Backyard Aliens Read online

  Neil didn’t look too bad in all white, she thought.

  He drank the last of his coffee and crumpled the paper cup before throwing it into the trashcan next to the desk. He stared at her for a moment.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You look good.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “Now that we’re in the clear as far as our blood work and exposure is concerned, we have access to the base. At least that’s what the good doctor suggested. We’re not quarantined any longer. Don’t worry I’ll make sure that’s true. But, that means we have freedom to walk around the base. We may be able to get off and on base, too. All we need is a vehicle.”

  “And a way to get them out of the lab.” Mavra paced toward the bathroom. “I still have to brush my teeth and comb my hair.”

  “There are times when only techs are in the lab,” Neil yelled in behind her.

  “After what happened yesterday afternoon, you really think anyone’s going to let us walk out with them?” She started brushing but kept her ear tuned to Neil’s voice.

  “They must have carts that go in and out.”

  She rinsed. “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “Psychically or emotionally?” he said.

  “Don’t be rude.”

  “I wasn’t trying to. I just don’t want you knocking my plan because you’re nervous or scared. If you have a,” he produced air quotes, feeling, more air quotes, “then that’s different. Look, this is going to be dangerous or we’d have done it already. You have to get over the fear and look at the plan. How’s that feel?”

  “Okay, okay. I get it. But what would they do if they caught us?”

  Neil stared at her.

  “Right. That’s why I’m afraid.” She thought for a moment and said, “What do you really think they’re going to do with them?”

  “I think they’re going to do as many tests as possible and then take them apart.” He said it with a straight face.

  “Destroy them?”

  He didn’t have to answer. “What’ll it be?” he asked.

  Mavra felt anger and fear rush together through her chest. It weakened her knees and she plopped onto the bed. “I don’t know who I’m more afraid for.”

  “Let me think about it some more,” he said.

  “I know they’re alive, and my first instinct is to help them, but we can’t go to prison. Neither one of us would make it. I don’t know. I just don’t know what to do.”

  He got up from the chair and sat beside her, put his arm around her so that she could lean her head on his shoulder. “Let the whole idea settle in. We both will.”

  “Now you sound like me,” she said.

  “It wears off.” He patted her shoulder. “Let’s get breakfast.”

  At the mess hall inside the building, Mavra chose to sit at an empty table where she and Neil could eat quietly and think about what they proposed to do, let the potential consequences sink in. But that wasn’t going to happen. No sooner had they started eating then Sgt. James and Bonnie, the lab tech they met in Montana, joined them. James sat next to Neil and Bonnie sat beside Mavra.

  “Hey,” Sgt. James said.

  “You two having fun here?” Mavra addressed Bonnie, the young blonde who chased down the aliens with them.

  “If we are, we’re the only ones,” Bonnie said.

  Mavra perked up. “How so?”

  “I don’t like how the military is handling our little friends,” she said with a quick glance at Sgt. James.

  “Don’t include me in this,” he said.

  “I don’t mean you,” Bonnie said.

  Mavra recognized that they had bonded over the situation, probably because they were able to talk with one another about it. “Go on.”

  “Did you know that the female was pregnant, and that when they tranquilized her it killed the baby?” Bonnie appeared shocked.

  “They’re not positive of that yet,” Sgt. James said.

  Bonnie ignored him and said to Mavra, “They’re going to operate on her in a day or two if they don’t get a response.”

  “What do you want us to do about it?” Neil said. “We’re here just like you are. We helped capture them. Our job is done.”

  “They’ll kill her if they don’t know what they’re doing.” Bonnie looked harried.

  Mavra played with the eggs on her plate and took a small bite. “I’m sure they’ve done x-rays, run the two of them through an MRI, that sort of thing. I know they’ve done DNA tests, blood tests, just like they did on us.”

  “They’re harmless,” Bonnie said.

  “You’re right,” Mavra said. “They are harmless and this facility’s doctors are going to destroy them just to see how they tick. They’ve already operated on the male.”

  Neil perked up when she changed her tone.

  Mavra gave him a quick glance to suggest, “Go with me here,” and turned back to Bonnie.

  James wriggled in his seat next to Neil. “I’ve heard that they think these guys tried to signal their own race to come down and invade Earth.” He tried to get Neil’s attention by bending forward to look into his face. “You know what I’m saying?”

  “We get it,” Neil said.

  “Like Neil said, it’s out of our hands. It’s out of your hands, too,” Mavra said.

  Bonnie whispered. “There’s got to be a way to help them.”

  “Help them how?” Mavra said, leading her on.

  She looked around the room. “Get them out of here.”

  “And take them where?” Mavra took another bite of her breakfast.

  “More coffee?” Neil asked her.

  She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  Neil got up from the table so that no one around them would think the conversation was too intense. She understood his actions and took the opportunity to push Bonnie harder. “Do you think you can get them out of the building?”

  Bonnie shrugged and placed her hand over her mouth and whispered, “I think the male likes me. When I went to see them yesterday, it greeted me.”

  “Bwobe?” Mavra said.

  “I heard you guys mention it before,” she said.

  “You think he’ll follow you? Let you hold him?”

