially no problem, but to get involved with such a strange being, to open up without being able to be sure that it also opens up? How would a life with an alien be possible, because someday and somewhere someone would recognize who or better what Ibby is? She had already adopted earthly habits. But where did they come from? Integration into human society? Or just a perfidious plan, first the Gingerbread-Street, then Cologne, then Germany, then Europe and so on? Hannes sighed and leaned his head on his hands.

  Ibby interrupted his thoughts. She nudged him, he was startled, and Ibby pointed to his clothes, then to herself, then she made the gesture of paying by rubbing her thumb and index finger together. How did she know about the gesture? Anyway, Hannes decided and stood up, Madame wants to shop, the day is lost.

  Feeling two days later, but actually, shortly before five in the afternoon, Hannes sat with aching feet, a pull in his shoulders and various bags in front of his feet on a seat in front of the ladies' dressing room in the ‘Galeria Kaufhof’[7] in the ‘Hohe Straße’. He was not alone there, two men were sitting to his right, staring boredly at holes in the air or looking at their cell phones, another fellow sufferer was sitting to his left, pushing a pram with a whining toddler back and forth. Hannes and his brothers in arms waited. Hannes waited already twenty minutes, how long the others already sat there, he did not know. Behind him Hannes heard a whisper of two women looking for bargains in a revolving stand, quiet, annoying department store music rippled from the loudspeakers, children of all ages ran through the stands and played loudly catch.

  Number three briefly stopped moving the pram when he picked up his cell phone, read something and then groaned quietly. The child whined louder and threw his toy to the ground. Number three put the mobile phone away and now moved the pram much faster. Right next to number two read something concentrated on his mobile phone and scrolled with his thumb, number one held mouth monkeys for sale.

  Hannes did the same thing. Ibby had taken some clothes into the locker room, more than allowed, but she didn't care. From time to time a quiet whistle sounded and Hannes stood up, a hanger with trousers or blouses or jackets was handed to him past the closed curtain, he took them wordlessly, trotted to the respective clothes stand and hung the hangers back. At first he felt a little stupid, but soon he realized that this communication was common: A quiet "Hey!", who knew where he had to go, he received the hangers, but others were called by a hissing, by a hand that waved; Hannes found especially funny, who in a case of a guy from a man a finger snap of the lady in the closed cabin was enough to make him run there with crazy speed.

  Hannes would have liked to get some beers and talk to his fellow sufferers. So, all four of them took a look from time to time, they understood each other and waited.

  The waiting came to an end in one fell swoop. Ibby ripped open the curtain and stepped out. She wore a chic blouse, the colors were excellent, also the new stockings, Hannes found, were a first-class choice. She had no pants on, no underpants either. She was not somehow ashamed but stood upright and in such a way that anatomical studies could be carried out without any problems as to what perfectly formed labia looked like.

  Ibby looked at Hannes questioningly and alternately held a black panty and a red panty in front of her hip. Suddenly it was quiet. Number three was astonished and gave the pram with the toddler such a push that the pram shot at the escalator from below and was saved from falling by an employee with a desperate pike jump.

  The full-bodied lady, who was just driving upwards, was so frightened when she saw the pram dashing towards her that she stepped three steps back and overturned all those who followed. No one was aware of the screaming. Hannes shot Ibby forward with a bright red head, stumbled over bags in his way, spinning, tried desperately to keep his balance, grabbed the curtain of Ibby's neighboring cabin, tore him down and revealed to the amazed audience a young couple that was just happily floating in the cabin, she stretched her ass towards him, he struggled hard with a camera in his hand, filming.

  Surprised by the sudden incidence of light, he turned towards the audience and continued filming, she screamed and tried to cover herself hastily.

  Hannes had reached Ibby, pushed her into the cabin, tried to make her realize that she had to dress really fast now, then he wanted to rush back to his seat, noticed a shadow coming towards him, he ducked, and a heavy handbag whistled over his head and hit her intended target: Clapping she hit the face of number one. He went down, knocked number two's mobile phone out of his hand, then flew in a high arc through the air and then came to lie with a loud noise on the escalator and was crushed crunching there.

  The beloved of number two joined us, hissed "We'll talk later!" and left. Relief spread across Number Two's face, he swapped a smile with Hannes, who had picked up all the bags that belonged to him by now. Hannes asked him, "And where's your credit card?" The grin on Number Two's face went out suddenly. Number One also had his partner by his side and when Number One bent down to collect the bags, she watched him and explained clearly audibly that she was tired of him always looking at other women, and especially at ass and plum, and she had seen everything, he didn't need the next four to six weeks of sexual activities in which she was personally involved, he could visually satisfy himself.

  Ibby was done, had made her choice, Hannes grabbed her and both hurried to get to the main cash desk, which fortunately was at the other end of the floor.

  Hannes paid for Ibby's selection and both then took the escalator down and left the store.

  Ibby smiled mischievously, he could see that, snuggled up to Hannes, hooked himself under and gave quiet tones of himself, which Hannes only after a moment of listening recognized as a melody. Ibby sang something. This astonished him excessively, but he had an urgent need to distance himself as quickly as possible from the department store.

