Alien Caller by Greg Curtis Page B

mainly because they were the same
as anyone else's.
     
    A sense of
humour was clearly another trait they shared. Tool making,
technology, humour, sketching, a desire for exploration, as well as
the physical two arms, two legs, two eyes, breathing the same air
and eating the same food. Yes, they definitely had a lot in common.
The more he thought about it, the more their similarity surprised
him. He didn’t know what he’d expected of an alien, but she surely
wasn’t it.
     
    His guest he
noticed didn’t seem totally overcome by their similarities or
differences. Instead she took them in her stride, which meant she’d
known in advance. Which made sense. Her people had surely been here
for some time and had sent home reports. But then why didn’t she
speak English? And then he remembered that she did. Or at least she
knew one word. Perhaps she wasn’t a linguist, or maybe her duties
had nothing to do with study. She might be a pilot or a crewman, or
perhaps a soldier. Not a good thought but possible, especially
considering her fighting reactions.
     
    Which led him
to the next question. What was he to do with her? His duty was
clear. He had to take her to the authorities and let them deal with
her. The problem was that he had a fair idea of what they would do
to her and he couldn’t allow that. Ever. Whatever else she was, he
knew she wasn’t a spy or a double agent out to steal American
secrets or to blow up or assassinate anyone, and he didn’t want her
suffering on his conscience. Besides, if he brought her back to
them he would be pulled quickly back into the intelligence world
and that was something he never wanted to return to again. Then
again he might well be killed if he refused. Or even if he didn’t.
There was also the very real possibility that she wouldn’t want to
go, and he had to assume she was armed like him. Maybe better.
There could be a battle, and who knew what could happen after that
if her people found out. War? It was unthinkable, but very human.
And despite being an alien, she was very human too.
     
    War against an
alien race with the ability to travel to the stars. That would be a
complete disaster.
     
    The second
option was to bring her back to her people. But that would entail
him walking into her folk’s lair, assuming he could find it and
that was also something he was more than a little loath to do. Sure
she seemed pleasant enough, but that didn’t mean she’d let him walk
away with the knowledge he had of her. No more would her people in
all likelihood. Then again what if she was an enemy? Was she merely
accepting his hospitality, such as it was, while she recovered her
strength, and really was just waiting to pounce?
     
    Maybe her
people really were here preparing to launch a war. Maybe she was
just pretending friendship. Lying to him. How could he risk letting
her return?
     
    The only other
choice was to keep her here as a prisoner and he really didn’t want
to do that. Or rather he would have preferred for her to stay of
her own volition but he wasn’t sure that he could trust her to do
that. It also wasn't something he was happy about when he had a
possibly armed and dangerous alien, who he could barely communicate
with, on his hands. Besides for how long would she stay? A day, a
week, a year, a lifetime? Still, it was also the only option that
left neither her nor the Earth at risk.
     
    And how to
explain any of it to her?
     
    The sudden
sound of tires on the gravel outside, took him completely away from
his worries, and brought him back to the present with a thump. His
first thought was that her people had arrived to collect her. Who
else would visit this early in the morning, especially when he was
playing house with an alien? Would they knock or burn the house
down? And how would they know she was here? Also, why would they be
driving a car when they surely had space ships? He drew his gun and
held it at the ready. Unfortunately, she saw his reaction and drew
her