Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Twenty

"Just why are you observing us? What makes us so interesting that you travel so far?" Sara asked, seizing on Kim's comment.

"Let me give you a little background to your question," Kim replied. "Most of our exploration was confined to the stars in the core. The Shelke live on the outer reaches of the core about 10,000 light years away from here. Only a few groups had ventured further out on long duration ships. It was while one group were checking out a star system about 120 light years, away that they found a strong source of radio waves. It was coming from a virtually empty corner of the galactic arm. They realised that these signals were not the random hash that some stars produce. With the strength of these signals, they knew that they must have been coming from populated star systems. They decoded the signals and began to learn about mankind. Technology being cruder then, a ship had limits to the distance it could jump, before it had to realign its navigation systems."

"Jump?" asked Sara, wanting clarification.

"Jumping is the method we use to conquer space travel, other than what we use in our in-system magnetic resonance propulsion. Imagine space as a sheet of paper and then mark two separate spots on it. If you fold the piece of paper so that the two spots line up, but aren't touching, the distance between is much shorter. The jump penetrates space or the piece of paper and travels the short distance of no space to emerge at the other spot in a faction of the time." Kim explained.

"Sounds like the explanation for hyper space."

Kim nodded. "True, we tried to give your science fiction writers a fairly accurate explanation to add to their stories."

"Don't tell me you had a hand in our film industry," Sara asked, remembering Huang's home in California.

"Let answer that later, I want to do this chronologically," Kim replied patiently, before continuing with the story. "As they jumped closer, they found that other signals were being broadcast into space, what you call television. They studied these and used it to further extend their knowledge. Once it was clear that instead of a developed civilised star system, it was all just coming from one small planet, they were amazed." Here Kim paused while taking a drink, which Sara had handed out.

"Amazed? People who can cross interstellar space are amazed at us who just made it to the moon?" snorted Kevin, through Sara.

"They were amazed at the inventiveness of such a new race, that didn't have the advantage of mind to mind communication, to use other media such as the radio spectrum. No other species uses such a method unless it is tightly beamed. You seemed content to announce your presence to all and sundry. This planet produces more coherent radiation than the biggest radio star, especially coming from the less dense arm of the galaxy. It's like sending an invitation to anyone with space capability to come and investigate. Not all are as restrained as the Shelke.

"There are other races out there?" Sara asked curiously.

"Oh sure, some are planet bound due to their physiology or technical advancement, some have limited star hopping capabilities. Then there are others, which show aggression when approached."

"About the truck, was that left there for me to find?" Sara interrupted again.

Kim laughed, "No we didn't realise at first, until the Krin were used. Let me continue about the early discovery of earth." Sara nodded; content to wait, seeing she had a partial answer.

"When the first ship arrived in system, they stopped on the moon, while they studied the languages here. Having so many made it difficult, so we took a few samples."

"Samples?" Sara asked, not liking the term or its implication.

"We took several humans up to the ship while they were sleeping to use the Krin on them. Hearing them speak with the mental imagery being broadcast as well helped our understanding. We then placed them back on earth and made them forget about it by using hypnotic trance state, similar to the method used by the glasses you found."

"It didn't work too well; otherwise all those abducted by alien stories would never have got started." Sara grinned wryly.

"Yes, some of the people we used had unusual resistance to the trace state. It's a redeeming factor in your race, some developed psychic abilities, just like you did, but with a shorter time in contact, they didn't reach your level."

"Ah! So that would explain some of the feelings I had." Sara again interrupted. "I seemed to be able to sense things that I couldn't explain."

"Just so. You all had that ability to some degree. It made our work that much harder," Kim grinned.

"Julie said she thought someone was watching her outside the restaurant after the fight as Mi Ling."

"Yes that was one of our observers, he was clumsy and was nearly caught out. He, like many others of the Shelke underestimated the acuity of your senses. Just to put your mind at rest, those thugs were human but under instructions not to do harm, if your friends refused to fight back. They were under compulsion to give themselves up to the authorities after that, and confess to the various crimes they had committed."

"I don't understand. Why set thugs onto us, even if they couldn't hurt us?" Julie asked through Sara.

"The elders wanted to see how you reacted to threats against yourselves, seeing you had the ability in those bodies to do more than just disable them. Mi Ling had lightening reflexes built in, she could have easily have killed the man holding her. It was the same with William in her body at the warehouse. Instead of killing the man with her knives, she showed uncommon restraint, even though William was angry. It showed a strength of character we hoped would override your baser instincts. We needed to show that you could be trusted to handle the power you had at your disposal, in a benign way."

