Volunteer (Selected Book 3)

by Robin Roseau

  "Do you need help?"

  "Everything rolls," she said. She pulled me into a hug. And then I watched her walk away.

  That was the last time we really had a conversation. After that, we'd say hi on campus, but that was about it.

  I have no idea what Lili is doing these days.

  * * * *

  The business clothes felt weird. I had grown so accustomed to leaving my back bare for the Catseye, so a normal blouse didn't feel normal at all, and the suit jacket exacerbated the problem.

  Bluebell examined me and smiled. "You look very professional, Skye."

  "I feel like I'm going off to a new school. Do I look okay, Mom? Did you pack a lunch for me?"

  She laughed. "I wouldn't mind if you called me that on a more regular basis. Do I need to give you lunch money?"

  Hugging her and Violet through the suit coat wasn't remotely as satisfying.

  Our commute wasn't any more difficult than most people have. We had to travel from Boston to New York, but we walked to the jumper bay and were in the air two minutes later. Like we had in the past, we stayed out to sea, circling around to the south and approached Manhattan from the water. We came up the East River and then landed in a facility owned by the ETs. From there it was a trip along an underground slidewalk before emerging in one of the UN buildings.

  Posey broke off to attend to her own duties, and Azalea brought me to her office. Once behind closed doors, she gestured to a chair, and I found myself facing her across her desk.

  "I'll bring you down to personnel shortly," Azalea said. "But I have something for you." She turned to her credenza, and when she turned back, she had a small box sized for a pair of glasses. She set it on the desk and slid it to me. Inside, I found it was just what it looked like: a case for a pair of glasses. I stared at them.

  "I'm not sure I need these," I said slowly.

  "Perhaps you should put them on," Azalea said. Puzzled, I did just that.

  And they activated.

  "Oh," I said. "A new and improved visor?"

  "Actually, a new but unimproved visor. These have far less capability than your normal pair. But to anyone looking, they will appear as a standard pair of human glasses."

  She went over the features with me. The differences became apparent fairly quickly. There were ear buds, but they weren't as effective at silencing the sounds around me. "People will see these?" I said, tapping my ears.

  "Which is why I had you wear your hair down." She reached across the desk and adjusted my hair.

  The glass also couldn't be blanked. Images could overlay what I was looking at, but not replace it. And these glasses had far less internal memory than the visor and couldn't engage in some of the more advanced features.

  "However," Azalea said, "These will allow you to access the networks, both human and ours. You'll be able to engage in the sort of messaging and calls you currently make, although this pair can't show your face unless you look in a mirror."

  I nodded understanding.

  "Almost no one will know what these are. Our family will, of course, and Amaryllis. I do not believe anyone else will."

  "What are the rules for wearing them?"

  "I want you to wear them full time, except of course, you may take them off at home or when you're out with Violet."

  I thought carefully about that then asked quietly, "What aren't you telling me, Azalea."

  She leaned forward on her desk. "I don't want you to worry."

  "Important tip when dealing with a human. The fastest way to make sure she'll worry is to tell her you don't want her to worry."

  "You understand. We were invited to Earth."

  "As I understand it, you set up out at Saturn without being noticed."

  "Yes, but we stayed out there until we had an invitation."

  "From the president?"

  "From the UN Security Council. And we were invited to remain by vote of the entire UN, although only the leaders of a few countries understood the full implications."

  "All right," I said slowly. "And?"

  "The United States military isn't as thrilled to have us here, and the CIA is always trying to sneak someone in to spy on us."

  "All right. And?"

  "And once it gets around how closely you work with Amaryllis, they are probably going to approach you."

  "They haven't yet, and I'm living in your house. They don't care about you and Bluebell?"

  "Well, it is likely they would approach you eventually. What we don't know is how soon. But your position here this summer is almost certainly going to accelerate their actions."

  "They're going to try to get me to spy on you."

  "Yes."

  "They can get stuffed."

  She smiled. "If anyone approaches you and tries to cozy up to you, I want you to call me immediately. If you run the main menu eye sequence in reverse, it signals an emergency."

  "What if that happens by accident?"

  "Then you'll tell me everything is fine. What is most likely is someone will approach you in some public setting. He or she is likely to be very charming. He may tell you he is friends with someone you work with. He may even be someone you encounter in performance of your duties. If anyone does this, even if you're sure it's harmless, you will contact me instantly."

  "Yes, Azalea."

  "Good. Now, while I would rather you keep good care of the glasses, do not risk your life for them." I nodded understanding. "Questions?" I shook my head.

  After that, she took me to their personnel department. It wasn't appropriate to call it Human Resources. Only some of us were human. We did the typical paperwork thing, and I received a badge I was to wear at all times while in the facility. "If something happens to it, report it immediately," the man said.

  "Got it," I said.

  Then Azalea took me to Amaryllis.

  * * * *

  "Your desk is there," she told me, pointing to a small desk unobtrusively placed to the side. "Your duties are simple. You are my personal assistant. I have other people who manage my professional life. You handle the personal issues I might have. You follow me everywhere. You open doors for me. You retrieve water for me. If someone gives me something, I will hand it to you. You should record who gave it to me, but someone else will send a thank you note. Do you understand?"

