Backyard Aliens Read online

  The rest of the morning, Neil searched the base for vehicles—where were they parked, who watched them—and noticed several parked around the officer’s club for hours. After seven, he doubted anyone would notice one missing until after last call. He walked to the admin building, went inside, and requested the passes for him and Mavra. A quick call was made to General Harkins and he was issued the passes fairly easily. Harkins just wanted to know what they planned, and Neil said ‘star-gazing,’ which appeared to be believable enough.

  When he met up with Mavra again, the first thing she said was, “Bonnie is a nervous little thing.”

  “Can she do this?”

  “I can.” She squeezed Neil’s hand. “She’ll have to follow my lead.”

  “This is crazy,” he said. “Really, what are we doing? Saving a couple aliens who have no family, no species coming for them. They’re alone, and we’re going to set them free into the wilderness.”

  Mavra stopped and turned to Neil. “They have no one,” she said. “What’s the purpose of destroying a life just to see what makes them different? They’re different, and they’re alone, as you said. The x-rays and MRIs and blood tests, and whatever else they’ve done to the poor things is enough. We’re going to give them a fighting chance.”

  He sighed and kissed her forehead.

  They walked on in silence until they were back at the barracks and lab building. “They’ll take us home tomorrow,” Neil said, for no particular reason other than to remind them both that time was short.

  That evening at dinner, Bonnie and James stopped by to say hello, but found their own table to sit at.

  “She looks a little calmer,” Mavra said.

  “I hope that’s true.”

  “You can get us off base?”

  Neil shrugged. “How’s that meat loaf?” Neil asked, pointing at her half eaten plate of food. “I see the green beans are gone, and the potatoes.”

  “Yeah. It’s a bit heavy for me.” She glanced at his empty plate. “Your appetite is seldom lacking.”

  Neil let his eyes go independent, his right eye peering to the far right and his left eye looking to the far left. “This brain of mine eats up a lot of energy.”

  She laughed. “You are so strange sometimes.”

  “Look who’s talking. You probably know more about the people in this room than they know about themselves.”

  She wiped her mouth with the napkin and placed it over her plate. “Only if I try,” she said. “But when it comes to you, even trying doesn’t work.”

  “That’s why you love me.” He got up and took her plate. She grabbed their glasses, as they bussed their own table. The empty hallway didn’t feel right to Neil, but he let it go. No guards, no lab techs in the hall—empty and spooky. On the way to their room, Neil shoved through the lab doors and saw Trina turn around quickly. She sat on a stool and leaned over a microscope. “Can I help you two?” She got up and walked over to them. “You know I got into trouble for letting you in to see the aliens.”

  “I’ll have a talk with Harkins,” Neil said. “Dr. Bursk has no right to blame you for something like that. Besides, we’re allowed to carry out our duties without Bursk’s approval.”

  “Yeah,” she said, hanging her head. “Well, I have to work with the two of them.” She pulled off her plastic gloves and twisted around to find a trashcan. When she did, she shoved the gloves inside. “It wasn’t too bad.” Then she looked directly at Mavra. “It’s strange, isn’t it?”

  “What, dear?” Mavra asked.

  “Aliens,” she said. “I never would have guessed.”

  Neil watched as Mavra took Trina’s hands in hers. “There are more mysteries on Earth than we’ve uncovered. Why wouldn’t it be the same in the rest of the universe?”

  Trina produced a tight-lipped smile. “I grew up thinking we were the superior race in the universe. This just breaks down that idea.”

  To Neil, Trina sounded honestly bothered by the facts and didn’t appear to know what to do with them. He wanted to help, “There’s been no scientific proof that they’re not from here.”

  Trina laughed at him. “The circuit we took from the back of the male’s head? I think that says it all.”

  “Could it be from another country?” Neil asked. “They ever find out how it works?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” she said. “Look, I have to get back to work. You can peer through the windows of the doors in the back if you want, but I can’t let you go inside.”

  “How are they?” Mavra asked.

