Written years ago and then lost after my usual
editor passed on it as it wasn’t the usual SCIENCE fiction he likes for his
tech heavy readers (though he liked it), I just found it and realized it should
work here, after a few changes to give my main character M.S.. I still like it
and hope you will, too. Warning: logical end but not my usual happy ending.
----------------------
The Woman
Who Wasn't There
by
F. Alexander
Brejcha
White
coats and uniforms. He was sick of them.
"Think
back, Adam." A deep male voice
inserted itself into the surrounding dizzy swirl of lights and colors.
"We
need to know what happened," the voice insisted. "How she convinced you she was who she
said she was."
He
tried to protest. "She didn't
'convince me of anything. She's exactly
who--"
"She's
not! Now think back. Remember!"
The
lights and surrounding faces merged in a blur.
"The
medication's taking effect." A new
voice. A woman's. She sounded thoughtful as she added: "He could be right, you know. It's biologically possible. And it makes sense."
The
words merged into a blur of nonsense sounds as the male voice probed...
#
"...beep... Hi Adam, recognize my voice?"
He
wished he did as he turned up the volume on the answering machine. It was a soft, caressing contralto with just
a hint of an exotic accent.
"I
know it's been a long time, honey, but I finally tracked you down and just had
to call." She chuckled. "Oh, it's Tina, in case you don't
recognize me on this machine. Tina
Chen. I'm on the go right now, but I'll
be in your neighborhood this afternoon.
I really want to see you again."
A momentary silence, and then, shyly.
"I
really missed you, honey!"
Beep.
A
cold and robotic female voice declared:
"Saturday, six, twenty, nine p.m."
"Yo! Major babe voice," Stuart teased as he
put his briefcase on the coffee table and sat on the arm of the couch.
"Seriously,
Adam. She's got a hell of a sexy
voice. All the times you've talked about
her, I've always wondered. But that's
her, huh?"
Adam
nodded as he looked helplessly back and forth from the machine to his friend.
With
a hissing creak of leather, Stuart slid from the arm down onto the couch
itself. "I guess she decided to
come back, huh? I remember you telling
me she went back to
Adam
nodded weakly and grabbed his walker for support as he headed for the couch. "Thirteen... Before my M.S. diagnosis.
She helped me get hand controls for my car. Look, I've got to take care of some
stuff I forgot about. Can we pass on
today's lesson? Maybe finish up some
evening since you're busy tomorrow?
Except for a few of the macros you'll need, you've got the program
pretty well mastered. I’ll e-mail you some more tips."
Stuart
shrugged. "Sure. I can see where you might want to be
alone." He winked and got up to
grab his briefcase. "See you at the
office Monday... if you have the energy to come in."
Adam
waved absently as Stuart left.
The
phone rang as the door closed.
He
snatched the cordless receiver from the its wall mount and hit the answer key
before his machine could pick up.
"Hi
Adam." It was Tina's sultry voice
again. "Now that you're alone, I
figured we could talk. I wanted to give
you a chance to get used to the idea of my return."
"Your
return?" He let go of the walker
and sank onto the couch, breathing deep of that new leather smell. It was something real to hang on to. "You don't exist!" His eyes shot around the living room. "And how did you know I was alone?"
"One
thing at a time." She laughed, a delicious
bubbling that made him press the phone tightly to his ear. "I'll be there in about fifteen minutes,
then we can talk in person. So much
nicer. Bye, honey. See you in a bit.
Dial-tone.
He
held the phone in front of him and stared at it. This was impossible! She wasn't real... well, in many ways, she
was. She had been with him for
years. Bragged about, dreamed
about. He remembered his carefully
crafted dream; so fleshed out and detailed in thought and personality that, at
times, she was as real a memory as the one and only relationship he had
actually had. Only better. She had not deserted him. Circumstances beyond her control had torn her
out of his life.
He
had made sure of that.
The
phone in his hand clicked and began emitting a strident wail of warning that
almost made him drop it. He hit the
start button again to hang up.