  "Yes."

  "That's the public image. Privately, I will solicit your opinion. I expect honest answers. I will undoubtedly assign studying to do during those times I am working at my desk."

  "All right."

  "Your glasses have a record mode. I want it on at all times."

  "Azalea said it didn't have much memory."

  "It will upload to a central server when it can," she said. "Your glasses can help you access the images if necessary. Find the record feature and turn it on now, please."

  I nodded. It took me a minute or two. Amaryllis waited patiently, but then I nodded again. "It's on now, and it's set to turn on when the glasses activate, so I won't forget."

  "Good. In public, I want you seen but not heard. If you really need to tell me something, message me."

  "All right."

  "Questions?"

  "Probably. I'll assemble them and ask when I catch up. For now, follow you around, keep my mouth shut, and do what I'm told."

  "In private, forget the mouth shut part."

  "Got it."

  "Very good. Let's talk about India. You were right. It was not Mr. Chowdhury, although we got the impression he was open to bribes. It was his immediate underlings."

  "All of them?"

  "Several of them."

  "So the issue is resolved?"

  "Not yet. These things take time. The plant is in safe storage." She huffed. "Safe storage. There is no such thing. But now we believe we know what we are dealing with. We're still determining what to do. Questions?"

  "No."

  "All right. I have a meeting in seven minutes. It is time to go. Remember, once we step out that door, seen
but not heard."

  "Got it."

  * * * *

  That defined my job. It might have been deathly dull, but it took me about ten minutes to realize I was in the inner circle of the negotiations between humans and the ETs. I paid deep attention, and when I had time, I used the glasses to access the information I didn't know. I learned a great deal.

  For all practical purposes, I belonged to Amaryllis from our arrival, usually before eight, until she released me, frequently after dinner. And if there was an event in the evening, I attended those with her as well. I'd been expecting to spend every dinner with Violet and her family -- our family. But instead, Amaryllis had me delivered home typically well after dinner, and sometimes quite late.

  I didn't care for that part, but I acquired a number of exceedingly elegant gowns to wear to the evening events, Amaryllis paying for all of them.

  And I learned. And learned. And learned.

  Along the way, I met a great many people, human and ET.

  * * * *

  "If we don't hurry, we're going to be late," Amaryllis said. "We have an offsite meeting." She stood and began striding towards the door. I didn't quite have to run to keep up with her long legs, but it was a close thing.

  We collected her team waiting in the outer office. And then, all of us clustered around her like she was our queen bee, she led the way through the building, into the basement, and onto the slidewalk.

  I wasn't the only one struggling to keep up, but of course, no one complained.

  There were six of us that boarded the jumper, a pilot already waiting for us. We all scrambled into seats, and Amaryllis told the pilot simply, "We're late. Don't scare the humans making up our lost time."

  It probably wasn't the fastest New York to Washington trip ever made. I'm sure some F-16s flew it faster on full afterburner. I actually had no idea where we were going, but then I stared.

  "That's the White House!"

  "Oh, didn't I mention that?" Amaryllis said. But her look told me I wasn't supposed to be heard. I shut my mouth and stared.

  We set down on the lawn. We actually landed on the lawn of the White House.

  As soon as we were down, Amaryllis flashed a message to me. "In the setup menu, your glasses have a stealth setting. Turn it on. If anyone asks, they're just glasses."

  I found the setting and activated it.

  My neck began craning everywhere the moment we exited the jumper. We were met by an aide of some sort and led to a side entrance. From there, the secret service checked us into the building. And then, gathering a more significant escort, we were admitted deeper into the building.

  As we strode forward, many people stopped and stared. I was the only human, after all. I didn't expect to receive any attention, but I did, along with everyone else. Perhaps they were wondering what species of ET looks human. Maybe they thought I was a Catseye in spite of my human-appearing eyes.

  I wondered if we were actually going to the Oval Office. We weren't. Instead, we were led to a room announced as the Roosevelt Room. I didn't realize this, but we were actually directly opposite the Oval Office.

  We cooled our heels for several minutes, no one sitting. Amaryllis prowled the room, examining the artwork. She pointed. "Do you know what this is?"

  I looked closely. "It's a Nobel prize!"

  "Awarded to your President Theodore Roosevelt," Amaryllis said.

  At that moment, the doors opened again, and we all turned to face the new arrivals, the other ETs moving to flank Amaryllis. And I stared as a tall, distinctive woman stepped through.

  "President Singleton," said Amaryllis. "Thank you for seeing me."

  "Ambassador Amaryllis," said the president, stepping forward. They clasped in the BP fashion. "Thank you for coming.

  They spent a minute performing informal introductions, which I found surprising. I was introduced simply as "Skye Andrews," with no description of my job duties. If anyone thought it was unusual for me to be there, no one said anything.

  I can't say what was discussed.

  But that was what my summer was like, at least for another two weeks.

  Attention

  I leaned back in the restaurant chair, sipping my tea and happy to be off my feet. I had a rare day to myself in Boston. Violet and Posey were both busy doing something hush-hush that they didn't want to tell me about. I was fine with that, as I was catching up on a little shopping. Sitting down for a late lunch had been my first break for hours.

