“Then this is the last of it,” Mavra said.
“We have a right,” Jake said, pointing at Mavra.
Neil reached over and moved Jake’s arm away. “We’re finished here.”
“It’s not over,” Jake said.
“Yes it is.” Neil opened his hand as a friendly gesture. “It was nice to meet you.”
One of the guys behind Jake put a hand on his buddy’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Jake and the boys turned around and left.
“That’s the second time,” Neil said. “Do you think they’ll let it go?”
“He’s going to process what I told him. Who knows what he’ll decide after that.”
“Why did you give him that information at all? What if he tells the newspapers? You’re known for being pretty good at this. It could create a big stir.” Neil didn’t understand her thinking. He was used to keeping most of his work under wraps, so letting it out that alien life stood within their midst seemed irresponsible. Unless… “You don’t think anyone will believe him even if he does spout off his mouth.”
She smiled at him just as the waitress set down their waters and stood up with her pad ready to take their order. Mavra selected the meat loaf with garlic potatoes and Neil had the fish and chips. After their food came, they ate in relative silence. The mood had changed. Neil knew they were being watched, but by whom, the students? The government? The aliens?
***
Kek-ta tried her best to be patient as one charge of the bio-accelerator came after another, every few minutes at first, then at longer intervals. Her memories returned slowly, and sadly. Her people, were they never to be seen again? Her support podmate would be her only connection to the life she’d known. Another chance, though. She had been old, near death when this opportunity arose. This was her chance to live a second time, and perhaps bring life back to her race. Had they made it?
She felt movement from her podmate and greeted him, “Brennstinboolop.” That wasn’t right. Her lips, her mouth and jaw were still forming. He mumbled something too. A tick-tick sound. Did he have bone already? Of course, of course. He would have to form before her in order to protect her. No. She thought again. If the support shell disintegrated after bio-acceleration had completed, or nearly completed, then they’d form simultaneously. She waited for the next charge in hopes that more information about the process would course through her veins. Information was important.
Hours passed. Kek-ta exercised her mind, exercised her body as it developed. She felt the male doing the same thing. Were the exercises instinctual or scientific? Had they programmed into the bio-accelerator? She said, “Bwobe,” and was relieved when she heard it inside her own head.
“Bwobe,” came the reply. “Greetings to you my friend,” she said.
“And to you.”
“Kek-ta,” she said with no prompt.
“Chit-Chit-ta,” came the quieter, more reserved response.
Kek-ta’s heart raced as she recalled her labmate of the last days. She had enjoyed his company and felt that he might have liked her, even though she had become old, even though she had become frail. In their language, she asked, “Why?”
“I thought we worked well together, and more,” he said.
“And more, Grett-ta-tk-ma,” she said. A smile came to her and she felt relieved. A mated pair with Chit-Chit-ta would not be a bad thing at all, she thought. And her body was new, as was his. She wanted to see him. “There is no reason for us to be shy,” she said.
“Agreed,” Chit-Chit-ta said. “I have wished to mate with you.”
The acknowledgement excited her body and her mind, but only until she wondered about the outside world. “We will need strength and ingenuity when we leave the support pod. We don’t know what we’ll find.”
“My training is strong, it is complete. Let us rest. I sense that soon, we’ll emerge.”
“I sense emergence, too.” She waited a moment, then said, “We will make a good pair.”
CHAPTER 4
THE WINDOW IN THEIR ROOM overlooked the eastern mountains. Sunlight backlit the curtains, which parted enough to allow a slit of brilliant morning gold drop into the room and across the bedspread.
Mavra opened her eyes enough to see Neil sit up and drop his legs onto the carpet. He stood and stretched his arms over his head, his hair, like a rooster’s comb, sticking straight up. She admired his butt as it tightened for a moment before he let his arms drop to his sides and his whole body relaxed. He slept naked, while she wore a long t-shirt. When he walked toward the bathroom, she got up and slipped on a pair of pajama bottoms. In the mirror over the dresser, she ran her hands through her hair. “How’d you sleep?”
“Great.” Neil walked out of the bathroom, stepped behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, then slowly moved them up to her breasts and cupped them in his hands.
She wriggled her butt and pushed it toward him. “Frisky this morning?”
“Every morning I wake next to you,” he said.
She pointed to the desk in the corner. “Phone message light is blinking. You might want to see what that’s about first.”
Neil stepped toward the desk where he had draped his clothes over the chair the night before, and slipped on a pair of underwear and pants. Then he bent over and picked up the phone, pushed a few buttons, and listened.
Mavra watched as his expression went from relaxed and interested to serious. “What is it?”
Neil closed his eyes. “For the love of God,” he said. “They left a message at the front desk? What the fuck is going on here?”
“What’s the message?”
He held up his hand and listened a few seconds more, then slammed the phone down. “They couldn’t call our cell phones? Well, not mine, but yours. Or let this phone ring? They went straight to voice mail from the operator?”
“Who’s they? The Army?”
“Lesser. Not even Lesser. His secretary. She didn’t want to disturb us.” He unzipped his pants.
