by Tasha Black
“Are you alright?” Diaz asked.
Rima looked up.
Diaz was looking right at her, like a specimen under glass.
“Y-yes, I’m just tired,” Rima heard herself squeak.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get out of your hair,” Sykes said on his way to the door. “See you kids later.”
Her mother followed him out into the other room, leaving Rima, Georgia, Posey and the boys alone at the table.
Rima sank into a chair next to Magnum, afraid she would faint.
“Don’t say a word,” Magnum whispered into her ear.
She blinked, turning to him.
“Boy, that was weird,” Georgia said brightly.
“No kidding, you don’t think there was really a UFO or something, do you?” Posey asked in a gossipy tone.
“No, silly, it was a hoax,” Georgia replied, laughing. “Those kids from the school have nothing better to do.”
Rima caught on. There was no telling if the agents had left yet, and if they were in the next room this was the proper conversation for the group of young people to be having. How could she be so smart in some ways and so dumb in others?
Rima laughed too, and then asked if there was any more pumpkin bread, even though her stomach was too upset to even think about eating. Bond said he was going to go grab things for coffee.
A moment later he returned, no trace of a smile on his face. Dr. Bhimani was with him.
“They’re gone,” he said, moving to Posey, and wrapping a protective arm around her.
“Do you think they suspect?” Dr. Bhimani asked the group.
“No,” Posey said quickly.
They all turned to the blonde girl who sat in the circle of Bond’s arm.
“I mean, I have no proof,” she clarified. “Just a hunch. But they didn’t seem like they had any particular suspicions.”
“I didn’t get any unusual readings from them,” Bond agreed. Posey’s alien mate had a sort of emotional telepathy.
“Good, let’s not give them anything to worry about,” Rocky said. “We’ll keep going, business as usual, right Magnum?”
Magnum stood without answering. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.
“I’m going for a walk,” he said at last, then tromped out of the room.
A few seconds later, Rima heard the front door bang behind him.
3
Magnum
Magnum headed down the stairs and into the field. He had no idea where he was going, only that he needed the cold air to soothe his rage.
Moonlight turned the long grass pale, and the stars twinkled in the black sky.
The stars were so far away from this planet.
In his first form, Magnum would have starved, trying to survive so devoid of starlight. Even these Earth creatures needed the energy of the nearest star though it warmed them but half the day.
But this new body of his wanted nothing to do with heat. He craved cold air, iced drinks.
No, the only warm thing he hungered for now was Rima.
Damn it, damn it to hell.
He had been stupid enough to embrace her before, but this time was different.
Magnum closed his eyes and he was back in her arms, surrounded by her scent, the feel of her soft skin, plump lips, and the taste of her tongue, so sweet.
He had never felt so comforted and tormented at once before. But that was the heart of it, the sweet relief of touching her led to an agony of unsatisfied desire.
Frankly, he wasn’t sure if it could ever be satisfied, even if he gave in to his need and took her.
But he wasn’t going to find out. He wasn’t.
Aerie had abandoned them, and it was his fault. His own fate was sealed. But he wasn’t going to drag her down with him.
The message had been brief but effective.
Your transmissions will not be received by Aerie.
Your new home will be destroyed.
Magnum was glad that he had been alone when he received it. There was no need to ruin everyone else’s happiness.
The transmission operator had disliked Magnum ever since he had pointed out that the design of the planet-wide transmitter was inefficient. Inefficiency on Aerie was tantamount to murder. The operator had been demoted to the Earth project. And now he was doling out his petty vengeance.
Humans were not the only race that dealt in such base emotions.
Magnum only hoped there would be time enough to enact a plan to get himself off this planet and alert his enemy that he was gone. That would keep the target on his own head, and far away from his friends.
It meant leaving them all forever. Leaving his Rima forever. But at least they would be safe.
“Magnum,” her voice rang out in the field behind him, the sound of it bringing every cell of his body to high alert.
“Why did you follow me?” he demanded.
“I - something’s wrong, I could tell. I wanted to help you.”
He had hurt her feelings. His voice was deeper than that of his brothers. And he was trying so hard to restrain his emotions. Sometimes his voice came out sounding angry, but he was trying his best, damn it.
“No, I just needed some fresh air,” he said, speaking as gently as he could.
She smiled shyly, and his heart ached at the thought that she was so attuned to him, so badly wanted to please him.
“Can I come too?” she asked.
He nodded, afraid that if he opened his mouth he might tell her how beautiful her curls were in the moonlight, or how her skin reminded him of dark, sweet honey, or how her smile made his heart feel like he was dying.
His emotions in his original body had been cool and elegant. His existence as a human was a bacchanal in comparison. Happiness, hunger, lust, sadness, sneezing - they all had the power to derail him. He was overwhelmed.
