Chapter 8: Chapter 08 – Lifting Weights

CARTER

“What other questions do you have for me?” Allison asked. “I only rarely get to discuss my true nature with other sapients. I’ve loved discussing it with you.”

“Same here,” Carter assured her. “So... shapeshifter.” He turned that over in his mind for moment. “And other aliens are shapeshifters like you?”

“All have methods to disguise themselves,” Allison agreed. “But they’re not like me.”

“You’re special?”

“I am... not supposed to be here.” She bit her lip in the cutest way possible.

Carter connected her hesitant statement with the encounter from the Subway last night. “That dickbag who was looking for you last night was actually a Man in Black?”

“A what?”

“A bunch of secret government agents who hunt down aliens on earth.” That was what the movie had been about, though he’d seen it years ago.

“He was not an agent of your government, nor was he human,” Allison assured him. “The being you encountered last night was a Tharon bounty hunter.”

“Wow,” Carter said. “Another alien?”

“When I realized he would search your restaurant, I used the last of my reconfiguration energy to assume this form and donned the spare uniform I discovered in the back. I also browsed your duty roster to ensure I knew who I would be working with.”

“Which is how you snagged my last name,” Carter agreed. “Smart.”

“Thank you. I knew anyone the hunter found hiding in the back would be detained, but aliens who visit Earth are forbidden, by interstellar law, from harming or detaining humans who are unaware of our presence. So I made myself appear as a human worker who was present in the Subway before he arrived.”

Carter understood now. “You tipped that lettuce bin on purpose.”

“I needed to give you some warning I was about to emerge.”

“So I wouldn’t freak out when I saw Allison the smoking hot redhead walk out of my prep room after spilling lettuce on the floor.”

She smiled again. “You find me smoking hot?”

He gave her another squeeze. “Like you have to ask. But still... that guy looked human. Big for a human, mind you, but still human. Tharons can shapeshift too?”

“No, however, they can make others perceive them as something other than what they are through mental manipulation. A decent translation is ‘mindmasking’. It is a much stronger use of the technique I used to make you think you were dreaming last night. Unlike me, they have no moral qualms about using on humans. They see it as protecting you from yourselves.”

“Right, okay.” Carter considered that. “So he was an alien the whole time, but I saw a human. So... Tharons are fans of Earth movies?”

“The illusion is as much you as them. While I have never seen these men in black, you have, and so your mind, compelled by the Tharon, conjured an image from your memories that fit his goals. In this case, an authority figure you feared. And yes, he was hunting for me.”

Carter wanted to hesitate before asking his next question, but she’d been so open about everything he figured he could. “So why was he hunting you?”

“Because I am currently a fugitive from interstellar law.”

This sounded almost exactly like his current predicament, though... on a much larger scale. “What happens if they catch you?”

“That will not happen. You need not worry about it.”

“I am worried about it, Allison, because I...” He hesitated. “I don’t want you to get caught. By anyone.”

She smiled again, a warm smile that made him want to confess everything to her.

“Also, I’m kind of like you,” he added. “I sympathize more than a little bit.”

“You are also a shapeshifting alien from another planet?”

“I’m a fugitive,” Carter said, and then clammed up. Shit. Did I really just say that?

Allison stared at him with new empathy. “You are being hunted? By whom?”

“No on here in Pennsylvania, but... back in Texas.” Now that he’d admitted his fugitive status, holding back seemed rather unnecessary. “The people hunting me back there can’t come after me here, unless they send the FBI. Or the US marshals.”

“I don’t know much about your human law enforcers. Are these marshals dangerous?”

“No. Yes. Maybe, if I tried to resist, but they’re like these Tharons you mentioned. They still want to take me in alive, and they’re very good at what they do.”

“Like Tharons,” Allison agreed. “They do not intend to hurt us, nor would they intentionally do so. Yet they still intend to capture us and return us to our cage.”

Carter involuntarily gripped her tighter. “You’re an escaped slave?”

She frowned as if annoyed with herself. “No. I misspoke, and I do not wish to trivialize the plight of others. I was not in a literal cage. It simply felt that way.”

That was a relief. “So what was it?”

“I was compelled to accept a partnership I did not wish to accept.”

“So… like an arranged marriage?”

“Similar in many ways. My kind have no planet to return to, and while we can purchase manufactured nourishment to sustain us, it is expensive and unpleasant. Fortunately, my species can configure themselves to become compatible with any other species. Thus, we often turn to compatible aliens for the donations necessary to sustain us.”

