Aliens, Tequila & Us: The complete series

by Michael Herman

  “Shit!” is Ted’s unambiguous response.

  Bob catches my eye as he looks over at me. When it comes to Ted, Bob is usually best at handling him when he gets like this. I nod towards Ted and Bob nods back in silent agreement. He stands, clears his throat and says to Ted, “We’ll adapt, just like we did when we first lost contact with our avatars at the farm invasion. David will be the catalyst that keeps us all in contact with the avatars.”

  “We hope,” Ted notes with acid in his voice. “And if he can’t come through for us, then we’re screwed.”

  “Ted, calm down, give it a chance. Just because David wasn’t completely forthcoming, doesn’t mean it’s for naught. He has insight we don’t. Give credit where it’s due. Besides...”

  He pauses and shifts his focus. “We have no other avenues. Soliloquy says Gi is with us in this. It has to happen. David will be our unbroken link to our avatars. It’s what makes him Chosen, what makes him uniquely suited for what we’re about to do.”

  “But all of us? All of us again? The last time, we almost lost Messenger. Who will we lose this time?”

  “No one, Ted. Scarlett will take the kids to San Diego. Granted we can’t evacuate all of the Julian area. No one would believe us anyway. But we’ll be miles away from here and there is no alien craft to deal with this time—only the remnants of what we failed to wipe out last time. This time we’ll be even more thorough. We have it all covered, barring any unforeseen events.”

  “Ha! Unforeseen events. It’s all unforeseen,” Ted remarks with scorn.

  “Ted, you need to get a grip on yourself. We need you 100 percent, not bitching and moaning. We need that Ted brilliance here, not this whiny nonsense. Either be your genius self or dumb down to my level and take it for what it is. No guarantees, Ted. Never have been, never will be.”

  Ted silently fumes, casting eyeball daggers at David who appears unruffled by the animosity while gamely sipping his beer.

  Maggie, who has been uncharacteristically quiet, stands and inserts herself between Bob and Ted. She walks over to Ted, wraps her arms around him and whispers just loud enough that only Ted and I can hear, “Ted, we love you and you love us. But it’s not us that you need to visit your nasty side upon, it’s the aliens. Channel it, Ted. Stop making Twizzle nervous about all this. Or I will have to visit my nasty side on you, understand?” She gives him a kiss on the cheek, then pulls back and gives him a big smile and says to David, “So David, you ready to kick some alien ass tonight?”

  David gives her a thumbs-up sign that Forbes taught him and then wipes his lips with his other hand. Ted is shaking his head slowly, still doubting and angry.

  I move to Ted’s side and in sotto voce tell him, “Take good care of her, Theodore. She’s all that’s left of me and you,” in an exact reproduction of my mother’s voice.

  When Ted pulls back from me with a startled look on his face, I blush in extreme embarrassment and say, “I’m sorry Uncle Ted, I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to do that. Really, I...” It’s true—for a brief moment in time, I swear I was possessed by my dead mother. The effect is highly unsettling and leaves me shaken. I need to be in complete control in this moment of crisis, not reverting back to my sixteen-year-old self, inside the original Gi channeling my dead mother when I first encountered her there. This cannot be allowed.

  He pulls me to him with both arms and hugs me tight. “Don’t worry, Bethany. I’ll not let anything happen to her.” When he releases me, I see there is a tear in his eye. “No explanation necessary, Soliloquy. I understand perfectly.” He smiles and then turns to everyone apologetically. “Please forgive me. I lost sight momentarily of what and who we are. No one is better suited for the task at hand than we are. We’ve been here before and won, and we’ll be here afterward. With David’s help, we’ll surely, as Maggie says, ‘Kick ass!’”

  “No!” It’s Twizzle. She’s red-faced and obviously distraught. “I’m not ready for this. I don’t think I ever will be. I’ve thought about it long and hard on the flight down here and I don’t think I can do it again. I was given no choice ten years ago when it was either do or die. This time the choice is different. I’m in no immediate danger and I just can’t bring myself to go through it again. You all know what it’s like, how it lingers with you afterward and I don’t think I have what it takes to spring back from all the pain and violence.” She faces Maggie and tearfully pleads, “Mom, please forgive me. I know my being at your side means a lot to you, but I don’t think my sanity can take another bout of war with them. I still have nightmares, even last night, about them attacking us. I never stop fighting them and I fear it will affect me when you need me the most. I don’t want to fail you and be the cause of your harm. Please understand I just can’t do it.” Her voice is trembling.