But he reveled in each of his new experiences, despite their confusing nature, and was usually able to come to better understanding. The only thing he didn’t fully grasp was humor, which seemed to be a form of happiness. Bond and Rocky had barked like a pack of hyenas at every television show as soon as they understood it, and the women of Earth laughed too. But where they saw happiness, Magnum only saw sadness. What could be happy about a person falling down the stairs or making a dreadful error in good manners?
Jokes based on word play made a little more sense to him, but he still saw them mainly as puzzles to be deciphered.
Earth was a strange and exotic place.
“What are you thinking about?” Rima asked, bringing him back to himself as they neared the edge of the trees.
“I’m glad that the investigators were convinced to leave without discovering the ship,” he said.
“Yes, I hope they don’t stick around too long,” Rima said. “Were you very worried?”
Magnum shrugged.
“It seems like there’s something else you’re worried about.” She paused, chewing her lower lip in a gesture he understood as one of concern. “Something that you’ve been worried about for a long time.”
Magnum forced himself to calculate the distances between the major quadrants of Aerie in the old numbers twice to distract himself from her dismay. He was worried that he might say too much.
“No, nothing is wrong,” he told her. “I am not a talkative man.”
She nodded but still looked troubled.
“Let’s go into the woods,” he suggested, offering her his hand so that she wouldn’t trip over a tree root. She was so vulnerable, more so than the other women, her soft form was so quick to tumble.
She smiled sunnily and slipped her hand into his.
He felt the same spark of excitement that was there every time they touched.
They walked together under the trees.
Compared with the barren expanse of Aerie, this planet was so soft and lush. Living trees reached for the stars above them, their roots stretching in equal measure toward the Earth’s molten center beneath the soil
made up of their departed brothers, with grasses and smaller creatures wiggling and scampering and strolling in their excess.
When they had begun to study the planet, Magnum hadn’t understood why they didn’t plan to communicate with the trees. They were the oldest living beings on the planet. The humans seemed like newborns in comparison. But they weren’t, he could see it now. The humans were wise for their years. And the trees for all their grace and complexity, were passive life forms, lovely, but uninterested in the goings on of self-aware beings.
“Do you want to walk to the campground?” Rima asked.
He detected a hopeful note in her voice that was backed up by the delicate half smile that turned up her lips.
“Sure,” he agreed.
She let go of his hand, darting out in front of him with more speed than he knew she was capable of.
She giggled and the sound tickled his insides.
Though he would have run after her anyway - silly woman was liable to get hurt running like that in the dark forest - he was surprised to find that something in him made him eager to chase her.
He crashed through the trees after her.
Suddenly they were in the campground clearing.
She dashed toward one of the cabins.
He saw it as if in slow motion.
She flung open the door.
The rusted metal light fixture above it, which had been hanging precariously on loose wiring was knocked off its base and swung outward.
Magnum had just enough time to push her out of the way before it swung back and bashed her in the head. He put up a hand to shield himself, and the jagged metal sliced his forearm to the bone.
“Magnum,” Rima moaned from the ground.
He covered the wound with his other hand, hoping she hadn’t seen too much. He had no desire to alarm her.
“Are-are you okay?” she asked, getting up.
“I’m fine, it barely grazed me,” he replied.
“No, it hit you really hard. Are you bleeding?” she asked, coming closer, her eyes wide with concern.
“I’m fine, I said,” he growled, backing up.
“I only wanted to help,” she said, freezing in place.
“I don’t need help,” he said, realizing immediately how gruff he sounded.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“For what?” he asked.
“You know, for saving me. I would have definitely gotten a concussion from that,” she said.
Pride swelled in his chest for a moment before reality set in. Being her knight in shining armor was not an option. And she looked sad.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. I just wish I weren’t such a klutz, I always ruin everything,” she said with a self-deprecating smile. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
He nodded and moved his hand away from the wound, revealing clean, unbroken skin.
“See,” he said. “Not a scratch.”
“Wow,” Rima said, clearly impressed. “I would have sworn that thing really caught you good.”
And she would have been right, although Magnum wasn’t about to tell her that.
When he and his brothers had taken human forms, each had been bestowed with an inexplicable gift. Bond could read thoughts. Rocky could fly.
And Magnum could heal from just about anything.
Fast.
The wound on his arm had closed up before Rima had finished asking if he was okay the first time.
He wanted to tell her about his gift, but he was worried it would remind her that he wasn’t really human, not like she was.
Secrets, he was full of secrets.
It wouldn’t have bothered him if he hadn’t wanted to share his soul, such as it was, with the kind and brilliant girl who stood before him, doubting her own attributes in the face of his monstrous rejection.
It would have been better if he had never left Aerie in the first place.
But his chest throbbed blissfully in argument. No matter what troubled his mind, his heart floated in ecstasy whenever the girl was near.