 They were now circling back to the bizarre subject Carter had been desperately trying to set aside and couldn’t any longer. “Donations. Like... what we did last night?”

“My species thrives primarily upon fluids, and one fluid highly compatible with our biology is genetic material. In your human words, cum. That combined with our ability to take on any form that pleases our partners leaves us highly coveted as companions.”

“But it’s all consensual.”

“We would not allow it to occur any other way,” Allison assured him. “Under normal circumstances we choose our partners, and we can easily defend ourselves if needed. If any being tried to force itself upon me, they would regret it.”

“Which would serve them right.”

She smiled. “After traveling the galaxy in a search for prospective partners, and after reviewing a number of candidates, most of us enter into arrangements in good faith and take a partner we find tolerable or even pleasant. I, unfortunately, was not so lucky. Under duress, I was forced to sign a contract with a partner I did not favor.”

“I hate this,” Carter said quietly.

Her brow furrowed as she blinked uncertainly. “You do?”

“I hate that this happened to you,” he clarified immediately. “No one deserves to be stuck with someone they don’t want to be with.”

Her warm smile returned. “I appreciate your sympathy, but I really am all right. Unfortunately, while I have made it clear I now wish to dissolve the partnership, both sides must agree to terminate a contract under interstellar law. My partner will not do so.”

Just like with Jenna. “That bastard won’t sign the divorce papers.”

“And so I am hunted until the being with whom I was forced to partner also agrees to terminate our contract, which they will not.”

“And you ended your unwanted partnership by...”

“Fleeing the planet.”

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Their stories really were similar. The biggest difference was that she was an alien, and also, she’d fled across a vast interstellar distance instead of the state line. Still... similar.

“Will this being hurt you?” Carter asked. “If they find you?” She hadn’t assigned a gender to her coercive partner, so who knew what they were?

“No,” Allison assured him. “Physical violence is not common among uplifted and spacefaring species, though it does occur. Species do not generally accumulate the resources for interstellar travel without first developing enough resources to eliminate competition at home, and without resource competition, the conflicts of races fade over time.”

Carter felt a fresh hint of unease. “Yeah, I can see why humans aren’t uplifted yet.”

What would Allison think if she knew the truth? If violence really was this horrible thing among aliens like her? Before she’d moved that fork, he’d been worried she was suffering from delusions. Now... he was worried she’d ask more about what happened in Texas.

“Carter.” She touched his chin. “Something bothers you.”

That caught him off guard. “You can tell that because you’re telepathic?”

“No, it’s the way your features tighten and the tension in your shoulders.” Allison hopped off his lap and sat beside him on the couch, then gently took his hand in hers. It was the kindest thing Carter could remember anyone doing for him in six months.

“I felt guilty for how I entered your mind last night,” Allison said. “It was only a surface touch, and I kept my mind closed to anything save my desire to make you dream, but it was still done without your consent. With my species, mental invasion is a serious violation of trust. So unless you specifically invite me into your mind, I won’t ever be there.”

“Oh,” Carter said. “Well, I don’t feel you did that at all. So don’t worry.”

“I did worry.” She gave his hand another comforting squeeze. “I don’t now. But you are worried. About the Tharons? They can’t find us here.”

Carter shook his head.

“About me?” She leaned closer. “No, it’s not about me at all. It should be, but it’s not. This has to do with why you fled as I have.” She tilted her head. “You do not have to share your trauma with me now, but if you wish to share, know that I won’t judge.”

“You might. I’m human, remember?”

He had been alone for six months in this apartment with no one to talk to about everything that happened back in Texas. Everything he did. He really was considering talking to her now, despite knowing the truth might change her opinion of him.

“I’ve met many kind humans,” Allison assured him. “And you feel guilt. For what?”

“For...” He hesitated again. “You sure you want to hear this? I feel like I’m just dumping problems on you when you’ve got plenty of your own. This is my weight to carry.”

“Perhaps it will be less heavy after you share it with me.” Her light green eyes held his, and her gaze was so warm and trusting it almost made him kiss her again. “I do not require you to reveal whatever bothers you to me. I already trust you implicitly. I simply can see that what you’re concealing pains you, and I don’t want you to be in pain.”

She really did look to mean that, but he didn’t understand it. “Why do you trust me?”

