The Crime of Protection

by Gloria Martin

  “I’m glad you decided to stay.”

  “I didn’t think you wanted me to go,” she said as they crossed the distance to one another.

  “I don’t,” he said as his arm slid around her waist.

  In that moment she knew what was to come and tilted her head as their lips met in a kiss that felt like a jolt of electricity flowing through her. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the longing he had for her in the way his lips crashed down on hers along with his grip around her waist and his fingers knotted in her hair.

  Paul kept holding her closer until she was barely on the ground anymore. Then in one swift movement he swept her off of her feet and carried her up to the bedroom, his lips never leaving hers.

  As soon as he laid her down on the bed, Laura’s hands began tugging at the green polo shirt, releasing it from the waistband of his khakis. Paul responded quickly and the shirt disappeared, revealing the body the she had dreamed about for months. He was just as perfect as she had imagined, his tanned skin rippling with toned muscles. There was a light dusting of blonde hair on his chest that condensed and darkened as it trailed down his abdomen.

  Laura ran her hands over his body and reached up to kiss him again and pull him down onto her. His hands began to explore her as well, feeling her curves through her shirt and jeans. She wanted so badly for her clothes to disappear so that she wouldn’t have to unlock her lips from his.

  Paul was the one who pulled away first, pulling Laura up into a sitting position on the bed. She reached for the hem of her shirt, but his hand caught hers before she could remove it.

  “Wait, I-I have something to tell you first.”

  Laura wasn’t sure how to react and silently looked up at him while he held her hands in his own, waiting for whatever it was he had to say.

  “I think I love you,” he said and Laura felt her mouth fall open, but before she could utter a word he continued. “That’s why I have to tell you something, and you may not like it. I don’t want to lie to you though. I don’t want you to be upset either.”

  A million worst-case scenarios ran through Laura’s mind all at once. Was it a disease? Was he already married? Was he secretly a con man? A hit man? All of these thoughts jumbled up inside of her, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was an intensely calm and decisive voice saying, “It’s alright, Paul. You can tell me anything.”

  “Laura,” he stopped to take a breath, “I’m an alien.”

  *****

  Laura locked the door of her apartment behind her before falling against it and sliding to the floor. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, just that it left her shaken and confused.

  An alien? Not only that, but he had gone on to call himself a cyborg, a hybrid of an organic life form with technology. She could have dealt with anything else, kids, ex-wife, current wife, even a communicable disease, but this alien nonsense was too much for her.

  To begin with she thought that it was a joke. Then, as he continued to explain his “mission on this planet” she thought that maybe he was just crazy. But what she couldn’t shake was when he held up his left arm and it began glowing and calling up data and statistics at his command. In her mind this all had to be an elaborate hoax.

  She shook violently as she remembered how he reached out to her when she excused herself and began to back away. He moved towards her and she made a dash for the door. Her keys were lying on the kitchen table and she grabbed them as she darted towards the front door, forsaking her shoes and jacket.

  Paul was calling out her name as she wrenched the door open and when she slammed the car door shut behind her she looked over to see him coming out onto the front step.

  “Laura.” He shouted and she was sure that all the neighbors were hearing and watching this spectacle. “Laura, wait.”

  She jammed the key in the ignition and blew through more red lights than she cared to admit just in order to reach home, where she could safely have this meltdown and attempt to process what had just happened. Here she was, sitting in the entryway of her apartment sobbing violently and wondering why the universe had to be so cruel to her.

  ***

  Paul couldn’t understand what it was that he had done wrong. According to his research, which consisted of a great many chick flick movies and daytime talk shows, being honest and upfront with a woman was supposed to be the best way to go. He felt sick in the pit of his stomach, as if someone had just punched him and knocked the wind out of him. He couldn’t seem to get enough air and he wanted to throw up all of his organs.

  “What did I do?” he muttered to himself over and over. He could understand why she would have trouble believing him, but he didn’t know why she ran away from him. Hadn’t he shown her in all this time that he cared about her and had no ill intentions?

  Paul sat in his living room, hands clasping his head, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. He was stupefied and this confusion slowly turned into a rage. His whole body began to shake until his emotions overflowed and he lashed out.

  Afterwards, when he observed the damage he felt ashamed. Tables were turned over, chairs broken, art ripped from the walls, and ceramic sculptures smashed into a million pieces. At least the damage was contained to his living and dining room area. His loss of temper scared him, and he accepted the mild comfort that at least Laura had not seen this lapse in his self-control.

  Aspen peeked out from the doorway of the office to see if the wave of destruction had subsided. Paul caught sight of the dog and was momentarily choked up.

  “I’m sorry,” he said to the canine. “I’m so sorry.”

  Slowly Aspen was coaxed into coming out of the office and towards Paul, but he was clearly still frightened and unsure about the state of his owner. Sitting back down on the couch, Paul extended his hand outwards to pet Aspen and felt a pang of guilt when the animal flinched away from him.

  “I’m sorry, boy.” It seemed to be the only thing that he could say, but his repeated apologies did not seem to be doing much in the way of making amends.