  I sort of zoned out for a while, but was pulled from my daze by a man saying my name.

  "Skye? Skye Andrews?"

  I turned to my right, and a man, tall, fit, and ruggedly handsome, if you were into men, was walking my way. I was sure I'd never seen him before in my life.

  "Skye, I can't believe it," he said, holding out his hand. Then he cocked his head. "You don't remember me, do you?"

  "I'm afraid not." But I took his hand.

  "Koby King." He shook my hand and released it. "We met at that event, oh, three or four weeks ago." Without an invitation, he pulled up a chair.

  I pinged the emergency beacon in the glasses. "I'm trying to remember," I said. Five seconds later, Azalea's image appeared.

  "Talk naturally," she said immediately. "Don't pry."

  "I am, too," he said. "I remember you were in a stunning dress and following that BP around."

  "Do you remember what color dress?"

  "Okay, you got me," he said. "No."

  "Was it red?" I didn't wear red dresses. They were too flashy.

  "Maybe. No. I think dark blue. The room wasn't that bright, and I was too focused on your eyes."

  "Skye, did you get his name?" Azalea asked.

  "Koby," I said. "Koby... King, you said? I'm sorry, I meet so many people that I can be an airhead about it." I was sure we hadn't met.

  "So you're saying I didn't leave an impression?" He put on a hurt expression. "The ladies usually remember me."

  "If I was on duty, then I would have been very focused on my job. I'm sorry, Mr. King."

  "Please, call me Koby," he said. "Have you eaten? Maybe I could join you."

  "Don't go anywhere with him, Skye," said Azalea. "I'm sending Violet and Posey to you, but they'll be twenty minutes."

  "Yes, actually, I have. I was just relaxing. My friends are meeting me here, but they seem to be late."

  "Do you mind if I wait with you, Skye?"

  "I'm sorry I don't remember you, Koby," I said. "There are so many events."

  "To be honest, we weren't ever introduced." He looked sheepish. "I just remember thinking how stunning you looked, so I asked about you."

  "That's very flattering, but... You know, it's a little creepy, too."

  His face fell, then brightened. "I'm a good guy," he said. "You can ask anyone."

  I leaned forward. "Koby, I used to be a waitress. As you can imagine, I used to get hit on a lot. Do you want to know how often it works?"

  "I'm thinking never," he said, sounding sad.

  "Exactly once. I'm in a committed relationship. And we knew each other as friends long before it turned romantic. Maybe you're not a creep, but knowing my name, acting like I should know you, and then telling me you're kind of a stalker. Well, that's kind of creepy. Maybe you're a nice guy, but frankly, you're scaring me. I don't recommend you try this approach with other women in the future."

  "Oh," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm really not like that. You just looked so amazing."

  "Well, I appreciate that, but as I'm in a committed relationship, I'd rather you left."

  He paused, perhaps wondering whether I was serious, then he stood. "I'm sorry, Skye. I wasn't trying to freak you out."

  "Thank you, but you have. It was interesting meeting you."

  I waited until he was gone before I began to tremble. "Azalea?"

  "You're fine, honey. You did very well. Now, I want you to sit and drink your tea. If the pot runs dry, ask for another pot. Have you paid your bill?"

  "Ye
s."

  "All right. Try to stay calm. If you can, every now and then, turn your head slowly as if you're wondering when Posey and Violet are arriving. They're late, and you're a little annoyed."

  "All right." I turned my head to look towards the entrance, then turned back to sip at my tea.

  "Good. Next time you look, turn the other way. I know it might be a little awkward."

  "You're looking to see if anyone appears to be watching me."

  "Yes. But you need to act as natural as you are able."

  "I'm trying."

  "Do you have a book to read?"

  "No, and I stopped carrying my phone when you gave me the glasses."

  "It would be better if you could look occupied, but this is fine. Sit tight."

  "Who is he, Azalea?"

  "I'm trying to find out."

  "Oh please. It took your computers zero point nine seconds to do a facial recognition match."

  "If he'd been in our database, that's true," she said. "He wasn't."

  "So check the CIA's."

  "Yeah, well, we don't do that. It tends to make them testy. Honey, he might be exactly what he said. He might just be a guy looking to pick you up. If he was CIA, they know more about you than this by now, and they'd have sent a woman."

  "Straight guys think a girl just needs to meet the right guy," I said. "Especially arrogant straight guys, and he certainly qualifies."

  "Posey and Violet are seven minutes away, but they'll have to park and then find you. Where in the mall are you?"

  "Rubick's. It's a restaurant."

  "Got it. Okay, look around again. Turn left this time, slowly. You're looking for Violet and Posey."

  I did what she said.

  Azalea talked me through the next fifteen minutes, speaking calmly to me, telling me there was nothing to worry about, telling me where Posey and Violet were. Every few minutes she had me turn my head.

  Finally she said, "Turn around and act natural."

  I turned, and Posey and Violet were at the hostess station. I stood and waved. I was sure they knew exactly where I was. Posey pointed to me, and they both broke into smiles as they headed my way.