A Saucerful of Death

by Loretta Johns

  Hold on, my little alien? Since when was she mine?

  I unlocked her car door for her and held it open for her to get in.

  I meant mine as in she’s my alien friend. That’s it.

  As I backed out of the driveway and onto the road, he spotted some movement. Agnes was standing in front of her living room window, watching them drive away. I mentally flipped her the bird.

  Let her stare, I don’t give a damn. We aren’t doing anything weird.

  I gave her a jaunty wave as we drove past and watched in satisfaction as she spun around.

  Ha! She didn’t like being seen. Serves her right for being such a nosy parker.

  I was suddenly in a really good mood, the dark cloud that had descended once I’d gotten home evaporating. Tonight was going to be fun. “We’re stopping at Target first to get the blinds and pick you up some clothes, then going for dinner at a nice little local diner.”

  Jeannie smiled. “The blinds are to make her blind to what is happening inside the house?”

  “Yes, kind of. They’ll cover the window but can be turned so light comes in. You’ll see.”

  As she nodded, it struck me how she had so readily placed her full trust in me. Thank god it had been me and Stephen who’d found her. I hated to think of her at the mercy of the world otherwise, without me to protect her from it. I took one hand off the wheel and reached across the center console, placing my hand over hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. The fact that her hand felt so right within mine? It just was proof that we had settled into our roles perfectly.

  Chapter 14

  Jeannie

  I was so relieved that Darren hadn’t been angry with me. He’d understood immediately just what had happened and whose fault it all actually was. I glanced out the car window, catching sight of the small smile curving my lips and lighting up my eyes, making them appear to sparkle. The feel of his hand as he squeezed it to let me know he was on my side and that he was making sure everything would be all right suffused me with happiness. He left his hand there a few heartbeats longer before returning them to the leather clad wheel he used to steer his vehicle.

  The houses gave way to a few retail outlets and a place that sold the food they called pizza. My mouth watered thinking about it. Stephen had ordered one for lunch one day and had it delivered up to the suite we occupied. It had been delicious. My stomach gurgled and I flushed. Daren gave a low chuckle, the soft rumbly sound of it making my heart beat faster.

  “Do we need to stop somewhere for a snack first?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “I’ll be fine as long as I eat in a few hours. Seeing the sign back there for pizza made me remember the one we had in Hawaii and it made me feel hungry.”

  The road now changed to a causeway bounded on both sides by the sea. The setting sun cast a fiery glow upon the water, making my heart catch at the beauty of the light dappled ripples. Then we were off it and I saw more businesses and houses appear. Darren turned off. “Okay, but let me know if you change your mind. Target has a snack bar,” he said. “We can grab a quick snack and a drink before completing our shop and heading out to eat our main meal.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “I think you’ll like this store. It has a lot to choose from. I shop there when the Exchange doesn’t have what I’m after.”

  “And it doesn’t have blinds and clothes for me?”

  “It does, but you have to have a special ID card to get in, only people who work for the military or another part of the DoD get. Well, they and their immediate family get one.”

  “Oh.” I pondered this. If I became his wife, I’d be his family and I’d have an identity card, an official one! Yes! This was another example of fate showing its hand.

  “Same thing goes for when I shop for groceries,” he added. “I usually go to the Commissary for my main shop, but that’s another benefit I get because I’m in the Air Force.”

  “And you need the special card to get in,” I supplied.

  “Right.” He cleared his throat. “So, ah, before I do the shopping for the food at the house, we’ll talk about what I’m going to go get so if there’s anything you want in particular, you can tell me and I’ll get it.” He glanced over at me quickly. “They sell frozen pizza, even. None like the one we got in Hawaii, but we can get one with just cheese on it and add the shrimp and other stuff to make one that’s similar.”

  “Yes! I want that,” I agreed eagerly.

  “I can get some of the same fish and grill it out back, too,” he mused. “Oh, and stuff for tacos. Those are easy to make and after I show you how once, I bet you could make them yourself from then on if you wanted too.”

