“What?” Michael groaned, lifting his head.
“The wound is practically ... healed,” Rowan said.
“My!” Henry fussed. “My my!” He reached for Michael, but Rowan took him and held him.
Lauren lifted the tail of her own shirt. “The bullet passed through you and hit me. But I’m healed.” She looked down, her hand searching for the hole that was no longer there. A fading pink mark was all that marred her abdomen.
“What’s going on?” Michael lifted his head and tried to focus his eyes to gain his bearings. “Where are we?”
“I’m not sure I can tell you,” Lauren said, glancing at Kitty. She seemed intent on Michael.
“No, I’ve been here before.” Michael said. “Lauren, remember ... what I told you?” He said, as if he didn’t want to repeat it in front of Kitty.
Lauren nodded and turned to Kitty. She said softly, “I think he’s hallucinating.”
“He’s been through a lot,” Rowan said. He patted Michael’s shoulder. “Just get some rest, buddy.”
Michael nodded weakly, surrendering to oblivion.
* * *
After some time, which could have been minutes, hours or days, food appeared on the table, but no one made a move toward it. Not even to inspect the bowl of fruit or loaf of bread. Even the jug of what appeared to be wine went untouched. Kitty paced around the table but said nothing as Lauren finally sank onto one of the chairs, exhaustion catching up with her. Rowan sat down across from her but neither spoke.
Henry leaned back against his mother, her braid in his fist, as he rocked against her and tried to coax her to play. “Nana ...” he grunted reaching towards the table. Lauren glanced over and realized there was a banana among the offerings. Henry patted her leg. “Nana, Mama.”
“It might not be safe to eat,” Kitty said, unbidden.
“I’m inclined to agree with her,” Rowan said. “It could be ... a trap.”
Lauren frowned at both of them and reached for the banana. It was pale green around the edges, with a perfect unblemished yellow peel. Rowan took it from her hand. “You can’t give that to Henry.”
Her expression turned sharp as she snatched it back and handed Henry over. Henry didn’t protest but watched his mother as she peeled the fruit and sniffed it cautiously. Lauren found the perfume pleasant, and familiar. She took a bite and chewed, analyzing the texture as well as the taste. Finding nothing off putting, she swallowed and took another bite.
“They brought us here,” Lauren said. “If they wanted us dead, we’d already be dead. I sincerely doubt they mean to poison us.”
Henry reached for it, grunting. “Na na na.”
Lauren broke off a piece and handed it to her son. He squished it in his chubby hand before shoving it into his mouth. “Thanks a lot, Eve. We’re sure to get banished from the garden now.” Rowan quipped bitterly.
“Or trapped here like Persephone in Hades,” Kitty quipped.
“It’s not an apple,” Lauren snipped in return, shoving a bite of banana into Rowan’s mouth, too. “Or a pomegranate,” she added to Kitty. “It’s delicious.” Rowan chewed but didn’t seem happy about it. He could have spit it out if he’d wanted to, but he didn’t. Lauren took another bite and gave the rest to Henry to gnaw on.
* * *
Kitty finally got up the nerve to go sit beside Michael, taking his hand, inspecting his healing knuckles. Bruises were fading and the cuts from the fist-fight had turned to pink scars.
Michael opened his eyes, lifting his head looking around, confused. He calmed and laid his head back down. Before she could speak, he sneered, “Did you try to kill me?”
“What?”
“The crash? Did you arrange that? Did you try to kill me?” He enunciated each word individually, so as to be clear.
She turned her back, crossing her arms over her legs, leaning on her elbows. “No. I didn’t try to kill you. I could never hurt you. I was ... betrayed.”
“Uh huh,” Michael drug the words out. “Because I’m the love of your life. You never forgot me after college, and the few days we had together in Houston were so special. The best you ever had...” He snarked.
She turned and narrowed her brow. Her blue eyes burned like laser beams. “Stop it, Michael!” she ordered. “I never meant to hurt you ... it wasn’t my idea to make you think ... I’d died. I was following orders. They told me it’d be better if you thought I was gone. I didn’t like it either. I hated every minute of it ... because I knew ... I could never see you again.”
