Alien Upstairs by Pamela Sargent Page B

literature."
    Sarah raised an eyebrow. “There's going to be a school?"
    "Oh, there has to be a school, if there's kids."
    "What's he going to do about medical care?"
    "Oh, he'll get a doctor as one of the settlers, and everyone will learn first aid."
    She smiled. Fantasies like Rob's did not depress her; they were only games, playful ideas. She tried to imagine Rob excavating ground for a house with his slender white hands and frail body. Gazing through the windshield at the hills, she imagined little underground settlements with egalitarian societies, happy children, plenty of food, and lots of old books. They sped along the highway more quickly.
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    They arrived in Hanover by mid-morning. The town was deserted, too far from bus and train routes, abandoned by those who had depended on the surrounding farms; the growing season was now too short for anything but subsistence farming. They drove slowly down the bumpy main street, passing stores with broken windows and rambling Colonial houses, and pulled into the parking lot of a Carvel stand. Signs advertising ice cream specials fluttered behind shattered glass. The Carvel sign and a large plaster model of an ice cream cone lay on their sides in the empty lot.
    "What now?” Gerard asked.
    "I have to orient myself.” Sarah tried to recall where Raf had gone from here while Gerard knelt on his seat and rummaged through their picnic basket, removing a sandwich.
    "Can't you wait?"
    "I'm hungry now.” He sat back and began to devour the sandwich.
    "It must be a conditioned reflex. You see a Carvel's, and the saliva starts flowing."
    "Want one?” He waved the sandwich at her.
    "No. If I'm not a size seven by next week, Lita's going to be very distressed.” Sarah leaned on the wheel, draping her arms over it. “I think he went up this road about a mile or so, then turned off. But I can't be sure."
    "Well, the only way you're going to find out is to try.” Gerard paused. “Did you ever stop to think that Raf might have wanted us to look for him? I mean, consider it. He knew you might want to find him. He must have figured you'd want to know what happened to your memory. And he must have known you'd tell me everything, and I'd be curious. Maybe it's a kind of intelligence test. His people are testing us, to see if we measure up and are worthy of their help.” He threw out his arms. “With us rests the fate of all humanity,” he said in portentous tones.
    She tried to chuckle. “He's not making it easy for anyone to find him."
    "Well, he wouldn't, if it's a test. But he has left clues. He could have covered his tracks completely, you know. He didn't have to bring you out here at all."
    She rested her forehead on her arms. “It's just as likely that he wants to disappear, and that he might be dangerous. We haven't even considered that, Gerry."
    Gerard was silent. Sarah sat up and took a deep breath. “Well, we've come this far,” she murmured. “We might as well see it through."
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    By noon, they were hopelessly lost on a dirt road. Sarah pulled over to the side and stopped. “I don't recognize anything,” she said. “I'll be lucky if I can find my way back to Hanover."
    "I can get us back to Hanover. Don't you remember the direction?"
    "You know my sense of direction. And I wasn't exactly paying much attention at the time."
    "Well, go on. We still have time, there's still enough gas. I figure we can look around for another hour before turning back."
    Sarah started the car and drove down the dirt road and over a small hill. There was an intersection ahead; the roads forked. Another dirt road snaked through deserted fields. She stiffened. “I think that's it,” she said. “I think that's the road. I remember those bushes there."
    She turned. The road was very narrow. The land to their right rose until they were between a steep slope and rolling hills. Wild grass, uncut and turning yellow and