After introductions were made all around, I was invited to step outside. The military \u201cgrownups\u201d needed to talk.<\/p>\n
There was another bench along the front of the office. I sat there, away from the scraggly bearded man in uniform.<\/p>\n
I watched the glowing lake below. In the late afternoon sun, it glittered like green fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to kill the ass hats?\u201d the bearded man asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n
He grinned. His two front teeth were missing. \u201cI know how to kill the ass hats. Seen it happen. The commander doesn\u2019t let me kill \u2019em here, but I know how. You wanna know how?\u201d<\/p>\n
My instinct for fact finding stopped at methods of homicide. \u201cNo thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt him watching me. I considered taking a walk, but I was exhausted. Skippy the Butthead stood across the street. He posed like a tree, his head thrown back. I noticed that the bearded man watched Skippy, his eyes burning with ferocious loathing.<\/p>\n
That night, Kate and I stayed in an officer\u2019s cabin. She and I were given bed rolls and an empty room. She lay on her side, facing away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you\u2019re angry,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just angry,\u201d she said. \u201cFurious. I didn\u2019t want to believe it when my men told me they saw you at the Butthead compound and that you wandered this way. You could have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe yellow shrubs\u2014they work very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you didn\u2019t know that for sure. And why wouldn\u2019t you tell me you knew about this settlement?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you why.\u201d She rolled over to glare at me. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t tell me because you\u2019re a reporter, because you have to be the first one on the scene, so you can get the scoop on everyone else. Your journalist\u2019s instinct is one thing, but you could at least mention it to your wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what the worst thing is? You didn\u2019t tell me, not because you didn\u2019t want me to worry, but because you thought I\u2019d go straight to Scargal. You think I\u2019m military first and wife second.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes narrowed. I squirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I am is Captain Kate Yancey. The \u2018Captain\u2019 is for the military. The \u2018Yancey\u2019 is for you. And in the middle, there\u2019s someone who I\u2019d like to think is intelligent and trustworthy enough to know how to balance options and make choices for the greater good. You could at least trust me to think for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
She rolled over again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I repeated.
\n<\/p>\n
I was allowed to accompany Kate and Lt. Darius when they reported to Admiral Scargal. The Admiral showed no emotion as Darius explained the fate of his ship. \u201cSo the enemy rescued your crew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes sir,\u201d Darius said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they did not fire on you or take any hostile action against you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo sir.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scargal sat back in his chair and gripped its arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever the aliens motives are, sir\u201d Kate offered, \u201cThey don\u2019t appear to be as hostile as we had surmised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not forget that they\u2019re keeping us here against our will.\u201d He turned to Darius. \u201cAre you able to communicate with the Alliance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo sir. Our signals are jammed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo like it or not, we\u2019re prisoners here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I may speak,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Scargal scowled at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true that the aliens won\u2019t allow us to communicate or leave the planet, but we\u2019re well cared for, sir, and we\u2019re under no imminent threat. We should look at this as an opportunity to learn about them, find common ground. They could be allies if we could learn how to communicate with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve shown no interest in communication,\u201d Scargal said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, sir. But we can try. For decades, they\u2019ve been a mystery to us. Now we can see them, talk to them. Let\u2019s use this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The admiral jumped to his feet, glaring behind me. Once again, an alien stood inside, staring at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet out of my home,\u201d the Admiral demanded. \u201cHave a little respect for our privacy and just leave!\u201d<\/p>\n
The alien blinked, either not comprehending or not caring. He crossed the cabin, placed a salt shaker on the kitchen countertop, and departed through the wall.<\/p>\n
We all stared at the salt shaker. Then the admiral sank back into his chair. \u201cI intend to use this opportunity, Mr. Yancey,\u201d he finally said. \u201cI intend to find out how an undisciplined, retarded race has the capacity to evade a trained military force. I intend to find a weakness in their technology and use it against them. I intend to win the freedom of every soldier on this planet and make the Buttheads wish they\u2019d never crossed the Alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou plan on killing them?\u201d I asked, now standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it becomes necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd do you hope it becomes necessary?\u201d<\/p>\n
We glared at each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope you don\u2019t get us all killed,\u201d I said. I turned and left.<\/p>\n
