THE PEACE KEEPERS

by Tom Tryst

  As part of saying grace, each person takes turns telling the Lord for what they are grateful. For the last two Sundays, Charles has declined.

  Daniel decides it is time to have a talk with Charles. He knows neither Charles nor Carol want children, feeling they were too old to start a family. But they had met their duty. Daniel hopes he can cheer up his old friend, for they had been together since the start of the earth research project on the Compound.

  He asks Charles to take a walk with him, starting through the rows of fruit and nut trees surrounding the entire farm complex. They are already over head high and fully leaved, but none yet bearing fruit.

  “You’re taking this pretty hard, Buddy,” Daniel begins. Both know he is talking about Carol’s pregnancy. “You know Sherry and I will be here for you. Hell, we’re not that much younger then you two. I know what a challenge faces us.”

  “You don’t understand,” is Charles’ abrupt reply.

  “Sure I do!” Daniel insists. “Taking on a child at our ages. We’ll be more like grandparents than parents.”

  “No. You don’t.”

  “And we’re going to live longer, stay relatively younger longer. We’ll still be able to raise our babies to adulthood.”

  “It’s not our child!” Charles blurts out.

  Daniel is taken back. “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said. IT’S NOT OUR CHILD!”

  “I don’t understand,” is all Daniel can reply.

  Charles was silent for a moment, then sighed. “It was mostly Carol’s idea. When they didn’t provide any form of birth control . . . well, over four months ago, Carol and I decided not to have sex. At least until we had a better idea what we were in for. It can’t be my child. And I know Carol hasn’t been with anyone else. She doesn’t want to get pregnant.”

  “Are you sure she is pregnant?” is all Daniel can think to say.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, someone had to impregnate her,” Daniel insists.

  “Or something!” Charles retorts heatedly.

  Daniel quickly recalls what Frank Burton had asked about his women being pregnant. He realizes what Charles is saying and has a sudden sick feeling.

  “You think the aliens impregnated her,” Daniel states flatly.

  “Yes, I do. I believe Carol is carrying an alien fetus,” Charles flatly states, then adds, “Maybe all the women are carrying alien fetuses.”

  The thought was chilling, too unbelievable to be true. It couldn’t be true!

  “Why do you think Carol was always crying? She knows the truth. She knows an alien being is growing inside her. She was repulsed and terrified!”

  “If what you say is true,” Daniel tries to find a logical reason, “they could have impregnated her with human sperm. It might not be your baby, but it would be hers.”

  “Carol knows it’s alien. Says she can tell.”

  “She’s never been pregnant before! How can she tell?”

  “Yes, she has. When we were younger. She miscarried in the first trimester. She says this is different.”

  “Wait’” Daniel responds to a sudden realization. “You said ‘she was’ - repulsed and terrified. Past tense.”

  “Yeah, we’ve just kind of resolved there’s nothing we can do about it - at least I try to. She’s taking it a lot better than me. Still don’t like it - you know, the alien aspect. Wondering what the baby is going to look like.”

  Daniel again thinks of Frank Burton, and immediately makes up his mind to make the short trip to his ward to talk to the man.

  “I’m going to talk to a guy I met on that trip to the Center. They’ve been here longer and their women have had babies. I’ll bet they are as normal as can be. If what your thinking is true, I’ll find out. Until then, don’t say anything to the others. You haven’t, have you?”

  Charles sullenly shakes his head. “I was about to ask you to do the same. Don’t say anything about what I told you. It would embarrass Carol.”

  “You got it. I’ll go tomorrow. Get this cleared up.”

  “I know what you’re going to find,” Charles insists, “A bunch of baby monsters!”

  “Just try to cool it for a while, will you? You may be working yourself up over nothing. You two might have had sex in your sleep, for all you know.”

  “Very funny.”

  “We’ll find out tomorrow.”

