Backyard Aliens Read online

  “Nice to meet you both,” Neil said. “Now, where to?”

  “There are patches of trees around most of the newer developments, even where those kids lived,” Bonnie said. “In fact, there are apartment buildings and a small single home development there. She did see the kids several times.”

  “You heard?” Mavra said.

  “Good ears.” Bonnie reached and touched Neil on the shoulder. “Out to the highway, first.”

  “We going to their development?”

  “Most of the trees are gone, torn down. The only trees left standing line the rear of the apartments, and maybe along the eastern part of the single-family housing. That is, if they haven’t been cut down for phase three or four,” Bonnie said.

  “Get me to the development,” Neil said again, getting annoyed at everyone having his or her own plan of attack. This was his expertise. “Let me handle the search for now. How do I get to their house?”

  “Fine.” Bonnie sat back. “They live in the Tree Breeze development on the west side.”

  After saying the words, Neil saw in the rearview mirror, Bonnie’s eyes widen when she got point. He glanced at Mavra. She cocked her head. “Eighty percent or more,” she said.

  “You know these things are looking for a way to create a signal,” he said.

  “Are you guessing?” Mavra said.

  ***

  Escape was probably the easiest thing they’d do that day, and Kek-ta knew it. She let Chit-Chit-ta lead the way. It was his training, or bio-accelerator, that geared him toward protecting her. She chattered in their language, saying, “Why don’t we hide for a while first?”

  “First, we try to make contact,” he said, while climbing up a pipe that lay against the outside of the building they had been inside a moment ago. He stopped to help her once he made it to the top. He took a deep breath. “The support shell worked perfectly. You know, I helped design some of the bio-ware that went into that thing.”

  “I’m impressed,” Kek-ta said. She scanned his lithe body and reached toward his backside.

  “Hold on,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here fast.”

  “It must be my programming. Mating feels more important than trying to communicate with those who might be left of our race. And rightfully so.”

  “We’ll get to that.” He turned and flicked his ears at her.

  She liked that.

  Chit-Chit-ta scurried across the top of the building and down the other side. He continued to look behind him, to make sure that Kek-ta was close she thought. Over some brush and through a wide field, and he reached to climb the next building.

  She kept up with him, her hands strong and agile. She followed him to the top of that building and across it and down the other side. There were woods ahead. “Where?” she asked.

  He reached back and patted the base of his neck. “This thing knows where we came from, where the first contact was made. That had to be close to bio, electrical, or magnetic equipment, judging by what we saw in the holding area.”

  “Can you decipher their science?”

  “Should be able to figure it out,” he said. “Probably a combination of things.”

  She stopped for a moment to get his attention. “Are they on our level?”

  “If they were, they’d be able to hold us longer than they did. And, I’d suspect that some of their brightest scientists were in that chamber.”

  “I liked the ones who came in last.”

  “Don’t rely on your emotions. You’re instinct is to mate, which can warp your senses.” Chit-Chit-ta reached for her and pulled her close to him and nuzzled her neck for a moment before pulling away. “We go.”

  CHAPTER 6

  MAVRA COULDN’T SHAKE THE FEELING of dread that rose up within her. The closer they got to the Tree Breeze housing development, the worse she felt. She began shaking her head.

  Neil touched her knee to get her attention. “What is it, honey?”

  “I don’t like this. Something’s not right,” she said.

  Neil pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car on the entrance to a side road.

  “Hey! What are you doing?” Sgt. James said.

  Neil turned in his seat, took Mavra’s hand, and looked her in the eyes. “Are we going in the wrong direction?”

  At that moment, Mavra knew how much Neil trusted and believed in her; she knew he was behind her one hundred percent. The other two soldiers, who had swung off the road behind Neil, jumped from the Jeep and approached one on each side of the car. “Sir, ma’am… what’s going on here? Is this the area we should be searching?”

  “Something’s wrong,” Bonnie said from the back seat. “Give us a minute.”

  Sgt. James audibly let air out of his mouth in apparent frustration.

  “What’s not right?” Neil said.

  She looked Neil in the eye and said, “I told you I don’t like them carrying guns. I don’t trust them. They’ll just shoot the aliens.”

  Sgt. James leaned toward the opening between the front bucket seats. “We’re supposed to capture them, ma’am. The guns are only here for protection, or if they try to run away.”

  “Wow,” Neil turned his head slowly toward Sgt. James. “Let’s fucking see what we have here: two babies from an alien race who are more intelligent than we anticipated, and who we kept trapped inside a cage so that they had to escape on their own.” He shrugged. “Now we’re chasing them like wild animals, to capture them and put them back into a cage that we’ll ship to some fucking lab so that we can, quote, learn from them, unquote.” He shrugged and looked at Bonnie. “What do you think? Can we assume these things will just halt when we say so, or will they ‘try to run away’ as our friend here says, giving them no choice but to shoot them?”

  “We have our orders, sir.”

  “Well, now you have new ones.” Neil turned back to Mavra. “How would you like to handle this?”