The pain in her voice was genuine, but Michael found himself trying to gauge her acting skills. “Why, Kitty?” His words had a bite to them that was undeniable.
“Michael, I didn’t know you were working on Project Morning Star when I ran into you that day at NASA. Last I heard you were working on telemetry systems for the next generation of space craft. I was working undercover with the Hubble Team to see what NASA knew about contact with alien life. Rumors of these signals has been spoken in whispers around the world for the past few years. I was watching for any of the radio telescope projects to report back on the signals. Several did, but none seemed to be close to finding the truth ... the truth we suspected but could not confirm ... ‘til now.”
Michael’s eyes averted away from her, staring at the wall that seemed illuminated from within. “Did you have something to do with Alexei? With his murder?”
“What?” She looked affronted. “No! God, Michael. No.” She stood and turned her back to him a moment, before continuing.
“Then who did?” he demanded. “Your hired goon? Malakoff?”
“Not every government out there has joined our Alliance. There are countries who don’t believe in a peace accord ... with ...” Her eyes jutted towards the ceiling; her finger pointed upward. “With them.” It took her a moment to continue. Michael was still fuming. “There are countries out there who would rather strike pre-emptively and will stop at nothing to interfere with our efforts, silence our champions and keep the population oblivious to the real situation for a completely different reason.”
“Keep people oblivious? Maybe you should tell us more about your ... Alliance.” Rowan hadn’t been invited into the conversation, but it didn’t stop him from jumping in.
“And the forces working against you,” Lauren added.
Kitty gazed up at them as they came to stand over her. She motioned to the empty chairs, indicating it would not be a short story. Rowan and Lauren both sat down. She rose from the edge of the chaise and paced a moment. She seemed to collect her thoughts before she began.
“It started in a NATO secret session over a three decades ago.” Kitty crossed her arms and took a deep breath. “It’s been a carefully guarded secret since Bill Clinton volunteered the US to lead the effort.”
“Bill Clinton?” Lauren’s brow lifted. “President Clinton?”
“He wasn’t always in favor of an intergalactic peace accord. But, in an interview on national TV, Clinton said ... and I quote, a battle with aliens may be the only way to unite this incredibly divided world of ours. He was one of the most progressive presidents when it came to a policy on alien relations,” Kitty said. “It’s just that most Americans don’t know it. He went on to say, think of how all the differences among the people on earth would seem small if we felt threatened by a space invader.”
“And there is a threat,” Michael said. “If your translation is correct.”
“He hoped it wouldn’t end up like Independence Day,” Kitty said. “But, you seem to know more about these ... creatures than anyone. You tell me. Are they a threat?”
Michael seemed contemplative for a long moment. “I don’t know. I want to trust them, but ... I’m as scared as you are. At the moment though, I don’t think it’s them that I fear.”
“What do you mean?” Kitty pursed her lips.
“My friend was murdered,” he snarled, his eyes gazing up to the ceiling as he lay back. “My project was threatened ... m
y life and my family have been threatened. I thought you died ... and I had to think it was no coincidence.” There was a definite bite to his words as he rolled up onto one arm, then pushed himself up to sitting. “But now, I realize, it’s not the aliens or some foreign government trying to stop me. It’s you.”
Kitty seemed wounded by the vitriol in his tone. She took a step back, fighting for words, but unable to come up with anything to placate him. Lauren watched the uncomfortable tension between them thicken.
“Are there other projects listening in?” Lauren asked, trying to make peace. “I mean, trying to find these ... alien signals?” She moved close enough to Michael to put a hand on his back to steady him.
“Sure,” Kitty said. “You’re not the only one with a radio telescope picking them up.”
“But why stop Michael’s?” Lauren asked. “Why so much attention on Project Morning Star?”
“While I had no idea you were working on Morning Star when I met you in Houston,” she said directly to Michael. “I did see something in your eye when we were looking at the feed from Hubble in my office that day ... and I was afraid ... I knew then ... if anyone would figure it out ... it’d be you. I had to report it to my superiors.”