  Sliding down from the couch, Paul knelt down before the dog and held out his hands as a plea for his forgiveness. Slowly, Aspen stepped forward and placed his head into Paul’s outstretched hands. The broken man began to sob, burying his face into the dog’s long golden hair. Over and over again, all he could say was “I’m sorry,” until finally he fell asleep, leaning against the couch with his arms still wrapped around Aspen, who sat diligently keeping watch over his master.

  *****

  Two weeks had gone by since Paul had revealed to Laura the nature of his being. Two weeks since she had run away from him in terror. For the first whole week Paul had refused to even check in with his commander or to go into his mundane accounting job.

  When he did finally return to his Earth job, it was under the pretense of having been sick. His excuse to his commander was a system malfunction that had knocked him offline for a while. In either case, he couldn’t admit that his absence was because the first woman that he had fallen in love with had run away from him as if he were a monster from a science fiction movie.

  In that time, he had come to appreciate Aspen as more than just a piece of mission equipment. He discovered that it was time that he acknowledged that the dog was a living creature, same as he was, and deserved affection. Through this reformed bond with Aspen, Paul discovered that he could receive unconditional love from this animal. Also, being a dog, Aspen didn’t care if parts of his owner were technological implants and physical enhancements.

  The nano tracker he had implanted in Laura still sent him information on her and Paul reserved himself to quietly watching over her at this point in time. She had made it clear that she did not want to be near him. This did not mean that he had to dismiss his feelings for her.

  Every morning when he woke up and got ready for work he would check on her, sleeping safely in her bed. Then in the afternoons he would check again to see her moving vitally around the park, walking all of the oth
er neighborhood dogs. And once more, he would check in the evenings, to make sure she was getting home safely from class.

  She went about her days routinely, and as far as Paul knew, she was moving on without him. From his limited insight, she appeared to be doing just fine without him.

  ***

  Every day was painful for Laura. She physically ached from her emotional pain. It was little help either that she still worked in the same neighborhood where Paul lived and would have to pass by his house nearly every day.

  It also did not help that when she did pass by his house, sometimes she would hear Aspen barking for her, or catch a glimpse of him peeking over his backyard fence if he was outside. It made her heart ache so much that sometimes she considered stopping by, just to check on Aspen, but she knew that it would be too much for her.

  Sometimes she would wake up from dreaming about Paul, and sometimes she could still feel the ghost of his embrace wrapped around her, the memory of his lips pressed to hers. It was always the worst in the mornings when she’d awaken to find herself alone in her room. The second worst was in the evenings when her mind pondered whether or not things could have turned out differently.

  As if they could sense that her melancholy was due to a break up, her sleazier classmates had started to flock towards her like scavengers to a fresh kill. They would catch her before or after class in the hallway or the parking lot with the worst attempts at gaining her attention, much less affection.

  Laura would shy away from them and do her best to deflect their advances. Still, her resistance did nothing to deter their attempts.

  It had been two weeks that Laura had held out on making a decision. She had run away from Paul and she knew there was no easy way of returning, even if she wanted to. Despite the madness of his claims, as the days passed she began to think more about the month they had spent together and all of the wonderful things he had done for her.

  At the end of the second week, Laura received a letter and she immediately recognized the handwriting. It was from Paul.

  Laura, I know I must have freaked you out with everything about being-well not being who I have made myself out to be. I’m sorry, truly. I don’t expect you to forgive me, much less to want to be with me, but I would like the opportunity to fully explain myself to you. I will meet you after your classes tonight. –Paul

  Her heart ached just at the sight of his handwriting and thinking of all of the other little notes he had written for her. She didn’t know whether she desperately wanted to say “yes” or “no”, but it did not matter either way what she wanted because his note had not really given her an option.

  *****

  Laura was slow to gather her books after class. She hoped that everyone would leave quickly so that none of them would have to witness her meeting with Paul. She silently willed them all to disappear as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed towards the parking lot.

  As she walked out the door she scanned the lot for Paul and found him on the far side of it. When he caught sight of her he waved and she had to ignore the painful flutter in her heart. She half-heartedly acknowledged him as she headed towards her own car.

  While she was unlocking the doors, she heard a gravelly voice behind her. “Hey there, baby doll, what are you up to tonight?”

  “Nothing,” Laura answered, without even turning to face the guy.

  “Why don’t you come out and have a drink with me,” he suggested, “and maybe afterwards we can have some fun.”

  “No thanks.”

  She unlocked her car door and was about to get in when the guy jerked hard on her backpack. “What’s your problem?”

  Laura turned to face the man, he was middle aged, at least 40, with a receding hairline and tobacco stained teeth. “I’m tired,” she said in a flat tone, “and I want to go home.”

  “What, too many house calls in the suburbs got you too worn out for a nice guy like me?”

  “Excuse me?!?” Laura clutched her keys in her hand and forcibly restrained herself from hitting the guy.