  Mavra opened the car door and as soon as she did, Bonnie and Sgt. James got out of the car as well. The other two soldiers stepped back. Mavra moved around to the trunk of the car. Everyone was back there with her. She opened the trunk. “All weapons are unloaded and placed in here.”

  “We’re not authorized to leave our weapons with anyone,” one of the other soldiers said.

  “You were ordered by General Harkins to help us,” she said. “That means that we’re in charge. If you’d like me to bother him just to remind you, I’ll do that. But I’ll also suggest he put you on some other duty. Something that requires a lot less participation on your part.” She stared into the eyes of the solder who had rejected her request, figuring that he was the one in charge. She glanced at his arm. He was a staff sergeant, where the other two were buck sergeants.

  “As you wish, ma’am.” He removed the clip from his rifle and set it inside the trunk, then nodded for the others to do the same. They each shuffled around as though not wanting to participate, but eventually they pulled their clips and stashed their machine guns in the trunk as well. “We need these before we return,” the staff sergeant said.

  “We’re not going to return for a while. We’re going to observe.” She closed the trunk.

  Sgt. James placed his hand on the trunk and said, “What about his gun?”

  Neil patted his coat where the Glock rested in its holster.

  “He can keep it,” Mavra said. She knew Neil wouldn’t use his gun unless absolutely necessary. Besides, allowing him to keep it showed that she understood the system of male hierarchy, and she’d just placed her husband at the top. She moved back to her side of the car and got in.

  The others took their places. Neil said, “You feel better?”

  “Much,” she said.

  “Do you mean it about observing them?” Bonnie asked.

  “I do. As long as we don’t try to capture or harm them, they’ll go about their business. I think it’s best if we give them space to do that. It’s the only way we’ll learn anything of value.”<
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  “It appears to me that they’re growing in intelligence rapidly,” Neil said. “Let’s not let down our guard. After all, they’re interest is to signal some one or some thing. I know it could be us, but they could also be signaling their mother ship.”

  “I don’t like not having my weapon,” Sgt. James said.

  “Get used to it,” Mavra said. She turned to Neil. “I know. Whatever we do at this point is a risk. What if we killed one of them, and whatever had been implanted—if there’s an implant—automatically sent out a signal that we’re hostile? What if its death sent out a deadly disease?”

  “You don’t have to explain. I’m with you.” He patted her knee then started the car.

  “Let’s not go there,” Bonnie said. “Let’s think of positive things.”

  Sgt. James slouched back into his seat. “Oh, for God’s sake.”

  “What? Why do we have to assume everything to be awful all the time? What if they need to signal their friends that we’re intelligent and friendly, and they come here and offer cures for our diseases? Or if they aren’t going to signal other aliens, but are looking for a way to signal us on how best to live, or they wish to communicate with us. Why can’t they be nice?”

  “They can,” Mavra said. “And we’re going to find out if they are.” She looked out the rear window. “They’re ready to go.” She waved her hand for Neil to get moving.

  Neil pulled back onto the road. In a few minutes they were at the entrance to the Tree Breeze development. “Where to now? Do we head for the kids’ houses?”

  “Pull over. We’ll go on foot for a while,” Mavra said. She hopped out of the car and quickly began walking down the sidewalk. Few people were enjoying the outside air. She saw one man rummaging around in his garage and a bathrobe clad woman walking toward her mailbox. Others were probably in their houses watching television or doing chores, while a large majority of them were likely at work.

  “If the aliens are looking for the kids, there’s a playground near the apartments. That’s where most of the kids hang out.” Bonnie shrugged when Mavra didn’t answer her.

  Mavra stopped, and the others stopped behind her. In her head, she saw walls, but couldn’t tell whether they were interior or exterior. Could the aliens be inside a house? She wished she had her Tarot cards with her, but they were back in the hotel room. She could use them now to help her draw out more images. She shook her head.

  “You getting something,” Neil said.

  “Let’s spread out. I know they’re here somewhere.” She reached for Bonnie’s hand and took it. “We’ll try the playground in a little while. I get the sense that it’s too hectic for them at the moment.”

  Bonnie smiled. “Okay. That makes sense.”

  “Everyone have a phone?” Neil asked. “Let’s exchange numbers quickly so we can reach one another.”

  “Good idea,” the staff sergeant said.

  They pulled into a group and passed along numbers, then separated into a couple groups. Mavra watched as two of the soldiers walked one way, and Bonnie and Sgt. James walked another way. She tugged at Neil’s jacket for him to follow her through a recently mown lawn toward one of the other streets.

  “You get the sense that they’re still—”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I figure they’ll split up eventually, like I suggested. Someone will find them. I just needed some peace so I can think clearly. Those soldiers are not the calmest people I’ve met.”

  “I’m sure,” Neil said.

  “Slow down.” Mavra had to walk fast to keep up with Neil’s long stride. He liked being on the move and she knew it. He could use his talents out there. Lit would be like having two people with her to look around. If anyone found the aliens, she figured it would be Neil, with his split brain, one eye looking in the opposite direction from the other one most of the time.

