by Miranda Hawkins
I awoke in a place that had been in my nightmares ever since my first abduction. It was quiet and dark except for a few thin shafts of greyish light which strained through a ventilation grill in the ceiling. Suddenly, I heard footsteps, and as they came closer my fear began to mount. Memories of what these creatures had done to me before were still fresh in my horrified mind. But instead of entering my cell they stopped right outside, and I could faintly hear two voices arguing heatedly. Even though my fear was devouring me, I almost had to laugh. Were the aliens really that ignorant? Did they think I couldn't understand their words? Perhaps they knew less than I had assumed about my people's technology and therefore had no knowledge of the translator which had been installed within my inner-ear at birth. Listening closely as the agitated conversation filtered through the door, I attempted to get a better grasp of who these aliens were and what they wanted. One of the two had a soft, calm voice and seemed very nervous with the whole confrontation, while the other, harsh and commanding, sounded as if he'd spent his whole life shouting at someone.
"We picked this one up last night," the soft-one said, with what sounded like weariness in his voice. "Our probes had been looking for her for almost two weeks. With the tracking device it shouldn't have taken us that long."
"What was the delay?!" the harsh-one questioned with more volume than was necessary.
The soft-one must have thought so, too, because his voice grew even more quiet. He seemed to be trying to calm the other down, without much success.
"Well. . . it seems she was attempting to escape further detection by relocating herself to a different continent upon her world."
Well, he was right about something, anyway.
"Are you telling me that the process we've been using to erase these thing's minds isn't working?!" the harsh-one bellowed, his grating voice rising another decibel.
"Well. . . uh. . . it could just be coincidence, but it's likely, yes." He paused, letting the idea sink in before he went on. "Perhaps it would be best to ease up on these experiments for awhile?" His voice began to cringe. "I. . . I mean. . . well, some of our citizens are starting to ask uncomfortable questions as it is, maybe we could just. . . "
"No!" the other shouted, sounding completely out of control. "That's completely out of the question!"
"Well. . . uh. . . then perhaps there's some other way. I mean, after all, there was a time not so long ago when the tables were turned, so to speak, and. . . "
"That time is long past!" the harsh-one roared. "We destroyed those who sought to harm our kind and the government has to make sure that it never happens again! This is how we do things, so get it straight, or pay the price!" Suddenly his voice got very cold and it sent chills down my spine. "You know what has to be done when the mind-erasing procedure doesn't work. You have your orders. Now. . . do it!"
When one set of footsteps walked away I relaxed slightly and let out a small sigh of relief, but it was quickly cut short when the other set didn't follow. Perhaps I wouldn't be going home as soon as I thought. I began to tremble as the series of beeps associated with the unlocking of doors in this alien society echoed through my cell. As the door slowly slid sideways into the wall I backed myself as far as possible into the most shadowed corner. The alien, vaguely male in form, stepped inside and the door slid closed behind him. I could feel his eyes searching for me in the darkness and as he stepped forward into the cool, grey light that sifted down from above, I prayed that he was not the harsh-voiced one. His pale face was long and severe, but when he saw my fear the hard look dissolved and was replaced by something I could only presume was a small smile. Then he began to talk, and I sighed silently as his voice came out soft and steady.
"I wish there was something I could say that would ease what you must be feeling right now, but I don't have the right words and even if I did you wouldn't understand. Well, anyway, I guess I just need someone to talk to who won't accuse me of treason. When we first started collecting specimens it seemed to me like the logical thing to do, but then things got out of hand and now there's nothing I can do to stop what's being done."
As he talked he got down on his knees and unclasped a dark metallic case he'd carried in with him. Next, he pulled out something that looked like an under-sized syringe.
"Many thousands of years ago," the soft-one continued, "my people were nearly destroyed by a superior race from the stars. We fought back and barely won; it was that war which forever changed the people of my world. While most were concerned with preparation for the next time, there were others with tremendous power who decided that there wasn't going to be a next time. Never again would an alien race take advantage of us. . . but as I said, things got out of hand and now. . . well, everything is different."
He jabbed the syringe into a bottle of bright blue liquid and drew out just enough to fill it; then he stood and walked over to where I was cringing in the corner.
"I'm truly sorry it has to be this way, but I'm just a scientist and any power I might have had was destroyed when the military took over. Please try to understand. . . I'd help if I could."
Then he pulled a black rectangular box out of his breast pocket and spoke into it, saying, "Dr. Gary Markham recording. Let it be acknowledged that one adult alien female, species number 42806, was exterminated due to failure of memory erasure experimentation on April 3rd, 2147 C.E. Time is 0900. Place is Nellis military installation, Area 51."
He didn't say any more as he slid the small box back into it's place. Sorrowfully I gazed into eyes that refused to meet my own; then he reached down and plunged the needle into my upper arm. As the poison started to take effect pain racked my body and the alien I had considered my enemy, knelt down, drawing me gently into his arms. Through my increasing agony I felt drops of something warm and wet splash down, caressing my face and upon looking up, I realized that the alien was crying. Pain encompassed my mind and crying out in fear I begged for my life to be over. Tightening his hold on my small form, the soft-voiced alien held me closer, his strong grip strangely comforting.
"Forgive me," he whispered sadly, his pale face bathed in tears.
And somehow knowing that he would not reveal my people's secret, I whispered back, " I do," and as his eyes grew wide, mine closed forever.
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