  “Oh please,” the guy scoffed, “we all know about your little ‘business’ of visiting those guys out in the suburbs. It’s just not fair that you think they’re somehow better than any of us guys here.”

  “How dare you-” Laura had her hand pulled back and ready to deliver a sharp blow to the head when another voice interrupted.

  “Excuse me, sir, but did you just call this lady a whore?”

  Laura looked up in amazement to see Paul standing there. She felt such a mixture of emotion that for a moment she almost wanted to hit him as well.

  The sleazy man did not waver from his opinion and before he could finish saying yes, Paul had clocked him so hard that the man was knocked unconscious. Almost immediately he shrunk in on himself and began apologizing to Laura who did not know what to do other than to stand there with her mouth agape.

  Finally, her ability to speak came back to her.

  “Paul…Paul…Paul!” She could not manage to get him to stop with his tidal wave of apologies until she shouted at him. Finally, he was quiet and she was able to tell him, “Thank you.”

  It was amazing to her how the last few weeks had turned him around. His quiet and reserved demeanor had taken quite a blow and he seemed not even half as sure of himself as he used to be. He also looked worn out, his posture slouched and his eyes looked tired, but that simple thanks lit a spark within him that she was honestly glad to see.

  She felt a million things going through her in that moment. Yet somehow she seemed to be the one who was remaining calm. He was the one who seemed broken, and she wanted so badly to fix him and make everything better.

  In a way, it was actually painful for her to see him like this. Part of what had kept her resolve so strong all this time was telling herself that this didn’t hurt him as badly as it hurt her. As long as she could make herself believe he wasn’t in pain, it was easier for her to push forward.

  There was no denying what she saw in front of her, however. There was no way her mind could spin this to where she didn’t feel responsible. She was the one who ran away from him. She broke him, and now she wanted to fix him.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” he said, “but I don’t want you to think I’m crazy. I just want to talk, and if you want me to leave you alone afterwards I will. I just want the chance to explain myself.”

  “Okay,” Laura agreed. “Should we go back to your place?”

  *****

  Back at Paul’s house, Laura sat patiently on the couch absent-mindedly running her fingers through Aspens silky fur. It was soothing to pet him, and she was glad to see that he was doing well.

  Paul was sparing no details about his mission. He told her everything; from his training back on Beseda, to his first task on Earth, to his current mission. He allowed her to ask all the questions she wanted and offered information for things she would never have considered asking.

  “We aren’t invading,” he tried to assure her. “It’s not like a movie with a hostile take over. We’re trying to assimilate into your species so that we don’t die out. Our home planet is in danger of being destroyed, so we’re looking for planets where we can coexist and blend in. That’s why my final mission was to…well, it was to test and see if cross breeding was actually possible between our species.”

  “You were sent here to breed?”

  “Yes, and to find out if the offspring would be strong enough to survive, despite my species lack of natural ability to exit on this planet without physical enhancements like the breathing filter. But I don’t want to treat you like that, Laura. I don’t want you to be the host to some science experiment. I want you to actually want to be with me.”

  “What other enhancements do you have?”

  “Most of it is actually data assessment. I essentially have an extra computing system implanted in my brain. It’s actually what I’m named after.”

  “So Paul isn’t your name?”

  “No.
Paul is actually an acronym for the computing system that is installed inside of me. PAUL stands for Planet Assessment and Ubiquitous Learning system. My commander addressed me as PAUL-3957.”

  “That sounds awful.”

  “I’ve never had any other name,” he admitted. “On Beseda we were trained as children to be soldiers and by age 7 we receive our first pieces of hardware, usually the specific programing system that we are being trained for. For me that was PAUL. It’s been my name for so long I don’t remember if I had any other name before that.”

  Laura took his hand. “I still think it’s a bit unfair. To be stripped of a name at such a young age and given a serial number. It’s almost barbaric.”

  “It was necessary. In order for our species to survive we had to put the interest of the whole community above individuals,” he said. “Even if those individuals were only children.”

  Laura reached out and took his face in her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  As she looked into his eyes she saw something. It was that same spark from earlier tonight that kindled the feelings for him that she had tried to bury. Without even thinking, she leaned in and kissed him.

  Paul kissed her back and she felt that same surge of electric energy that she remembered from their first kiss all those weeks ago. It set her feelings for him ablaze and she was certain now that she didn’t care what planet or what computer parts he was made of. All that mattered to her in this moment was that he was here, and his arms were around her, and he still had the same feelings that he had for her before all of this alien nonsense came up.

  She pulled back for a moment and asked, “You don’t do any… different kinds of things do you? No weird alien things?”

  Paul laughed. “Our bodies should be perfectly compatible. Aside from muscle density, oxygen intake, skin pigmentation and subtle things like that; we are developed almost identically as a species. Don’t worry, I did my research about this too.”

  “That’s good to know,” Laura said as she leaned in for another kiss.

  The kisses escalated as they held each other tight and began to explore one another’s bodies. They briefly broke apart for a moment as they each pulled their shirts off before their mouths crashed together again.