  “Oh baby,” Maggie responds in motherly understanding. She wraps her arms around her tightly. “You don’t have to, honey. You don’t have to do anything.”

  Messenger puts his hand on Twizzle’s shoulder and says, “We need you to be with the kids, Twizzle. Soliloquy and I would feel greatly relieved if you could take them to San Diego out of any potential harm’s way. We’ll have Scarlett join you to keep you company.”

  Twizzle laugh-cries, “Scarlett? That crazy Forbes foundling?”

  “She’s a changed child from when you first met her, Twizzle. She’s done a 180 since then,” Messenger informs her.

  Still laughing and crying, she says, “Messenger, you let her around the kids? She’s a psycho!”

  “No longer, Twizzle. She’s been babysitting the kids for some time. She’s adorable now. You’ll see.”

  Twizzle shakes her head in disbelief. Maggie adds, “I think Zed and Sonnet in San Diego with you, Twizzle, is excellent. Don’t worry about me, sweetie. I can handle myself.” She looks at Bob and then Ted and says, “What about the two of you?”

  “Twizzle with Zed and Sonnet is an excellent move,” Bob affirms.

  “If she can make the sacrifice, I’m all for it,” Ted echoes.

  “I think Forbes should accompany her,” Messenger surprisingly adds.

  Forbes does a double take and says in disbelief, “What? No way. That’s not going to happen. Never.”

  David chimes in. “I agree with Messenger. Gi will not give Forbes avatar status for this. Plan now, instead of waiting for the moment to happen.”

  “That’s nonsense. Gi made it clear to all of us that Forbes is the star of our group,” Ted argues.

  Forbes is red-faced, about to explode. “Gi knows what I can do. Gi would never betray me like that. This is mine. This is what I do. This is who I am. Gi knows that. I showed my stuff when I was a kid and I showed it again the last two times we found aliens. I’m still the best of the family. I do not accept your words. You are either mistaken or lying.”

  Ted chimes in with Forbes’ complaint to David. “Why would you say that, and better yet, how could you have any kind of an informed opinion on the matter? You know nothing of what we do.”

  “You forget it was your Gi who reached out to me after you lost contact with your avatars. I have a different relationship with your Gi than you do. It’s why I’m here in this kitchen instead of in San Diego undergoing a battery of tests. It’s why you brought me into this. It’s why Mischa brought me to you. This will be the end to your attackers once and for all. Life will not be the same for any of us after this. What we are about to do will be the supreme sacrifice. Messenger, do you want to chime in here? You and I seem to be the only ones on track for this.”

  All eyes turn to Messenger.

  “This better be good,” Forbes says, seething.

  “While Forbes and Soliloquy were picking everyone up at the airport and Ted was at the Antiquities Research Center, David and I made a visit to the mine. I brought him to the birthing room and showed him how we transform.”

  “You became an avatar?” Forbes asks in surprise.

  “We both became avatars. It was a test
to see how the addition of David would work.”

  “Wait a minute. You left Zed and Sonnet alone?” I ask in alarm.

  “Dropped them off at Molly’s and then picked them up when we were through. She was happy to have them and the $100 I gave her for the hour and a half of her time.”

  Ted refocuses the conversation and asks, “So how did the test go?”

  “Better than expected, according to Gi. It turns out that David’s abilities of communication with Gi are easily transferred to us. The selection of David by Mischa goes beyond just his communication ability. He’s also a vessel of information. He contains communication from his Gi to our Gi.”

  “Two Gis communicating with each other across time,” Ted remarks. “Incredible.”

  “Yes and no,” Messenger says. “Yes, the act is amazing, but the result of that communication may not be what you want to hear. For Soliloquy and me, it will be a supreme sacrifice, not that I mean to diminish the sacrifice the three of you will be making—Mom, Dad, and Uncle Ted. Yours will take an equal degree of self-sacrifice.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ted says.

