We Come In Peace

by Lillian Francken

  “This does not sound like a challenging job.”

  “It isn’t. That is why it is minimum pay. You will make money if you are pleasant and make sure your blouse has the top three buttons undone.”

  “Why?” Jane asked with a puzzled look on her face.

  “Just do it, and trust me you will make more money from tips than from your salary.

  “So that is all I have to do?”

  “It may help if you roll your hips while you walk.”

  Both look puzzled at Bobby, who walked across the room and exaggerated rolling his hips as he walked. John’s eyes widened when Jane got up and mimicked Bobby. However, she was more seductive, and John could not take his eyes off of Jane’s behind.

  CHAPTER 15

  It had been a long day for the men at Area 51. High alert meant more men on sentry duty and more extended hours for everyone on the base. Colonel Crimshaw had spent hours going over the maps of the area and the coordinates. Why they never found anything of substance was beyond everyone’s belief, given the fact they were on top of the signal as soon as it appeared on the radar screen. It was evident something hit the television studio that brought it down. Moreover, the two technicians on duty during the incident were no help, as neither claimed to have seen anything. Both claimed to have jumped for cover.

  The Colonel was in his ex-wife’s housedress. Something he wore it at night to bring him closer to her. Plus the fact he found them comfortable. He sat there in his old recliner with a beer nearby. The other hand had the remote while watching a Fox New commentary, his favorite way to end the day. Slowly he scratched his crotch and then grabbed the can of beer off the end table. He was about to take a swig of the beer when the doorbell interrupted him. He pushed himself off the recliner. It was his free time, and he had given orders not to disturb him unless it was important. He only hoped whoever it was, knew what they were getting into.

  As the door swung open, the young radar operator stepped back quickly with a surprised look on his face at seeing the Colonel in the housedress. He saluted the Colonel and then handed him the file.

  “Lt. Jasper asked me to give you this.”

  Colonel Crimshaw looked annoyed at the interruption as he accepted the folder, quickly opened it, and read the report.

  “This was hours ago. Why wasn’t I notified earlier,” the Colonel snapped.

  The radar operator shrugged. It did not happen on his watch. It was only through going over previous transmissions that the beeps on the radar screen were discovered. And that was only by accident.

  “We thought it was a glitch in the system.”

  “It wasn’t your call to make.”

  The radar operator swallowed hard and then stepped back. “I’ll pass on the word. It won’t happen again.”

  Quickly the radar operator saluted the Colonel and then turned and hurried away. Under his breath he mumbled, “Nice dress.”

  The Colonel, realizing the housedress he was wearing, quickly slammed the door shut and then threw the file folder across the room.

  * * *

  The sun shined brightly over the desert sky with not a cloud in sight. The weatherman had been forecasting rain for days now, but the hot desert air materialized nothing, and the land was becoming more barren than ever before.

  Elmer was up early. He had made a pot of coffee and was on his second cup when Jenny walked into the kitchen. She glanced at him sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.

  “Are you okay, Pa?” she asked.

  Elmer looked up with a surprised look. “Birthday cake. Whose birthday is it?” he asked.

  Jenny spoke louder. “No. Are you feeling okay?” she asked again.

  “Why are you shouting?”

  Jenny ignored the question, and just walked over to where he sat and put her hand on his shoulder. “The package yesterday. Bobby said it was from a pharmaceutical company.”

  Elmer got up and walked over to the sink with his cup of coffee. He dumped the remainder of the coffee down the drain and then turned to Jenny.

  “Can’t a person have any privacy in this place,” he snapped.

  Jenny just rolled her eyes. “I’m only concerned about your well-being.”

  “You want me to make baked beans?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

  “No!”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I’m concerned.

  “Well don’t be. I’m in perfect health.”

  “Does this have anything to do with the Widow Megal?”

  “You have been listening to Bobby!”

  Elmer stomped out of the kitchen, leaving Jenny alone. She glanced out the window at Jane doing her morning workout and then thought how different things were a few years ago, before her mother’s passing. No one worried about her father than because that care was left up to her mother. It was always felt that Elmer’s hearing was on the decline, but no one had the heart to address his failings because Mom took care of everything.

  It was not until her mother was diagnosed with cancer that Jenny took it upon herself to come home and care for the two. It had only been in recent years after her mother passed that she sought employment outside the house, confident that Elmer could be left alone for the day. There was only problem, there were no jobs in advertisement like the high-powered job Jenny had in New York. Hence she’d accepted the job of waitressing at The Little A’Le’Inn café in town. Also, it was a job that was mindless. She didn’t take work home at the end of the day, unlike the job in advertising.

  The low-flying helicopter in the distance brought Jenny back to the here and now. She walked over to the door and yelled out at Jane.

  “We’ll be leaving for work in half an hour.”

  Jane glanced up in time to see the helicopter making its way along the desert floor in the hopes of catching her as they had yesterday morning. She hurried into the house before they flew overhead and narrowly missed catching a glimpse of her again.

  * * *

  The Little A’Le’Inn Café was busy that morning as the Star Trek Convention Center was in full swing by midweek. Jenny and Jane had arrived early that morning so that Jenny could run through a few things with Jane before the morning crowd came in. By eight fifteen Jane already looked haggard as she took two plates off the counter and walked over to the table by the door where two patrons dressed in strange alien garb sat. This whole Star Trek theme irritated Jane, as everyone had such a warped misconception of what an alien was supposed to look like. The female had fins coming out of her forehead and scales glued to her cheeks. She just stared at her eggs, which were almost running off the plate. The male just glared up at Jane.

  “I said over easy, not raw!”

  “You wanted the yoke runny,” Jane argued. Nevertheless, it was the wrong thing to say, as the customer was always right even when they were wrong.

  The man tipped the plate. ”This is too literal,” he snapped.

  Jenny turned to Jane quickly and gave her one of those looks that told her to back off. Jane picked up the plate, glaring at the two patrons. She walked into the kitchen, shoved Clyde out of the way, tossed the eggs on the grill, and fried them crispy. Clyde knew enough not to interfere, so he just stood back and watched. When a waitress was ticked off at a patron, although it was Clyde's policy that the customer was always right. Clyde knew that some of the time, whether they were right or not, some customers deserved not to be treated with respect. Just because his waitresses chose to serve and wait on tables gave customers no right to demean them for that choice.

  Jane picked up the eggs with the spatula and flipped them back on the plate. She walked out of the kitchen and over to the two sitting smugly at their table. Jane set the plate down and then glared at the two.

  “I hope you are satisfied now.”

  “This isn’t over,” the woman started to say but was kicked under the table by her partner, so she abruptly stopped in mid-sentence.

  “This is fine,” the male pat
ron said looking up at Jane.

  The female patron glared at the plate with the burnt eggs and then up at Jane. As much as she would have liked to say more, she knew better.

  Jane just turned around and walked over to where Jenny was standing at the cash register. Jenny watched the exchange and was amazed at Jane’s strength. It was not long till the two tossed a bill on the table and walked out without touching the burnt eggs. As the door shut behind them, the other patrons in the small café clapped their approval at Jane’s treatment of the rude couple.

  Jenny ignored their approval of Jane’s behavior. She just turned to Jane.

  “I think we have to work on your people skills,” Jenny whispered, so no one else in the café heard what she said.

  “A death ray would work for this situation.”

  “Where did you say you were from?” Jenny asked, looking suspiciously at Jane.

  “I didn’t.”

  Jane turned and picked up the coffee pot and walked over to top off coffee cups. She was ever so sweet to the other patrons, pleased with the fact everyone had given her the thumbs-up.

  CHAPTER 16

  Luckily there was a two-hour delay in the start of school because of some problem with the air conditioning unit. It gave Bobby the perfect opportunity to drive John around to look for a job. He knew Jenny was serious about him getting a job and the fact Jane already had one, put the pressure on him to make sure John got one too.

  They had filled out numerous job applications, but times were tough, and no one seemed to be hiring. The fact that John’s skill set, being a navigator of an alien spacecraft, didn’t quite match up to what most companies were interested in, didn’t help.

  Bobby pulled up to the Hollywood Video store and parked near the entrance. He hopped out of the car, quickly followed by John.

  “Is this where I will work?” John asked as he had before entering all the other companies that morning.

  Bobby turned to John. “No, dude. I think we have to build you an identity.”

  “Identity?” John asked with a puzzled look. “What is that?”

  Bobby rolled his eyes with a half-cocked smile. “That’s who you are.”

  John looked puzzled. So much of what the earthlings did, did not make sense, and he wondered why his elders ever wanted to explore their planet for future habitat. Their culture was not as advanced. They seemed to enjoy simple pleasures with no reasoning power. Their technology was primitive.

  John finally turned to Bobby. “So, how will they give me an identity?”

  “You get a card.”

  John reached into his pocket and handed Bobby his Intergalactic identity card. “Like this,” John said finally.

  Bobby took the card and studied it for the longest time. He found the symbol of John’s home planet quite intriguing.

  “Cool.”

  Bobby reached into his pocket, pulled out his video card, and showed it to John. “You need something like this,” Bobby said, pointing to the card. “This is better than Visa.”

  “What is Visa?” John asked.

  “Trust me. You don’t want Visa. It only causes problems.”

  Bobby turned and walked into the video store followed closely by John. They walked over and took an application form out of the slot. They sat down with a clipboard and Bobby helped John with the request for the video card. While they were busy filling out John’s application, a movie played on the monitor. It was a caricature of alien movies. John glanced up with wonderment and found it difficult not to watch.

  John spoke up. “What’s that?” he asked.

  Bobby just shrugged. “That’s an alien.”

  “That’s what you think I am?”

  Bobby laughed. “No, dude. You’re cooler than that.” He glanced up and pointed. “That’s what Hollywood thinks you look like.”

  Once they had the application completed, they walked over to the counter. It did not take long, and the video card was handed to John. They walked out of the store. John was proud of the fact he had his identity.

