Fear and Aggression

by Dane Bagley

  ***

  “She looks scared. I feel bad for her,” said Bob. Bob and Danny were standing guard in their black space suits, in full helmet. “We must look very scary to her.” The creature looked in their direction, and Bob waved to her. The creature, who was sitting in her cell, in her dress that she had been captured in, looked away and down at her feet. She was wearing an olive green dress that went down nearly to her ankles. She sat on the examining table in her room with her left side facing them. Her legs were bent up at the knees and she had her arms around her shins.

  “She is the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen,” muttered Danny.

  “I know. That’s why I couldn’t shoot her with the tranquilizer. I had a clear shot, but then as she was coming up, she looked like a gorgeous woman. And I thought, ‘I can’t shoot a beautiful woman.’ Man, I completely froze. I was both scared to death, and mesmerized by her. It was surreal—the strangest feeling I have ever had before.”

  “I couldn’t have shot her, either. I feel like we’ve kidnapped her. Tammy says that she can’t find anything alien about her at all. This is weird.”

  “Does she look hungry to you?” asked Bob.

  “I can’t tell.”

  “Tammy said that it looks like she can eat human food. She said we could give her some, if she looked like she was hungry. What’s for grub right now?”

  “Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and carrots.”

  “Let’s give her a plate. If she’s hungry then eating will help her to feel better. At least, maybe, she won’t be so scared of us after that.” Food always made Bob feel better.

  The men in space suits got the food, and put it into the creatures’ cell. Bob motioned with his hand that it was to eat by pointing to it and putting his hand up to his face shield where his mouth would be. The creature coiled as the men approached, but then relaxed as she saw that they were bringing her something. She did not move at first, but looked down at the plate. After a few moments, she cautiously got off the table, and reached down to pick up the plate and utensils.

  “I told you she was hungry,” said Bob.

  The creature sat back on her table, and held her plate. She was examining it visually first. She then leaned over to sniff the food. Bob was smiling widely, though no one could have seen it inside his space helmet. He enjoyed watching someone else enjoy a meal, as much as he enjoyed a meal himself; feeding this beautiful creature made him feel very happy inside, indeed. She sniffed the chicken first and then the potatoes. She glanced back over at the men in space suits, and then back at the plate. She didn’t seem to move for a while. Then she cautiously sniffed the carrots. She leaned back quickly and put her hand over her mouth. She looked like she was gagging.

  “I don’t think she likes the carrots,” said Danny. Bob was just a tad bit offended, but it only lasted a moment.

  The creature picked up the knife and then the spoon. She used the spoon to hold the chicken down, as she cut the chicken into pieces. She did so slowly and methodically, periodically leaned down to inspect and smell. Once the chicken had been carved into small bite-size pieces, she put the utensils down and stared at the men. Bob motioned with his hand to his helmet, trying to tell her it was food. The creature looked away again and back at her food. She picked up a small piece of chicken with her fingers, and lifted it up to smell. She looked at it again, and then put it in her mouth. There was a slight grimace as she began to chew. After chewing for what seemed like a long time, she swallowed. She put her plate down, just past her feet, and then turned her body around on the table to face the men. She allowed her feet to hang down over the edge of the table. She motioned towards Bob, and then lifted up both hands to her mouth in a cupping fashion, and lifted up her head.

  Bob, who was once again mesmerized by this creature, had no idea what she was doing—nor did he care. He was just glad that she was looking in his direction. “I think she wants something to drink,” said Danny.

  Bob, snapping back to reality, practically jumped into action to get her a glass of water. The sudden movement caused the creature to recoil again, but once she saw Bob filling a glass with water, she seemed to relax. This time as he approached with the glass, the creature stood up to meet him. He reached the cup through her cell, and she reached to grab it. “Careful,” said Danny as he saw that the creature was reaching towards Bob. But the creature grasped the glass, and then headed back towards the table. She smelled the water, and then took a careful sip. After a couple more careful sips, she began to drink it down. She finished the glass, and looked over at Bob. She smiled very gently, and got back up and walked over to him. Bob had not moved from his place near her cell. “Careful,” said Danny again. The creature gently reached the glass to him, and Bob grabbed it. The creature, motioned again that she wanted to drink. Bob just stood there and didn’t move. He was looking the creature in the eyes, though the creature could only see his silver helmet. “I think she wants another drink, Bob.”

  “Oh—yeah.” Bob filled up the glass and brought it back to the cell. The creature was still standing there, and the exchange went much more comfortably this time. She also uttered some expression in her language with a sweet smile. She headed back to her table, and continued to eat each piece of chicken one at a time, by picking it up with her fingers and putting them in her mouth. She did require one more glass of water, about the time that she finished her chicken. She went back to her plate and sniffed the potatoes again. She picked up her spoon, and put a small amount in her mouth. She grimaced more with the potatoes than she did with the chicken. Slowly, she spooned off the gravy and ate the gravy. She seemed to like the gravy very much. She then worked on the mashed potatoes slowly, and swallowing hard with each bit. She seemed to rely on the water, to get the potatoes down at first. Little by little, she seemed to become more comfortable with the taste.

  Once the potatoes were finished, and she had finished her third cup of water, she turned to look at the men again. She stood up to give the men the plate, glass, and utensils. She didn’t attempt to eat the carrots. Bob came up again, and Danny stayed back. She uttered something in her tongue, pointed to the carrots, and shook her head and then smiled. She seemed to be apologizing that she wouldn’t eat the carrots.

  No sooner had Bob taken her plate, than Tammy could be heard in the Helmets. “Danny, Bob, I’m going to sleep, is everything alright?”

  “Hey Tammy, we just fed the alien,” said Bob with delight.

  “Did you feed it, or did it feed itself?”

  “Well, we gave her the food, and she fed herself.”

  “How is it doing?”

  “Great! She loved the chicken, and the gravy. I don’t know if she really liked the potatoes, but she ate them. I can tell you this much, she wouldn’t even try the carrots.”

  “Yeah, she gagged when she smelled them. I thought she was going to puke,” informed Danny.

  “Is it OK?—is it acting sick?”

  “No, I think that she’s fine. She doesn’t seem so scared of us anymore and she seems better after eating,” said Bob.

  “Alright, so carrots are off its menu. Write a report on its eating; that will be real important.”

  “I’ll make sure Danny gets you a full report,” said Bob.

  “Great. Now if she starts acting sick, or if any other problems come up, let me know. Otherwise, I desperately need some sleep.”

  “Sounds great, Tammy. I’ll get you that report. We’ll take good care of her,” said Danny, and then Tammy was gone.

  The creature was not privy to the conversation, as it took place within their helmets, and the helmets were sound-proof. The helmets also did not allow her to have any access to seeing their faces. She continued to look at her captors. After a few minutes, she turned again so that her side faced them. She grabbed her shins again, and bowed her head down, so that her forehead touched her knees. So
on her eyes were closed, and it looked like she may be going to sleep. Her eyes were closed, but Danny noticed that her lips were moving, almost like she was talking to herself, as no sound was audible.

  Chapter 19