Backyard Aliens Page 17

  Mavra swung her legs over and stood near them. “Can you see in the dark?”

  “Dark?”

  “When the sun is down. The stars are out?”

  They chattered and the female said, “Yes.”

  Neil grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment and the first aid kit from the rear of the jeep, then wandered into a path from the side of the road. “The animals out here will be more dangerous than humans if you’re not careful. They will try to eat you.”

  “I understand,” the female said.

  Mavra hoped that she truly did understand, but it was difficult to tell. She took up the rear and watched as the others wandered into the woods. It looked like a father and two young children of about ten years old, by their size. But these were not children. They were, in all practical purposes, adults, as far as she could tell. If they developed this much in such a short period of time, how much more would they develop? How much smarter would they become? Would they be able to understand the animals, and even manipulate them? She let her mind wander, but brought it back as they finished the climb to the top of a rise. On the other side, the trail dropped off into darkness.

  “Will you be safe?” she said.

  “You helped,” the female said, then walked over and reached for Mavra, who bent down and hugged the alien.

  The male stayed back, just as Neil did. So alien, yet so similar, Mavra thought. She let go of the female and stood.

  Hand-in-hand, the aliens walked to Neil, who handed them the first aid kit. “This is all we have,” he said. “In case you get hurt.”

  The male took the kit. “Okay.”

  As they walked away Mavra said, “Now what?”

  “I’m sure Trina has figured out that the aliens are missing by now.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” she said. “They were buttoned-down pretty tightly, and as far as she knows no one was in the back room.”

  “We can hope.” Neil took Mavra’s hand and they went back to the jeep. “We’ll meet up with James and Bonnie and swap identities.”

  Mavra shook her head at him. “What in the world?”

  “Trust me. I have it worked out.”

  Back at the jeep, Mavra took the front seat. They drove about half way back to the base when they pulled off the road behind a light, sandy-colored sedan. As soon as they stopped the jeep, Sgt. James and Bonnie got out of the car in front of them. “Okay,” Neil said, “did they search the car?”

  “Thoroughly, just like you said.” Sgt. James handed Neil the passes. “And here’s the cell phone you gave me.”

  Neil jerked his head to the side. “We’ll change behind the car.”

  The two men walked away and Mavra turned to look away with Bonnie, who said, “Is it done?”

  “It’s done.”

  “You think they’ll be okay?”

  “This is as good as it gets for them, I’m afraid. They would have been destroyed had they stayed.” She didn’t mention that the aliens could now talk, that they had had a short conversation with them. “Don’t worry,” she said to Bonnie.

  “I’m not. I’m glad they’ve been let loose. I couldn’t let anything happen to them.”

  “Well, thanks for helping.”

  “We’re ready again,” Neil said.

  “So, you swapped identities. Why?” Mavra said.

  “Because the guards were going to shake down the civilians, not the military,” James said. “So it’s okay if I drive off and on base.”

  “In case they’re on the lookout for the two of us, the car’s already been sacked. We’re clean,” Neil said, “coming and going.”

  “They won’t notice we’re different people?” Mavra said.

  “Shift changes at midnight,” Sgt. James said.

  “Worst case, they sack the car again on the way back in. This time, I’ll be sure that they know who we are.” Neil winked at Mavra.

  “You’re going to make a big stir?”

  “Only going to be excited about the constellations we were able to see. They’ll remember our excitement about going into the desert, which we didn’t do, and repeat that story.”

  “That easy,” she said.

  Neil pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and poked a few buttons. He held it in front of her. “Here are some of the photos we took.”

  Mavra shook her head. Neil put an arm around her and thanked the others. Sgt. James and Bonnie got into the jeep, and Neil and Mavra got into the sedan.

  “What about Bonnie?” Mavra said.

  “She’s the only glitch,” Neil said.

  Mavra turned in her seat and looked at him. “You can’t get her into trouble after all she’s done.”

  He laughed. “No, of course not. She’s going to hide in the back like you did. Even if they find her, James will tell them he snuck her off base to impress her, to get laid under the stars or something. G.I.s are okay with other G.I.s sneaking women on and off base.”

  “They are?”

  “They’re young,” he said. “I doubt they’ll check for her. All James has to do is park the jeep near where it was. A drunk officer won’t notice the jeep being in the wrong place.”

  “I’m proud of you,” she said. “You did have this figured out.”

  Neil let go of the steering wheel and pointed to each side of his brain with an index finger. “Brains,” he said.

  ***

  Kek-ta suggested they climb a tree and rest for a while. “We still have our first young to care for,” she said.

  “They’ll come for us,” Chit-Chit-ta said.

  “We can avoid them,” she said.

  “Even with a child?”

  “We must.” Kek-ta rested in the crook of a branch and stretched her leg toward Chit-Chit-ta. “We knew we’d have to start like this.”

  “You know we’re home, don’t you?” he said.

  “Do you think our people went to the-moon and the-mars?” Kek-ta asked.

  Chit-Chit-ta lowered his eyes. “I think they’re gone. Perhaps another galaxy, another solar system…but gone. We belong here now, as we always have. I hope the new beings that evolved don’t destroy this planet—”

  “Earth,” she said.