  Bobby was confident now that John had the start of his identity that now he would be able to get a job. He pulled up to the Daily News Building. They sat there for the longest time while John nervously fidgeting with his fingers.

  “You know what to say?” Bobby asked.

  “I want a job.”

  “Yeah, that too,” Bobby said, giving John a look and then laughed.

  “You’ll do fine. If you don’t know what to say, just look stupid and say ‘cool.’”

  “Cool?”

  “Yeah, that means okay.”

  “Why don’t I just say good?”

  “Because that isn’t cool.”

  John stared at Bobby for the longest time. He doubted his eyes as Bobby glanced down at his watch.

  “Hey, I got to get going, or I’ll be late for school. You think you can do this on your own?”

  “Sure, why not.”

  John reluctantly got out of the car and walked up to the Daily News entrance. Bobby gave him the thumbs-up and drove off.

  * * *

  It had been a long morning for Jane at The Little A’Le’Inn café. Things finally slowed down, and she and Jenny were allowed to take a much-needed break. They sat at the counter with coffee in hand. When they heard the door open, Jenny turned to Jane.

  “I’ll get this one. You just take it easy.”

  Jenny reached over for a menu and then followed the customer over to his table. When he sat down, she was surprised to see Charlie Hill, Bobby’s teacher.

  “You lost?” Jenny asked.

  “Bobby told me you worked here. It’s a long way from the corporate rat race.”

  “You’ve been back here for how many years? You could have called to let me know.

  A tear rolled down Jenny’s cheek. Seeing him again was painful, more painful than she realized it would be. She swallowed hard, wiped away the tear before answering.

  “So you could say I told you so,” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t have said that,” Charles whispered as he glanced around the café. “This is a step-down, even for you.”

  Jenny glared at him a moment. It was then Jane took note of the two and was about to interrupt them, but Jenny motioned for her not to interfere.

  “This town isn’t noted for high-level corporate positions.”

  “But surely you could have found something more suited.”

  “Suited to what?”

  Charles shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Jenny put a pen to her pad and then decided to do her job. “You going to order or just dispense advice?”

  Charles quickly glanced at the menu and then looked up. “Your sunrise special, for starters.”

  Jenny was taken aback by the remark. Just then, Widow Megal walked in with her pedigree white poodle, Buttons. She walked over to a booth. Jane walked over and handed the widow a menu.

  Widow Megal glanced up as she accepted the menu from Jane. “Buttons would like a bowl of warm milk.”

  Jane pointed to the sign by the door. “No animals.”

  “Buttons is my baby.”

  Jane glared at Widow Megal and then looked at Buttons. “She has your nose.”

  Jenny walked over quickly. She smiled politely at Window Megal and motioned to Jane.

  “I’ll take care of this table,” she said.

  Jane turned to Jenny and restated her concern. “We don’t serve animals.”

  “Widow Megal is an exception,” Jenny argued.

  “Exception? Explain.”

  Jenny thought for a moment before answering. “When you have rules, but some people don’t have to abide by them.”

  Jane appeared puzzled. “Is that fair?” she asked, looking around and then quickly added, “To everyone else.”

  By then, other patrons had taken notice and were watching the exchange.

  “No. But Ms. Megal, she’s...”

  Jane cut her off and then nodded. “An exception.”r />
  “Yes,” was all Jenny replied.

  Jane walked away while Jenny turned to Widow Megal and smiled sheepishly. She knew her father liked the widow. In fact, Mable Megal was her mother’s best friend. It did not bother her that Elmer was interested in her. In fact, life would be easier at the ranch if she did not have to worry about her father. Bobby should graduate in the spring and if he went away to school, and Elmer and Mable hooked up, then Jenny could go back to her old life.

  Clyde walked over to the register where Charles Hill stood waiting. Once Charlie paid his bill he walked to the door. He turned and looked at Jenny for a moment before leaving. Just then Jane walked over to Jenny.

  “He looked at you most peculiarly,” Jane said, looking at Jenny for her reaction.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Jenny said.

  “It was just an observation,” Jane responded with her head cocked.

  “You’re all wrong.”

  “Then the way he looked at you meant something.”

  Jenny smiled. “Did he look at me like that?”

  Jane shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

  Jane walked away from Jenny. She quickly took the fresh pot of coffee off the Bunn Burner and topped off everyone’s cups.

  CHAPTER 17

  After Bobby left John at the newspaper office, he quickly drove across town to school. By the time he reached the school grounds, it was already in session, and he was marked tardy again. Bobby just shrugged. A few more months, and he would not have to worry about any of this anymore.

  Bobby got out of his car and slowly walked into the building. Before he could make his way to third-period class, the school secretary hurried out of the principal’s office.

  “I think the principal wanted to see you, Bobby.”

  Bobby just rolled his eyes. “I almost forgot.”

  “I bet you did. Mr. Rowe left a note yesterday afternoon.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. But I think there is a big mistake about what happened yesterday.”

  “Why? That is unimportant, right now. You’re on the agenda for the staff meeting tonight.”

  “Cool. Then why don’t I wait until tomorrow, when the principal will have more to tell me?”