The next morning, I scaled the mountain again. The Wise Old Butthead\u2019s cliff wasn\u2019t as easy to find as I\u2019d expected. I scaled the animal trail, but every rock and incline looked the same. It was nearly two hours before I finally found him slumped at his cliff top, rocking listlessly, gnawingggnag nawing on a yellow root.<\/p>\n
I placed my hands on my knees to catch my breath. When I could speak, I said, \u201cI thought you people didn\u2019t eat. You\u2019ve got implants for all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t turn to look at me, but with his free hand, he pulled up the side of his coat, revealing his knotted, tree-like torso. A long red scar ran down his side. \u201cRemoved it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I straightened. \u201cWhy? You must miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hissed.<\/p>\n
I sat down next to him in the dust. \u201cHow long have you been up here on this mountain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince our First lost his focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour First. You mean your leader? I\u2019ve been looking for your leader. How do I find him?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hissed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe lost his focus, you say. Is that why there\u2019s no one working at the rock quarry?\u201d<\/p>\n
His hiss lengthened into a phlegmy sigh.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you not answer because you don\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t care,\u201d he said, and hissed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look different than the other, um, Buttheads. Older. Did you remove your anti-aging implant as well?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll implants. All gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you won\u2019t say why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Tell me a story.\u201d<\/p>\n
The request surprised me, but as I sat down next to him on the cliff edge, it made some sense. He was all alone up here after all. \u201cYou want to be entertained? What do you usually do for entertainment?\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed a long, knobby finger down the mountain. \u201cDown there, implants. Up here, the sky, the lake, the call of beasts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have implants to keep you entertained? I mean, you had them before you left the others?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hissed and tilted his head. I guessed that was an affirmative.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, a story then.\u201d I thought for a moment. What story do you tell an alien? A roar from a distant SPT brought something to mind.<\/p>\n
I told him the story of Little Red Riding Hood. He sat still for once, even glancing at me occasionally. When I got to the part where the woodsman cut the wolf\u2019s belly open and let Red Riding Hood and her grandmother out, the Wise Old Butthead began rocking again. \u201cThis is a false story,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI approve. A human who mistakes a beast in human clothes for a real human. A beast that can swallow humans whole but can remain in a human domicile and wear their clothing. It is absurd. I approve. Tell me a real story.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at the camp below. I cleared my throat and told him about my abduction, discovery of the colonists, my disagreement with Admiral Scargal and his determination to attack the Buttheads and escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cScargal wants to kill,\u201d the WOB said. \u201cHe is a warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are\u2026\u201d He hissed. \u201cYou are a poet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the only human word I can find. A poet values wisdom and beauty. A warrior values strength and victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shrugged. \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe poet sees the darkness in himself and shrinks from it. He looks for a greater good outside himself and longs for salvation there. The warrior sees the darkness within himself and projects it onto his enemy. He fights against it there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth desire to overcome the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are fools.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tremble in his neck ceased. He turned and stared at me with his unreadable eyes. \u201cThe poet is the greater fool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked away again. \u201cThe poet relies on hope. The warrior acts. The warrior\u2019s path seems stupider. He waves his weapons and shouts. He beats his head against the enemy\u2019s wall and rages. But in the end, after all his battles, he\u2019ll know what the poet can only suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is?\u201d<\/p>\n
WOB\u2019s neck began its wobble again. His shoulder\u2019s slumped a bit. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter. They\u2019re both fools in the end. They both only want to overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOvercome what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever lies before them.\u201d<\/p>\n
We were silent then. I wasn\u2019t sure I was going to get anything intelligible out of this alien. He\u2019d tipped me off about the colonists down the lake shore, and he\u2019d told me about the implants. But perhaps he was still just as crazy as any of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a lot deeper than your fellows down at the foot of the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hissed. \u201cIntrospection has been bred out of the Buttheads\u2014a trait no longer necessary. I am an aberration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIntrospection huh? You\u2019re saying they don\u2019t think down there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course they think. They are the most advanced species in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s a big universe. There\u2019s always someone more advanced.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. There is no growth beyond this. What you see down there is the highest. We are inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned his head away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re so advanced, why do I have a Butthead following me around, acting like a tree? Why does one wander our camp singing opera? Even the Butthead that delivers the daily rations seems as distracted as a child. Why do they behave the way they do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they have overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
