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Suddenly no one was listening to Maggie. Outside Otis's trailer, Mr. President was yowling with puppylike enthusiasm. His master came stumbling out and was about to berate his fool dog when something on the porch caught his eye. Oblivious to the fact that he wasn't wearing anything over his union suit, Otis started for the porch, transfixed by the sight of the rocking, squealing, strobing videogame. Above him, unseen, the weathervane stopped spinning as if shot and all four compass point indicators suddenly bent sharply toward the night sky. Something blew Otis's sleeping cap off. A descending bright light made him step backward, shielding his eyes. The Starlight Starbright sign on the front of the store was glowing powerfully, bright enough to be read a hundred miles away. The falling light came from the underside of something that was lowering itself toward the parking lot. Leaving Mrs. Rogan and her friends from school behind, Maggie started walking rapidly toward the light. Other faces appeared at windows and doors as the residents of the trailer park left bed or TV or bathroom to have a look. The commotion was sufficient to penetrate the brightly painted teepee set up in the Rogan yard. Two small occupants emerged to see what was happening. "Far out!" said Louis's friend David. "We been invaded!" "Klingons!" shouted Louis gleefully as he started toward the descending shape. The spaceship touched ground, silent except for a deep internal humming. Maggie recalled the Beta's warning words. This mi ght be another assassin, bolder than his predecessors. But she couldn't keep herself from moving slowly toward the faintly glowing ship. The logo emblazoned on its side looked like the one the Beta had described to her, but she couldn't be sure. She was cautious, but hopeful. Setting down in the midst of a hundred witnesses, primitive or not, didn't seem like the ZZ-Designate's style. A voice called to her. "Maggie?" Otis, standing in front of the store. She ignored him. Something was descending from the belly of the spacecraft, a lift of some kind. Mutterings rose from the Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html growing crowd of curious onlookers. They stood there by the store in their underwear and bathrobes, and watched as a creature stepped off the lift and walked toward them. It wore a peculiar suit and helmet. Its outline looked human enough. Then it stopped in front of Maggie and removed its helmet. "Alex!" Her face lit up as brightly as the ship's landing lights. "Alex, is it you? Is it really you?" She took a step toward him, hesitated. "Or should I open you up to check?" He grinned down at her, a familiar, warm, guileless grin. "Nothing in here but us organics, Maggie." She jumped into his arms, staggering him. "It is you! Alex, Alex, Alex. . . ." "Maggie." They kissed, and that was enough to bring the crowd of gaping onlookers shuffling close Mrs. Rogan, Granny, Elvira, Clara . . . all of them, all talking at once. "Alex, is that a real spaceship? . . . Did'ja meet aliens? . . . Where'd you get it, Alex? . . . Now what's goin' on 'round here? . . . What's this all about? . . ." And lastly, pushing through the others, "Where have you been, Alex Rogan?" his mother demanded to know. Page 108 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "Out," he said automatically. Standing with his arm around Maggie, he tried to explain the impossible. "Take it easy, everybody." They settled down to listen. He took a deep breath and spoke to his mother. "I've been on another planet, Mom. Helping the Rylans and the other good aliens, protecting the civilized galaxy from the bad aliens." He gestured over his shoulder. "That's my gunstar . . ." "Like from the Starfighter game?" Louis wanted to know. "That's right, little brother. See, aliens put the game here on Earth and on other worlds to find people who qualified as Starfighters, to help defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada. Just like the game always said." "Wow!" Louis said expressively. Otis pushed forward, Jack Blake close on his heels. "Well, then, if you were somewhere out there, who was it broke my antenna trying to put it up?" "Yeah, and stole my truck!" Blake said accusingly, though much subdued. ". . . And ruined my stove . . . and wrecked my plumbing . . . cut my 'lectric . . . !" other voices inquired. Alex made shushing motions with his hands. "That was a Beta Unit, a duplicate of me. A robot." "Aw, I knew it all along," Louis insisted. He looked past his brother, suddenly pointed. "Hey, what's that?" The lift was descending again. On it stood a tall, alien shape. The adults in the crowd drew back fearfully, but they had to pull their children along. "A monster!" one of the women shouted. "Monster?" murmured Grig as he stepped off the lift and started toward Alex. "Indeed." "Go easy on 'em, Grig," Alex asked him. "Remember, they're just immature primitives. Like me." Grig nodded, stopped short of the crowd. Granny was trying to push her way forward, clutching her old shotgun. Alex hastened to cut her off. "Wait! Put down the shotgun, Granny. Everybody, come back. I want you all to meet Grig. My best friend." The children were first, breaking away from their parent's paranoid grasp to crowd unhesitatingly around the alien's long legs. Urged on by shame and curiosity, their elders timidly joined them. "Grig," said Alex brightly, "I'd like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Boone . . . that means they're mated . . . Elvira, Otis . . ." He led Grig down the impromptu reception line. "And this is Granny, and Maggie, of course." Grig nodded, shook hands with each in turn before they [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |