Chaos Theories Collection

by Moody, David

  ‘No, it’s fine, thank you anyway.’

  She smiled and started to walk away. Tom watched her go, feeling strangely deflated. Was that it? His first conversation with an alien, and all he’d found to talk about was how to get from Overmill Park to Lime Street?

  ‘So how are you finding things here?’ he shouted after her. She stopped and turned back to face him.

  ‘I’m not,’ she replied. ‘That’s why I had to ask you.’

  ‘It was a figure of speech,’ he explained.

  Her mouth curled again. ‘I know. What did you mean? How do I like the town or the planet?’

  ‘Both. Either.’

  She sighed (or at least that was what he thought it was) and thought for a few seconds before answering. ‘I don’t know how to give you an honest answer without offending you.’

  ‘Then offend me.’

  ‘Your planet is fine, and the people here have been very, very kind to us, but... but it’s not home, is it?’

  Her use of the word ‘fine’ to describe everything Planet Earth had to offer stung Tom somewhat. Perhaps she hadn’t intended to sound so glib.

  ‘Of course it’s not your home. I just meant—’

  ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ she said, ‘I like very much what I’ve seen here. Parts of your world are beautiful, very different to where I come from.’

  ‘Yes, but for every beauty spot, there are a hundred places like Drayton.’

  ‘And it’s exactly the same where I’m from, but that’s not what I’m trying to say. It wouldn’t matter if every square metre of this place was unspoilt and beautiful, it still wouldn’t be enough. I’d rather be home. You’d feel the same way, I’m sure.’

  ‘How long will it take you to get back?’

  ‘A year and a half, probably longer.’

  ‘And how does that make you feel?’

  Her surprisingly expressive face changed. The definite smile had disappeared. Her brow furrowed and her willowy shoulders dropped. ‘Desperate,’ she replied. Despite the unnatural twang to her voice, the inhuman lilt, he could clearly hear the sadness in her voice. They stood and studied each other for a few seconds longer, perhaps both trying to work out what the other was thinking, then the alien spoke again. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I have to go. My friend will be waiting. Thank you.’

  Tom watched her leave.

  ‘What did she want, mate?’ one of the kids on bikes asked, finally plucking up courage to cycle over now the alien had gone.

  ‘She was lost, that’s all.’

  13

  Tom’s plans for a quiet night in with Siobhan were thwarted by her decision to stay late at the office so she could try and get away at a decent time tomorrow. He ate half the meal he’d cooked, then threw the rest away. Too full of food to run, he decided to walk off his dinner along the cliff-top path he’d followed so many times before.

  It was still pleasantly warm, and although he passed a couple of dog walkers close to the village, there was no one else about. Good. That was how he liked it.

  He passed the war memorial, then stopped a short distance further along, close to where he’d been when the alien ship had arrived, and where he, Rob and Siobhan had stood and watched it disappear again. In contrast to both those times, it was peaceful and quiet out here tonight. It was still hard to believe what he’d seen, even harder to imagine the odds against him being in the right place at the right time to witness such historic events. He craned his head back and retraced the route the alien ship had taken when it left the planet’s atmosphere. There was still a little light on the distant horizon, but overhead the sky was deep purple. The longer he stared, the more individual stars he was able to make out, peering down at him from millions of miles away.

  It’s all about perspective, he decided.

  The contrast was obvious, but it still made him think: he could see hundreds of stars now, and if he stayed out here longer, he’d be able to see thousands more. And yet, from any one of those individual stars, he would be invisible. That was because of his comparative lack of size, of course, but the same was also true of the planet itself. In relative terms, the Earth was just a pinprick.

  He walked on.

  Along with the rest of the world, he’d had a month to get used to playing host to visitors from another planet. Like everyone else, he’d also managed to get used to the fact that the human race was nowhere near as all-powerful as it had long believed itself to be. He wondered how the people at the top were coming to terms with their newly adjusted position in the scheme of things. They’d been the leaders before – the teachers. Now they’d been demoted to being kids in the class, taking instructions from elsewhere. He thought about the Prime Ministers and Presidents, all of whom had gone from being the most powerful people on the planet, to the most powerful people on a planet. The difference was subtle, but important.

  The technological advances the aliens had promised to share would no doubt have a profound impact on all aspects of life on Earth. Was that something everyone would welcome? What about the mega-rich, overly influential bastards who looked down on everyone else from a position of often undeserved privilege? Would they be content to play second fiddle to the aliens? Would they be willing to see their hold on power and influence lessened? He’d heard talk on the TV earlier of trying to harness the quieter, safer, and more efficient energy source which powered the alien ships. All well and good, he thought, but the oil barons, politicians, billionaires and dictators might not be so keen to give up the fuel and money-based stranglehold on power they’d maintained over everyone else for so many years.

  Tom continued to climb the hills away from the village, although he stopped several times and considered turning back. He felt unnaturally tired. It was stupid – the less he did, the more effort everything seemed to take. Was he vegetating? He thought maybe he should be running. Maybe he’d start again tomorrow, if he could be bothered.