His rocking grew more emphatic, as if he were trying to push the question away with his motion.<\/p>\n
I spent much of the next day in the Butthead camp, asking around for their supposed leader. This was a mostly futile effort since few spoke to me, and those who did respond spoke gibberish. The only human sounding communication was from the one called \u201cOpera Man\u201d who repeatedly sang all of the parts from \u201cRide of the Valkyries\u201d from Wagner\u2019s Die Walk\u00fcre. Skippy was there, pretending to ignore me, but he always managed to keep me in sight while he found different places in the compound to stand on his head.<\/p>\n
I was pestering the driver of the hover cart that brought our rations each morning when I spotted Admiral Scargal and several other soldiers walking through camp, back from the colonists\u2019 village. Scargal\u2019s cold eyes scanned back and forth as they passed through the compound, and all of the soldiers had their weapons drawn as they advanced. The fact that they were incapable of shooting any of the Buttheads didn\u2019t stop them from being ready to try.<\/p>\n
Only one of the soldiers remained weaponless. At the rear of the procession, the bearded officer that I\u2019d met outside Commander Braddock\u2019s office followed. His wide eyes took in all of the aliens at once. His contempt for them was unmistakable.<\/p>\n
I followed them back to our camp. Once there, I spotted Kate marching towards the admiral\u2019s cabin. \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d I asked, falling in step beside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSenior staff meeting,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the admiral has made a new friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped outside the cabin. She glanced back at me as she climbed the stairs, confused. The bearded officer stepped inside after her.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t see Kate again until evening. She found me on the veranda watching the sun set in the orange haze beyond the twinkling lake. Opera Man sang nearby. I didn\u2019t recognize the song.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ought to teach that alien some new songs,\u201d Kate suggested as she dropped onto the bench beside me. \u201cYou\u2019re a good singer. He told me he\u2019s looking for someone to duet with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMmm,\u201d I said. We were silent for a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have much time to enjoy yourself, do you?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have all night,\u201d she said, but without warmth.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou met Scargal\u2019s new friend?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded. \u201cLt. Z.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cZ?\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis name is long and Polish sounding. He repeated it several times, but by the end of the meeting, everyone but the admiral called him Lt. Z.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot many junior officers attended the private meeting,\u201d I observed. \u201cWhat did the lieutenant have to contribute?\u201d<\/p>\n
She studied me, her mouth drawn into a thin frown. \u201cYou must suspect something,\u201d she said. \u201cOr you wouldn\u2019t be asking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen him before,\u201d I said. \u201cTalked to him. I\u2019m sure you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t reply.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t just go killing the aliens,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Kate winced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may have us trapped here, but they haven\u2019t killed anyone. Scargal knows that. They rescued the colonists. They rescued the Rutledge crew. I don\u2019t know why they brought you and your crew here, but they\u2019ve been nothing but courteous since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her jaw tightened. \u201cSo we should just sit back and enjoy being their\u2026their pets? Is that what you\u2019re saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying that they\u2019ve given us a chance to get to know each other. I\u2019ve been at their camp. They\u2019re lousy communicators, but they aren\u2019t evil and they don\u2019t deserve whatever you\u2019re planning, and if you force them to retaliate, they may decide they have no choice but to kill us all. Have you considered that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve debated a lot of things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if we\u2019re here as some sort of test? What if they\u2019ve thrown us into a situation with a bunch of mentally slow Buttheads to see if we try to play nice or if we put all our efforts into killing them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a thought. The fact is, you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on and your military policy is to shoot first, right? You just need to find bullets that work. You should scrap all that and find a way to talk to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate sighed. \u201cYou\u2019re being na\u00efve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m a poet,\u201d I said. \u201cYou think it\u2019s impossible to talk to them? Commander Braddock told me that before the captain of the Rutledge died, he used to talk to the Butthead\u2019s leader. There was a connection there. It can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned away. We watched the sunset in silence for a minute. Then she stood up. \u201cI\u2019m hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s salad waiting in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pulled our front door open.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the attack plan?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know I can\u2019t tell you,\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recall a recent conversation in which we talked about trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped through the door, leaving me with the twilight.<\/p>\n