Michael stared, stone-faced as she spoke. “Now we’ve done it,” she said, lifting her hand to the room around them. “We’ve made first contact.”
Michael’s expression didn’t change. “You didn’t make first contact. We did. Lauren and Rowan, and me. Not you. We found the aliens. We made first contact ... over three years ago. Her in Peru ... me, here.”
Lauren realized Michael hadn’t made good on his lifelong promise to find aliens before she did. If his timelines matched up with hers, they’d done it at practically the same time. He began having his experiences about the same time she found the godchild in Peru. But suddenly, that no longer mattered. All those years of bickering and fighting didn’t mean anything anymore.
“It doesn’t matter who made contact first,” Kitty stated. “But this ... this ... it has to be managed,” she muttered. “I have the authority to negotiate a peaceful accord with these beings. This is my job. I need you all to let me do my job so we can avoid a situation that could lead to ... intergalactic war ... to the very destruction of our planet.”
“There haven’t been any threats ...” Michael started angrily but froze.
“Yet,” she added.
As if summoning the creature from the heavens, and before there could be any debate, the door hissed opened and the creature entered, carrying what appeared to be clothes. It paused at the entry way, scanning the room, its eyes coming to settle on Michael. It came over to him and lay the clothing on the chaise beside him. “We have prepared you something clean to wear while you heal,” The Three said.
Before Michael could protest, the clothes appeared in place upon his person, and any evidence of blood, sweat or soil was gone from his body. His hair swept back as if being lifted by the wind. The tresses seem to lengthen as it appeared to be tied by unseen hands and was scooped back into a queue, tied with a length of what appeared to be a leather thong. Lauren glanced down. Her own hands that had been stained in blood were now pristine. She found no evidence of blood or grime, even beneath her short nails.
“You will eat, and we will talk,” the creature said, turning with a wave to the table. “If this food is repugnant we will provide other nourishment.” Without so much as a wave the of its hand the table cleared, and a carafe and cups appeared on the table. The perfume of coffee found its way to Lauren’s nose. Her stomach growled. She couldn’t be sure how long it had been since she last ate.
“Nana,” Henry reached for the table. Much to Lauren’s surprise, a bowl appeared with what looked like, of all things ... Cheerios.
Lauren took one of the oat circles and put it in her mouth, testing it. Rowan watched with interest. Satisfied with the results, she reached for a plate she hadn’t seen before. She scooped a handful of Cheerios and put them on the plate for him, before taking a banana and peeling it for Henry. He grabbed it and shoved it into his mouth, using the newly erupted teeth to gnaw on it.
Rowan looked skeptically at Lauren, and at the creature, but reached for the carafe and sniffed it. He poured two cups, adding what appeared to be cream and sugar from separate containers. He took a sip and pushed a cup over to his wife who accepted it with thanks. “Anyone else?” No one took him up on it.
“Michael,” the being summon with a raised hand. “You need to regain your strength.” Michael rose slowly, but once he was confident of his footing, he moved without effort to come sit at the table with his sister and her family. Steak and cheesecake appeared among the offerings, as each of them found a plate in front of them. The perfume of fried chicken and mashed potatoes joined in as Lauren found her plate prepared.
Rowan’s plate appeared to contain his favorite meal, red beans, and rice. He sniffed at it cautiously, then took a tentative bite. Lauren watched for his reaction. “It’s not as good as yours,” he said in sidebar to her. “But it’s not bad.”
Kitty hesitated to join, but when a plate appeared for her, she finally gave into her hunger and came to sit next to Michael. The creature seemed satisfied when everyone settled in to eat. It took the last empty seat next to Michael and allowed them to make short work of the food.
Lauren found herself engrossed in watching the dynamics of the table around her. Paying little attention to her own food, she tended to Henry first. She recognized the effort of casual diplomacy; ply your guests with a nice meal and set them at ease in an environment you control. Watching Michael devour everything on the plate, she couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t seem to empty until he was sated. Clearly his injuries required energy to mend, and his color seemed much improved when he pushed back the plate. As each guest finished, the plates disappeared. Cups were refilled and everyone seemed to relax. Lauren’s plate remained the last on the table, as she fed small bites to Henry with her fingers.