  “Earth, like we did ours.”

  A howl came from far off, and a chill caused Kek-ta to shiver.

  Chit-Chit-ta came closer and wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. It felt safe to her. “We’ll emerge when it’s time,” Kek-ta said.

  “If they don’t find us first,” he said.

  “They won’t.”

  He touched the back of his neck. “Does your accelerator tell you that?”

  “I just know,” she said.

  CHAPTER 19

  WHEN THE KNOCK CAME AT THE DOOR, Neil’s coffee sat half-full on the desk. Mavra stirred, moaned, and rolled over, away from the sound. He picked up the cup, then opened the door.

  A young airman stood outside. “General Harkins would like to see you, sir. Both of you.” He looked at his watch. “At oh-nine-hundred.”

  Neil checked the airman’s nametag. “Airman Gillard, we’ve got to shower and dress first. How about nine-fifteen?”

  “The General said—”

  “Let him know we’ll be there at nine-fifteen. We had a late night.” Neil closed the door.

  From the other side of the door, he heard the airman say, “I’ll wait here.”

  Neil drank from his coffee and walked toward the shower. “Here we go,” he said, knowing things were about to get interesting. He finished quickly, getting in and out of the shower, brushing his teeth, and running a razor over his face. He often shaved and brushed his teeth at the same time, but he didn’t today. Instead he focused on each separately. All the while, he thought about what to say and how to proceed. When he came out of the bathroom, Mavra sat at the desk. “A little cold,” she said, holding up her cup of coffee, “but thanks for getting it.”

  “I figured that’d be the first thing you wanted.”

&nbs
p; She downed it. “I’ll hurry,” she said on her way past him.

  Neil hummed while he dressed. It was a great way to ease the tension. He knew that allowing both sides of his brain to worry over the meeting wasn’t going to make it go any smoother. He heard the door open and looked over at Mavra, a towel wrapped around her waist.

  She threw her arm across her breasts and said, “No getting side-tracked.”

  He knew she was kidding. She could always tell when he was deeply in thought and wasn’t paying attention to anything else. This wasn’t necessarily one of those times, but he wasn’t thinking about sex either, and she knew it. He could tell by the sarcastic tone in her voice.

  It didn’t take long and she was ready to go. Neil opened the door and Airman Gillard did an about-face. “He could have given us time for breakfast,” Neil said.

  “Sorry, sir.”

  “No you’re not,” Mavra said as they followed the airman down the hall and out of the building.

  The sun had already burned off the first layer of chill from the night before, but hadn’t heated to boiling yet. Neil placed his arm around Mavra’s shoulder and kissed her forehead when she looked over at him. “Wonder what he wants to talk with us about?” he said for Airman Gillard’s sake.

  “Maybe he just wants to know how our night in the desert went,” Mavra said.

  At the admin building, Airman Gillard delivered the two of them to the front desk about ten minutes after nine.

  “The General’s been waiting for you,” a young secretary wearing an Air Force uniform said. “Please go in.”

  Neil opened the door and stepped inside. “General Harkins? I want to thank you for giving us those passes. We had a great time.”

  Mavra slipped her arm around Neil’s waist and leaned her head into his shoulder. “We needed to get out of Dodge,” she said. “Thank you.”

  General Harkins motioned for them to sit. “Yes, well, glad to help. I suppose.”

  “No, it was great,” Neil said. “Really.”

  The general leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows on the desktop. “You know the aliens are missing.”

  Neil laughed. “You’re shitting me.” He looked at Mavra and back at General Harkins, who stared at Mavra.

  “I felt funny this morning,” she said, “but didn’t attribute it to that. What happened?”

  Harkins’ eyes narrowed. “Come on. You knew about this.”

  “Seriously?” Neil said. He pulled his cell phone out. “We’ve been gone most of the night.” He pulled up the first shot of the sky and held it out.

  “I don’t give a shit about your proof.”

  “Is someone looking for them? The aliens?” Mavra said. “They must be somewhere nearby.”

  “Isn’t that what you do?” Harkins said to her. “Maybe we should employ you in finding them again.” He cocked his head. “Or will we be led on a wild goose chase?”

  “Let’s try it and see,” Mavra said.

  Neil didn’t like her tone, and hoped that Harkins didn’t find the same nuance of sarcasm as he did. “Ahem. We’ll do whatever you’d like,” Neil said.

  “If they escaped from here, we won’t find them easily, if we ever do.” The general sat back in his chair. “One of the Army officers had their jeep broken into last night. Someone took a joyride.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” Neil said. “Do you think it has anything to do with the alien escape?”

  “You tell me. The only thing missing besides some gasoline was the first-aid kit.”

  “That seems odd.”

  Harkins stared at Neil, now. “It is odd, isn’t it?” He took a deep breath. “I’m a family man,” he said. “Those things, whatever they were, reminded me of my own kids, eleven and thirteen.” He scratched his head and looked back and forth between them. “I shouldn’t say this, but I don’t like what the doctors had planned for those two. There are other ways to observe, to test.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sending everyone home today…including you two. I just wanted to know for myself that the aliens are going to be okay, but I’m sure you can’t tell me, since you know nothing about their escape.” He cocked his head. “They weren’t discovered missing until this morning.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Neil said.