When
had she said she was going to come?
Fifteen minutes. When had that
been? How long had he stared at the
humming phone, thinking about her? Two
minutes? He glanced up at the glowing
green numbers on the VCR clock across the room.
06:39 p.m. Thirteen more minutes?
He
looked around. The apartment didn't look
too bad. The surrounding bookcases
filled with everything from Aristotle to Asimov in the A's, and so on up the
alphabet, were freshly dusted and lined up, and his housekeeper had vacuumed
the day before. His several hundred
videotapes were all safely stowed under his rack of classical and jazz CD's,
and his plants were all watered. There
were only a few dirty dishes in the sink to take care of. He had not had time to do them before a
morning meeting with Stuart at the office.
Those, and some scattered papers on the coffee table that needed quick
sorting and straightening, but otherwise everything was as spotlessly neat as
always.
He
leaned forward and lined up the papers, and then went to the kitchen to wash up
the previous night's late dinner dishes.
They were minimal since microwave meals didn't generate much in the way
of dirty dishes. And from breakfast,
there was only a dirty cup and a crumb-dotted plate from a rushed meal of
microwaved orange spice tea with honey and a toasted, slightly stale blueberry
bagel with cream cheese, topped with raisins that had sat too long and had
started petrifying.
He
was getting hungry again. The microwave
clock showed 34 seconds remaining so he hit CLEAR to see that it was 6:45 p.m. Time to get a new battery for his watch!
Feeling
self-conscious, he rushed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Then a quick run-through with a hairbrush and
he was ready. Except for a growing,
nauseous feeling that had begun as a fluttering in his stomach when he had hung
up the phone.
For a
moment he stared into the mirror, confused.
He was a nobody. Bland, brown
hair and neutral grey-blue eyes stared back at him. No distinguishing features of any kind. Except for being very short, he was so
nondescript that he could probably walk into a bank and rob it, undisguised,
and then walk right past a dozen witnesses the next day without being
recognized.
A
nobody. About to meet someone who didn't
exist.
06:51
p.m. A glowing emerald zero transformed
seamlessly into a one as he reentered the living room and glanced back up at
the VCR.
The
doorbell.
He
jerked and stared at the door. Tina?
Who
was really there?
It
rang again and he felt himself move to open it.
It was almost as if he had stepped back and was watching someone else in
action.
He
opened the door -- and there she stood.
Just like his dreams. Silhouetted
by the late morning sun, her long, raven hair glistened, and her face was a
mysterious framework of shadows. A dry
scent teased his nose... Tea Rose. He
recognized the perfume. Just what he had
imagined she would wear. After a long
moment, he heard her chuckle huskily.
"Well,
honey, aren't you going to invite me in?
It's been a long time.
Aren't you happy to see me?"
She moved towards him and he backed up.
"You're
not real," he protested.
She
moved his walker and soft hands cupped his face and velvet-smooth, warm lips
reached up to touch his in a gentle kiss that made him dizzy.
"Not
real, huh?"
They
were in the hall under the light, and he stared at her. She was exactly as he remembered... had
envisioned her. Creamy skin that begged
to be touched, stroked and held; perfect lips he could still taste and lightly
tilted almond-shaped eyes enhanced by minimal and subtle make-up. Soft charcoal gray pools that were full of
humor.
She
moved close, her body hot against his.
Her hands rested on his shoulders as she leaned back slightly and looked
up at him. She was just a little
shorter. Since he was only five foot
six, he always felt uncomfortably small around most women -- but she was just
the right size.
She
smiled a little crooked smile that lit up her face.
"I
bet this seems weird. Like a dream. By now, I probably seem a little
unreal."
"A
little unreal? I..." He almost couldn't admit it, even to
her. Almost. "You aren't real... you can't
be! I made you up twelve years
ago."
She
laughed, one hand covering her mouth.
"Oh... I, that's rich! You
made me up?" Her arms wrapped
around him and she pulled close, her hips thrusting forward to burn him.