  His increasing apathy was beginning to genuinely concern him. Everyone else seemed fine – happier than usual, if anything; buoyed up by the unexpected optimism of the events of the last month. He was beginning to feel more and more like an outsider, almost as if he’d been left outside in the rain, looking in at the party through the window. Too tired to go any further, though not yet ready to go home, he stopped walking and sat down.

  The crashing of the waves on the rocks below was the only sound. Everything was dark save for the twinkling lights of the village he’d left behind and, further in the distance, the faint orange air-glow over Drayton. He felt separated from it all. Detached. He hated feeling this way.

  Is there something wrong with me?

  Depression, someone had once told him, always boils down to a person having a lack of control. So how can I be depressed? I get up when I want to, go to bed when I’m ready, and do whatever I want in between. I’ve got more freedom than anyone else I know.

  But was freedom the same as control? He wasn’t sure any more. It felt like something was missing. Tom had Siobhan and Rob and their small circle of friends, but beyond that he had very little. They all had their jobs to keep them busy and in regular contact with other people... what else did he have? Nothing. Not even any hobbies to speak of now he’d lost the impetus to run regularly. And yet the thought of getting a job or trying to find something else to do made him feel even worse. He wondered if the career he’d walked away from had given him a sense of purpose that he was now missing, or whether it had simply disguised the fact he’d never had one? Did he feel guilty because, as Rob had succinctly put it one drunken night, he was pissing on their parents’ grave? One thing was for sure, whatever the reason, his life was in real danger of becoming a vacuum.

  Recognising the problem was one thing. Doing something about it, another thing entirely.

  He lay back, the dry grass tickling his neck, and looked deeper into the heavens. He found himself thinking about his conversation with the alien earlier. If anyone had a right to be depressed, it was
them. Talk about a lack of control... Christ, they clearly had it far worse than he did. Separated from everything they held dear by an impassable gulf, no way of getting back to their loved ones for the foreseeable future, if at all... He pictured the visitor’s face, the clear sadness in her eyes and the melancholy tone of her voice when she’d spoken about home. Bloody hell, in comparison to them, did he have anything to complain about?

  And then it struck him that all of this might be the very reason why he found it impossible to connect with the aliens in the same way as everyone else. He didn’t understand them. More to the point, he didn’t understand how any of them could have allowed themselves to be willingly manipulated into leaving everything that mattered to them behind.

  And then it struck him – maybe I’m the one who’s got it all wrong?

  14

  Tom picked Siobhan up from work the following evening. After calling at her flat to sort out some washing and grab some clean clothes for the morning, they bought a takeaway and went back to the bungalow. Rob had gone back to university and was likely to be there all week. They had the place to themselves.

  Tom was standing by the wide bay window in the living room, looking down over Thatcham. Although it was late in the season and late in the day, the streets were still teeming with activity, a stark contrast to how this place usually was in late-September, or so he’d been told. By this time of year, John Tipper had explained last Friday evening, the village should be half-empty. Not that John was complaining. As long as there was cash in his tills and people in his bar, he was happy.

  Tom was looking at the nearest trees on the hillside, noticing how their branches were becoming more exposed as their leaves fell away, when Siobhan appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She nestled her face against the back of his head and whispered in his ear.

  ‘You okay? Feels like ages since we’ve had time together like this.’

  ‘Too long,’ he said, turning around and looking deep into her face. The only illumination came from a small table lamp and the TV at the other end of the room. The soft light and constantly changing shadows highlighted the intense beauty of her blue-grey eyes. He kissed her, a first delicate touch of lips, then waited for her response. It was immediate, beginning with light, fluttering kisses which rapidly became more passionate. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, then playfully chewed on his bottom lip. He felt her hands underneath his shirt, then felt her fingernails drag down his back, the perfect balance of pain and pleasure. ‘I love you, you know,’ he said, pressing his face up against hers.

  ‘I know,’ she answered, and she kissed him again as she pushed him back across the room then pulled him down onto the sofa. She took off his T-shirt then sat astride him. He looked up at her and wondered how the hell he’d managed to find someone as perfect as Siobhan. She was everything he wanted: beautiful, sexy, downright filthy when it suited her... he couldn’t imagine being without her now. And yet, he’d been thinking earlier today that he would never have met her if he hadn’t moved to Thatcham, and that he wouldn’t have moved to Thatcham if he hadn’t lost his parents. Fate can be a strange fucker at times, he thought. Do we always have to suffer before we can experience pleasure? And if I experience pleasure now, will I have to pay for it later?

  To be honest, he’d have willingly taken any punishment as a consequence of what Siobhan was about to do to him. She undid his belt then popped open the button of his jeans and unzipped the fly, and he made a conscious decision to stop thinking and give his full and undivided attention to the perfect woman now sitting on top of him.

  She leant forward and licked the length of his chest from just above his cock to just below his chin and then, almost lying flat on him now, she pressed her mouth close to his ear and whispered: ‘Do you want me?’

  Her breath tickled his skin, driving him wild. She hadn’t needed to ask the question, she’d done it for effect and he’d already burst out of his open jeans with excitement. The hard-on she’d now wrapped her hand around was answer enough.

