Touched by an Alien

Christopher milled about outside the car. I couldn’t tell what they were doing, though Gower seemed to be getting Mom’s luggage out of the trunk.
    “The bathroom,” Mom said finally. “Unreal.”
    “But effective. We’re going to use the men’s, I’m sure. I don’t think Martini wants us separated.”
    “That’s clear. But, you know, choose your husband carefully.”
    “Mom, this isn’t the time or the place. Besides, I meant he wouldn’t want us splitting up because it’d leave the two of us exposed.” I thought about what she’d just said. “What’s wrong with him?”
    “Other than the fact that he’s known you less than a day and wants to marry you? And is, from what they’ve said, an alien? Oh, gee, nothing.”
    “He’s an empath. I think that makes him more emotionally committed.” I had no idea why I was defending Martini all of a sudden. “And Reader says they make great mates.”
    “James and Paul may have a wonderful relationship, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have the same.”
    “How’d you know about them?” I’d been with them for hours and it took seeing them holding hands for me to catch on. Mom’s with them an hour and knows their life story.
    She shrugged. “You get trained to spot things like this.”
    “In the Mossad?”
    “Among other places, yes. Let’s get past that, shall we?”
    “I guess. He’s really handsome. And he’s funny.”
    “No argument. They’re all handsome. Looks aren’t everything. Your father was the best looking man I’d ever seen when we met, but I didn’t marry him because he was a hunk. I married him because of the kind of man he was, because of how he treated me and cared for and about me.”
    “Fine. Well, Martini’s doing a lot of caring.”
    “Just don’t make a decision based on how someone acts for one stressful day.”
    There was more to it, I could tell, but I decided not to argue with her. “Fine, no final mating decisions will be made tonight.”
    “Good.”
    “So, Dad really doesn’t know what you do?”
    She sighed. “He knows, to a certain extent. What he understands is that much of my work is classified, and information filters on a need to know basis. He doesn’t need to know, so he doesn’t ask. He knows I’ll tell him when he does need to know. He’s fine with that.” She gave me the hairy eyeball. “I expect you to be fine with that, too.”
    “I suppose.” At the moment, what choice did I have, anyway? “I’m sure it’s all complicated.”
    “True enough.” Mom looked around. “What’s taking them so long?”
    “I have no idea.”
    Martini stuck his head into the car. “We’re making sure we’ve got the airport cleared, just in case.” He grinned at our shocked looks. “Empath, remember? I can pick up the mutual impatience.” He looked straight at Mom. “And I care about her a lot more than you think I do.” Then he went back to the other men.
    “Well, it’d be hard to fool him, I’ll say that,” Mom said quietly.
    “Unlike Dad?”
    She rolled her eyes at me. “As I said, Dad knows more than you think he does.”
    “But not everything.”
    She gave me a slow smile. “No man should know everything about his wife. There’s no mystery then. And mystery is good for a long-lasting relationship.”
    Words of wisdom from The Mossad Mother. I guessed I’d just accept it and argue with her later. Martini was too close by to deal with all this now.
    “I think they have two hearts,” I said to fill the silence.
    Mom looked thoughtful. “I guess that would explain the speed.”
    “Did you get the whiz tour with Christopher?”
    “Yes, to get outside onto the tarmac. It was interesting.”
    “Did you black out?”
    She smiled. “No, he said he went slowly.”
    “Yeah, Martini did that with me the first time, too. Regular speed for them is pretty hard to take.”
    “I’ll bet it is. Alpha Centauri, huh?” She still looked thoughtful, not freaked out.
    “Is this just another day at work for you?”
    “In a way. You get used to having your world turned upside down in my line of work.” Mom sighed. “I keep on planning to retire, but then something happens, and you realize it’s not just your family you have to protect. Sometimes you really do have to save the whole world.”
    I could relate to this, far too well after today’s events. “The supposed terrorist I killed sprouted wings and shot knives or something worse out of them. It was horrible.”
    “And you