Her
breath was hot in his ear as she whispered, "Do I feel 'made up?'"
"No!" He closed his eyes, feeling dizzy. He was unable to resist hugging her
back. For several minutes he just stood
there, holding, being held; his heart pounding.
He couldn't believe how incredibly good she felt in his arms. And somehow familiar. Her hair tickled his nose and he breathed in
its fresh, clean scent.
A
hiss in his ear. "The
accident! Oh, God, I forgot!" She relaxed her grip and leaned back. "I heard about the accident the year
after I left. A friend of mine wrote to
tell me about it. She saw the piece in
the paper." Her face flashed from
upset to concerned. "Maybe you
really don't remember?"
"But
it wasn't that bad..." He shook his
head, trying to think back. His car had
run off the road because of... the exact details were a little fuzzy... and he
had spent a week in the hospital with... internal injuries and a couple of
broken bones...? Probably what had triggered
the M.S. – he had heard physical trauma could bring it on sometimes. But there
had been no brain injury involved. He
had not been struck by amnesia... Not
really... or had he?
"What
do you remember about us?"
Her voice was full of concern and he led her over to the couch, holding on
to her and the walker, unwilling to let go of Tina.
As
they sat down, she curled up next to him and leaned in intimately. He found himself repeating all the stories he
had told over the years to build up the image of an exotic, beautiful
girlfriend who had been his; of how they had supposedly met in the university
library after he had knocked her down in his rush to get to the computer center
to check out a new utility program they had just bought. He went on to explain his stories of how
their flustered meeting had led to an awkward and blushing request for a
date. A date that had led to more and
more time together until he had been trying to work up the nerve to make the
relationship more permanent.
He
detailed the lies he had crafted describing her family life and psychology
studies, their developing romance and finally, the tragic air crash in
And
had not been.
Or
had it?
NO! He had made it all up to have something to
tell everyone who kidded him for not being more aggressive in trying to meet
other women. Go ahead, make fun of him
for being alone, he had been able to say.
It wasn't that he was shy, or scared.
No. It was that he had had this
wonderful woman in his life in the past.
Was it any wonder he was taking his time in finding someone else?
It
had become so second nature to tell the stories that he had almost started to
believe them himself.
But
what if...?
Suddenly
he didn't know what to believe.
Tina
brushed his hair back and stroked his cheek lightly.
"You
poor dear. You've got it all right
except for the bit about it all being a fantasy. That accident must have given you amnesia,
and as you started to remember me, you thought it was all imaginary!"
Imaginary? Real?
She was real?
God,
was she real! He pulled her close and
held her, relishing the feel of her warm body...
#
Words
floating in space... a woman's voice again...
"As
I said, it makes sense now: the stories
abductees keep telling of tissue samples, examinations and missing
foetuses."
"He's
waking up," the man's voice from before warned.
He
realized he was lying down, surrounded by bright lights again. He tasted his dry mouth and tried to work up
some saliva as he winced from a blinding headache. Groaning, he blinked and looked up. He was on a hospital bed in a sterile,
medical office-looking room. A fiftyish
man in a uniform was next him on the right, sitting rigidly erect on a
back-less stool. He had short grey,
crew-cut hair and was clean-shaven and fit.
He looked like the perfect soldier. A General. A single star graced each of his
epaulets. The name Embrau was engraved
on the metal bar on his chest.
Behind,
and to his left, he saw a woman in a white lab coat standing, monitoring an
instrument panel mounted on the wall.
She was in her sixties, athletic-looking, and with long, grey hair
pulled back in a tight bun, over her black horn-rimmed glasses. The combination made her look very
forbidding.
Until
she smiled.
Dr.
Abernathy. Now he remembered them both,
and why he was here. He was a
prisoner. For a moment, it had all been
a blank. He had been overwhelmed by his
memories of reuniting with Tina.
"Hi
Adam." Smiling, Abernathy was
actually quite pretty, in a severe way.
She leaned down and, with a quick flash of an ophthalmoscope, checked
his eyes. "Are you okay? How much do you remember?"