"So we were manipulated all along, did you use your mind powers to make us jump as you wished?" Sara speculated.

"No, only at the end. We let you live uncontrolled lives, while we observed you. It wouldn't have been free will otherwise. The test would have been meaningless. Although I did interfere a bit with Sara at Louisville and helped push her in a direction I hoped might show another side of her." Kim looked chastened, at having to admit exerting a little mental influence.

"Maggie!" Exclaimed Sara, realising what Kim was talking about.

"Yes, I'd hoped you might meet and help her," sighed Kim, wondering if she'd ever get the story done. Humans liked doing things back to front.

"Okay I'll accept that you had good intentions. That was you I saw in Louisville wasn't it?" When Kim nodded, Sara continued. "But how did you know what would happen, and for that matter, how did know about her in the first place?" Sara asked, sensing that there was something her that she wasn't seeing.

"I'm particularly sensitive to strong emotions, even at some distance. I have to filter out the normal emotions that humanity produce. When I arrived at Louisville before you, I sensed Maggie's intense emotional need. It stood out like a beacon above the normal background level. Luckily with the aid of the Krin, I was able to locate her. When you showed up, I hoped you might divert north, when I sensed your feeling, that you were being followed. I sort of nudged your mind, so you would meet, although I hadn't planned on her being hurt. I was very pleased at the outcome, and if you still want to adopt her, we can provide the necessary paperwork."

"I felt very maternal towards her, and will adopt her as soon as Kevin decides to propose to me." Sara smiled, giving Kevin a mental poke.

Kim hugged Sara, before continuing the story. "Where was I? Oh yes, once we had a working knowledge of your language and customs, we used the Krin to mingle with humanity. Do you know how blessed you are to have music and art? It's not something the Shelke developed. We are born telepathic and learn virtually everything at once. The drive for individual endeavour is non-existent, not when anything you think, can be 'heard' by anyone. Everyone was intrigued with earth music. Samples were taken back to our people where they were devoured eagerly. That was what prompted us to try and help preserve this emerging race. We knew of the history of wars, and when nuclear power was discovered, we stepped up our efforts to prevent the chance of global annihilation that plagued many other struggling races."

"What about us? Julie, and for that matter myself, want to know if there was any influence used to have us switch sexes," Sara began.

"No none, at least not from us directly. We are hermaphrodite in nature with a predominately female body shape. So that means that you either had a predisposed acceptance to being female, possibly triggered by the Krin, or you that once sampled, you felt it more in keeping with your inner sense of identity." Kim offered.

"You mean like being transgendered? I thought that would have shown up before, instead of catching us by surprise."

"From our studies, we found that about 20 percent have gender dysphoria problems. It may not even show. It could just be a person who can show more emotions and be more nurturing than others. Sometimes not even that, it might be that a person is restless and unsure of his goals in life, but if you changed him totally into the opposite sex, then something triggers deep in the psyche, and everything falls into place."

"Wow! That sounds like what happened to us," Sara sighed, speaking both for Julie and herself. "So when we ran into you, was that another set up? Were you really assaulted by the sheriff, or was that just made up?"

"Knowing where you were headed, gave me enough time to set up the meeting. The sheriff is a paedophile, so I set him up. I allowed myself to become his victim. I used my glasses to induce a trance state, which had him believe that I had bitten his member off. I had him set up the roadblocks, so you would be aware of the danger of stopping for strangers. The accident was faked, for your benefit; I was hoping you would let your feelings for an injured person overrule the possible threat I might pose. I'm glad to say that you used compassion and wisdom in changing me to the Julie body."

"We thought it strange how calm you took it all, we did suspect that you might be one of the Shelke, especially after saying it was your uncles place we were heading for." Sara interjected.

"It was done deliberately to see your reactions first hand. We didn't know what reaction we would get, knowing you might think I was an alien. Again, you showed that you could handle it with aplomb.

"So what about the sheriff, does he just get away with it?" Kevin asked through Sara allowing his disgust to show though.

"He turned himself in, not much later, confessing to his crimes. We made sure he experienced just what he did from the victim's point of view. I don't think he'll ever forget what he did."

"Good." Kevin’s anger flowed away, knowing justice had been served.

What about the truck? You said you were going to explain that," asked William, going off at a tangent.