  “I’m sure they’ll be okay,” Mavra said.

  “Thanks for your opinion.” He waved his hand for them to go.

  Neil got up first and reached for Mavra. “We hope they’re okay, too,” he said.

  “Go,” the general said.

  “That’s all?” Mavra asked.

  “I just wanted to see your faces,” he said. “You’re clean.”

  The airman wasn’t outside waiting for them. The secretary said goodbye when they walked out of the building.

  “He knows,” Mavra said.

  “I know. But he also knows he won’t be able to pin anything on us. He just wanted us to know that he knew. That was a warning for the next time.”

  “Next time?”

  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll be working with Harkins again. Breakfast?”

  “I’d love to.”

  Sgt. James and Bonnie weren’t at the cafeteria when Neil and Mavra showed up. Few people were there, a couple lab techs and one or two Army sergeants who were going to ship back to Montana later that day.

  “Did we do the right thing?” Mavra asked.

  “I don’t know.” Neil reached out and took her hand. “Did it feel okay to you? Are you worried now?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment and smiled at him. “I feel pretty good about it.”

  “That’s your answer,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze before going back to eating. “We have a long drive once we get back. Let’s say we stay over for a few days, make a mini-vacation of it. I’d like to see a dig or two, maybe take in a museum.” He saw a cleaning robot scuttle toward the legs of one of the far tables and pointed at it. “Those things still make me feel a little strange.”

  Mavra swung her head around and laughed when she saw it. “Seems like another time.”

  “It is another time. You think we’ll feel differently whenever we see the monkeys at the zoo now?”

  “Don’t call them that. They were intelligent.” Mavra tapped the table with her index finger. “You know we’ll find them again one day, don’t you?”

  “I look forward to it,” Neil said.

  END

  BONUS INTERVIEW

  FOLLOWING IS A SHORT INTERVIEW between Terry Persun and the Booktrope Editions editors about the ideas and writing contained in Backyard Aliens.

  Booktrope Editions: We’re now into your second book with Neil and Mavra as main characters. This book focuses a bit more on Mavra than the first. Can you tell us about her?

  Terry Persun: Mavra is one of my favorite characters, and I know I have a lot more to learn from her, and to explore with her as a character. I say this because, with each book, I only let readers see so much of her psychic ability. Since the books are science fiction, and Neil is more or less the scientific one, Mavra has to get her licks in wherever she can. In Backyard Aliens, she’s really the catalyst for the progression of the story line, though. It’s her ability that sets the stage and answers most of the questions that are essential to the progress of the novel.

  Booktrope: In this book, you allow the aliens to speak on their own through a piece at the end of most chapters. Why give them a voice?

  Terry: I wanted the reader to be sympathetic to their plight, and felt that the best way to do that was to give them their own voices. It also helped in a huge way to explain the technology. Instead of having Neil figure everything out, the aliens let us know what is happening to them.

  Booktrope: You brought Area 51 into the story. Why?

  Terry: Frankly, I love the mystery around Area 51. Since I’m, by far, not the first person to use the location, I wanted to do something a little different with it. Instead of using it as a place where aliens are dissected and tested, I
thought it would be fun to use it more or less as a launching ground for, shall we say, other species. I’m hoping that the reader wonders how many other aliens are living around Area 51 and not just inside the gates.

  Booktrope: We here in the editorial department just love some of the ideas you come up with. How did you decide on a DNA-triggered egg as the way to go?

  Terry: That’s an idea that’s been hanging around in my head for a long while. I was considering how an alien race might populate a planet that had not evolved to the proper stage for life yet. I figured that a certain DNA string would have to be present, something that guaranteed the environment would be satisfactory for them, and that there were other living things there that the race could use as a protein source.

  Booktrope: Thank you for spending a few minutes with us to talk about Backyard Aliens.

  Terry: My pleasure.

  BONUS NOVEL EXCERPT: CATHEDRAL OF DREAMS

  IF YOU ENJOYED THIS NOVEL, you may also enjoy other science fiction books by Terry Persun. Here are three chapters from his novel, Cathedral of Dreams, about a man who escapes what is supposed to be a utopian world called Newcity. Once he escapes, though, he finds himself in a very unusual situation where he’s asked to go back to Newcity to stop others from escaping.

  CATHEDRAL OF DREAMS

  BY TERRY PERSUN

  CHAPTER 1

  DAY 1

  KEITH ROLLED HIS HEAD from side to side on the pillow until he awoke from a bad dream. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. He ran a hand over his clammy forehead and through his hair. Although he forgot what had happened in the dream as he became fully conscious, a feeling of dread lingered. He had to calm down, but how? He held back tears and tried not to think about what could happen next. He feared the system would recognize his emotional peak. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes then closed his eyes to see if any part of the dream emerged. If he knew what the feeling of dread concerned, perhaps he could shake it. No luck.