Her
concern seemed real and he relaxed.
"About Tina and me?" he asked.
Abernathy nodded.
"Everything, of course.
Well, the few things that I didn't, Tina helped me fill in the blanks."
Embrau
was shaking his head.
"Remarkable. He honestly
believes it."
Abernathy
looked over at the general. "It's
not surprising. We already know they can
influence thoughts. If they
sensed what he wanted and supplied it, it wouldn't take much to reinforce their
lies--"
"What
the hell are you two talking about?"
Adam sat up and grabbed Abernathy's arm to turn her to face him. "Don't sit there talking about Tina like
she's some kind of creature from outer space or something."
Like
flipping a switch, something changed in the General's face. There was no real change in the genial
expression, but suddenly it seemed forced.
The warmth behind it had vanished.
"Funny
you should put it that way."
The
implications chilled him, and Adam started to rip off the various leads
attached to his body and head and, without warning, the door flew open and an
armed marine appeared from out of nowhere.
Embrau
waved him back. "Relax. Everything's fine."
The
marine withdrew as an iron grip on Adam's shoulder forced him back down onto
the exam table, and he saw that even the artificial smile on Embrau's face was
gone, and he moved the walker away.
"Don't
even try it! We've been lenient because
you were duped by experts. But you're
still a prisoner. Don't forget
that. You may be a civilian, but you're
on a military contract and we're not talking petty civil charges here."
Adam
swallowed, angry about the way they were talking about Tina. She had been right after all. There was a cover-up going on. They didn't want him to know what he had
seen... but why were they talking openly like this with him in the room? Even if they were wrong, they were admitting
there was something going on.
Of
course -- he remembered the forbidding papers he had signed -- if he mentioned
this to anyone, he would be... just in the situation he was now, or worse.
Embrau
had him by the balls. He could easily be
locked away from daylight for the rest of his life if he made too much trouble.
He
tried to sound reasonable.
"If
I understand right, you think Tina is an alien?"
Embrau
nodded. "Outside this room I'd
laugh at you, but yes. She made you
believe she was someone you knew before and then conned you into tapping into
confidential government files. Files you
had partial access to as a security-cleared Defense Department data processing
coordinator."
Adam
snorted. “Not hardly!" They were crazy! "She didn't talk me into anything. It was all my idea. And your fault. Apparently you don't all talk to each
other. Look in your files from about
twelve years ago and see if you find anything about me, and a UFO sighting near
It
was Embrau's turn to look confused and Adam went on to tell him what Tina and
he had uncovered...
#
"What
do you remember about the accident?" Tina twisted in his lap to look up at him.
He
brushed away a few hairs draping her face.
"Not much, actually," he admitted. "I was on my way to
“It
was raining, I remember that. I was on
Route 23 and... the engine was over-heating..." There was something else there, too... but he
couldn't quite place it.
He
gave up for a moment and looked down at Tina lying there, her head cradled
below him. She wore that cute, quirky
little smile again, and he couldn't resist an impulse to bend down and kiss
her; a kiss that was hungrily returned.
"It's
about time," she teased when he came up for air. Then she was suddenly serious. "God, I missed that." She reached up a hand to touch his face, her
fore-finger tracing his lips with a feathery touch. "And I missed you."
He
tensed, and she put her fingers on his mouth to silence him.
"Relax,
honey. Don't worry about not remembering
everything. We'll bring it back
together." She smiled shyly. "It might be even more fun the second
time around. Almost like starting out
fresh. Now relax!" For a brief moment, she looked at him
sternly, demanding. Just for a moment.
She
reached up both hands to touch his temples lightly.
"You
already remember a lot about us, you just lost touch with the reality of
it. Now, think back to that supposed
accident. You had slowed down because of
the engine temp... now think! What else do you remember? Close your eyes, honey, and relax... think
back..."
Her
voice was soft and soothing, in time with her gentle massage. He closed his eyes happily, thinking back...
she was right. Everything seemed much
clearer.