There were few jobs that the military trusted me with, but I was on rotation to help unload the rations cart. It wasn\u2019t a difficult job. Four of us could have all of the crates off the hover cart in less than ten minutes. We spent the rest of the morning following the direction of an eager young lieutenant in distributing the food to each cabin.<\/p>\n
That next morning, however, there were six of us waiting for the hover cart to arrive. There were the three I usually worked with, along with Lt. Z and a nervous enlisted man. Nobody spoke as the cart rose over the trees and descended onto the loading platform. Whatever was going on, the soldiers knew about it and I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The cart never entirely touched down on the platform. It remained suspended a foot above the ground. The moment the cart stopped, the Butthead at the controls grew distracted, picking at the accumulated bugs that had smashed against the front of the cart. He lifted a few up to his face and sniffed at them, probably inhaling them in the process.<\/p>\n
At first, all six of us began removing crates, but soon Lt. Z and his cohort snuck to the back of the cart. Lt. Z pulled a makeshift pry bar out of his shirt, and he and the other began working at something beneath the cart.<\/p>\n
I continued to watch them as I did my job, but the other three soldiers acted as if nothing were happening. Before we were finished unloading, I heard a loud clunk. Everybody looked up at the cart driver. The alien remained distracted. When we all stepped off the cart, the driver tapped his control panel, and the cart lifted away. It veered slightly to the right and wobbled as it disappeared over the trees.<\/p>\n
Lt. Z hefted a round panel from the platform. The other soldier followed him as they disappeared towards camp.<\/p>\n
Four days later when I again had rations duty, Lt. Z and his cohort performed the same pilfering act.<\/p>\n
Commander Wallace shot and killed a native creature while out on the trail one afternoon. In all of my hiking adventures, I\u2019d never seen such an animal. It was like a fat, wide doe roughly half the size of a hippopotamus with big hollow eyes and bony ridges along the sides of its head. According to Lt. Z, the colonists called them bone deer and went out of their way to make a meal of them. \u201cLots of meat on \u2018em,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could feed half the camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soldiers dug a pit and started a fire in the middle of the common area. Lt. Z prepared the animal. He was clearly comfortable with butchery.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaven\u2019t had meat in months,\u201d said one of the soldiers sitting in front of me. We\u2019d all pulled out chairs to sit near the fire that evening while Lt. Z and Commander Wallace poked and turned the huge steaks on a makeshift grill. \u201cI\u2019m so sick of vegetables and that synthesized protein crap the Buttheads always bring over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou notice there\u2019s almost no Buttheads hanging around right now,\u201d said one of his companions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right. Z says they don\u2019t like the smell. Cooked meat keeps them away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, that\u2019s an even better reason for the barbecue. We ought to do this every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t Z give you the creeps,\u201d said another soldier, sitting to the right of the group. \u201cHe comes off kind of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first soldier laughed. \u201cOh, he\u2019s crazy all right. Lt. Darius says he\u2019s always been a little off. He actually keeps pails of urine around his cabin to keep the Buttheads away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re kidding. Does it work?\u201d<\/p>\n
First soldier shrugged. \u201cI guess so. Would you go walking through his cabin if it smelled like old piss? Anyway, Z hates the Buttheads with a bloody passion. Darius says he didn\u2019t even want to leave the Rutledge when it crashed. They had to sedate him when the Buttheads offered to help them evacuate. He said they were an abomination before God.\u201d<\/p>\n
They continued to exchange rumors about Z and the other colonists. I glanced around the common area, looking for Kate. Most of the others were here, waiting for the steaks to finish, but she\u2019d gone off to spy on the Butthead compound. Their withdrawal from our camp made the admiral uneasy.<\/p>\n
Admiral Scargal was honored with the first steak. Once he stood up with his plate and walked over to the fireside, a Butthead appeared from behind a tree, a hand over its nose. It took the admiral\u2019s chair and carried it back towards his cabin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s this about an attack on the Buttheads?\u201d asked one of the soldiers. \u201cDoes Z really know how to kill them?\u201d<\/p>\n
The first soldier looked around. I pointedly looked away, casually leaning in my chair to look up the mountain side, my left hand nonchalantly cupping my ear to focus my hearing on the conversation.<\/p>\n