Lauren wasn’t surprised when Kitty made her move.
“Thank you for your hospitality.” She folded her napkin and lay it on the table. “Your technology is impressive.”
The Three, however, did not appear to fall for her not-so-subtle efforts to develop rapport. Its eye caught Lauren’s as it turned to her brother. “You, Michael, Champion of the gods, your place is secured among the stars,” the being said. “You will speak for us, if you are willing.”
“Me?” Michael seemed stunned.
“I don’t think you understand,” Kitty said. “I represent an alliance of world leaders who have designated me to serve as a liaison between our world and ... and yours.”
The Three turned and looked to her. “We recognize your world’s desire to choose your own champion. We have chosen Michael.”
“Champion?” Kitty recoiled. “What do you think this is? Mortal Kombat?”
If the creature understood the reference to the video game, it gave no indication. “Combat is inevitable,” The Three said. “I believe you have a saying; the enemy of my enemy is my friend?”
“Yes,” Michael said. “We’re not your enemy?”
“Nor am I yours,” The Three said. “Which makes us friends, does it not?”
“Does it?” Lauren screwed up her face, trying to make sense of its words. The Three seemed to be speaking in riddles.
“We have an enemy,” the Three finally explained. “One who would wish to destroy you, just as they would wish to destroy us. My enemy. Your enemy.”
“Our enemy?” Kitty said. “Who is this enemy?”
“The feud has raged for a millennia. This enemy will stop at nothing to destroy what it has created ... you have spoken of this in whispered tones with your sister,” it addressed Michael.
“Enlil?” He asked.
“That is one of many names used by the darkest of all forces,” The Three said. “It is an enemy who will stop at nothing to be restored to favor with the Most-High, Anu.”
“Would one of your names be Enki?” Lauren asked, retrieving her braid from Henry’s grasp.
“We have many names,” the creature blinked its large dark eyes. “This is one you may use if you prefer to assign a more simple moniker to this vessel.” Its hand seemed to gesture to its own body.
Rowan turned and looked at his wife. She nodded, recognizing the need for understanding in his gaze. “Enki.” She tried the name out. “Why are you telling us now?” Lauren turned her attention back to their host.
“We fear the dark forces of Enlil are gathering,” Enki said. “We fear you will not survive if we do not intervene ... and we cannot defeat Enlil without your aid.”
“What do you need from me?” Lauren looked perplexed. “How can we help?”
“We have come only for Michael,” Enki said. “He has much to learn before the war comes to this place. There are spells and incantations to bind the fallen son of Anu. Michael has been chosen.”
“Wait, what?” Rowan turned.
“It is no mistake that the moniker assigned to this vessel,” Enki waved a hand towards Lauren’s brother. “Is the name of the ancient heavenly warrior, a minion of the Most-High. Chief Warrior, Protector, Healer and Peacemaker.”
“Wait. What?” Michael recoiled. “What do you mean you came for me?”
“War is coming, and we cannot fight it alone. We need a warrior to champion our cause. But we cannot fight a war on two fronts. We need the peacemaker to strengthen the bonds between the Heavens and Earth.”
“Wait, if you need ... an ambassador ... that’s my job,” Kitty protested, finally able to get the words out. “I speak for the United Nations Task Force. I’m ...” The creature raised its hand and Kitty’s mouth closed. The look on her face spoke volumes as she scowled angrily.
“You have a role to play as well, Catherine,” it said. She took a step back. Lauren moved to Michael and snaked her hand in his. They shared a concerned look, but their attention returned to their host. “It would not be kindly received for us to take a respected scientist. He must come with us of his own will. Witnesses must know the heart of the ... ambassador.” It used her words. “Catherine, your role will be to serve as his intermediary. He will speak for us. You will speak for him.”
The Alien Accord Page 18
