Touched by an Alien

good grip—it was clear he was holding my hand firmly but not so that he’d crush it. I had to admit, I felt better with him touching me.
    We walked forward, and then, right there, where nothing had been before, was a huge, rounded ditch. I could see where something big and heavy had landed and then skidded for a good, long way, ending up right in front of where we stood.
    I looked back. I could still see the limo and the other SUVs. “Can they still see us?”
    “Lift your top. If they react, the answer’s yes.”
    “You’re so suave. Can I let go of your hand now?”
    “It’d be better if you didn’t, and not just because I like holding your hand.” He led me around the outside of the ditch. “If you were to slip and fall, you’d get hurt, and if you fell through an open door, you’d get sent to whichever transport point you hit. Not pretty and not safe, especially under the circumstances.”
    “I don’t see anything but the ditch. I mean, at least I can see that now. But I don’t see any machinery, let alone a door, open or not.”
    “It’s cloaked.”
    “Like in the movies?”
    “Only real, yes.” Martini was fiddling with something. He seemed to be spinning a dial in the air.
    “What are you doing?”
    As I asked, he stopped fiddling with the air and then pushed at something I also couldn’t see. There was a hissing sound, like an air lock opening, and then Martini stepped onto thin air. At least, that’s what it looked like. “We call it ‘opening the door.’ Come on in,” he said, pulling me with him.
    As I stumbled over, I saw we were now in a dome made of glass and metal. Inside it were what looked like the metal detectors at the airport—doorways that go nowhere. There were dozens of them, and two particularly large ones, at the edges of the dome, opposite each other. I could also see more men who looked like the rest of the boys from Alpha Centauri in there. They were bigger and more imposing than Martini or Gower, and I got the distinct impression they were security.
    One near us nodded to Martini. “You taking a trip?”
    “Probably. Giving a tour.”
    “Enjoy.” His tone made it clear this was unlikely.
    We wandered through, with Martini nodding or speaking to most of the men there, all of whom seemed bored but completely alert at the same time. “Security checkpoint?” was all I could think of to ask.
    “Yep. This site is still active.”
    “What do you mean, active? Like radioactive?” I started to worry that I’d never have children.
    “Well, in a way, but it’s not dangerous. Residue from the Ancients’ fuel source is still here—its half-life makes your nukes seem like kiddie toys. That residue helps power our transference gates. The Ancients had a lot of technology that was far beyond ours, which means much more than yours. That’s not an insult to Earth,” he added quickly. “You’re just a younger civilization than we are. And we’re babies compared to the Ancients.”
    I felt small and very insignificant all of a sudden. “How many inhabited worlds are there?”
    “Plenty, but out our way? Not too many. We live in the boondocks, spacewise. You’re even more in the middle of nowhere than Alpha Centauri is. But we’re your closest neighbor.”
    “And like a good neighbor, Alpha Centauri is there.”
    “If the slogan fits.” He looked down at me. “It’s always hard, the first time you find out it’s true, that you’re really not alone in the universe.”
    “Why?” I wanted to cry again, but this time it wasn’t making me mad, it was making me feel like a little girl.
    Martini seemed to pick this up. He moved us into an area without a doorway to nowhere or a security guard nearby and pulled me into his arms. I didn’t protest. “It’s okay. It passes,” he said, patting my back. “It’s hard for us, too. We’re taught we’re different as soon as we’re old enough to understand it, but we don’t get the full details until we’re teenagers. It’s a shock, and we have a whole extended family to help us through it.”
    “I don’t want anything bad to happen to my parents. I don’t understand half of what’s happened, but I know everything’s changed.”
    “They’ll be fine. I promise.” He rocked me for a bit, and I tried to relax. “I could get used to this,” he said quietly. “But I think we need to get moving.”
    He let me go but still held my hand. “I think I like you better like this,” I said as we moved