"I'm
driving along... about thirty miles an hour... there's no real shoulder on this
stretch and I'm looking for a place to pull over... I hear this whirring
sound. It's sort of like..." he
tried to think what it reminded him of, "...spinning a length of garden
hose overhead. A little like a
helicopter, but not as loud. I'm looking
up and around to try to see where it's coming from..." In his mind, he looked out past the rhythmic
stroking of the windshield wipers.
Condensation struggled with the defroster on full blast but, yes... There:
a craft of some kind. It was
coming from behind and to the left and passing right over him. Not really a flying saucer, it was more
complex..."
He
had a sudden splitting headache and a flash of white-suited figures that
blotted out the vision on the road. He
opened his eyes, alarmed.
"It's
gone! For a moment, I had this clear
image of some kind of flying shape, but I..." It had been teasingly close, but he couldn't
grasp it anymore. He just remembered
that he had seen something, clearly. He
looked down at Tina, suddenly frightened.
"No. It's gone."
"Did
you remember anything else?"
He
explained about the flash of white-coated figures. "They must be the doctors in the
hospital. I was in there for a week
after the accident--"
"What
accident? Exactly what happened."
"The
one... the one they said I had. I must
have run off the road because I was looking up and around instead of
ahead."
"Do
you remember it? At all?"
"Well,
no, but they told me I had had one."
"What
about your car?"
"They
fixed it while I was in the hospital."
"Who
are 'they'?" she pressed.
"I..." Who were 'they'? He couldn't remember. "I don't know!" He felt his fists clench with frustration.
Tina
sat up resolutely after giving him yet another quick kiss.
"They
brainwashed you, honey."
"My
turn." He grinned. "Who are 'they'?"
"The
Government. You saw something major out
there on the road and, knowing you, you did your civic duty and called the
authorities to report the sighting. But
I'll just bet that those same authorities didn't want you to go spreading
rumors about little green men from Mars--"
"So
they brainwashed me? Made me
forget? Why?"
Tina
shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they want to keep the public from
panicking? I swear they know a lot more
than they're releasing..."
#
Embrau
was staring at him with wide-open eyes and shaking his head.
"Nothing
like that ever happened anywhere near
'Coordinating
all sightings...'? Adam forced himself
to keep a straight face. Tina had been
right. They were covering up. Tina!
Where was she? He had been so
drugged out since they had brought him here, he had not thought about what
might be happening with her.
"Where's
Tina?"
Embrau
leaned forward. "I was wondering
when you'd get around to asking about her."
"Well?"
"That
should be my question. There is no Tina
Chen. We've gone over every element of
your story and tried to find her. We've
checked the enrollment records from your Graduate school, and there was no Tina
Chen enrolled. We've checked Immigration,
Social Security, and every database imaginable, including some you've never
heard of, and there is no Tina Chen answering your description of her history
and movements anywhere in the world.
This world."
Embrau
was telling the truth. Something in his
eyes, face, posture -- Adam didn't know what -- screamed "TRUTH".
But,
Tina... not real? NO! He had held her, kissed her -- made love with
her! She was as real as he was.
"He
doesn't know." Abernathy's voice
came from behind, startling him. She was
examining a strip of paper curling from a machine mounted on the wall.
Adam
felt sick as he was suddenly reminded of all the leads hooked up to him. He was strapped into some super lie
detector! He lay back and closed his
eyes, suddenly feeling weak.
Too
late to react, he felt a cold alcohol swab on his skin and a sharp, quick stab
of pain. He looked up to see Embrau nod
resolutely.
"Well,
I guess that brings us back to why you took it on yourself to penetrate
classified defense department computer records."
It
must have been an arterial stick, because the room was already spinning as
Embrau moved his chair closer and leaned forward...
#
"It's
the only answer," Adam admitted to Tina.
"You're right. They must
have brainwashed me. I never got a good
explanation for what happened to the car, what repairs it needed, or who did
it. Just that it had been taken care of. I was just grateful that it had been
fixed. I just never thought about it
again. I must have forgotten all about
it, to be honest."