  So, he pulled Ibby quite a bit through the streets towards the Christmas market, without Ibby losing her good mood.

  A bit before the entrance to the Christmas market there was a KVB bus where everyone could park your shopping under surveillance for a fee. Hannes parked the purchases, paid the fee and got a stamp for picking them up. Ibby waited impatiently for him, then they both went to the Christmas market. Amidst the many people they let themselves drift, took a short break at the beer stand, Ibby got water with a straw, and Hannes drank two Kölsch with comfort. Then, one step further, at the barbecue stand, he bought himself a bratwurst, a questioning look at Ibby shaking her head. Chewing Hannes then went to the next stand, which offered fresh and healthy smoothies. He bought a poison green drink, also with a straw. He handed the cup to Ibby, who hesitated at first, but then took it. He watched Ibby take the lid off the mug and play an amazing amount of saliva into it. She stirred the straw for a while, then drank it. She noticed that Hannes looked at her alienated, and showed him with a gesture, thumbs up, all right, and that the smoothie would taste perfect.

  Chewing and sipping, they moved on. Ibby stopped again and again at the stands where woodwork or glass jewelry was exhibited. Hannes was urged to hold the cup and Ibby grabbed one or the other part and examined it exactly. With a charming smile, she then
put it back and the merchants returned the smile. They walked past a group of half-men who lingered at a stand and loudly chased around. As Ibby passed by, whistles and offers for immediate propagation sounded. Ibby didn't respond. Hannes noticed that three of the kids were following them. He wasn't worried, there were just too many people out there for anything to happen.

  To his surprise, however, Ibby pulled him away from the Christmas market towards the ‘Salzgasse[8]’. Hannes didn't see Ibby slit her eyes into slits and grin. The alley was deserted. The people were in the guesthouses, but there was nobody in the ‘Salzgasse’. Hannes noticed how he was pushed hard from behind, he fell and rolled to the side. Ibby had turned around and the tallest of the three laid both hands on Ibby's chest. He got a slap in the face from Ibby, which not only tore him from his legs, he almost rolled over and then lay dazed on the floor. The second approached from the side, but Ibby also turned to him, grabbed him by the left side of the jacket, pulled him to himself and grabbed his balls by the right side.

  The man became pale, Hannes could see it despite the missing light. I guess he'd made the acquaintance of Ibby's claws. He slumped down a little and raised his hands to calm him down.

  The third reacted more prudently. He pulled a telescopic baton out of his jacket, pulled it apart and stood behind Ibby. When he swerved, Hannes was back on his feet and wanted to throw himself in the punching arm. Like a shadow, another figure appeared next to the man who was about to strike.

  With one hand the figure of Hannes meant that he should stop, with the other he lifted a heavy weapon, shiny chrome, held it to the attacker's ear and cocked the cock. The sound caused the attacker to freeze. He turned his head and looked into the muzzle. "Drop it," whispered the figure. The baton fell to the ground, clacking. Ibby had turned his head around and stared at the figure. After a brief hint of the weapon, the attacker shot down the ‘Salzgasse’ out of sight.

  The figure pointed the gun at Ibby. "Let go," she whispered. Ibby let go and walked slowly to Hannes, holding his arm, but not to calm him down, but to hold him. The figure looked at the youth. "Get out of here and take your buddy with you." Another whisper.

  People now came up the alley towards the Christmas market, passing both of them. Hannes noticed that the figure had put the gun away and stood next to Ibby and him. Together they watched the two youths walk down the alley. Hannes looked at the figure, it was a man with a three-day beard and sunglasses, a mouth with thin lips, angular chin, jacket in military cut and a black cap.

  The man joined Hannes. "You have to be careful. Never be alone with her. Always stay with people when you go out. Otherwise, stay at home. Never go out alone at night." Hannes starred at Ibby, who alternately looked at the man and Hannes.

  The man patted Hannes on the shoulder. "You don't have to bother so much with your gestures either. She understands you without a problem."

  Amazed, Hannes looked at Ibby. Ibby looked to the side.

  The Cell Phone Man

  The cell phone guy ditched the two of them. He stuck his gun in the shoulder holster, turned around, walked towards the Christmas market. That was a damn close call again, he thought, those two idiots. Not that they couldn't even go out, there was nothing wrong with that, but that the two of them then went into a dark alley when they noticed that they were being "chased" by three pacifiers. Even idiots, he thought, who thought only "tits" and "touch", nothing more. My God, if they had known WHOM they were persecuting. She would have ripped them all apart. Just would have killed them. And three shredded corpses at the edge of a Christmas market wouldn't have been so easy to cover up. The cell phone man sighed. The whole thing with all the aliens he had ever hunted, killed or just cared for was nothing against the collected group idiocy of his own kind. People are extremely funny, impulsive, unpredictable and xenophobic.

  The mobile phone man went to the mulled wine stand, bought himself a cup of mulled wine with a shot and stood with his back to the wooden booth so that he had everything in view.

