No Aliens Allowed

- Fourteen -

Allen was watching the last Star Wars movie that he hadn't seen. Like so many others, he thought the prologue movies were "quite awful" and preferred the older ones. Which was good, because if he didn't I probably wouldn't be able to be friends with him. 

I sat down next to him, unsure on how to bring up what I'd just seen. 

But I was never one for hesitation or even thinking, so what happened next was totally my fault. 

"Are you gonna have a baby with someone?" I blurted, then winced. 

Allen visibly stiffened. "I believe you just became what you call a snoop," he said. 

I winced again, but reiterated. "Are you?"

"Not in the current situation, but reproduction was assured. She was a perfect specimen of physical and emotional intelligence, while I was to provide the mental capabilities." 

"So you weren't in love?" 

"Love is a fairy tale in my galaxy," Allen said. "And we don't tell fairy tales."

I couldn't help but feel a little bit relieved, but the article about the death toll was still nagging at me. 

Allen read me easily. "You saw the article," he stated. "I can understand why you might be…angry, is it?" 

I swallowed. Two million people were dead. 

"Are there…um…really…" I said, my throat closing up. I shut my eyes. 

Luckily Allen was there to save me. "Yes," he said curtly. "There are." 

"Two million," I said, sounding like I was being strangled. "Dead." 

"Yes." 

I opened my eyes. "And?" 

"If you are waiting for an explanation, I can give you a very short one that will not do anything but fuel your insatiable curiosity," Allen said. 

"Please tell me you didn't murder two million people with your own hands," I said desperately. "Don't tell me you're a fugitive, that you're running from your government because you shot two million people down with, like, a laser cannon or something or-" 

Allen moved so quickly I missed it. He grabbed a small, silver tube off the table above us and pushed the needle out, sliding it easily into my arm with nothing but a cold prick. 

The effects were immediate: a slow, steady peace settled over my mind, and I relaxed. 

I lay back against the mattress, a lazy grin on my face. "That was a lot of medicine," I said slowly. "But hey, it's all good." 

Allen looked down at me, a wry look on his face. "To soothe your previous qualms, Kalea," he said, the medicine doing nothing to keep the shiver that shot down my spine when he said my full name, "I did not shoot two million people with a laser cannon. Those are obsolete now. I am not a fugitive. You are not in danger. Nobody is coming to look for me, because I am here on a mission. Yes, the situation on my planet is terrible and many have died, but the research I do here will not only make up for those we've lost, but save millions of lives in the future as well." 

I bit my lips together to keep myself from asking more questions. While Allen still left me wondering a lot, I decided not to press the matter anymore, instead turning my attention to the alien girl. I struggled through the warm haze over my mind to form a question. 

"What's her name?" I asked. 

"You know that," Allen said. "It was on the wall." 

"No," I protested. "Her human name."