Alien Caller (9 page)

“Two highly
trained members of two high powered intelligence agencies and they
end up rolling around on the floor like a pair of children in a
snit!” And she ‘hmmph’d a few more times for good measure while
David and Cyrea looked at each other startled. He hadn’t even
considered the possibility that she might be an operative, and by
the looks of things no more had she.

Neither of them
in all likelihood had the foggiest what to look for in an alien
operative, but they both realized the one thing all agents would
have was some ability at sneaking around. Then there was the combat
skill. It went with the business. So she - Cyrea he corrected
himself, was probably more of a fighter than her contemporaries.
That was useful to know. But then she knew the same about him.

Then there came
the question of how Alice could know the details of their fight
when she’d arrived late. He instantly suspected bugs, and planned a
sweep the second they were gone. Of course what an alien bug might
look like was anybody’s guess. And how did she know he was an
intelligence agent? He’d certainly never mentioned it to anyone,
posing instead as just an ex-army major. She didn’t give him the
opportunity to wonder as she continued with their lambasting.

“Thank God you
didn’t do anything serious. And I do mean thank God, because
obviously neither of you has the brain power to spare. Not even
enough to restrain yourselves. Pulling weapons on each other, are
you criminally insane? Can either of you imagine the obscenity of
what you nearly did?” They both felt the need to crawl back into
the sofa a little, while she stared at them with blood in her eye
and dressed them down. But at last she seemed to calm down,
allowing them some breathing room.

“Major Hill,
these people don’t pose a threat to Earth. They never did. All they
want is to understand us a little so that when we’re ready to meet
them in the big bad universe, they’ll be ready to welcome us.” He
wanted to butt in and point out that he wasn’t a major in the army
any longer. That she didn’t have to worry about him reporting back
to his superiors. He had retired. But then he realized that she
knew that and was still worried. And she knew he was an
intelligence agent. She knew he was more than he pretended. How?
And how much did she actually know? She’d accused him of being a
member of a high powered intelligence agency, but not which one.
CIA? NSA? He didn’t know which one she thought he was a member of.
He wasn't sure if she had actual information or was just guessing.
But he hoped he would find out in time.

For them
though, the details didn’t matter. Any intelligence agency was a
threat. That he guessed was why the others had kept him out of the
loop. A group of people, hell, perhaps even the whole community,
were protecting the aliens from him and there was something
decidedly shameful in that. The shame was both that they felt they
needed to and that there was some justification for their
views.

“And Officer
Cyrea, he’s a decent man, not a gun toting lunatic”. But her eyes
wandered somewhat deliberately to the pile of metal on the table
he’d left behind. David would have pointed out Cyrea’s own
collection but realized it would get him nowhere. Alice would just
see him as a little kid pointing the finger. He kept quiet and took
his punishment.

“Well not a
lunatic anyway. He means your people no harm, and as long as he
knows your people mean no ill to ours, he’ll not bother you. In
fact looking at him, I suspect he’d rather pretend the whole thing
was a dream.” Or a nightmare, but David carefully didn’t add that
to her words. Nor did he want to tell her that he might very well
mean her people harm. He simply didn't know yet. But he said
nothing. He just nodded.

“The tragedy of
it all is that you two are so similar you should be the best of
friends. Instead you treat each other like enemies and damn near
killed one another in the process. But even that’s not as bad as
the fact that in doing so you risked the future of both our
people.” Visions of interplanetary wars ran before David’s eyes as
he listened. It was true he knew. He hadn’t thought beyond his most
primitive fears. And that was a shameful thing for him to have to
admit even to himself.

“David, if you
had shot Cyrea, her people would have instantly left the Earth and
all hope of our joining with them among the stars would be
destroyed for too many years to come. And when we finally did make
it there, it’d be a harder road to travel than it should. Much
harder. And by the way, if these people can travel the stupendous
distances between stars, what the hell made you think they weren’t
a thousand times more advanced than us? Surely even a soldier
should know about the stupidity of attacking a superior force.”
Which was unfortunately true. David should have known better. But
when he wondered, had Alice started reading books on military
tactics and interstellar diplomacy? Someone had coached her he
guessed, and that someone wasn’t from the U.S. army.

“Cyrea, if you
had shot David, all of the same would apply, and worse still when
we finally made it into space, we’d have every reason to believe
you hostile. In one simple move you would in fact have achieved
exactly the opposite of everything your people are trying to do
here. Besides, hadn’t he treated your injury which in turn suggests
his intentions are not hostile? Or did you miss the bandages?”
Cyrea herself, didn’t look too flash at that moment either.

“And all of
that because two silly little children are too stupid to simply
trust each other. Surely both of you were taught that you should
extend the hand of friendship to strangers, not gun barrels.” They
both wilted even further, and the devil of it was that she was
right. They could have, no, should have been much more open and
less suspecting. Together they both nodded their agreement and were
rewarded as her stare softened, at least a little.

“I’m tempted to
suggest you two kids should just kiss and make up, but even I’m not
that wicked. But you will shake hands.” The first idea rocked them
both, and it took a second for them to even think about the second.
But they both knew Alice wasn’t going to let them off the hook. She
stared at them long and hard, while they wilted further into the
couch. David was the first to crack, hesitantly offering his hand,
which Cyrea took it just as awkwardly. But they shook hands, and it
seemed to be enough for the old battleaxe.

