Touched by an Alien

murdering an innocent person.”
    “But they aren’t people any more.”
    “Yes, well, the thing is, if the parasite isn’t active, or, rather, if you can’t see them as a superbeing, then when they die, you still can’t. And,” he added, “the parasite can escape and reestablish itself with someone else. The parasite has to be killed, and it can only be killed while the entity is in superbeing form or if it’s separated from any host.”
    I thought about this for a bit. “But you all told me the human forms could be killed only if the parasite allowed it.”
    “Yes. But let’s use Yates as an example. He turns back into a human, is totally confused about why he’s standing in the middle of the tarmac. You go to kill him. Maybe the parasite decides it would rather join with you—Yates is old, you seem more compatible, Yates is able to come back to human too well, whatever the reason. So the parasite does let you kill Yates. And then it moves to you.”
    “So you’d kill me and the parasite, too.” I didn’t like this plan, but it seemed logical.
    “Right. Only, do you really think we could?”
    I considered this. I knew he wasn’t asking if I thought they were capable. “I don’t know.”
    “I don’t think we could. We know you.”
    “Well, yes, but I could see someone, say, Christopher, managing to get past that and do me in anyway. And,” I had to admit, “it would be the right thing to do.”
    “Maybe. I don’t want to be in the position to have to find out—with you or anyone else we work with. Besides, we need the bodies in their superbeing forms, for study, for proof. If we kill Yates, we’re murdering terrorists. If we kill Mephistopheles, we’re heroes.”
    “Fine line. And hard to do if he’s invulnerable no matter what.”
    “He’s vulnerable, we just have to figure out where the parasite is inside him. It’s harder than you’d think.”
    “Not in the torso or head.”
    “Could be, though. You have to hit the spot exactly. It’s why tanks and heavy artillery work well—they have a more likely chance of hitting the area when they’re hitting the entire being.”
    “So why didn’t anyone call in the military? I mean, there was a huge monster stomping around JFK. I can’t understand why the entire police force wasn’t called in.”
    Reader sighed. “We monitor all of this kind of activity from the Science Center and from our other bases. The moment we can spot the superbeing showing up, we alter all media. No one sees it, so no one reacts to it.”
    “How many bases are there?”
    “We have them dotted all over the world. The most active one outside of those in the U.S is Euro Base, located in Paris, but there are several on each continent. We have a lot of bases spread over the U.S. Gate technology lets us get around, and, of course, there are gates in every airport the world over, even the tiny, obscure ones.”
    “That’s fine, but speaking of that, what about the people there, in the airport? What do they think happened?”
    Reader seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Well, that’s complicated.”
    Again with the complicated. “Because it’s the mind-control thing Martini mentioned to me, right?”
    “Yeah,” Reader sounded relieved. “It’s complicated to explain, though,” he reiterated, in case I’d missed it the first time. I wanted to ask if “complicated” was Reader’s code word for “I’d rather not say,” but I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he replied that the answer to that would again be complicated.
    Decided to find out. “James, what’s with all the complicated? It’s like your code word.”
    “You’re good.” He sounded impressed. “Complicated means classified. As in, civilians don’t get to know this.”
    “So, why are you telling me? Or, conversely, why don’t you want to tell me?”
    “I have no problem giving you what I have, girlfriend. I’m just not sure I’m supposed to. Besides, the mind stuff really is complicated as well as classified.”
    “So Martini told me, at least the complicated part. Feel free to take a stab at it. Who could I tell that would believe any of this anyway?” Other than Chuckie, though I didn’t say that for a variety of reasons, not wanting them to snatch him and do God knew what to him being one of the stronger ones.
    I felt Martini’s arm tighten around me. “I’ll do it,” he said drowsily. “Just cuddle up here.”
    “My mother is snoozing right across from us,”