  “Depressed. At least that’s how it looks to me. Can you blame them?” Trina pulled two new gloves out of a dispenser and slipped them on. “Sorry, I have a lot to do.”

  “We’ll leave you alone,” Neil said. “Except?”

  “What?”

  “We’re leaving soon to go off base tonight to look at the stars. You wouldn’t want to go with us, would you?”

  Mavra glared at him.

  “No, I have to work,” she said. “But you guys will have fun.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping.” He grabbed Mavra’s hand and they left.

  “Alibi?”

  “Absolutely,” he said.

  “You don’t think they’ll figure this out?”

  He shook his head. “I want you to make a bit of a mess on your way out later. Use gloves. It has to look like they escaped on their own. You know they can, don’t you?” He opened their door and waited for her to enter. “Well?”

  “You think they can escape now if they wanted to?”

  He nodded. “The little guy is still healing, but as soon as they see a way out, they can do it. We’re just going to be there first.”

  “You’ve got it all figured out.”

  “Most of it,” he said. “Stay here, I’m going to talk with Sgt. James.”

  She cocked her head.

  He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and left the room.

  Sgt. James had a room, down the hall and around the corner. When he answered the door, he looked surprised to see Neil.

  “You and Bonnie have really hit it off,” Neil said.

  “None of your business,” Sgt. James joked.

  “I need a uniform,” Neil said. “No questions asked.”

  Sgt. James looked up. “Won’t fit you. You’ll be wearing floods.”

  “No one’s going to see my legs,” he said. “As long as the shirt fits well enough… we’re probably the same shoulder width.”

  Sgt. James didn’t even put up a fuss. He went to a drawer and pulled out a uniform and handed it to Neil. He shook his head. “Don’t get me into trouble.”

  Neil took the uniform from James and tucked it under his arm. “No worries. I’ll be as discrete as possible. You know how it’s going down tonight?”

  “I flirt with Trina,” he said, as though disappointed.

  “Good practice,” Neil said. “I want you in civies. Can you do that?”

  “Sure.”

  Neil handed him two passes. “You’re allowed to take a jeep and go for a drive.” He handed him keys. “In front of the admin building. You’re me. Bonnie is Mavra. Don’t come back until midnight.”

  Sgt. James turned away. “I don’t know. This is getting—”

  “You don’t have to know,” Neil said. “I’ll tell Bonnie and Mavra.”

  He swung back around. “I can do this.” His nod was quick and unsure. “Okay. I’m in.”

  “As soon as Bonnie is out of the lab, you two are gone.”

  Neil left the room and walked back down the hall. Other people were leaving the dining area, wandering off in different directions. When he got back to the room, he changed clothes. “Put on my shirt,” he told Mavra.

  “I’ll swim in it,” she said. Her face lit up as she realized why she needed a big shirt. “What about Bonnie?”

  “New plan,” he said. “Make only a small mess in the lab—something Trina has to clean up, something that’ll keep her busy for a few minutes
so she doesn’t notice the aliens are gone.”

  “Where’s Bonnie going?”

  “With Sgt. James.” Neil put his hand on the back of her neck. “He knows what to do.”

  “You look like an idiot with those pants like that.” She laughed and pointed at his high-waters.

  “Enjoy it while you can,” he said.

  As soon as they were changed, Neil looked into the hall. “It’s clear. Meet up with Bonnie and I’ll be waiting out front in less than ten minutes. I’ve got to steal a vehicle.”

  “I’m not even going to ask,” Mavra said.

  CHAPTER 18

  MAVRA MET UP WITH BONNIE and they walked together to Sgt. James’ room. He answered and his face brightened at the sight of Bonnie. “We’re going now,” she said.

  He smiled at her, ignoring Mavra. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  She gave him a peck on the cheek before walking away.

  “You know there’s a change in plan?” Mavra asked.

  “Mick told me about ten minutes ago. He didn’t say what you two were going to do. Are you sure about this?”