“What are you doing?”
“If it wasn’t important enough to actually get a hold of us, then I have plenty of time to shower, don’t I?”
“Neil.”
“They said to get there when we could.” He walked past her and into the bathroom again. “Assholes.”
She followed him in and watched him slip his clothes off and set the water temperature. “Don’t you think we should get there right away?”
“No.”
Even if he were mad, she didn’t have to be. She straightened up the bed and selected clothes for the day. Neil showered quickly despite his anger. As soon as he stepped out of the shower, Mavra handed him a towel, slipped her shirt over her head, and dropped her pajama bottoms.
Neil reached for her and she pressed into him for a quick, sensuous hug, all parts touching. His hand clasped the back of her neck and then moved down her body to the top of her butt. His touch got lighter and lighter as he ran his fingers down her back. Finally, he slid his palm under one of her butt cheeks and squeezed ever so gently while he kissed her slowly on the mouth.
“Mmm,” she said. “Do we really have to go?”
“Hurry.” His anger was waning.
Mavra set the water and climbed into the shower. When she got out and dried off, she walked into the room. Neil had dressed and stood ready to go. His Glock sat on the bed next to his wallet and keys. “What’s that for?”
“In case,” he said.
“It’s an egg. There’s a baby inside.”
“We don’t know what’s going on, only that the eggs were hatching when they left that message,” he said.
“Hatching? You didn’t say that? We should have gone right away. What time did the call come in?” She grabbed her clothes and rushed into them as though she were freezing and they offered her warmth. “They’ve probably hatched. There was only one message?”
“One,” Neil said. “And you’re right; we probably should have gone right away.”
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“Yes,” she said. She pointed at the gun. “Do not take that.”
“It’s going.” Neil picked it up and slid it into a holster under his jacket.
Mavra knew not to argue with him when he was in work mode.
They rushed from the hotel and into the car. “Bar,” Neil said, pointing at the glove compartment.
Mavra opened the compartment and grabbed two energy bars, one for each of them. “Not the best breakfast in the world.”
“Actually, it is,” Neil said. “Not the tastiest, though.”
“That’s what I meant. Do you have water in the back seat?” she said while turning around to pull two waters from a case sitting on the floor.
With the bar hanging from his mouth, Neil twisted the cap on the water she handed him. “Thanks.” The bar dangled like a flat cigar from his lips. He set the water in the cup holder and took a bite from the bar, then set the bar down and took a swig of water. He finished his breakfast alternating between the two.
Mavra watched him as he drove. Eating was easier for her, since she could use both hands. “They didn’t say anything else, just that the eggs were hatching?”
“Nothing.”
“Hard to believe.”
“Typical,” Neil said.
“Really?”
“I’ve been working with these types for years. They think they have everything under control. They don’t need anyone.”
“Then why do they call us in?”
“Sometimes to cover their asses; sometimes for some expertise we might have. Like yours. Then when they don’t need you…boom. That was a courtesy call from Lesser. Nice gesture. Probably not something the military ordered up.”
The campus was a ten-minute drive and they arrived in eight, out of the car, and headed for the archaeology building. Guards stopped them in the hall outside Dr. Lesser’s classroom and lab area. They were ID’d before being let inside.
Dr. Lesser wasn’t there, but about ten military men milled around.
Mavra walked ahead of Neil and the men separated to offer her a path.
Sitting at Dr. Lesser’s desk, General Harkins appeared to be filling out paperwork. He looked up from his work. “You two?”
“It’s so good to see you again,” Mavra said.
“I’m sure,” the General said. He nodded toward Neil, who stepped up behind Mavra. “You the lackey this time?”
“We’re partners,” Mavra said before Neil could respond.
General Harkins smiled at her. While shaking his head, he went back to his paperwork. “Last time,” he said, not paying attention to her reaction, “if I remember correctly, you were the problem.” He looked up at her as though she were in his way of seeing something behind her. “We have this under control. You can go now.”
Mavra placed a hand on the desk and leaned over. “We are part of this whether you like it or not, and we’re going in to see the egg.” She turned around and three soldiers stepped into her path.
“Let them go,” Harkins said, and the men stepped aside. “But he leaves his gun here.”
Neil handed his Glock to one of the soldiers, then followed his wife across the room, through the lab, and into the storage area.
Several men and women in lab coats stood around the cage. A handful of military-dressed men and women milled about just outside the circle, as though they didn’t know what to do with themselves. Several conversations were going on in low tones. None of the military appeared to be as surprised or as interested as she would have guessed, but the people in lab coats were definitely serious.
“Could I see what we have here?” she said.
A young woman turned around and noticed Mavra approaching. “You are?”
“Mavra Altman. I was called in to provide information on the egg.”
The woman smiled. “Well, it’s not an egg now. We can handle things from here.”
“May I?” Mavra stepped closer and the woman got out of her way.
Inside the cage sat two small alien figures that looked almost identical, except that one had a penis and the other didn’t. “Ahhh, a mating pair,” Mavra said affectionately.