4
Rima
Rima sat in the window seat of their favorite café, sipping blackberry tea and watching Georgia down her second espresso, while Posey dreamily used a stirring stick to eat whipped cream off her decaf pumpkin spice latte.
Outside, the Stargazer Township maintenance team was wrapping festive lights around the street lamps. A younger man climbed the ladder and an older one indicated what to do from below.
Rima loved the holidays. She loved this café. She loved having quiet time with her friends.
But instead of feeling relaxed and happy she was irritated.
Even the cheerful homemade Be Thankful sign over the door with the adorable little astronaut-style pilgrims and alien-style Native Americans made her grumpy.
Why should I be thankful? The man of my dreams doesn’t even want me.
But he did want her. He wanted her badly. She knew it to her bones.
“What’s wrong, Rima?” Posey asked.
“Mm, nothing,” Rima said, dunking her teabag in and out of the water and trying not to scowl.
“Man troubles, huh?” Posey asked sympathetically.
Rima was shocked to find that she wanted to slap Posey right across her beautifully made up face.
The other two obviously felt sorry for her. They had landed their men while she continued to trot along after Magnum like a puppy looking for scraps.
But she didn’t want their men. She wanted Magnum. She’d follow him forever if that’s what it took. Rima Bhimani didn’t settle.
“Magnum’s a piece of work,” Georgia announced, wrinkling her nose slightly.
“It’s all of them,” Rima decided suddenly. “What’s the matter with them?”
“What are you talking about?” Georgia demanded.
Rima looked around. The café was full in spite of the fact that it was the middle of a weekday. The town was behind them in their plan to keep the boys under wraps, but any of these customers could be here from out of town.
She leaned in.
“It’s the ship,” she hissed. “Why are they working on it? They’ve got it operational. It would be easy enough now for them to move it or hide it. What do they need to work on it every day for?”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Georgia said dismissively. “They want to get it working properly again, not just working.”
“Why?” Rima demanded. “I thought they weren’t going anywhere? I thought they were staying here.”
“You know, I think Bond sort of identifies with that ship,” Posey said fondly. “Remember the guys in high school with their sports cars? I think it’s like that for him. It’s a really fancy ship, you know. There’s only one other like it and that one belongs to the ministers on Aerie and it doesn’t have most of the functions this one does.”
Rima turned to Georgia.
“Seriously, Rima,” Georgia told her more gently. “They’re newly human. I get the sense that there weren’t a lot of deep interpersonal relationships on Aerie. They may just need the quiet time.”
Rima bit her lip.
It all made sense and it sounded so logical. But it just didn’t compute for her.
The bell over the door dinged as someone entered.
Rima paused to see who it was, and was glad that she had.
In walked Agent Diaz, the young woman from last night, clipboard in hand, dark ponytail swinging briskly.
“Hey there, what can I fix you?” one of the baristas asked.
“Is there a… Hailey Norman working here?” Diaz asked, consulting her clipboard.
“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” a slender teenager with purple hair answered from behind the counter.
“Hello, I’m Special Agent Diaz, here to ask you a few questions. Can you talk with me for a moment?”
“Um, I’m working,” the girl replied, indicating the milk crate she was sitting on.
“Actually, I was just being
polite.” Special Agent Diaz’s expression became consternated. “I’m a government agent performing an investigation. You don’t really have a choice.”
Hailey Norman scowled and then lifted her lanky form from the milk crates.
“Wait, aren’t I supposed to have a lawyer or something?” Hailey asked suspiciously.
Diaz looked like she wanted to roll her eyes.
“Look kid, if you want to make a big thing of it, sure. You have the right to call your parents and hire an attorney, and then you can sit and answer ten minutes of questions. But you’re not in trouble, and I just need to ask you about a few things. Can I do that? Can I ask you a couple of questions and we both move on with our lives?”
“Uh, sure,” Hailey shrugged.
“Thank you,” Diaz said in a relieved tone.
They moved to a table in the corner, but Rima was still able to hear the conversation clearly.
“So you were among the first to take a cell phone video of the alleged craft on the evening of the homecoming football game. Is that correct?” Diaz asked.
“Oh, um,” the girl said, wriggling uncomfortably on the café chair as if she were more at ease on the crate.
“When you saw the object, had you at any time in the last twelve hours been drinking alcohol, or partaking in recreational drugs, including medicinal marijuana?” Diaz asked.
“Oh, wow,” Hailey said. “No. I mean I don’t do drugs or… any of that other stuff you said. But also, you know that spaceship thing was a hoax, right?”
“I didn’t know that, no,” Diaz said, looking up from her clipboard. “How was it done?”
Rima found herself leaning in to listen to the girl’s answer.
5
Rima
Rima watched as Hailey gulped.
“It was CG,” Hailey whispered to the agent.
Good thinking.
“You mean it was computer generated?” Diaz asked.
“Yeah, CG,” Hailey repeated, more sure of herself this time.