  Sipping the mulled wine, he thought of Mike chasing the alien's backpack without knowing what was in it. This is ridiculous. They had a lot of stuff like that. Probably nothing new. Mike was stubborn, narrow-minded and the cell phone man had doubts whether the whole action with the alien could be brought to a successful end if Mike continued to interfere.

  The cell phone man ordered a new mug. He saw Rachmiel and the alien walking a few meters past him, he appeared angry, sure, why not, and she, yes, what did she do? The cell phone man had learned from his contacts that exactly this type had no problems with human language. They understood at least the Western European languages, with the focus, he was told, on French and English. But German or Norwegian wouldn't be a problem either.

  Target Two went next to Target One, Target One had the coffee open and there was nothing to read from the facial expressions of Target Two. The devil knows what Rachmiel had come up with to communicate with her, and now, through a little indiscretion, he had learned that he had made a fool of himself all along. The thought pleased the cell phone man. That wasn't just funny, that was cool.

  The cell phone man put the mug down and followed the two inconspicuously. Crowds, even crowds of people were no problem for the cell phone man, he had been in the service for so long that he never lost his track. He didn't know exactly why he was following them, his instinct told him to.

  The two targets stopped at the beer stand, one got a beer, and two stood next to it and stared at one. The cell phone man searched for a place in the turmoil to observe the two further. When his eyes fell on the barbecue stand, he saw Mike with a young blonde woman. Mike had made himself really chic, looked almost cosmopolitan and drew the young woman. The cell phone man appraised her, her clothes, very expensive, very tasteful, escort service, which was clear to see.

  Mike had certainly spent a lot of money. Mike chewed on a grilled sausage; she had just thrown away the cardboard cover. Their looks crossed. The cell phone man typed himself on the edge of his cap and smiled. She smiled back. He stealthily pointed to Mike and then made the gesture of counting money, looking at her questioningly. She closed her eyes, pondered, then nodded slightly. The cell phone man pointed to Mike and shook his head and theatrically put his hand in front of his head. He let his finger circle his temple and looked at the woman warningly. She looked at Mike, who was still struggling with the sausage, pushing the white bread into his mouth with mustard-smeared fingers. She tilted her head and then seemed to make a decision, she said something to Mike who nodded and she disappeared.

  The cell phone man was happy. A soldier like Mike is always on duty, so there's no time for entertainment.

  He turned his attention back to Rachmiel and the Beast. Not a second too soon, not a second too late. He went a little closer to her, the beast stood thoughtlessly next to Rachmiel and looked into the crowd, Rachmiel put the beer glass down, saw that she looked into the crowd and hissed at her, "Fuck you, come on!“ The two of them left in the direction of the bus.

  Noise in the House of Commons, the mobile phone man thought pleased, a possibly existing proximity between the two had got some cracks.

  The cell-phone man was happy. Fucking up the evening with Mike was pleasant but driving a wedge between Rachmiel and the beast was his job. He thought about what else he could do to reinforce the cracks but came to the conclusion that he could finish the day.

  He took the tram back to his hotel where he resided. The organization had been really generous, a luxury apartment, just for him alone. The mobile phone man knew, however, that for the luxury fast and clear results were expected from him. The cell phone man also had the intention to meet these expectations.

  He took off his shoes and jacket and lay down on the bed. He was thinking. There wasn't much he could do right now. He had sown the seed of doubt at Rachmiel; the next days would bring a decision. According to an informal phone conversation with the secretary of the representative, the cell phone man was also informed about
details of the species, informally, mind you, with no way to verify this information. According to the information, the difficulty lay in the different codes which regulated the cooperation with the aliens and partly overlapped each other. In the cases of overlap, the older law counted. Extremely complicated. The cell phone man hoped for more details and instructions from the meeting with the representative next Tuesday. He had been ordered to disrupt the connection between Rachmiel and the alien, if possible. He had apparently succeeded in this. Whether the alien now possessed the social and intellectual ability to eliminate these disturbances, the cell phone man did not know, but he doubted it. This species was highly intelligent, but in the social realms, it was more, yes, how do you put it? But rather pragmatic, thought Handy-Man. Opportunistic and pragmatic. Why the alien was finally here, the cell phone man didn't know exactly. Any code that she had violated? Probably. But as long as Rachmiel gave shelter to the alien, another, older code came into force. Very weird. If Rachmiel kicked the alien out, further codes would have to be checked first. And it would have to be checked whether there were any further claims. But nothing was allowed to happen to either until all conditions were fulfilled. And, there the cell-phone man was honest with himself, he would have shot the three idiots if it had got serious.

  It would all have been so much easier if the transporter had simply rammed the Renault of Rachmiel and carried it away.

  So, an earthling had found, cared for and housed an alien which appeared here on earth and was to be eliminated here on earth.

  If all this does not work, if this action fails somehow, the consequences would be catastrophic. Not so much because of humanity, but because all technology transfers would be obsolete, even ongoing projects would be stopped. So, the cell phone man thought, everything must be done to ensure that Rachmiel puts the alien outside the door. And that was the real problem. A bullet into Rachmiel’s head would solve the Rachmiel problem, but not the real problem because in this case, the older code would apply.