The soldiers leaned their heads together. \u201cThey say Z saw one of the Buttheads get injured.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that was impossible,\u201d the soldier on the right whispered. \u201cAnything that might hurt them passes through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly. They can\u2019t be touched, except Z says they can. He says he knows how to disable their integration field.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what our science officers call the thing that makes things pass through them. It\u2019s an implant they have that casts this field around them that causes things to\u2026I don\u2019t know. You know what they\u2019re like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, so Z says that he used to spy on them up at their rock quarry when they were still working it. Back then, they were different\u2014busy. He says they had a lot more of those hover carts working out there, that they\u2019d use to transport slabs of marble. Z would be out there every day spying, and one day, one of the carts loaded with marble gets caught on the top of one of their towers. It dislodges one of the suspensor panels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe round things that make the hover cart, you know, hover. It\u2019s not a big deal. The cart still flies, but as it descends to a loading platform, the panel is hanging sideways, causing the cart to spin a little. One of the Buttheads walks up to steady it, and when he gets near the suspensor panel, the one that\u2019s now aimed at him, his integration field turns purple. He\u2019s surrounded with these purple sparks. That\u2019s when one of the marble slabs slides off the top and falls on him. It crushes his freaking leg.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cZ figures the suspensor panel canceled out the field that makes them untouchable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s why Thomas has been helping Z swipe panels,\u201d the second soldier said.<\/p>\n
Lt. Z banged a spatula against a frying pan. \u201cYou dogs want steaks, or are you just going to sit there? Come and get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The soldiers in front of me jumped up to get in line.<\/p>\n
When Kate returned a half hour later, the orange sunset was already fading over the lake. I had a steak saved for her. When she was half through I said, \u201cDo you seriously think you have a chance against the aliens?\u201d<\/p>\n
She sighed and dropped her fork. \u201cLet\u2019s not talk about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLt. Z has been busy,\u201d I said. \u201cI understand he has odd theories about negating the aliens\u2019 integration fields.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho have you been talking to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter. What matters is that something very bad is about to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s none of your concern. You\u2019re a journalist, not a soldier. Your job is to be non-objective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cScrew non-objective. I don\u2019t care about getting a story. I care about two things. First, it\u2019s wrong. They\u2019ve been nothing but considerate to us. Second, if we are actually able to harm them, they might wake up and recognize we\u2019re a threat. Then they start fighting back, and they\u2019ll be armed with a hell of a lot more than suspensor panels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStay out of it, Jamal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in it, whether you like it or not. I\u2019m not going to allow you to\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to stay out of it, or you\u2019ll likely be forced to stay out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped back, my eyes wide. \u201cIs that a threat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope threats aren\u2019t necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was out the door before Kate the next morning. I was so eager to get to the Wise Old Butthead\u2019s cave, I nearly forgot to bring along my yellow shrub clippings.<\/p>\n
The WOB wasn\u2019t at his cave when I arrived. I hoped that he hadn\u2019t abandoned it. I sat in the dust on the cliff top, dangling my feet over the drop, and waited.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t hear him arrive. He sat down next to me, a leafy stem protruding from the side of his mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to talk to you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He slurped at the stem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our soldiers have found a way to kill your people.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped slurping for only a second. Then he went on as if I\u2019d told him it was a nice day.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hissed. With the stem in his mouth, the hiss came out with gooey spittle projectiles. I watched them fall over the cliff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want anyone to get hurt. That\u2019s why I\u2019m coming to you. You actually listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPoet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I know. I\u2019m a fool. The soldiers are fools. We\u2019re all fools. But I don\u2019t want things to escalate into a bloodbath. If you could talk to your people\u2026warn them that something\u2019s going to happen. A couple of our soldiers have stolen suspensor panels off of the hover carts and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would not listen,\u201d he interrupted.<\/p>\n