"With
help, I'll bet!" Tina took a sip
from the glass of soda she had poured herself.
"You've forgotten an awful lot of what happened that week, haven't
you?"
"Yeah!" He tensed and leaned forward. "I haven't thought about it, but now
that I do, I can't remember anything! I
think I was operating on auto-pilot the first few weeks after I got out of the
hospital--"
"Or
on post-hypnotic suggestions."
He
didn't say anything for a moment, but finally nodded.
"It
makes a certain warped sense. They pick
me up at the side of the road, pump me for every scrap of information possible,
then drug me carefully and erase all of it and replace it with appropriate
memories of an accident and a hospital recovery."
"Except
they screwed it up."
"Uh
huh. Not only didn't the false memories
take very well, but they wiped out some of our relationship in the
process."
"You're
right!" Tina grabbed his arm and squeezed
it. "It all fits. Can you remember any more now?"
He
closed his eyes and tried till his head hurt, but he couldn't dredge up
anything else. He shook his head.
"Sorry,
no." A growing anger had been
building in him, though, and he slammed his fist down on the coffee table and
straightened. "And damn it! I want to know more!"
"But
how?"
"Work."
Tina
shrugged, confused. "What do you
mean?"
"I'm
coordinating an upgrade of the defense department computer systems. They're tied into all branches of--"
Tina's
eyes were wide. "Including the Air
Force? You mean...?"
He
nodded. Damn right. I might not have all the clearances and
passwords, but I've been on this contract for two years now, and I know enough
of the people and programmers involved that I can find enough back doors to get
in past a lot of the password barriers."
"On
Monday..." Tina's voice had
changed. It was lower, softer, almost
urgent.
He
turned to see her looking at him with her head cocked speculatively.
"We
don't have to worry about computers and passwords now, do we?" She moved closer. "We have a whole weekend to catch up
first. I know about your M.S. problems, but I’m sure we can have fun working
around them. I’ve missed you and we have a whole weekend,” she repeated
suggestively, leaning forward.
His
mouth was dry and he nodded. "We
do, don't we?"
"Yes." She smiled shyly and then her tongue crept
out to moisten her lips as her hands reached out...
#
"Mata
Hari could have learned from this one!"
Embrau's voice was reluctantly admiring.
Adam
shook his head, trying to clear it as his eyes slowly focused again. A glass of water was hanging in front of
him... in Abernathy's hand. He took it
and drank gratefully.
Embrau
sat up straight again.
"Well,
I think we know pretty well what happened now.
With one exception." His
eyes narrowed accusingly. "Why you
tapped into satellite surveillance data and D.O.D. records. Things that have nothing to do with flying
saucer sightings. I don't understand
why. You didn't try to download anything
or make hard-copy. You just scanned it
visually. Why? What were you looking for?"
Adam
had been listening, getting more and more confused.
"What
are you talking about? All I did was try
to tap into Air Force records on UFO sightings.
But I couldn't find any--"
"You
don't remember what you looked at?"
"No!"
"He's
telling the truth," Abernathy confirmed.
Adam
concentrated, growing more and more alarmed as he realized that he really
didn't remember anything. Just as he
couldn't recall any details about that week after his supposed accident, he
couldn't remember what he had done just three days earlier. He had a vague memory of signing in and
passing the various security check points, but then everything got hazy until
he had found himself locked up in a security cell.
He
shrugged and explained to Embrau, who nodded and got up to pace around for a
moment. He turned to Abernathy.
"Kathy,
could they have used him--"
"As
a probe of some sort?" she finished.
"Possible. We don't know how
extensive their telepathic powers are.
There are sighting reports that indicate that they can control people to
a degree. Make them think they are
seeing something other than what is actually there."
Embrau
scratched his chin "So it's
possible he wasn't aware of what he was doing, and they were just using him to
look at our files?"
Abernathy
nodded. "Very possible. From his reactions, I'd say probable. Like I said, he was telling the truth when he
said he doesn't remember what he actually did."
Adam
loooked back and forth, irritated by the way they were ignoring him, but scared
by what the implications of what they were saying.
Embrau
went over to the window and jerked the shade to let it snap up to reveal the
heavy metal mesh outside it; a mesh that slashed apart the streaming sunshine
suddenly pouring in. For a moment he
stood staring out at the greenness outside that Adam could only glimpse. Then Embrau turned.
"Okay,
Adam. So you didn't know. We've swept your house from top to bottom and
found nothing, and Tina Chen, whoever, whatever she is, is gone, nowhere to be
found. They've sucked you dry, and since
you got caught, you're no more use to them."
He
looked out again, thinking for a moment before turning back to Adam.
"You
realize we can't let you continue in your present job, don't you?"
Adam
sat up with Abernathy's help while she started removing the leads from his bare
chest, arms and head. As she gently
swabbed off the dried glue and Embrau's words sank in, the fear that had been
building, eased.
"You're
going to let me go?"
"Well,"
Embrau shrugged. "Contrary to
popular beliefs, the
"You're
going to let me go?" He was
repeating himself, but he still couldn't believe it.
"Yes." Embrau frowned. "It's too late to undo the damage
now. God knows how much they got before
we caught you, and what they plan to use it for. But it's done with. I'll have a driver take you home. We'll contact you about setting you up in
another, less sensitive job. You needn't
worry about your future employment. Call
it our way of keeping you indebted to us--"
"And
keeping an eye on me?" Adam interrupted cynically.
"True. But consider the alternative. Charged with espionage, I doubt your life
would be as comfortable."
"But
charges could mean publicity."
"Possibly,"
Embrau conceded. "Let's just say
this is the path of least resistance and let it go at that."
Adam
sighed and buttoned up his shirt.
"Fine. Let's just call it
over and done with." He slipped on
his jacket and draped the tie loosely across his shoulders. The hell with it. He was taking a couple of days off!
He
turned to Abernathy. "It hasn't
been a pleasure."
She
winced. "I am sorry. If it makes any difference. I didn't have much say in the matter, you
know."
"Fine." He looked at Embrau. Where's my ride? I want to get home. I've got some rhododendron to water."
The
general went to the door. "Follow
me."
#
Adam
closed the front door to his house firmly and turned the lock with a sigh. It was hot and muggy, and the house smelled
musty after three days of being sealed shut in the summer heat. He hoped his geraniums and hibiscus had not
dried up while he had been gone. He
headed for the thermostat to turn on the airconditioning but froze as he
entered the living room and heard the humming of the compressor already kicking
in.
Sitting
on the couch, curled up and smiling, was Tina.
"Welcome
home, honey. I just turned on the
air. It was awfully muggy in here."
He
just stared in disbelief.
"Who
the hell are you?"
She
got up slowly and moved towards him as he backed away.
"It's
me: Tina. Is that any kind of a greeting for the woman
you love?"
"Yes! Considering I just spent three days in jail
because of you. I don't know if you are
what they said you are..." He
looked around, suddenly alarmed.
"They've probably got this place bugged! They wouldn't have let me go that easily if
they hadn't planned on keeping me under surveillance."
"You
do care, after all." She
smiled gently.
Strangely
enough, he did. His head was spinning as
he tried to get his bearings. Tina
touched his arm.
"Relax. I've neutralized all the microphones, and the
two men in the van across the street are sleeping peacefully for a while. When they wake up, they'll just think they
got bored and dozed off. The tape on
their recorders will just be full of silence."
"So
you are..." He swallowed. "Are you--"
"An
alien?" she teased.
He
nodded.
"Guilty." She put her hands to her forehead and wiggled
her fingers. "Would you prefer
antennae?" She dropped her hands
and pouted sadly. "Sorry. Don't have them." She grinned.
"Actually, I'm as human as you are." She moved closer and Adam suddenly realized
his back was to the wall, literally.