“Even had my surface touch of your mind not assured me of your good intentions, your actions to protect me since we met most certainly have. You have considered my welfare in every moment we have been together. You are not a cruel or violent person, at least... not without cause.” She paused. “Did someone gave you cause?”

If she wasn’t actually reading his mind, it sure seemed like it. “He did, actually.”

“So you hurt this person. And you feel guilt over doing so.”

Even if she wasn’t actually being telepathic, she remained insightful enough it gave him the chills. She knew she meant to help, but still... she was way too good at figuring out what he was thinking. So what was he thinking?

“Was this conflict unavoidable?” Allison asked.

“I sure as hell didn’t think so. Honestly, the guy was such as piece of shit it shouldn’t even bother me, but it does. Somehow.”

“Violence does not come naturally to you or any human,” Allison said. “Some believe your species to be innately violent, but I’ve never agreed. Competition for resources on your planet has always been strong and grows worse every day. So while you would naturally cooperate, you are forced to fight others of your kind simply to survive. That’s tragic.”

“You really think that?”

“I read a number of published studies on your planet before I decided to travel here and blend in with the local population. So I am aware.” She watched him. “Now, this human that you hurt. Was he a threat to you? To your family?”

“To my sister,” Carter said quietly. “I’m pretty sure he was going to kill her.”

“Pretty sure, or certain?”

Carter grimaced. “Certain. The fucker had already put her in the hospital three times, the last time so bad he broke her jaw. Even at my age, I’d seen enough cases of entitled assholes beating on their wives that I knew what would happen if it kept up.”

“Spousal abuse.” Allison frowned. “And your government would not intervene?”

“Jenna finally got a restraining order and the police ordered her dickbag husband to stay away, but he owned a lot of guns and went absolutely apeshit after he got served the divorce papers. I figured the only way they’d actually throw the fucker in prison was after he shot her, assuming he didn’t shoot himself right after, so I... decided to save him the trouble.”

“You killed him?” She asked the question with visible judgment.

Carter hesitated only a moment. “I planned to. I meant to. I came damn close.”

“So you defeated him in battle but spared his life.”

“I mean, if you consider leaving that fucker in a coma after paralyzing him from the waist down, then yeah, I spared his life.” Carter grimaced. “He can’t hurt Jenna anymore.”

“So you fought this man to protect your sister,” Allison said quietly. “Good.”

Carter blinked at her. “How can you say that?”

“It sounds to me as if you found yourself with no other way to protect your sibling,” Allison said simply. “Not all societies have the benefit of millennia to develop the necessary social and government structures to protect the vulnerable. If your local government would not intervene, and this human was growing increasingly violent, statistics suggest he would eventually kill your sister and then himself. Your actions likely saved her life.”

“You really think so?”

“The frequency with which such events occur is one of many disturbing statistics I came across while researching your species. Yet despite your protective intentions, you still attacked this man first. Your authorities judged your actions aggressive, not defensive.”

“That’s right,” Carter agreed softly. “We’re pretty fucked up that way.”

“Not all of you,” Allison reminded him. “Thank you for sharing this with me. I know we’ve only just met, but it melts me that you would trust me with this secret.”

“It... melts you?”

She abruptly blushed bright red. “That was a slip up. A language error. I was so warmed by your honesty I ceased concentrating on translating to English.”

He grinned at her. “That sound likes a pretty good mental translation to me.”

Allison’s next smile was almost shy. “Perhaps it was. It is how I felt. How I still feel.”

Carter hadn’t expected to feel lighter after revealing the secret he’d hidden since fleeing Texas, but he did feel different. Somehow. He didn’t feel anything like he’d expected, and while he didn’t feel like he’d absolved himself, he did feel more comfortable. With her.

“What you’ve told me does not change my opinion of you,” Allison assured him. “In fact, it bolsters it. Last night, you protected me as you protected Jenna. However, I also understand that because you are who you are, you will always carry the weight of knowing you intended to kill another human being. Even if you did not succeed, you tried.”

That was it. That was what he couldn’t let go. How could she just know that?

“I also know one moment of violence, especially in such circumstances, does not define you,” she added. “Your sister is very lucky to have you.”

“Wow,” Carter managed. “That’s just... wow. I didn’t expect you to say all that.” He watched her with new appreciation. “You’d make a pretty good therapist.”

She squeezed his hand again. “Listening is something I can always do.”

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