I stared. \u201cYou think they don\u2019t care that some of them might be killed? I\u2019m trying to prevent a war here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He slurped at his stem, then plucked it from his mouth and dropped it over the cliff. It hit the dirt fifteen feet below with a wet slap.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will tell you about my people,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of it might be familiar to you. Once, my people lived in forests. We crouched in shadows, fleeing predators. Then we learned to fight, to hunt. The prey became the hunters. We overcame our natural enemies. We looked to the horizon, to lands beyond our reach. We grew, continually seeking what lay beyond the horizon, always expanding, always conquering, until there were no more horizons for us to cross.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grew in knowledge. First, we developed our mechanical skills. Then we unlocked the secrets of electricity, of the atom, of the quantum components. We conquered the skies. Then we escaped our world. We overcame gravity. We overcame the limits of light speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur population grew and our world became insufficient for our survival. We conquered new environments on new planets. We met enemies in space. Sometimes they fought us. Sometimes they won. But we persevered. We overcame them. We learned to make ourselves untouchable. When our enemies struck, their fists passed through us. We persisted until we annihilated them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, we overcame the limits of aging. We overcame our own appetites. We overcame the dramas of life. We overcame disease. We looked inside and perfected ourselves against all mental instability. We overcame and overcame and overcame.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned to look at me with his steady, unreadable eyes. \u201cAnd now, there is nothing left to overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared back at him. \u201cBut there\u2019s still something to overcome,\u201d I said. \u201cThere are the Alliance soldiers. They\u2019ll kill your men. You can stop them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what lies beyond overcoming\u2014what lies beyond the last horizon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a stupid question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are a stupid human.\u201d<\/p>\n
We stared at each other for a few seconds. Then he said, \u201cYou are about to become wise. You are about to come face to face with the inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t just let this happen.\u201d I was nearly pleading now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened long before we met,\u201d he said. He stood up then and walked away without looking back.<\/p>\n
Commander Wallace caught me telling everything to Skippy at the fire pit. Skippy was stretched across the pit doing pushups. For such thin limbs, he was surprisingly strong, having done at least 200 pushups before I worked up the courage to speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the suspensor panels,\u201d I said. \u201cThey negate your integration field. They\u2019re going to use it to make you vulnerable. Then they\u2019ll probably shoot you or some\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Commander Wallace threw his arm around my throat and dragged me backwards, gasping and retching all the way. \u201cYou dumb son of a bitch,\u201d he growled. \u201cWhat are you thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t release me until we reached a picnic table on the far side of Admiral Scargal\u2019s cabin. Scargal sat there with Kate, Lt. Z and a few others. When they spotted us, Kate jumped to her feet. \u201cCommander Wallace, explain yourself,\u201d she ordered.<\/p>\n
He dropped me at their feet. \u201cHe just told one of the Buttheads about our plans with the suspensor panels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Scargal\u2019s face went white. He scowled at me, then at Wallace. \u201cHow did the enemy receive this news.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSame as usual. It was like Yancey here wasn\u2019t even talking. But you never know\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you don\u2019t.\u201d Scargal\u2019s jaw was so tight, I expected to hear a tooth crack.<\/p>\n
\u201cLt. Zinkevicius,\u201d he said, turning. \u201cI don\u2019t think we need to waste any more effort on deciding our timing. The time has come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lt. Z\u2019s eyes lit up and he did not attempt to hide his wild grin. \u201cOur plan of attack?\u201d<\/p>\n
Scargal stared. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. \u201cDo what you have to do, Lieutenant. I leave it to your discretion. Get your men assembled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lt. Z saluted and turned. He walked five paces, then ran like an excited school boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said to the admiral. \u201cYou can\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned to Wallace. \u201cPlace Mister Yancey under house arrest. If he tries to escape, use a stun pistol.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve never hurt you,\u201d I shouted. \u201cThey\u2019ve never killed anyone.\u201d I turned to my wife. \u201cKate, you can\u2019t allow this. This is wrong and you know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWallace, get him out now,\u201d Scargal demanded.<\/p>\n
Commander Wallace dragged me backwards, once again using a choke hold. I struggled. I tried to go limp. He was strong enough to drag me.<\/p>\n
He dragged me through the common area when the soldiers struck. Skippy was still doing pushups over the fire pit, muttering in Chinese. Lt. Z had one of the suspensor panels strapped to his arm like a shield. In his right hand, he carried a bowie knife. Four other soldiers were also equipped with the panel shields and pistols. All of them had ammo and hand grenades clipped to their belts.<\/p>\n
Z dropped into the pit beside Skippy. He banged the butt of his knife against the panel and it came to life, pushing him back slightly. He braced himself and pressed the suspensor panel against Skippy\u2019s head. Skippy was immediately engulfed in purple sparks. He convulsed once and fell into the pit beside Lt. Z. Lt. Z then held the knife high in the air and brought it down hard upon the fallen alien.<\/p>\n
Wallace watched with apparent awe. He stood frozen, still holding me around the neck. I swung my fist backwards, a hard punch to the groin. Wallace dropped me and doubled over.<\/p>\n
