Touched by an Alien

and started eating, while Martini gave the others a very high-level and abbreviated version of last night. He left out any form of innuendo, but I had a good view of Christopher’s expression, and it was clear from the glaring he’d made the same assumptions as my parents. Either that or the room wasn’t soundproof, and the whole compound was aware that Martini had introduced me to the Alpha Centaurion Love Knot.
    Gower waited until Martini finished. Then he leaned forward so I could see his face clearly. “I’d like the full details from you. But it’ll be easier if I’m touching your head. Are you all right with that?”
    “Sure.” I didn’t have makeup on and my hair was in a ponytail, so no big deal.
    Gower got up and moved behind me. He put both palms flat against the sides of my head. “Go on. Tell us about it, but I’d like you to try to see it in your mind as well.”
    “No worries.” I couldn’t get the images out of my head any time I thought about them. I went through the whole dream again, and it was just as horrible as reliving it for my parents had been. I ended up closing my eyes because that way I had a better chance of not crying.
    I repeated everything, including what Christopher said before I killed him and Mephistopheles’ closing line. Then I stopped and tried to clear my mind so Gower would get the hint.
    He took his hands away slowly, massaging my temples as he did so. Some of the horror dissipated. “Rub her neck,” he said quietly to Martini. “Base of the skull in particular.”
    Martini’s hand slid up my back to my neck. I managed not to arch into him, but it required effort. His ministrations relaxed me, and I was able to open my eyes safely.
    To see Christopher looking at me with a mixture of anger and hurt in his expression. It was different from being glared at, but still unsettling.
    “I don’t actually want to kill you,” I told him. Mostly, I added to myself to remain somewhat truthful.
    “Paul, what do you think?” White asked.
    Gower sat down. “I’d like to hear what Kitty thinks, first.” He sounded guarded.
    “I’ve got nothing, other than I’m scared by Mephistopheles. A lot.”
    “But it’s Yates you should be afraid of,” Reader said thoughtfully. “He’s the one who tried to replace you with a robot.”
    “Maybe she’s not afraid of him because she didn’t interact with him,” Mom suggested.
    I felt something tickling inside my brain, but not enough to form an idea yet.
    “Or it could be she just figures her mother will handle it,” Dad said with some pride. I noted his arm was around the back of Mom’s chair. Not unusual, but rare for them in a group situation. I got the impression he was jealous of Christopher.
    “Maybe it’s just a nightmare,” White suggested. “People do get them.”
    Gower shook his head. “Come on, Richard. All dreams mean something, you know that.”
    “James, what do you think?” I asked. The tickling in my brain got more intense.
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. I just want to hear what you think about all this. You were the only human besides me who was there. Mom doesn’t count because she was unaware of the aliens or superbeings before the incident at JFK.” My conscious mind wasn’t where this was coming from.
    “Okay. I don’t think Yates is real to you because you’ve never met him.”
    “But I have, in a sense. He’s as much a part of Mephistopheles as Mephistopheles is of Yates.” Almost there.
    “But Yates doesn’t know he’s a part of Mephistopheles,” Christopher said, sounding exasperated. “We told you that last night.”
    And there it was, another epiphany. Alien sex was great for my mental processes. “That’s it. I think there are two plans.”
    “Well, we know Yates has a plan.” Mom said patiently. “It would make sense that Mephistopheles would be a part of it.”
    “No, I mean two different plans, planned by two different beings who don’t know their plans intersect. As Christopher mentioned, you all told me an in-control superbeing’s brain is split, and the human brain doesn’t know it’s part of an alien hybrid. Well, maybe the parasitic brain doesn’t know, either. Yates has his plan, and it’s terrorism-based. That’s why he wants to kill my mother. But Mephistopheles has a different plan.”
    “What plan would that be?” White asked carefully.
    I closed my eyes and thought about it. “In my dream, Mephistopheles’ parasite moved to me, but he