  If he liked these tacos, then I most certainly wanted to. “That sounds good. I really want to learn how to cook food for us.” I placed a hand on his thigh. “You go out to work and do everything to provide for the both of us. I want to contribute, too.”

  He smiled at that. “I won’t mind coming home to dinner on the table or having help while I cook. Tell you what, I’ll pick up the stuff to make tacos while we’re at Target and I’ll see if Stephen wants to come over. He can mix us some margaritas to go with them.”

  I figured that must be a type of cocktail. So far, while in Hawaii, I’d had a Sex on the Beach, a mai-tai, A Kahlua Mudslide, and something called a Pa’ ina Smash. They were all delicious and after a fiasco at the bar on the beach, I knew to only ever have one glass. Alcohol and I had a limited agreement in place. I only drank one and it wouldn’t make me lurch about brainlessly, embarrassing myself and the guys.

  “Sounds fun,” I said lightly, though truthfully, I was a little disappointed. I was fond of Stephen, but some alone time, while we cooked a meal together, would have helped our intimacy with one another. Then again, he might not be able to come. He might have other plans. I felt a teensy bit guilty for hoping that was true. Only a teensy weensy bit, though, which was quickly forgotten as Darren pulled into a massive parking lot in front of a store with a huge sign. Oh yeah, given the size of this store, I was definitely going to be able to find some things that I liked.

  Unfortunately, it looked as if the store was very popular for just this reason. Darren drove down several aisles before finding a space to park.

  “Sorry it’s miles away,” he apologized as we got out.

  I shook my head. His sense of distance really was shockingly off. “It’s not that far,” I told him.

  He reached his hand towards me and I took it, neither of s saying a word about it. I melted inside at this tender side of him. He was showing everyone that we were together while lending me affectionate reassurance. He paused by a small shelter holding metal wire pushcarts. “We best take one of these,” he said. “Do you want to push or shall I?”

  Chapter 15

  Darren

  She looked at me in surprise. I guess where she came from, they didn’t get into quibbles over who got to push the shopping cart. Or use the hand scanner to scan as they shopped. I found myself wondering what her world was actually like. I couldn’t fathom it, a world of shapeshifters who chose the appearance of an alien race they wished to immerse themselves with. How did they even tell each other apart? Was there a default humanoid appearance they used when not off-world? I had so many questions.

  “If you’d like me to push it, I will,” she said finally, reaching to take it from me. “That leaves your hands free to choose things from the shelves.”

  “Well, you’ll be choosing things as well,” I pointed out, letting her take the cart.

  “But you’ll be doing more. Plus, you have those window blind things to choose.”

  I smiled. “I do, but they come in a box and the sizes are printed on it. Just know it’s okay to stop, let go of the cart, and choose something close to the cart.”

  She pursed her lips a little. It was really cute, the little expressions that flitted across her face. She really was an open book. Then she nodded. “Okay.”

  She stopped once
we were inside the doors, the hubbub startling her from the wide-eyed look on her face.

  “You don’t have stores like this back home?” I was careful of how I phrased the question, lest anyone overhear us.

  “No, we have small shops for one kind of item and markets like we visited on Big Island. We don’t build large cities, you see. Other worlds do, though, and I’ve heard of big shops and entertainment districts on them and on commercial space stations,” she replied, keeping her voice low.

  Even so, I surreptitiously glanced around. No one seemed to be paying us any mind, so I relaxed.

  “So, where do we go first?” she asked me.

  “Let’s start on the furthest aisle that’s closest to us and work our way across,” I decided. “That way, you can see everything and if you want or need anything on those aisles, we can grab it as we go past.”

  She pushed the cart forward, turning once she reached the aisle that ran across the length of the store. From there, it was a blur. She picked up four or five different types of deodorant to try, four kinds of shampoo and conditioner, six body washes, and a myriad of lip glosses and face creams. I glanced down. At this rate, I was going to have an empty bank account. “Okay, how about you pick out one kind of eyeshadow, a mascara, and a blush,” I suggested as she looked them all over. “Then we can go on ahead to over there,” I gestured, “ and pick out some underwear, a couple of pairs of jeans and tops, and grab the stuff to make tacos tomorrow?”

  “I thought we were going to look on every aisle?” she pouted.

  “I think that might have been overly ambitious,” I said. ‘We’ve spent over an hour and a half here already. We want to be getting dinner soon.”

  “Yes, I am feeling much hungrier now,” she agreed.

  “Me too,” I said, glad she didn’t seem to recall me mentioning the snack bar nor asking me how late the diner was open. I really didn’t want to make her feel bad by having to admit she was cleaning out my bank account.

  It still took her a good twenty minutes to select a pot of eyeshadow and another ten to make up her mind about the type of and color of mascara. I was immensely relieved when she selected a blusher without much ado and didn’t ask about lip liner and eyeliner or concealer and the rest of that Jazz I saw there. To be honest, her form already looked lightly made up, so she didn’t really need any of this stuff. It was a want and if it helped her acclimatize and feel happy, well, then, I wanted her to have it.

  The saleswoman helped her find some jeans to try on and once she found a pair she liked, we put it and another identical pair in the cart. A couple of t-shirts and a button up top later, we were on our way to the grocery aisle. I was going to take her shoe shopping at an actual shoe store another time, so she could get her feet properly measured. In the meantime, she could just manifest her footwear as needed.

  I quickly found the wine and ingredients for tacos. Of course, that wasn’t all I ended up coming away with. Jeannie had spent a good part of her day watching television, which meant she saw a lot of ads, much of it for food. So as we passed by various items, they ended up in the cart. Peter Pan peanut butter, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, strawberry Pop Tarts (frosted and unfrosted), and Folgers coffee. That last one ended with me having to buy a Mr. Coffee machine with a timer as she’d seen an ad for that as well. I prefer perked coffee over dripped, but I could make my coffee in my trusty Proctor Silex percolator while her new Mr. Coffee brewed hers for her on a timer. After all, I got earlier than she did to go into work. As for the Folger’s, well, that was okay, too. No doubt once she saw an ad for Maxwell House, she’d want to drink some of that, too, and I’d already had half a can in seeing as that was my usual brand. A quick detour to pick up the blinds and we were done.

  Then we were checking out. I mentally winced upon seeing the total. I needed to swing by the Commissary and buy more bread, lunchmeat, and stuff, along with a lunch box from the commissary or some brown bags. I needed to take my lunch for a while instead of eating out or we’d find ourselves bankrupt in no time at this rate. I began to wish I’d not promised her dinner out. The Starlight wasn’t super expensive by any means. It was just on top of all of the rest of today’s purchases and the two weeks in Hawaii and another two weeks to go before payday, well, it was a bigger hit to my pocketbook than I’d bargained for.

  I watched her as she grinned from ear to ear, pushing the cart merrily through the parking lot, oblivious to the cars trying to back out of spaces. I smiled ruefully. The pain was worth it, just seeing her joy.

  * * *

  Chapter 16

  Jeannie

  The Starlight Diner looked nothing like I expected. From its name, I thought it would have lights in the ceiling that looked like constellations or something. Instead, it looked a lot like the place Stephen had said was an ‘old school diner’ when we ate out for breakfast in Waikiki one morning. Only instead of black and white checkered tile floors and red leather booths, this place had turquoise booths that felt as if the leather was synthetic and in place of woodgrain plastic topped tables, it had white plastic with silver speckles in it, banded around with brushed silver metal band, and the floor? It was all white tile with more silver speckles in it. Toy rocket ships, model planets, small figures that I think were supposed to be some kind of alien, and flying saucers hung from the ceiling and decorated the walls. There were also framed pictures which seemed to advertise vids, “Plan Nine From Outer Space”, “Star Man”, and “Lost in Space” among others. I could get down with that last one. I was definitely lost in space. Or was I? I mean, Darren and Stephen found me and brought me home with them. Or had I found them? I guess maybe we kinda found each other. It was just one of those things. Fate and all that.