  “Neil’s sure, and that’s good enough for me,” Mavra said.

  “That shirt looks a little big on you,” Bonnie said.

  Mavra turned around and showed her where she’d bunched it in the back. “Not the half of it,” she said. “It’s Neil’s. I’ll need the bulk.”

  “Right.”

  They ducked into a bathroom at the end of the hall, meant for the general staff. “Bursk should be leaving soon.” Mavra stood at the door and opened it a crack. “He’s on the move. Hmm…both Dr. Bursks were there.” She watched as they turned the corner. “They’re gone now.”

  She opened the door, and Bonnie followed her down the hall. In the lab, Trina stood near a centrifuge. “More samples?” Mavra said.

  Trina pivoted around as though startled. “What are you two doing?”

  “Checking to see if you need a short break,” Bonnie said.

  Mavra was impressed at how smoothly Bonnie spoke for as nervous as she was. “Neil and I are going heading out soon.”

  “And I’m going out with Mick. I mean, Sgt. James, for the evening. I’m not sure what he has planned,” Bonnie said.

  “You have a free room,” Trina said with a large smile. “He is cute.”

  “So, how about that break?” Mavra said.

  “Let me get this started first,” Trina said. She pressed a few buttons on a synthesizer of some sort, and turned around again. “I won’t be long,” she said. “Thanks.”

  The moment she left the room, Mavra rushed into the back. The key to the cage sat close by on the counter. At the cage, she said, “Bwobe,” then paused and said, “takki lomo ebb.” With the door opened, she motioned for the female to come to her. She untucked her shirt and pulled it up in hopes that they’d understand and come to her. The female moved more quickly than Mavra expected. The sensation of the female’s arms and legs around her side and gripped to her shirt gave her the shivers. Now she was the vulnerable one. She suddenly thought about their teeth, their hands. Did they have fingernails? she tried to remember. It was too late to worry about it. She motioned for the male to come closer, but he advanced slowly.

  “Come on,” Bonnie said from the door.

  “Help me,” Mavra said.

  “What can I do?”

  “You said he likes you. Help him cling to my other side.”

  “What if she comes back? What if she—”

  “Just help.” Mavra scooted back from the cage as Bonnie came over and bent down to her knees and reached for the male.

  The alien came closer and started to reach out.

  “Men and blondes,” Mavra said with a shake of her head.

  “I hear Mick and Trina talking in the hall.” Bonnie’s voice wavered.

  “Then we’d better hurry.”

  Even as Bonnie held the male, he didn’t appear to want to go to Mavra. They tried by getting close to one another, standing belly to belly. Mavra reached out, but he recoiled. Finally, the female let go with one hand. “Oh, no,” Mavra said, expecting her to jump down. But instead, the female chattered, slapped the male across the face, grabbed the fuzz at his shoulder, and yanked. He let go of Bonnie and clung to Mavra’s other side. The two aliens held hands and Mavra lowered Neil’s bulky shirt over them. “Relationships,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  Bonnie walked through the doors first, and proceeded down the center between benches.

  Mavra glanced around and tried to find something that didn’t look too dangerous to dump onto the counter. A soda can and a tightly-rolled lunch sack sat at one bench. Holding one hand under each alien, Mavra rushed around to Trina’s lunch. Luckily, the soda can was open. She lifted her hand from the female long enough to knock it over. She felt the alien grip harder for a moment, then release the pressure once Mavra had her hand in place again. “Oops,” Mavra said.

  Bonnie looked back. “What happened? Let me get that.”

  “No. I think Trina can clean it up.” She gave Bonnie a deep stare. “Tell her that Neil showed up and I left a minute after we got here.”

  “Got it.” Bonnie cracked the lab door. “They’re in the hall talking,” she whispered.

  Mavra scuttled through the door and down the hall as fast as she could. She saw Sgt. James recognize her for a moment and go back to talking. She didn’t look back from then on.