“Good. If
either of you ever dare hold a weapon against the other I will
personally flay your hides.” It was a threat which, while David
knew it was one of Alice’s favourite pronouncements of doom, was
also one he knew she meant. She might be letting them off the hook,
but it was only for the moment as she let her anger subside and
eventually resumed her tale.

“To cut a long
story short, we met, the Leinian research team and the locals, and
agreed that we could be neighbours. After all, there was nothing
particularly hostile about them, they’re here to study our society
and world to prepare for the day when we can come and meet them out
among the stars. And they didn’t really want anything major from
us. Just some insight into what made humans tick, how we think, and
why we do the things we do.”

“So once or
twice a month maybe, some of us go and have a sit down with them on
their ship, just to discuss what they’ve observed and tell them
what we think of it. We give them a local perspective as it were.
In return they’ve done some wonderful things for us. With some of
their technology they’ve managed to heal some of our sickest
people, and all of us in the valley now are in the best shape we’ve
ever been in our lives.” Which was something David had actually
noticed. There’d been very few deaths or serious illnesses in the
area. Something he’d put down to healthy living and a clean
environment. Fool! He kicked himself mentally.

“They cleaned
Fire Lake which was still showing the signs of the gold mining that
was done around the turn of the century, and with their science
they started keeping those pesky visitors who kept ruining the
peace of the valley with their damn choppers and hunting away from
us all. The arrangement has been good for both of us.”

David tried to
keep from groaning as he suddenly saw the connection between what
they had done and why he had first come to the valley. It wasn’t a
complete coincidence that he had retired to a place where aliens
had set up a base on Earth.

Just over five
years earlier the army had been looking for a new base for a
weapons research facility, and the surrounding valleys had seemed
perfect. Remote from civilization yet also quite close to air
transport if need be, the land was cheap and plentiful, and the
terrain could be defended and hidden. Yet five separate teams of
surveyors had returned from the area saying they would never like
to see any army base here, but without ever having been able to
explain why. That had set the alarm bells ringing back at
headquarters, as the brass started wondering if there was more
going on than met their eyes. They sent their own man to find
out.

David’s report
had been number six and had supported all of the others, though he
at least had been able to come up with some good sounding reasons.
Regular hunters were scattered throughout the region and often
there were helicopter based parties making security a problem. Then
there were the threats of avalanches in winter, flooding in spring
and fall, and a summer that brought with it masses of lake flies
and tourists. Access too was likely to be problematic at best,
especially for anything larger than a four wheel drive, and any
significantly sized base was going to be noticed by the locals if
they used the town. And if they didn’t use Redwood Falls then
supply and staff morale would be a problem. Better to build at the
Oregon site as he’d suggested.

But the thing
that had stood out for him was that he had felt the welcoming
nature of these lands, while the others had not had a single good
thing to say about any of it. His bosses had thought that they had
all somehow been got at, and had set up barrages of psych tests for
them. After all, there were plenty of ways to make people want to
leave a place without knowing why. Low frequency sounds, chemical
agents, drugs or plain old fashioned brain washing could all be
used, and provided they were done well, they would leave no mark.
But the tests had all come back negative, and yet David had had a
completely different sort of reaction.

So did that
mean that he was immune, or had they somehow changed the outputs
just for him? Years of suspicion told him that the latter sounded
likely. After all he was an agent and had a detailed knowledge of
things no civilian should ever even imagine. He would be a real
catch for a scientific research team. But then how could they have
known? He had come as a hunter, like any of the other thousands
that normally passed through the region every year, and he’d left
the same way.

He suddenly
noticed that the others were looking at him and quickly tried to
look as though he had been listening carefully. They didn’t believe
him of course, but were too polite to mention it.

“David you have
something you want to say?” Alice realised his thoughts had been
wandering.

“I ahh, found
the valley rather pleasant when I first came here, same as the rest
of the region. It’s why I moved here when I had the chance.”

“We know. The
Leinians picked all the hunters and agents up immediately. Their
weapons and determination to shoot something was simply too much
for them, and so they sent them packing. You on the other hand,
while obviously scouting for something, never pulled your rifle in
a week, and seemed to be simply enjoying the countryside. So they
let you stay, figuring you were harmless. No-one realized at that
time that you were an agent. Not until after you moved in. Some of
the others that have visited though might as well have been wearing
signs saying ‘government snoop’. They scared the Leinians witless
as they thought they were there hunting them”. And more than that
David realised, they had been close to finding them. That was why
the aliens had such defences in the first place. Whatever defence
it was it had sent the other agents running. If he’d been a betting
man he would have wagered that their ship was somewhere in the
Wrath Valley near where the base had been planned. Naturally they
wouldn’t want anyone that looked official nearby, especially when
they looked like they were hunting them.

Sadly that was
about par for the course. Often the government parties didn’t even
try to hide their nature. They tended to drive up in expensive
government looking vehicles, carrying far more equipment than would
anyone else. They would ignore the townsfolk and speak only among
themselves, and all the while look incredibly official if not
downright threatening. That and their stony silence was usually
enough to drive the curious strangers away and set tongues
wagging.

“Which does
bring one question to mind. I don’t suppose you know why so many
parties of agents were here before you?” Her eyes, normally so meek
and mild suddenly bored into his again.

“I can tell you
only this much; they weren’t hunting aliens. Also, based on my
report, they won’t be back.” Which was as much as he could say, and
probably more than he should have. But given the situation he could
understand her need to know and in the scheme of things, it was a
minor leak.