“Yes.”
We’d just gone fifteen miles in a matter of three minutes. The third time was the charm and I was beginning to lose that sense of imbalance. One more round and then we’d have to walk for five miles, attempting to go undetected in the dark.
“Last one,” Vidar warned.
He pulled me through again and we were spat out on the Northwest end of the city, a little over five miles away from the Georgetown row house John inherited from his father’s passing.
The two of us stood on the relatively empty residential street. A five foot four inch woman and a seven foot tall alien with a height difference that made me look like his kid, and made him look like a real freak of nature. Vidar and his long inhuman tail had gone unnoticed earlier, but how many “strange guy doing cosplay” incidents could crop up before someone realized that his tail was real and not just a sci-fi movie costume.
“How will we avoid detection?” Vidar asked.
His voice was slow, and deep. I could sense his exhaustion and given the last deep sleep he’d fallen into, I worried.
“I don’t know. I would go back to my apartment to get clothes but that’s the first place they would look for me.”
“True. They may even have observers watching and waiting for you.”
I hadn’t thought of that, but Vidar was right.
“I’ll try to find a clothing store but until then, you’d better stay out of sight. Most people don’t exactly walk around naked here,” I explained.
“Most people don’t have tails either,” he joked.
I wished that I could have shared his sense of humor and his cool demeanor. If he could detect my terror, he didn’t point it out to me. He was right not to do so. We both needed to focuson avoiding detection and fixating on my fears wouldn’t help one bit.
While I enjoyed the close up view of Vidar’s chiseled abs and chest, every part of his body would definitely attract attention. I kept my head down and left Vidar in an alley behind a row of houses and hoped I could come across a drug store or a corner store that would sell sweatshirts at least. The first glass-windowed store I came across had a television playing the evening news.
“Shoot out at National Security Facility draws attention of conspiracy theorists,” the headline read.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and hurried past. Most folks who were working this late wouldn’t have seen the news yet. It was clear that I had to act quickly. I found a shop that sold cheap clothing on the side of the road and luckily, had enough cash to pay for a scarf I could wrap around my head and an extra large hoodie that would hopefully fit Vidar. I got a pair of sweatpants too, but I wasn’t sure they were long enough for his legs.
I hurried back down toward the alley where I’d left him, blood pumping so hard through my chest that my terror drowned out the city noise. Vidar took the clothing from me once I returned and as he dressed he asked if I was alright.
“No. I saw reports on TV… nothing specific but I don’t think we’ll be safe here for long.”
“Has your government admitted that there’s alien life on earth?” He asked curiously.
Just as I’d been researching him, I couldn’t forget that Vidar’s entire purpose was to do research on us. Establishing the viability of a first contact mission was a part of his reason for coming to earth.
“No, they haven’t admitted it.”
“Interesting.”
The sweatpants only came up to his calf, but at least his ass was covered and his tail obscured. He wasn’t comfortable tucking his tail into his pants, but I insisted on at least that. The sweatshirt was a little small on him too, but fit much better than the pants.
“I look ridiculous,” Vidar complained.
“You look fine.”
“We can cover five miles much faster if you let me carry you,” he insisted.
“Won’t that tire you out?”
“Not at all.”
“I don’t see how that will help us avoid detection.”
“Little earthling, that’s only because you don’t know how fast I can go.”