  “I’m afraid,” she said. “But, yeah.”

  “You guys could get into huge trouble,” Mavra said. She reached for the coffee Neil brought back. He sat down next to Sgt. James again, and plowed into his eggs and hash browns.

  “What room are you staying in?” Bonnie said.

  Neil shook his head. “Lets meet somewhere outside this building, shall we?”

  Mavra shrugged. “They’ve got to have a post office on base. How about there? Say ten this morning?” She reached for Neil’s hand. “We’ll take a stroll.”

  “We’ll come up with a plan,” Bonnie said.

  “You do that.” Neil drank some coffee and finished a slice of toast. He smiled broadly. “Nice to see you two again,” he said loud enough for them to know to leave.

  “Same here,” Sgt. James said. “See you around.”

  Bonnie bent over and hugged Mavra. “Thank you,” she said into her ear.

  The two walked out of the mess hall and Mavra went back to her eggs, which she had hardly touched. Even if she wasn’t hungry, she had to stay healthy, so she ate. With an empty plate and half empty coffee cup, she stood to go. “I hope we can take that walk out of here.”

  They strolled back to their room, rested a short while, and headed down the long hall toward the front of the building. Guards were still posted near the entrance. Neil took the lead. “We haven’t seen the sun for two days. It’ll be nice to be outside.” He was pleased when the guard greeted him with, “Good morning,” but didn’t stop them on their way. No one stopped them in the foyer, either. They were able to walk directly outside. “Perfect,” he said while looking around.

  The sun felt warm and inviting, and the air removed the stale feeling from Mavra’s lungs. “That place was stuf
fy.”

  “Let’s find the post office,” he said.

  “Have you thought any more about all this?”

  “If they can help us get the aliens out of there, I know of a place with more than a million acres of land where those guys might get lost—Desert National Wildlife Range. It has amazingly diverse habitats and should offer food and protection for them. They seem smart enough to handle life on their own…whether they want to or not,” he added.

  “You think they’ll be okay?”

  He nodded. “Should be.”

  “How do we get there?”

  “Steal a vehicle.” Neil approached a soldier and asked directions to the post office, then took Mavra’s hand as they walked.

  “I’m glad that’s all we need to do. Getting out of here must be pretty easy.” She glanced around the compound, the high fences, guarded gates. Nearly every soldier appeared to be armed.

  “Didn’t say it would be easy,” he said. “Here they are.” He sped up and let go of her hand. “Hey you two. How’s it going?”

  Bonnie and Sgt. James stood on the sidewalk outside the post office. Sgt. James swung around and shook Neil’s hand. They appeared to be alone. “So, we stand here for a little while, then maybe walk together to the BX and separate. Sound good, everyone?”

  Bonnie jumped right in. “They’re not going to keep us here any longer than they need to. They already have the aliens under wraps. We’ve all been checked out, and we’re clean. We’ve got to do this tonight, or never.” She talked fast and her feet moved a lot even though they were supposed to be standing still.

  “Calm down,” Mavra said.

  “I’m trying.” Bonnie brought her hands to her face and closed her eyes.

  Mavra saw that she purposely took three deep breaths before prattling on again.

  “I can get the male to follow me. I’m sure of it. But the female?”

  Mavra winked at Neil. “We’ll both go in to get them. Then what?”

  “I’ve gotten to know the girl who’s usually there. Her name’s Trina. She’ll trust me if I say we’ll relieve her. She was saying the other day that she’s often there alone after seven and that she can’t even leave to go to the bathroom. That’s where we come in and offer to watch the lab for a few minutes.” She touched Mavra’s hand. “I don’t think we should take the cage.”

  “What if they take off once we’re outside?” Mavra said while looking at Neil for an answer. But before he could respond, she said, “The large lab jackets. We can hold them close and keep the jacket closed.” She thought for a moment. “I suppose if they’re not smart enough to get what we’re doing, then we’ve failed.”

  “I can’t believe you think they’re just animals without the chips,” Neil said. “If so, then how’d they put all that electronics together? It can’t be because they were programmed.”

  Mavra lowered her chin and closed her eyes. She took a breath and focused on the aliens. “You’re right. They’re intelligent. But they’re also scared. They know what’s about to happen just like we do.” She opened her eyes and shook her head. “We can’t let that happen.” She looked into Neil’s eyes and knew he felt the same. Perhaps he recalled his own childhood again, perhaps it was his kind heart. Either way, he was fully onboard.

  “Their intelligence is the least of our worries. If Trina comes back, we’re caught. In fact, as soon as she returns the alarm will go off.” She continued to stare at Neil.

  He disengaged from her and swung toward Sgt. James. “Unless a good-looking young soldier stops to talk with her in the hall.”

  Sgt. James didn’t look as eager for the situation as Bonnie. He eventually said, “I’ll do it,” as if it were a burden.

  “You’ll be great,” Neil said.

  Mavra finally put her arm around Bonnie and started walking. She worried that the woman would break down right there on the street. “You’ve got to calm down. I can’t take a chance of going with you if you won’t settle.”