"Am
I that horrible?" she asked softly as she stroked his face. "What about our weekend?" She smiled that little crooked smile again. "You didn't get much done, did you? Of the work you brought home, that is. Was it so bad?" She stretched luxuriously. "I rather enjoyed it," she drawled,
throwing him that little smile again that was so devastating. “We got around
your so-called problems pretty well.”
He
remembered and suddenly found himself holding her again as he mumbled a muffled
"yes" into her hair. Then,
after a bit, he released her as he realized what she had said a moment earlier.
"Wait
a minute! If you're as human as I am... and
you're an alien..."
"Go
on." She leaned back, serious.
"Then
I'm an alien?" Ridiculous as
it was, it was the only logical answer.
"Bingo!" Tina giggled.
"Actually," she amended, serious again. "Not entirely. Biologically, we're mostly human. “Your M.S.
should prove that.” You weren't reclaimed like I was, but we're the same. A fusion of our life forms. Our mothers were impregnated onboard a
starship shuttle and returned to Earth.
Then, once the foetus had developed sufficiently for reclamation, my
mother was picked up to remove me, and I was raised at home. You were left here to be born and raised
naturally."
"Why?" She didn't say anything and he thought about
it. Tina rested her head on his shoulder
while he did and he felt his arms tighten around her. He couldn't help it. Ever since they had met, he had felt
connected to her somehow... Connected!
He
looked down. "We're linked
somehow... you were with me when I was... spying, on the files. You made me do it," he accused. He felt her nod. "How long have you been linked to
me?"
"From
time to time, all your life. We share
some genetic material and were meant to be a unit. That's why we have such a strong mental
link. You can't feel it yet because you
haven't been trained, but I'll work with you."
"I've
been bred as a sleeper agent!" He
pushed Tina away as he realized how he had been used. "How about my work, my school? Was all that planned out of time, too? Given a little mental push?"
"Well,
yes. But it was necessary. She looked hurt by his sudden hostility. "Our world is slowly dying."
"So
why all this cloak and dagger stuff? Are
you planning to come in here to take over, or what?"
Her
eyes were suddenly moist. "I don't
know. I'm just doing what I've been
told. When you were scanning the
records, I was passing everything on, so we could learn more about Earth. We're just trying to learn. I don't know just how we're going to contact
people. You and I are just here to
help. But since you've been caught, it's
over. You can come home and we can be
together. Just like you always dreamed
we would be.
She
grasped his lapels and looked urgently up at him. "We're meant to be together. On one level, you've been aware of me for
years. Maybe your fantasy wasn't a real
memory, after all, but it wasn't all a dream, either. You knew just how I looked and how I thought,
and I've always felt it and been with you in some of your dreams. Day and night, whenever I was near, I've been
with you, waiting for this moment."
He
kept her at an arm's length, getting more and more angry as he realized that he
had been manipulated all his life.
"But
I don't really know you, or your people!
Your people. And how do I
know this isn't some prelude to an invasion?
You said yourself that you didn't even know what was being done with the
information you made me get."
She
wasn't listening.
"Adam! You don't understand. We can go home. Get away from here and be together, just like
you've always dreamed." She tried
to reach for him again, but he shoved her away again. Hard.
"No,
Tina. You don't understand. I am home!" He felt like crying. "Now get out of here before Embrau's
watchdogs wake up."
Tina
looked like she had been slapped. She
must have felt the rejection in his mind and she backed off, eyes moist.
He
couldn't look at her and leaned his head back against the wall, staring at the
ceiling until he heard her suddenly ragged breathing vanish and sound of the
front door closing. In one corner, he
saw a small metal chunk, no bigger than a coat button: the twisted and fused remains of one of
Embrau's microphones.
He
wondered where Tina would go. What she
would do.
He
wondered how many others like him there were around the world, who had not
been caught. How much information had
they managed to obtain?
He
bent his head and breathed deep of the lingering scent of her perfume on his
shirt where her face had rested.
Better
to pretend she had never been there...
But
he wondered what their plans were... Who
were her people, really... and what did they want?
-
end -