  Messenger and David trade looks and then David says, “Maybe another Arrogant Bastard Ale might be in store for me, at this point.” He gets up from the table, goes to the refrigerator, opens the door, pulls out a bottle, closes the door, picks up the bottle opener, pops the top, takes a long swig and then says to Messenger, “The floor is yours.”

  Messenger addresses me initially. “I debated speaking with you alone about this at first, but I think it’s better that we all take part in this discussion as a family, even Forbes and Twizzle since their life will change in ways different from ours, but no less dramatically.” He then launches into what is in store for us tomorrow if we all agree to go forward with this one final act of Gi. The tale he weaves is not only one of fantastic proportions but disturbing in the level of sacrifice we’ll all be required to make. Forbes makes objections all the way through the story until Messenger reminds him that he alone is far and away superior to everyone in the room when it comes to being an avatar which is why he must remain out of the task, so he can be the one to protect Zed and Sonnet and Twizzle. No one else is better suited than him. With great reluctance and further persuasion from David that Gi will not let him go avatar, Forbes relents.

  That night, none of us sleep well— if we sleep at all.

  Soliloquy’s Sacrifice Chapter 25

  The Next Night

  Don Juan’s black gangster-size SUV idles a few car lengths from the entrance to the mine with its headlights trained on the gate. Feathery snow drifts down through their illumination, sparkling and festive, before settling softly on the ground. Inside, he and his son calmly wait while Forbes unlocks the gate padlock and removes it for the last time. Off to the side, Bob, Ted, Maggie, David, Twizzle, Forbes, Messenger, and I stand as a group ready to pass through the entry. Don Juan and his son remain outside of the mine with Zed and Sonnet in their car.

  Standing at the back of our group, I look at the SUV and tell Messenger, “Give me a moment.”

  He nods and says nothing as I leave our group and walk deliberately to the hulking SUV. When I arrive, I open the back door, bend down and pause to give little Zed and Sonnet one last look. The warm interior air from the car heater wars with the cold exterior breeze, creating a sense of urgency to finish this as quickly as possible. Out of habit, I reach out and fuss first with Zed’s blanket, and then with Sonnet’s blanket, making sure they’re comfortable. But the moment is too much for me, and my emotions bubble over. With tears running down my cheeks, I kiss Zed on the forehead. My heart swells. His eyes crinkle when he smiles up at me in a way that assures me he’ll be all right. I lean in over him and give a sleeping Sonnet a kiss on her forehead. The warmth and softness of her skin will be my last memory of her, something to cherish.

  Using every ounce of control I have to not break down sobbing, I restrain my emotions and pull back from the two of them. For the sake of the group, I cannot allow that release. I’ve made my goodbyes again and again and now it’s time to move on. Precious Sonnet and Zed will be in good hands.

  I catch Don Juan’s sympathetic eyes watching me in the rearview mirror when his son pats me on the shoulder and assures me everything will be fine. I want to reciprocate the sentiment, but I’m too deep in my loss. Finally, I drag myself away from them, close the car door, and then turn to Messenger who awaits me at the mine entrance. With much effort, I move towards him, to begin what will be the longest walk in my life—away from my two babies forever.

  Ahead of me, I see that Maggie, Ted, Bob, and David have already started off into the mine. Forbes and Twizzle wait with Messenger, who waits for me. When I reach Messenger, he says, “You going to be all right?”

  I nod my head “yes” and say, “Of course not. But we really have no choice, do we? Not if we take this to the final conclusion.”

  Forbes steps over to me and says, “Twizzle and I will take good care of them.”

  I smile. “You will. I know. I have faith in both of you.” Messenger takes my hand in his and gently squeezes. I give him a “best effort” smile. “Let’s not keep them waiting,” I finally say.

  “Take as much time as you need, Soliloquy,” Messenger tells me.

  I breath deep, close my eyes, steel myself inside and feel my blood calm. Opening my eyes, I say with clear resolve, “I’m ready.”