  A waitress in a turquoise button down dress, white apron, and a little white hat perched on her head showed us to a booth and handed us two menus sealed in plastic.

  “I’m going to have the Atomic Burger,” Darren said.

  I flicked my eyes down to the burger section of the menu. It said an Atomic Burger was out of this world with a spiciness that would make my mouth feel as if a bomb had gone off in it. I decided to pass on that one. The burger below it sounded promising, though. I had eaten a lot of fish while in Hawaii and found them quite tasty. I imagined the Space Whale burger sounded good, though why they called it whale I don’t know. It said it was made of white fish and Darren had told me that whales were not fish during the whale watching outing we went on in Kona.

  ‘Ready to order?” the waitress asked.

  ‘Jeannie?” Darren asked.

  “The Whale Burger isn’t really whale is it?” I asked.

  The waitress stared at me. “No, honey. Killing whales is illegal. It’s whitefish, which is sorta like cod.”

  Relief swamped me. I couldn’t bear to eat it if it had been a kind of whale. Stephen had told me they were intelligent, during the same outing.

  “And what exactly is Nebula Sauce?” I asked.

  “Tartar sauce swirled with a tiny bit of yellow mustard and ketchup, with a dash of horseradish for liftoff,” she replied.

  I wasn’t certain what she meant by lift off, but nodded anyway. I knew what tartar sauce was, having had it on the side before with one of my fish dinners.“I’ll have that, then.”

  “You want Spiral Arm Fries or Saturn Rings with that?”

  I looked at Darren helplessly. “Saturn Rings, please,” he ordered for me. “And I’ll take the Atomic Burger with fries. And we’ll have two peach milkshakes to drink.’

  She repeated back our order and left.

  “We can share the fries and onion rings that way,’ he said, grinning.

  Ohhhhh, Saturn Rings are a cute name they gave their onion rings!

  I mentally smacked myself in the head. I knew what onion rings were, too, and liked them. Thank goodness for Darren or I’d have made a complete fool of myself asking too many questions.

  A middle aged looking man approached our table. “Darren! How nice to see you
again! And who is this lovely young lady?” he asked.

  I stared. His aura showed me he was one of my own kind. How did he know Darren?

  “Martin, good to see you, too. It’s been too long since I had a burger from here, so I simply had to stop by. This is Jeannie, my girlfriend.”

  Martin turned a knowing gaze towards me. “Jeannie, eh? Sometime I’d like to hear the story of how you two met.”

  “And you can tell me all about how you came to know Darren,” I replied.

  Martin nodded. “Yes, indeed. You should come by mid morning sometime, grab some Boston Cream pie and a cup of coffee. Less busy then and we can sit and chat. I bet there’s some stories to be told.”

  I knew he was right, especially when he glanced sideways at Darren and gave a minute shake of his head. My eyes widened. Did he mean Darren didn’t know he was an alien? Until I knew for sure, I wouldn’t mention it. It wasn’t my story to tell.

  I nodded. “As soon as I can, I will.”

  “The number seventeen bus stops right outside,” Martin told me.

  “A stop for that is at the end of our street, too, but I don’t know if she’s ready to try the buss yet. She only just moved here,” Darren said.

  “I’ll try to come again soon. The pie sounds delicious,” I said, giving him the tiniest of nods. He nodded back, satisfied.

  “Well, I best get on back to the kitchen. I popped out just to say hello. Saw you on the TV, brilliant as always,” he told Darren before turning to face me once more. “And charmed to meet a lovely lass such as yourself,” he added before turning away and going back to the kitchen.