  She held the aliens tightly and rounded the corner. Neil stood inside the building and took her arm and led her to a running jeep. “In the back and under that blanket,” he said as he helped her climb in. Mavra lay on her back and the aliens didn’t move. She couldn’t help wondering how they could possibly trust humans after what they’d been through the last few days. Perhaps they knew there were good ones and bad ones. Perhaps they understood the difference between humane interaction and scientific research. Whatever it was, they held to her. Not moving and not talking, just still.

  She heard Neil say, “Nice night,” to the guards as they passed through the main gate. After a minute or two he yelled back, “You’re safe now. You can get up.”

  Mavra decided not to move just yet. Although the floor felt hard against her back, she lay comfortably with her head resting on part of the blanket. She relaxed until she heard, “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for what?” Mavra asked as she sat up.

  “I didn’t say thank you,” Neil said.

  She lifted her shirt and the female let go, holding fast to the male’s hand. They both moved away and sat on the floor near her. She looked at the female. “You’re welcome.”

  “Welcome,” the female said. She blinked.

  “You understand me.” Mavra saw Neil turn to look at her for a second then turn back to the road. He had one eye aimed at the rearview mirror, which he quickly adjusted.

  “Some,” the alien said. “Girls talk a lot.”

  “In the lab?”

  “In-the-lab,” the female said.

  “Trina?”

  The alien blinked again. “Help us.”

  Mavra slumped her shoulders. “We’re trying. But we don’t know what’s best for you. We know only what’s not good for you.”

  “We’re alone.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mavra said. She had no idea whether the aliens understood everything she said or not.

  Neil reached back as though he was trying to touch them, but he couldn’t reach that far. “Tell them that we’re taking them into the wilderness, but they’ll have to hide from humans.”

  “The-wilderness?” the female said.

  “Outside,” the male said. “Nature?” He put an arm around the female like they were on a date.

  Mavra nodded. “He’s right. We’ll let you go into nature. You’ll have to find food and create shelter, but you’ll be safe.”

  “We understand,” the female said.

  “Your attempt to find your species failed?” Mavra probed.

  The two of
them chattered with one another, then they both faced her. “How can we know? Can you?”

  “No,” Mavra said. “I don’t think I can. I’m sorry the others hurt you.”

  The male reached back to touch his neck. “It fails when exposed. It increases…body functions...for a schedule.” He looked at the female as though he wasn’t sure of his words.

  “To mature,” she said.

  “Metabolism,” Mavra said.

  “And stimulates brain,” the female said, touching a finger to her head. “But a lot missing. We have to learn about this, this…” She tapped her foot on the ground.

  “Earth,” Mavra said. “You mean this planet.”

  “Out there,” she said pointing beyond Mavra, “is this planet?”

  “Yes.”

  Neil pulled off the road, jumped from the jeep, and rushed to the rear where he opened the door.

  Mavra held up her hand. “Just hold on.”

  “Where are you from?” Neil asked.

  The female looked at the male and said, “Scientist.”

  Mavra laughed. “They’ve got you pegged.”

  “Isn’t that what you are?” Neil said. “Why else would you be placed on this planet?”

  “Have you been to planets?” the female pointed toward the sky.

  “Some,” Neil said. “Well, the moon and Mars. Not me personally, but someday.”

  “The-moon, the-Mars?” the male said.

  Neil pointed to the moon, which hung near a ridge on its way up the sky. “The moon orbits, goes around,” he illustrated using his fists, rotating one around the other, “the Earth.”

  “This planet,” the female said.

  “And Mars would look like a star.” He pointed to the sky overhead.

  “Okay.” The male placed a hand over the female’s hand, as though comforting her.

  The female stood and walked to the rear of the jeep, the male holding her hand and walking behind her. She took a deep breath. “No building? No girls?”

  “No people. We thought you’d have a better chance out here on your own where no one can find you.” Neil reached toward her to help her down.

  “I understand,” she said. She took his hand and he lowered her, then he helped the male get down from the jeep.