  Messenger leads with me at his side, keeping a firm grip on my hand. Only the sound of our feet on the ground breaks the silence. Twizzle and Forbes are right behind us. We walk through the mine shaft, then through the sphincter opening onto the Gi path, then through the pool of white light that surrounds Gi, and then into the birthing chamber without speaking any of the words that fill our minds. None of us are really prepared for what we are about to do because none of us really comprehend the immensity of it. Messenger’s description of it was vague and clinical—something akin to telling someone who had only ever crawled what it was like to stand and then jump out of an airplane. You could not know until you experienced it. Now we are about to experience something so extreme and alien to our past lives that no description on earth will suffice. We really have no idea what we are in for and we all know it. Controlling the avatars was only a taste of what’s to come for us. This new action is to be one of total and complete immersion. We’ll never be the same. The world will never be the same.

  On arrival at the birthing area, we mill about while Forbes and Twizzle give everyone one last hug and we all speak inadequate words of goodbye. Twizzle sobs when she steps away from Maggie. Forbes has tears running down his cheeks and his lower lip trembles. Everything feels awkward and insufficient. Finally, there is nothing more for Twizzle and Forbes to do except step back, witness our transformation and then leave when we leave. The air is heavy with emotion.

  Messenger and I are the first to make the heroic move. Together we take our place in one of the light-filled depressions and then turn and stoically face Forbes and Twizzle. Bob and Maggie step into another light-filled depression and do the same. Ted takes one by himself. David takes another by himself. I wave to Forbes and Twizzle as the light things coat my body and then I close my eyes to invest myself into what I am about to go through. Please, dear God, forgive us all and save us all.

  When Messenger and I are completely enclosed in our orb, my link with Messenger is immediate. A few seconds later, I sense Bob and Maggie and Ted, but no David yet. Unlike the previous times in the birthing chamber, my avatar does not go through a larval stage but is born around the orb that encloses us. After a moment, it separates from our orb and then floats above us. The viewpoint from the avatar is singular and yet all-encompassing. I see in all directions at once. Over Bob and Maggie’s orb, I see a cloud of swirling blue-green lights I sense are both Bob and Maggie looking back at me. I assume our avatar is the same as theirs. The view is exhilarating for its uniqueness. Above Ted’s orb is another cloud that
I know is Ted.

  In the next moment, my oneness dissolves and I find I’m inside of Messenger and he is inside of me as we hover over our orb together. We are one as well as two. The effect is so shocking that, at first, I try to separate myself from him. His response is one of instant pain. I stop as suddenly as I started. Then I sense him caressing me, holding me in within him, swirling around and through me, consuming me, and touching me. The feeling is candy-cotton soft and sweet. The experience drives out all thought of what we are here for. Like an injected drug, the rush of sensation is overwhelming. The world outside of this moment is forgotten and I’m only in the “now.” In joy, I embrace and kiss him and smother him with my affection. He reciprocates and we lock into an ephemeral kiss that brings time to a standstill and pushes the exterior world completely out of existence.

  There are only the two of us now as if it has always been like this and always will be. My mind is flooded with his emotion and his with mine. I never want it to end. It goes on and on as we revel in each other’s being. We embrace and love one another until we are finally sated and can handle no more. It’s as if we are sweethearts who’ve been reunited from some long sojourn apart. Eventually, we relax and swirl about each other in a slow dance of satisfied love. I think that if this is a prelude to our future, we’ll have a magical existence.

  Sadly, our dance is interrupted by an outsider’s words intruding into our minds. I realize that what Messenger and I just experienced took place in the flash of only a few seconds. Time has returned to us and restarted.

  “Hello, everyone,” is David’s cheery greeting. “Apparently I am to be your copilot today with Gi as my ground control. Does everyone have their seatbelts buckled up? Electronics turned off? Chairs pulled back into place?”

  I’m thinking this can’t be for real. This joking is using stuff from our time, stuff I fail to believe is what they do in his era and then I sense great amusement from Messenger who communicates, “Sorry everyone, I put him up to that. Thought we could use something to put us at ease before we go out and once again save the world. Oh, wait, that’s what all of you did last time without me. Well, should be easier this time with the help of David and me.”