Neil leaned over her head as she kneeled next to the cage.
“Don’t try to touch them,” a man said. “Not until we observer them longer. And test them.”
The aliens were the size and shape of squirrel monkeys, except that they appeared to have two faces, one in the front and one in the back. They were relatively hairless except for a light fuzz, slightly darker than skin pink. The hair on their heads was even darker, an auburn color. Their ears opened on only one side. Their arms and legs were similar to a human’s. Each had a stump of a tail. Each hand displayed four fingers and two thumbs, one on either side of the fingers, all of which were similarly jointed to that of a human hand. Their feet had four toes total, set in a configuration that was more reminiscent of a bird than a monkey. Three toes stuck forward and one backward. They both appeared to be uncomfortable in the cage. Scared, for sure. They huddled together, away from the humans milling around them.
“One of the faces appears to be a dummy. As we move around the cage, they track us with only one of their faces.” A young man spoke to Mavra. “You’re the psychic, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“Well, you were right. There was a living being inside the egg. Two, actually.”
Neil looked around the room. “Did you identify any signals coming from the egg before it hatched?”
Mavra stood next to Neil. One of the Army men spoke up. “No, Sir.”
“Did you get here before these things started to hatch?” Neil asked.
“Yes, sir. We were completely set up until long before they hatched, then these zoologists were called in to take over.”
Mavra found that curious. “Zoologists?”
A man stepped forward. “Dr. Bender,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m an evolutionary expert. These appear similar to some ancient drawings we’ve seen. And, they are animals.”
She shook his hand. “Mavra and Neil Altman.” She said, “We probably look like animals to them.”
Dr. Bender ignored her. “We’ve heard about you two.”
“From Harkins?”
The man laughed briefly, his hazel eyes squinting for a moment. “Oh, long before him. But he is a unique personality.”
“So, how can we help?” Mavra said.
Politely, Dr. Bender shook his head and motioned toward the others in the room. “I believe we have it under control. We’ll be moving them to another facility soon. You can forget about this now. In fact, I’m sure it’s encouraged that you do. You signed all the security paperwork.” He looked at Neil. “You know the drill.”
Mavra wasn’t happy with the situation. She felt Neil reach for her hand, but she pulled it away. “We just got started,” she said.
“Ms. Altman,” Dr. Bender said, “we each have our expertise. You’ve used yours, and were very efficient with your deductions. I’ve seen the report.”
“My phone?” Neil said as a reminder.
Dr. Bender grinned at him, then turned back to Mavra. “We thank you for your help. Had we known they were going to hatch, we wouldn’t have had the need for you at all. Now, we need to observe these new specimens.” He opened his arms to include his staff. “We have all the help we need.”
She had been dismissed.
“You can’t observe them if they’re frightened,” she said.
“In fact, we’ll be setting up cameras so that we don’t need to be around.” He stared at her. When she didn’t say anything, he said, “You can see we have everything under control.”
Mavra looked back into the cage. She would have tried to get a reading on them, but she was too angry from the turn of events. She had hoped to be included all the way through to the end of the project. But that wasn’t going to happen. She reached for Neil, her support when she needed him.
He took her hand and said, “Thank you,” to the D
octor as he led her out of the room. Before they went through the doorway, Neil turned and said, “We would like to see the signal analysis reports. And get my phone and gun back.”
“Yes, sir.”
In Dr. Lesser’s classroom, General Harkins stood ready to accept them. “I heard some of that.” He pointed to some equipment. “Everything is being monitored now.” He walked over to Mavra. “These doctors and their science can be pretty uppity for no reason. It makes them tactless sometimes. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I should have known we were only here for a short while.”
“You get attached, though. I know.” Harkins motioned toward one of the soldiers, who then returned Neil’s gun and cell phone to him. “You did a nice job last time. You held yourself together under some strenuous circumstances. I read through all the reports. I can understand how you must feel, and I’m sorry this was short lived.”
He didn’t look sorry to Mavra, but she said nothing. In the hallway, she turned to Neil. “Where the hell will they take those things? And what will they do?”
“My guess would be either Wright-Pat, in Ohio, or Nellis, in Nevada.”
“Area 51?”
“Yeah. Or Wright-Pat, like I said. There are underground facilities all over the place there, too.”
“You’ve been there?”
“Been everywhere, but never saw an alien ship or an alien body. That’s why I generally don’t believe in any of this shit,” Neil said.
“Are you a believer now?”
“In this case, but only because I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Pragmatism is sometimes a virtue,” she said.
“It’s a necessary part of the job,” he said. “Otherwise you end up with all types of crazy theories that are unrealistic. They can pull you so far off track that you lose the truth in the mire.”
“So what are your thoughts on this case?”
“Unfortunately, these people are going to do more than observe. I mean, after a while, there won’t be anything more to notice. We know nothing about those creatures, their instincts, their intelligence levels. All kinds of tests will be done, by offering them things to play with or tools, all that. You’ve seen as many of the ape and dolphin training videos as most people. They’ll go through all that.”
Backyard Aliens Page 4