"When my birth parents left, to organise the defence against the threat in the home systems, they intended to destroy the truck, as it was an old model anyway. We didn't know about its survival till it went through its first exchange. By that time, the ship was too far away and in n-space. We can detect the use of the truck, but not who is using it. We assumed mistakenly that one had decided to remain here, and was using the truck. Once you discovered the Krin, we had partial access to your thoughts."

"Only partial?"

"The telepathic abilities triggered by the Krin were very weak at that stage. It's become much stronger since then. You have undisciplined minds and don't know how to keep your thoughts from being splattered everywhere. The Shelke learn to keep their thoughts tight and direct them to the one they want to communicate with."

So you knew we were coming when we checked out your houses." Sara mused, thinking of the freshly stocked refrigerators.

"Yes that was my idea, I wanted you to think, about the possibilities that maybe all the Shelke hadn't left. I didn't want to panic you with a full confrontation. I wanted to see if you could adjust, to see if our work in the film and printed media had had a positive effect." We had hoped that saturating the film industry with films dealing with aliens on a friendly basis, might inure the populace from falling into a fear driven shock of a real meeting with us."

"Hmmm, so are George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, really Shelke?"

Kim looked at the two and laughed. She hugged herself, trying to contain her giggles, before managing to speak.

"I wish no, but we do have people closely associated with them, that whisper in their ear, so to speak." Kim finally got out.

"Ah! Pillow talk huh?"

Kim laughed again, neither confirming nor denying.

"Talking of films, what do the Shelke look like?" Sara asked. "Are they like the aliens in Close Encounters, or maybe the Ewoks in Star Wars?" she grinned.

"Neither actually, well... Close Encounters came closest," she smiled. We are bipedal like you, a bit taller with hairless bodies that have a greyish tinge to it, and binocular vision that sees further into the infrared and ultra violet spectrum. We don't have ears, although we can pick up some vibrations, unless we take on a form that has ears."

"Didn't you say that music was a hit with you? I don't see how that could be if you don't have ears." Sara argued.

"Imagine if you will, a car that holds thousands of Shelke, and then change them to humans or Pharrisian's, another race with keen auditory senses. We have the means to do this. Our race flock to venues featuring a body change to enable them to listen to music that came from thousands of light years away. Once heard, they can relay it to others mind to mind."

They fell silent them, thinking of the impact music might have on a civilisation without it. Kim got up and stretched her arms, knowing that the explanation was mostly finished. She hoped that the next bit wouldn't be too much of a challenge when she told them what the Shelke proposed to do next.

A knock on the door heralded the arrival of lunch. The minds of William and Julie decided food was a good idea too, so they broke away from the nexus to return to their respective bodies. Kevin and Sara did the same, as the smell of hot food made their stomachs rumble. Kim dismissed the waiter who had brought the food in, and started uncovering the dishes.

"Hamburgers?" laughed Sara, who was expecting something else entirely.

"Hey, nothing wrong with hamburgers," Kevin said eagerly, reaching to get one.

"These are the best burgers around," grinned Kim, grabbing a burger for herself.

Sara had to agree that they looked great. Seeing the huge buns with a meat patty nearly  ¾ of an inch thick, with lettuce and tomato. Sara took one of the smaller burgers with cheese on it, while Kevin grabbed the one with the works, fried onions, egg and bacon, plus cheese and the salad. In a short time, only the quiet sound of three mouths chewing, interspersed with appreciative moans, could be heard. Sara grinned as she saw the juices escaping Kevin's monster, running both down his face and through his fingers, as he struggled to hold the giant burger together. Sara and Kim tried to eat more elegantly, but soon gave that up as a lost cause, and just got stuck in. Using the napkins supplied, they wiped their sticky sauce covered fingers, and wiped their faces, before relaxing back against the couch. Kevin opened a can of beer, while the girl's stuck to sodas, washing the food down with relish.

Before Kevin and Sara went back into their nexus, to allow their friends to join, Sara asked a question.

"Seeing we passed your test, I take it, that there's a particular reason for it. It can't be just about being responsible about the use of the car or the Krin. You could still erase that from our memories and take them back." She said shrewdly. "You want us to keep those for some purpose that you haven't told us yet. What are you hiding Kim?"

"Well, I'd hoped I didn't have to tell you this, but you may hold the key to your planet's survival," Kim revealed, reluctantly.

To be continued.

  

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