Touched by an Alien

they move can’t be seen by human eyes. They also move faster than film, video, or digital can catch. But in such a way that they don’t create any more disturbance than if they were just strolling.”
    “Okay, I’ll buy that. So, how did you show up where I was?” I asked Martini.
    “We monitor any unusual activity. To you, it seemed like just a few seconds, maybe a minute or so, from the point the fender bender happened until you killed the superbeing. But that was enough time for me to spot the change in his body chemistry, get to a transference machine, get to the airport in your town, and get to you in time to save the day.”
    I let the last comment pass. “So you’ve got a transference machine in, what, every major airport?”
    “Every airport around the world,” Reader said. “It’s pretty impressive.”
    “Where are they hidden?”
    “Restrooms, mostly,” Martini answered. “You’d be amazed at how easy it is to just appear in a stall and go out. No one ever notices.”
    “You probably land in the women’s restroom.”
    He grinned. “Only when you’re in there.”
    I thought about this again. “How many miles can you run?”
    “Fifty, without breaking a sweat.” I realized he was serious.
    “You all like that?”
    “All field operatives have to be able to do twenty-five miles without a problem,” White answered.
    I looked at him. “You too?”
    “I can do fifty, just like Jeffrey and Christopher.” I got the feeling I’d insulted him. I decided he could live with that.
    “I can do two,” I offered. I mean, I had to show I wasn’t totally without skills.
    “Your mother can do twenty,” Reader said. “Damn, you’re slipping, girlfriend.”
    “My mother cannot do twenty miles.” Could she? We’d never talked about it much. She’d been thrilled I’d gone out for track, just as she had. Well, maybe when she was younger she’d done twenty miles.
    “Can, did, and does regularly,” Reader said, sounding impressed. “Geez, it took me months to get up to ten miles. I can do twenty-five now,” he added.
    “Mr. Meets-Minimum, I see.”
    Reader shrugged. “Beating your two, girlfriend. Besides, I’m the driver. They don’t drive or fly real well, as a rule.”
    “Really?”
    “Yep,” Martini confirmed. “Our reflexes are actually too fast. Every driver we have is a human operative. Even Paul has too much A-C blood to be able to drive or fly.”
    “But fast reflexes are good for flying,” I protested. “My uncle says so.”
    “Fast reflexes for a human are what you and James have,” White explained. “And all your machinery is made for humans. Believe us when we tell you that our reflexes are fast enough to destroy the machines, not handle them better.”
    “Oh, my God. Christopher took my car!” I loved that car. I took better care of it than of my apartment.
    “He took your keys. Someone else drove it,” Martini said reassuringly. “We roll with drivers at all times.”
    “He sounds so ‘street’ when he says that,” Reader said with a laugh.
    “Yeah, you’re all keepin’ it gangsta, really.” I shook my head. “Okay, so you can move fast. How do the human operatives make time, though?”
    “If we’re touching you, you move as fast as we do,” Gower said. “You wouldn’t notice it, either, even if we’re going at hyperspeed.”
    “You’d be too busy blacking out,” Reader said. “Trust me, I still do.”
    “Is that why I fainted before?”
    “Nope,” Martini said. “That was because you were overcome by my lips being so close to yours.”
    “Good to know. So, other than making my hand disappear, why are we here, exactly?”
    “Well, we were going to use the transference machine here to go to Dulce,” White answered. “But I’d prefer to wait until we know the situation with your mother is handled.”
    “Christopher won’t take her here or the Science Center, though,” Gower said. “Standard procedure is to take her to Home Base.”
    “True,” White sighed. “Okay, off to the Box, then.”
    “No. I want to see this crash site, since we’re here.” I was worried about Mom, but if I believed them, the A-Cs were taking care of her. I wanted to see the crash site as a distraction, so I could focus on it instead of on what I couldn’t do. Mom’s training, as I thought about it.
    “Fine, as long as you’re up to it,” White said.
    “Hold onto me,” Martini said, offering his hand.
    I decided not to argue. He had a