Touched by an Alien

help.”
    “No. Don’t take this the wrong way, but my mother called me Chris. And asked everyone to call her Terry, though only Jeff did.” He gave a short laugh. “You’d have liked her, and she’d have loved you.”
    I felt a pang for her—so alone in this world, so clear on what her race needed to do to survive, and murdered by the person who should have helped her. I realized I had two people to avenge, not one.
    “My mom really cares about you,” I reminded him. “I think she’d be very open to, well, covering what you’d let her of the mother stuff.”
    “And here I thought she just wanted to marry me off to you.”
    “Oh, she did and probably still does.”
    “Your father prefers Jeff.”
    “Really? Sure didn’t seem like it.”
    “Trust me.”
    We sat there in silence for a few minutes, petting the cats. It was relaxing. For a few minutes. Then the memory of the creepy Mortal Kombat Crypt Isolation Chambers inserted itself in my mind, chuckling evilly.
    “Can we get out of here?”
    “You want to tour the Science Center?”
    “Been there, done that, still have no idea where I am at any given time. No, I mean get out of here.”
    He stretched. “You want to go to Pueblo Caliente?”
    “Yeah, I do. Even if it’s just to get another change of clothes.”
    “Okay. Not a surprise, by the way.”
    “Oh? I thought you weren’t empathic.”
    “I’m not, but I remember what it was like for James, the first few days. He was overwhelmed and burned out and just wanted to go home and remember what it was like to be a regular human who didn’t know aliens walked the Earth.”
    “We safe to go?”
    “Sure, I have the highest security clearance. You do too, now.”
    “I meant from a safety perspective.”
    He grinned. “I think I can catch you if you fall out of a plane.”
    “I’d rather take a gate.”
    “I call that personal growth. But I’m not carrying you through it—that’s Jeff’s jurisdiction.”
    “That’s fine. Just promise me we’ll run slowly and land in a clean men’s bathroom.”
    “Boy, are you picky.”

CHAPTER 56
    WE WENT TO MY ROOM so I could grab my purse, then strolled to the elevator banks. Still stood on opposite sides of the car from each other. No need to put ourselves into another awkward situation.
    We got to a gate, calibrations were made, and then we whooshed off to the men’s room at Saguaro International. It felt like years since I’d been here, not days. We were between flights, and the bathroom didn’t require me to act like an idiot, which was a relief, although I was a little let down. I’d prepared a great routine.
    We strolled out. “You want to take a cab?” Christopher asked me.
    “Do you guys do that? I mean, no gray car, no hyperspeed?”
    “Sometimes.”
    It was a human thing to do, and he wanted to be human. I might not be allowed to call him Chris, but I could help drag him along. “Sure. You have money?”
    He grinned. “Always.”
    We walked to the curb, and he held the door for me, but this time he climbed in next to me. I gave my address, as well as the fastest way to get there at this time of day, and we drove off.
    “You folks got no luggage?” the driver asked.
    “We’re having an affair. My husband thinks I’m out with the girls, his wife thinks he’s in Omaha.” Christopher looked at me as if I were insane.
    The cabbie nodded. “Makes sense. You live close?”
    “I live here, he lives in Vegas.”
    “Ah, Sin City. Guess you can’t meet up there, though, huh?”
    “Nope, but this works out. I use my friend’s apartment.”
    “Nice friend.”
    “She owes me.” I leaned back in the seat and patted Christopher’s leg. “Relax, honey, we finally get a few hours alone.”
    The cabbie chuckled. “Your boyfriend’s probably worried your husband’ll drive by and spot the two of you together.”
    “Yeah,” Christopher muttered.
    “I could put my head in your lap.”
    “No, not in the cab,” Christopher said quickly. He looked panicked.
    The cabbie chuckled again. “No cameras in this cab, honey. You feel free to have a good time if you want to.”
    “Thanks, but I guess we’ll wait.”
    We reached my apartment, and Christopher paid up. I made him give the cabbie a generous tip. “Good luck to you two. Hope I get your fare next time.” He drove off, still chuckling.
    “Why did you do that?” Christopher demanded as we went upstairs. “Are you crazy, is that your problem?”
    I laughed. “You