  They are silent the rest of the circuit though the young orchards. Daniel is planning how he can justify a visit to the neighboring ward and how he can find Frank Burton without his android interfering. He knows he has to stay far away from 37, or it will know what he is up to. He will leave early, at first light, and walk. He will ask the first farm he comes to where he can find Burton.

  To be sure no one sees him leaving the area, it is still dark when he heads off to find Burton. Not even his wife knows where he is going. The sun is up when he comes upon the first farm, but there is no activity on the grounds or in the field. He knocks on the farmhouse front door, certain someone would be up by now.

  A pleasant-looking woman answers, looking as little surprised by a stranger calling. “Can I help you?” she asks, her mild surprise giving way to a smile.

  “My name is Davies,” Daniel replies, returning her smile, “Daniel Davies. Warden of Ward 3 up the road.” He points vaguely in the direction from which he came. “I’m looking for Frank Burton. Would you know where I might find him?”

  “Oh, yes!” she quickly replies, looking relieved. “He’s our Warden. His farm is on down the lane, third farm on the left. If you don’t find him there, he’s probably at our center. Just keep following the lane.”

  “Thank you,” Daniel says, eager to move on. “You’ve been very kind.”

  “I hope there’s not a problem,” she quickly adds.

  “No, no. I just want to talk to him. We met at the Distribution Center.”

  “Oh?” she responds, her curiosity not satisfied.

  “Thank you again.” Daniel quickly turns and leaves, following her directions.

  As he approaches the third farm, wondering if it is the right one, he sees Burton working on a tractor near the equipment shed. The man spots Daniel as he approaches, straightens up, and smiles grimly.

  “I’ve been wondering when you might show up,” he says in way of greeting. “All your women are pregnant, right?”

  Daniel nods. “What’s going on? You must know something we don’t.”

  Burton wipes his hands on a rag, then stuffs it into his coveralls’ pocket, nodding, his expression stern. “Sorry that I was so cryptic at our last talk. It was necessary.”

  “Can you tell me what you’ve been so secretive about?”

  Burton nods. “Come on up to the farmhouse. We can talk over a cup of local coffee. The wife makes a great brew.” When Daniel seems hesitant, he adds, “I’ll tell you what you want to know . . . need to know.”

  As they enter the back door directly into the kitchen, his wife greets them. After introductions, she sets about heating up a tea kettle. She looks much younger then Burton, so much so she could have been his daughter. She has that girl-next-door attractiveness, even in a farm dress and apron. She is also quite pregnant.

  “Daniel’s from the compound on up the road. Ward 3, isn’t it?” he turns to Daniel for verification. “We met at the Ward meeting. They haven’t been here but a few months. Doesn’t know the big picture.”

  Her smile turns to one of concern, but she says nothing more, letting her husband do the talking. He waits until she has served the brew.

  “So, first, tell me what your concerns are,” Burton insists.

  “That the aliens are making our women pregnant, without them being told. One of them is pregnant even though they insist they haven’t had sexual relations since they got here. And I believe them. She is really beyond normal child bearing age and didn’t want to have children.”

  “And you doubt that the husbands are the fathers,” Burton suggests.
/>
  “I don’t see how some of us could. For that matter, I don’t see how they could have impregnated all the women without them knowing.”

  “First of all, every immigrating group has gone through the same thing.” He notices Daniel glancing at his wife’s belly and nods. “Us, too. They told you that they expected all the women to bear children, but purposely didn’t go into details.”

  Daniel nods in acknowledgment.

  “What they didn’t tell us up front, was that they didn’t want human babies.”

  Even though he expected this was so, it was still a shock. He felt dizzy for a moment, then recovered, the shock turning to anger. “Just who - or should I say what - are the fathers?”

  “Right up front, let me assure you that some alien has not snuck in and raped all your women in their sleep. They have developed a laboratory produced sperm utilizing the DNA of a superior humanoid race capable of cross breeding. There is no particular donor; it is a composite containing the best genes of that alien species, to best combine with human genes to create a new species.”