  “I know, I know.” Bonnie took a deep breath. “I’ll be okay, really I will. I just need an hour or two to let this sink in.”

  “I have an idea. How well can you lie?” Mavra stopped and waited for a reply.

  ***

  Kek-ta’s tears ran freely. “Stasis,” she said. “I can hardly believe what happened, but I understand it now.”

  “It will only prolong their activities,” Chit-Chit-ta said. “And they won’t sedate you again, I’d suspect.” He straightened and lifted his chin. “That means I’m the only one they can dissect.”

  “They won’t, will they? Not until they know how we interact as parents?” She rubbed her eyes against his chest. “I’m sorry to be emotional,” she said. “Before, in our other life, before our memories were downloaded for this…”

  “Go on,” he said.

  “I had no children,” she said. “I didn’t know how this would affect me.”

  “This is all new for both of us.” When the entrance swung in, two aliens carried in some equipment. “They’re here to check for a heartbeat,” he said.

  “They talk a lot,” Kek-ta said. “I’ll have their language down soon enough.”

  Chit-Chit-ta stepped close to one of the aliens, while the other one used a simple listening device to search Kek-ta’s stomach.

  The alien spoke and bared its teeth. Kek-ta listened closely. She said to Chit-Chit-ta, “They found the heartbeat and are happy for us. I believe they are female.”

  “You can’t tell,” he said.

  “I just sense it. Now, let me listen to them communicate.”

  The aliens hugged each other and put their equipment away. One of them lifted an electronic device and poked at it while the other one washed down the cage again. They filled a small pellet bin, as well.

  “We’ll have to find better food,” Chit-Chit-ta said after the bin was filled. He smiled at Kek-ta, but the alien closest to him reached out as though he smiled at it.

  “They are becoming fond of us,” Kek-ta said. “That’s a good sign they might not dissect us as you thought.”

  Behind the aliens, a larger alien entered and said something that Kek-ta had heard often. “Let’s go.”

  She turned to Chit-Chit-ta. “I could be wrong, though. This one appears to be in charge and has little emotion. In our other life, we’ve done the same thing in the name of understanding.”

  CHAPTER 17

  MAVRA AND BONNIE WALKED AROUND together to work out the details of the initial apprehending of the aliens, and how to get them out of the building without being noticed. Neil shook hands with Sgt. James again and let him wander away on his own. Neil planned to explore the base thoroughly, perhaps find an easy way off base, but then there was little more than desert surrounding them and he knew it. The Wildlife Range wasn’t far, though, and there’d be plenty of places to set the aliens free.

  Most of the buildings on base looked suspiciously bland, just as he remembered them, although every other visit had found him shuffled inside one building or another. From the inside, they all looked like the one he and Mavra were just quarantined in, whether he was underground or above ground. They were all very dull places.

  As he wandered, Neil thought about the investigation. He felt uncomfortable with how loosely everything, even the quarantine, had been handled. What was really going on? Granted, he and Mavra weren’t under contract for all aspects of the find, but he had expected to be included a little more than they had been. It could have been that they weren’t used to someone with Mavra’s unique talents, and just didn’t know what to do with her. Or it could have be that these scientists didn’t trust her, didn’t believe in her abilities. He hadn’t always been sure about her abilities, either; but having lived with her for so many years, and having watched her work, he had learned to accept her gifts for what they were—often miraculous.

  He scanned and wandered the area the best he could, but discovered no easy way off base except through the front gate. And that didn�
�t appear feasible. After seven o’clock, the base might be buttoned up pretty tightly. He ambled up and down alleys and roads. He wished everyone he ran into a good morning, as though he were strolling for exercise.

  Then it dawned on him.

  Neil made his way back to the main drag and walked straight for the front gate. “Sergeant?” he said to one of the men standing guard.

  “Sir? Stand back, sir.” Two men exited the shack to stand with the third man who Neil had addressed.

  “I have a request,” he said.

  “What sort of request?”

  “My wife and I are only here for another day before they take us back home.” He turned and pointed down the road. “We’ve been quarantined for a little while and I wanted to get her off base and maybe drive around a little bit. See what’s around here.” He shrugged. “Just wondering what I have to do to get approval.”

  “You need a pass,” one Airman said.

  “That’s the point. I don’t have a pass. I just want to take my wife for a drive after dinner. We’re both amateur astronomers, and the skies have got to be beautiful around here.”

  “They are. You can see the Milky Way and everything,” one of the other airmen said.

  Neil opened his eyes wide, but kept them locked together. “Wow. I’ve only seen that a few times before. So, can you let us through?”

  “Sorry, sir. You’ll need that pass.”

  “What do they look like?”

  One of the men stepped inside the shack and grabbed a pass off the desk. “Like this.”

  He handed it to Neil, who quickly memorized its general appearance as he flipped it back and forth several times. No photo, just names and a signature for the most part. He handed it back to the man. “General Harkins can issue them?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Any other way to get off base?”

  “Not unless you’re in uniform,” the man said with a smile.

  “I’ll remember that.” Neil produced a quick and sloppy salute, but the men just stared at him as he walked away. “Sgt. James isn’t going to like this,” he said under his breath.