  ‘I want you,’ he said.

  ‘Then I’m all yours.’

  He pushed her upright and took off her T-shirt, lifting it over her head. She leant back to undo her bra, then looked up at the TV and froze suddenly.

  ‘Shit. What time is it?’

  ‘Who cares?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Why, have you got somewhere else to be?’

  She slid off him and marched across the room.

  ‘Christ, Tom, it’s almost eight. It’ll have started.’

  ‘What are you on about?’

  She hunted around in the low light for the TV remote, then changed the channel. Tom, rejected, stood up and held onto his erection, doing what he could to stop it disappearing.

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ he said. ‘You’d rather watch a stupid bloody TV programme than—’

  ‘It’s not a stupid bloody programme,’ she interrupted angrily, ‘it’s important. You should watch it too.’

  ‘I don’t want to watch it. I want to fuck you. This is a fucking joke.’

  Eventually she stopped messing with the TV and turned around to look at him. Embarrassed, she reached out and took his hand. ‘I’m really sorry. It’s just that I’ve been waiting all day and—’

  ‘We could record it.’

  ‘I want to watch it. Please, Tom, watch it with me. When it’s finished I promise you the fuck of a lifetime. All night, if you want. Whatever you want to do. Whatever you want me to be.’

  He knew there was no arguing. She gently kissed him, then sat down on the floor in front of the TV, still half-dressed. She beckoned for him to sit with her, but he didn’t move. He remained standing where he was, limp cock dripping, feeling stupid like he’d been stood up on a date or completely misread her signals. As a series of trailers and announcements filled the screen, she looked up at him again.

  ‘I’m sorry, Tom, I really want to watch this. I want us both to watch it. It’s important, and if I don’t watch it now I don’t know when I’ll get chance.’

  She reached out and stroked his leg. Tom just nodded. He knew he couldn’t compete.

  ‘I’ll make a drink,’ he said as he traipsed miserably into the kitchen.

  ✽✽✽

  Visitor Update.

  That was the name of the programme. Variations on a similar theme were broadcast on all the major free-to-air channels, in every conceivable language in every country imaginable. The BBC version, which Siobhan was now glued to, was widely considered the best.

  The programme was intended to be an on-going education in all things alien, designed to lessen the gulf between the known and unknown, to break down any remaining barriers, and to eradicate any lingering doubts about the three hundred-or-so new arrivals on the planet. It had been showing twice-weekly for a while now, but this particular edition had been long looked forward to by many. Tonight the programme promised to show a wealth of previously unseen footage of the alien home-world.

  The programme already had a fanatical following. The aliens’ biology, psychology, history, physiology and more, broken down into easily digestible forty-five minute chunks. The presentation style was banal, Tom thought, bordering on being patronising. They’re aiming at the lowest common denominator, he decided, so everyone can understand this crap.

  His earlier disappointment aside, even Tom was forced to admit that tonight’s episode was fascinating. Given the choice, he’d still rather have been making love with Siobhan than sitting in front of the TV, but there was no point protesting. He could see her hanging on every last frame of footage.

  ‘This is incredible, isn’t it,’ she whispered as she curled up against him.

  ‘Suppose.’

  ‘Don’t be like that, Tom. This is important. This affects all of us.’

  ‘Still don’t know why you couldn’t record it.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  She rested her hand on the inside of his thigh
and began to stroke him, not even realising she was doing it. Her touch was a great pacifier.

  Soon all Tom’s disappointments were temporarily forgotten as the promised new footage was shown. It was all too brief and there had been far less of it than they’d been led to expect, but there was no disputing the sheer wonder of what had been shown. Vast, clean, quiet alien cities which seemed to cover entire continents of their unusually pink-hued world. Lush forests, home to an incalculable number and variety of alien species. Mountain ranges which stretched upwards and outwards forever. Floating cities resting on mill-pond still oceans. Intricate travel networks... Like the aliens themselves, Tom thought their world appeared to be completely different and yet bizarrely similar to his own.

  The final credits had barely finished scrolling up the screen when Siobhan got up and switched off the TV. She turned around, dropped her trousers and kicked off her knickers. She stood in front of him, completely naked, arms open, offering herself up. Tom scrambled to get undressed, all the time looking up at her, her perfect body gently illuminated by the soft lamp light.

  ‘You still want me then?’ she asked. She didn’t give him chance to answer. He lay naked on the floor and she sat astride him, knees either side of his crotch, and lowered herself down onto his immediately erect cock. The match was perfect, the movement precise and easy. Both of them were more than ready for each other.

  ‘I love you,’ he said, already breathless.

  She grinned at him. ‘And I love you too. Now shut up and fuck me.’

  ✽✽✽

  The promised night of passion lasted less than an hour, but they both knew that would probably be the case, and neither of them cared. Lying in bed next to each other now, Tom felt himself falling asleep, still sweat-soaked and panting. He couldn’t help it. He was exhausted. Siobhan, however, was having none of it. She had ten times his energy tonight, it seemed. She buried her face in his chest and gently nibbled his skin.