  “Damn it!” Davies angrily interjects, “That’s still rape in my book!”

  “Can’t argue with you there,” Burton agrees. “They could have handled it better. But the bottom line is, either way, we had no choice. And you have no choice.”

  “And they expect us to bear and raise their little bastard monsters?”

  Burton turns to his wife, “Ask Tony to come in.”

  When she leaves the room, Burton continues hurriedly, “Tony is our first born son. Please don’t say anything to upset him - or my wife, for that matter.”

  He barely finishes when his wife returns, ushering in a handsome boy who appears to be nine or ten.

  “Son,” Burton addresses the lad, “this is Mr. Davies. His farm is just to the east of us.”

  “Hello, Sir,” the boy says with a smile and offers a hand, “Glad to make your acquaintance.”

  Reluctantly, Daniel shakes the boy’s hand. The grip is firm and warm. “The pleasure is mine,” Daniel responds automatically, examining the boy. The boy’s hair is black, shoulder length. Burton’s is reddish and his wife’s almost blonde. His skin is a healthy tan, but just a shade off what it should be. His eyes are also dark; a brown that blends darkly into the iris. Burton has brown eyes. His wife has blue eyes. The boy has more muscle tone that most children his age.

  “Tony has to run,” the mother apologizes, “Or he’ll be late for school.”

  “Bye,” is all the boy says as he hurries out the door.

  All are quiet for a while.

  “Good-looking boy,” Daniel finally says, feeling he should say something. The fact was, he really did think the boy was handsome. “He looks pretty human to me.”

  Burton nods. “Our first born. And we love him dearly.”

  “And he’s very bright,” she adds, trying to smile, but he can see she is distressed by the situation. As was he.

  “Are you telling me he’s one of the new species?” Daniel asks, then continuing without waiting for an answer. “You couldn’t have been on Paradise that long. He must be nine or ten.”

  “He just turned three.”

  She nods in confirmation. “They grow quite fast. And he’s very intelligent.”

  “He out-thinks me, “ Burton chuckles. The couple are beginning to relax.

  “Are you telling me, you’re Ok with this . . . situation?”

  “You get used to it,” Burton insists. “Look at it this way. Say you and your wife can’t conceive. You opt for artificial insemination for her to get pregnant. An anonymous donor. The clinic obtains sperm from donors, selected as a healthy man, both physically and mentally. Your wife is the natural birth mother. You are the legal father. You raise the child as your own, possibly never telling the child anything.”

  “And you would both love the child as if he or she was your own. He or she is your own,” she adds. “We love Tony as much as if he was our own . . . he is our own. You know what I mean. The worse thing, he’ll probably be with us only a few years more. He’ll be an adult and seek a life of his own.”

  Burton motions to her protruding belly. “Then you will have another one to raise.”

  She smiles. “Yes, they expect us to reproduce every two-to-three years, depending on our health.”

  Daniel is striving to be diplomatic, not hurt either of their feelings. “How many children do they expect you to have?”

  “As many as we want, as long as we’re healthy enough and can be good parents.”

  “I mean, how many do you have to have?”

  Burton answers. “We really don’t know. Through the grapevine, I most often hear four. None of us have been on the planet long enough to say. And the aliens only say that it will be our choice once we have met our obligations.”

  Still a little angry, Daniel insists, “Still, they should have told us that this would be a part of the arrangement.”

  “That certainly would have been better, but then, how many couples would agree to such a thing. I doubt few would.”

  Daniel has another thought. “Has anybody asked to be sent back?”

  Burton shakes his head. “Not that I know of. Where we were, things were getting really bad. We wouldn’t want to go back. You know, Earth is doomed. Just a matter of time.”

  Daniel has yet another thought. “God! I have to go back and break this to my people. They’re apt to kill the messenger!”

  Burton smiles. “You took it pretty well. So did my people. Don’t underestimate your women. They’ll adapt. It will probably be harder for the men to accept. But may I make a suggestion?”

  Daniel nods.

  “Talk first to your Peace Keeper. Now that all the women are pregnant, it can answer the questions it wouldn’t, or couldn’t, answer before. When they know they won’t be giving birth to some hideous alien creature, they might relax.”

  “You must have started out early,” she surmises, changing the subject. “Have you had breakfast?”

  While she is preparing the meals, Burton takes the opportunity to tell him of their progress, as they have been on the planet three years longer than his group. By the time Daniel heads back to Ward 3, his only concern is how to break the news to his people.

  While he didn’t plan it, Daniel gets a lift with the cargo carrier delivering supplies to Burton’s Ward; half the load is going on to Ward 3. The ride is so short, he still hasn’t figured out how to break the news to his people, beginning to wish he had walked back to give him more time. The carrier doesn’t stop at his farm to let him off, continuing on to the center.

  Peace Keeper 37 meets the carrier, immediately knowing what Daniel has done.

  “If you wish,” it greets him. “We will talk to the people.”

  “You, or the Universal Council?”

  “Yes.”

  “Damn it, who?” Daniel snaps angrily, but already realizes that while 37 is answering his thoughts, it would still be the Universal Council - at any rate, it didn’t make any difference. He starts to apologize, but again quickly realizes the android takes no offense. That only frustrates him more. He keeps trying to think of 37 as having some human qualities, but knows it is simply a machine - a very sophisticated machine - programmed as how to act and respond. Actions dictated by the Universal Council. He agrees to the meeting.

  “Be here an hour before sunset. We suggest all the people be present.”

  Now he has the time to think, walking back to his farm. He never told his wife where he was going, but she will know something is bothering him. She will suspect. He knows Sherry won’t stand for him telling her to wait for the meeting. If he doesn’t tell her everything he has found out, she will sulk the rest of the day - and then some.

  How is he going to tell Sherry that the baby she is carrying is an alien? She’s going to freak out! Then he thinks of Charles and Carol; he’s already almost a basket case having an involuntary fetus inside his wife, with more to come. He doubts
Sherry will be able to handle the knowledge that it isn’t her husband’s child, but some alien’s, but then he realizes she already suspects such. As he nears the farm, he decides he will get Charles in on the truth; between the two of them, they will decide the best approach to breaking the news.

  The Durwood farm is the first he comes to on his return, being next to his own. He is working in the garden. He spots Daniel approaching and waves, meeting him at the gate to the garden plot.

  “We have to talk,” Daniel says in way of greeting.

  “Good morning to you, too,” Charles says, still smiling.

  “Sorry. Good morning,” he hastily responds, “But this is important.”

  “Well, let’s go in and talk over a hot cup.”

  Daniel shakes his head. “No. Here. I don’t want Carol to hear.”

  Charles nods in understanding, his smile fading, “It’s about her pregnancy, isn’t it?”

  “It’s about all the pregnancies. I just came from our neighboring settlement. Found out what’s really going on.”

  “That our women are being impregnated by the aliens,” Charles states as a matter of fact. “I’ve been telling you that all along. You thought I was being paranoid. So they told you the truth, finally?”

  “Not the aliens. The warden next door. They already have an alien boy.”

  Charles is remarkable calm, especially since he was so upset that he and Carol would have to have babies. “Don’t tell me. Let me guess. The child looks human and is perfect. And very intelligent.”

  Daniel nods. “Pretty much so. It’s a boy, very handsome. Could pass as human, being just a little different. How did you know?”

  “An obvious conclusion.”

  Daniel continues, “They grow up very fast. About three times faster. He looks about nine or ten. They said he will be an adult in two or three more years.”

  “Well, that’s a twist I didn’t expect,” Charles responds thoughtfully. “But then it makes sense. They would pick a species that can cross breed with humans, improve the species, and also one that would mature quickly.”