  The Tree Breeze development displayed the typical First Family Home look that a lot of new developments fashioned. There appeared to be three different model homes, each of those had two different layouts, one opposite the other, with the garage on the left versus garage on the right. It was easy to get lost, so Mavra tried to remember to notice street signs. And, she hoped, that all roads led out as well as they all led in.

  The development grew in phases and appeared to be on phase three. Which meant that Bonnie might have been right about a phase four getting started. “The dirt,” Mavra said, in the middle of a thought.

  “They’re going home,” Neil said.

  “It’s been moved. They have no home.”

  “The military must have checked out all that dirt. Do you think they found something else, something these little guys might be after? They would have kept it a secret.” He shot off to the left from where they were walking.

  “You know where you’re going?”

  “Yeah. There was a map of this place under the sign, remember?”

  “You memorized it?”

  “Sure,” he said. “You know I can do that.”

  Mavra rushed after him. “I know, but all we did was drive past it.”

  “Builders are not very creative. They use a specific pattern to situate their homes. Even though it’s spiral-like, it’s a repeating pattern. A quick glimpse gave me enough of the pattern to get us around. The next phase should be starting beyond those few houses.” He pointed in the direction of a sand-colored house shoved between two light green houses. “I like the designs with the one and a half story entrance,” he said.

  “You in the market, honey?”

  He stopped and glanced at her. “Just a preference. I thought you’d want to know.”

  She reached for him, placing her arm around his waist. “I always want to know what you like and don’t like. I love you.” They proceeded more slowly, which was her hope, and her reason for putting her arm around him in the first place. She was sure he knew it, too.

  On the other side of the three houses, a flattened area spread out in front of them. Some heavy equipment was parked near the area where old dirt had obviously been scraped away. Mavra let her arm slip from Neil’s waist and waited as he proceeded out and into the opening. She watched as he concentrated on the entire area, scanning the field, the far tree line, and back around toward the houses to the left and right. He threw out his hand and pointed. Mavra rushed to his side.

  “They’re over there. I caught a glimpse of one of them.”

  They rushed around and through the back yards of several houses until Neil caught a second glimpse of the aliens. He stopped, then took several tentative steps. “Bonnie sees them, too. I can see her on the other side of those houses.”

  Mavra’s phone vibrated. She pulled it from her pocket. “We see it, too.”

  “Both of them,” Bonnie said. “They appear to be trying to disconnect the cable from an antenna. Would that be right?”

  Neil leaned close to Mavra as she listened. “That would be right,” he said. “But an antenna wouldn’t be worth much without additional equipment.”

  Bonnie’s voice came through the phone. “That would explain the pile of junk they appear to have accumulated near the back porch of one of the houses.”

  Neil shook his head. “Oh, I’m sure it’s not junk.”

  “What do we do?” Bonnie said.

  “Call the others and tell them to meet us at the car,” Mavra said. “I don’t want them coming over here. The three of us are enough of a distraction. We don’t need those guys spooking the aliens.” She paused for a moment, then said, “We monitor them.”

  “Will do,” Bonnie said before she hung up.

  “I like that girl,” Mavra said.

  “You like anyone who takes orders from you,” Neil teased.

  “That’s why I love you,” she said with a big grin.

  “Very funny.” Even while he talked with Mavra, one eye continually watched the aliens. His ability unnerved her sometimes, but at times like this, she was okay with it.

  “Where the he
ll did they get tools?” he said.

  “There must have been a dozen garage doors open along that first street alone,” Mavra said.

  “I guess you’re right. What’s wrong with people?” Neil held her for a moment.

  When Mavra turned back around, one of the aliens lifted a small satellite antenna from the side of a house. “That’s going to piss someone off,” she said.

  The alien opened its mouth and she heard a faint sound come from it. “We’ve got to get closer and start taping their language.”

  “I may have a long range mic in the trunk,” Neil said.

  “You stay here. You’re better at keeping an eye on them than I would be. Where’s the mic you need?”

  “You know the soft case along the right side of the trunk? That’s the one.”

  “On my way.” She reached up and kissed him on the lips. “I’ll be right back.”

  She walked to the side of the house, then jogged the rest of the way. The three soldiers waited next to the car.

  Sgt. James approached Mavra. “Bonnie said you found the aliens, but said we had to wait here. Where’d you find them?”

  “Neil’s got an eye on them. He needs some equipment.”

  “I’ll take it to him,” the staff sergeant said.

  Mavra opened the trunk. “I’ll take it. Too many people will scare them away.”

  “What are you delivering to him?” Sgt. James said.

  “Recording equipment. We need to get more of their language.”

  “Language? You don’t really think these things are that intelligent, do you?” the staff sergeant said.

  Mavra looked at his name patch. “Sgt. Blevins,” she read, “one of them just disconnected a small satellite dish from the side of one of the houses using a ratchet and screwdriver. What do you think?”

  “Holy shit,” Blevins said. “We’d better let the General know.”

  Mavra held up her hand. “No you don’t. He’ll have tons of people in this area in no time and those things will be gone. If they’re intelligent enough to remove an antenna from a building, they’ll know how to ditch us. We’ll never find them. Just let us handle this for the moment.” She cocked her head at him. “Well?”