Z and the others had already moved on. The soldiers spread out. I spotted one of them leaping to catch a Butthead in the chest with his suspensor panel. The moment purple sparks erupted from the alien, he shot it in the head.<\/p>\n
I ran after him, but he had already disappeared behind the cabins. From somewhere distant, I heard Lt. Z cry, \u201cGood job! Now let\u2019s take the fight to them!\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time I reached the path to the Butthead compound, I spotted the last of the soldiers disappearing into the trees. I pursued them, not knowing or caring what I\u2019d do when I caught up. I had to stop it\u2014had to throw myself at the mercy of Lt. Z and the Buttheads and beg them to give up the fight. It couldn\u2019t be allowed.<\/p>\n
I heard gunshots before I was even half way to the compound. I was already too late, but I kept running. Before I reached the camp, I found two Buttheads lying in the path, one with a hole in its head, the other with a slash wound from its stomach to its chest. I jumped over them and continued on.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the slaughter that stopped me. When I reached the camp, Lt. Z and his soldiers were shooting and slashing at everything that moved. But what truly froze my blood and rooted me in place was the reaction of the aliens. Some of them continued to walk along their way as if nothing were happening. Some stopped to watch the massacre as if they were watching a sunrise. In the midst of the chaos, one Butthead raised his hands above his head and began singing \u201cI Left My Heart in San Francisco.\u201d He was only four lines into the song when Lt. Z slammed his suspensor panel against the left side of his head and thrust his knife into the right. The song ended on a long drawn out \u201caaaaaaa\u2026\u201d sound.<\/p>\n
I fell to my knees, then on my face. I didn\u2019t save anyone, and nobody cared. I lay there, inhaling the dust and weeds, and I didn\u2019t wince when I heard gun shots.<\/p>\n
Nobody bothered to put me back under house arrest. I was left there on the ground, a forgotten casualty of the Alliance\u2019s first great victory against the enemy.<\/p>\n
When I grew weary of my place in the weeds, I got up and wandered into the forest, heedless of my lack of the yellow shrub, heedless of the thick foliage that blocked my way. I wandered through brambles that scratched me and tore my clothes until I found an animal trail. I was aimless, but I continuously moved higher, until even in my confusion, I knew where I was going. Anger took hold in some corner of my chest and spread like a fire until I was shaking with rage when I reached the WOB\u2019s cave.<\/p>\n
He sat at his usual perch on the cliff\u2019s edge, staring out at the lake. I grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him backward, not knowing what I\u2019d do or why. He stared up at me with those alien eyes, and my fist came down like a wrecking ball. I punched and punched, shouting inane half words and half sentences. \u201cDo you like that view?\u201d I cried. \u201cDoes that stupid lake do it for you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t stop until one of his eyes was swollen shut and my fist was bloody and sore. Then I fell backwards into the dust and cried like a lost child.<\/p>\n
My crying deteriorated into shaking, infantile sobs, and those decayed into a dull numbness. I lay on my back and stared up at the churning sky. I don\u2019t know how long I lay like that. The WOB stood over me after a while, chewing his yellow root.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou learned what lies beyond the last horizon.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing,\u201d I replied. \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded. The gesture was so human, I felt the rage again in my gut, but there was nothing left inside me for it to consume.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re like dreaming children,\u201d I muttered.<\/p>\n
He cocked his head to one side.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut why did your people bring us here? Why keep us prisoner?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hissed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only suspect. I left the moment our First lost his focus, before more humans were brought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean your leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur First was fascinated by one of those humans out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was friends with the captain at the colonists\u2019 village.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sang together. Then the captain died. Perhaps our First wanted to find another human to sing with.\u201d<\/p>\n
We said nothing more. I didn\u2019t care what else he knew. I stumbled down the mountain, heedless of danger. I didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t care when I arrived at camp and saw the blood streaked grin on Lt. Z\u2019s face as he posed for a picture with the head of an alien on the end of a stick.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t care when someone cheered that they\u2019d established contact with an Alliance ship and we\u2019d all be rescued.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t care when my wife stopped me on the path and wrapped her arms around me and cried. I didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n
I walked back to the veranda at the front of the cabin and sat down in my usual seat next to the hot tub and stared out at that stinking cesspool of a lake called Exile.<\/p>\n
And I didn\u2019t care. <\/p>\n
<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After introductions were made all around, I was invited to step outside. The military \u201cgrownups\u201d needed to talk. There was another bench along the front of the office. I sat there, away from the scraggly bearded man in uniform. I watched the glowing lake below. In the late afternoon sun, it glittered like green fire. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139672,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4339\/revisions\/139672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}