14. To Be Alone With You
Chapter fourteen
To Be Alone With You
H aving a new name, given to them by someone they loved, gave Estrellas a sense of identity they had never felt before. As though they owned their life for the first time ever, despite not having a body of their own. They were no longer a passenger. They were themselves no matter who they were living inside.
They were on the road again headed back in the direction they had come from to get to Roswell. This time, they were determined to be a good navigator, a good partner.
The barren hardened desert glistened with its hidden secrets. The creepy crawlies that waited just out of view that were acclimated to the rock and dry soil landscape, the snakes, lizards, and spiders. Estrellas could almost feel them crawling along their skin, the reptilian claws rough, thick, and sharp, a warning for what was to come. ‘Go back’ they shouted in their mind as the dust of the Earth floated along her tongue. But all it took to keep their resolve was one glance at Talia.
She had returned to her original self. The kind, caring, and playful one that they had first met all those years ago in the body of the dark-haired boy. Who were they then? When they held her hand so freely? Clearly someone of importance to Talia. It all made sense after that vision of memory, of why Estrellas was so instantly connected to Talia when they were inside Brad’s body. Why their connection vibrated with want and knowing familiarity. No one falls in love the moment they meet. Passion sure, but love? That is more profound.
But how to tell her? Would she feel that her first experience of love wasn’t real? Would she feel betrayed? Young love is by far the most powerful. What if their confession took something magical away from the woman she had become? Afterall, humans are nothing more than their learned experiences, are they not? That time old debate of nature versus nurture. Which one would remain of Talia if they stole away such an important piece of her growing experience? Breaking her heart all over again was not an option. Estrellas would have to keep this knowledge secret. Bury it somewhere deep inside themselves.
The ever-constant hamster wheel in their mind quieted when Talia looked their way and spoke in that gentle caress of a voice that they loved so much.
“So, I’ve been thinking.” She said. “You know our theory of Stathos-6 hunting down samples from defectors and trying to make sense of them?”
Estrellas nodded. “mm-hmm.”
Talia continued. “Well, that doesn’t really hold up, does it?” She glanced nervously at them. “I mean, there was kind of a lot going on at the time and it made sense in the moment. But really, if those others died of old age in their human bodies, then they weren’t really being hunted while they were alive, right? And Stathos-6 definitely knew where to find the bodies.”
Estrellas narrowed their eyes and tilted their head in thought. “I suppose you’re right.” They took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But that leaves us back at square one. Why have me collecting these specific samples? And why attack us the way he did?”
And why put me in this body? In a person so close to… you?
Talia took in air and held it in her cheeks before she slowly deflated like a broken balloon. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “Have you remembered anything new? Anything that could help us figure out what’s happening? Or why Stathos-6 attacked us?”
Estrellas hesitated.
Now would be the time to tell the truth, to come clean about your most recent memory.
“No, nothing helpful .” They half-lied.
“Hmm, hopefully something will jog loose soon, huh?”
“Yeah, hopefully.” They said with a grin.
Talia drove on in silence while Estrellas fiddled with the radio trying to find any station that wasn’t coming through as garbled static. They finally found a clear enough station playing classic rock from the 90’s. They leaned their head out the window and let the hot air blow across their face, enjoying the ride next to the woman they loved, and who would hopefully, someday, love them in return.
Roswell was a town full of little green men. Every shop on every main street had some sort of interpretation of aliens. Gift shop’s had windows painted with Rastafarian Aliens playing hacky sac. Statues of friendly little green men with antennae and smiles waving peace signs dotted the sidewalks. Menu items with ‘out of this world’ burgers and milkshakes adorned almost every restaurant. Even the McDonald’s was shaped like a spaceship.
Talia danced around as they walked through one of the many stores like a kid in a candy shop. “Isn’t this place so cute! I mean look at this.” She grabbed a shiny gray hat that had blinking lights and was shaped like a UFO from a table of souvenirs and posed, tilting her head this way and that while pointing her toes.
They giggled at her. “Looks good on you!”
Talia laughed. “Why, thank you .” She said dramatically while drawing out her words in an impression of a southern drawl. “I wish I had my phone, I really would love some pictures.”
Estrellas looked around the room. “Well look at this.” She stopped next to a stand of disposable cameras. “Isn’t this convenient.”
They unwrapped the camera from its packaging. Talia wrapped an arm around Estrellas shoulders which sent their heart fluttering, and when she leaned her head against theirs, they could smell her strawberry shampoo.
“Smile!” Talia said.
Estrellas leaned in and smiled wishing this moment could last forever.
Click.
“There. This moment has officially been preserved forever!”
Talia giggled and they had the overwhelming urge to turn their head the very small inch they needed to land a kiss on her lips. But they didn’t, Estrellas respectfully refrained knowing how much it would upset Talia since they were still in Angela’s body.
They cleared their throat and said. “So, I know the chances of finding legitimate information in this place is probably zilch-but we should go check out the museum anyway. What do you think?”
Talia looked them in the eyes and grinned. “Sounds like a great idea! Let me just go pay for this, be right back.”
Estrellas smiled as they watched her walk away and out of the corner of their eye, they could have sworn they saw an old man with stark white hair, staring at them. But Estrellas blinked and the man was gone, yet their neck hair still stood on end.
As they walked into the museum with Talia’s arm linked through theirs, a gust of semi-cool recirculated air burst against them. The lights were dimmed, and the entrance was a spacious gray room with polished concrete floors and a roped off ticket line.
A robotic overhead voice spoke to the room through speakers saying. “Welcome
Earthlings.”
Estrellas and Talia both chuckled as if they were sharing an inside joke, knowing full
well that at least one of them was definitely notan Earthling. They followed the synchronized lights along the floor that looked like an aisle runner and approached the sales counter.
“Two please.” Talia said and passed over her parent’s credit card.
The person behind the counter handed back the card and tickets.
“After you.” They said with a smile on their lips.
As Talia walked in front of them and around the corner into the first display room, Estrellas heard the robotic voice greeting the next guest.
Talia had stopped in front of a display. It included life size models of aliens surrounding a replica of a crashed UFO. Estrellas blood ran cold. These were not the fun cartoonish little green men that they had been seeing around town. These were slick, grey, and lithe, and almost exactly what Estrellas recalled seeing on the mothership. This was no longer a sarcastically fun outing, no longer two friends on vacation. This, even if unintentionally, was real.
“Estrellas? Are you okay?” Talia said, her voice full of concern.
They wanted to run out of that room screaming, but if these models were somewhat accurate, what other accidental truths lie within these walls? They needed to keep going. Estrellas’ mouth was dry, her tongue thick and they could not reply, but they nodded their head at Talia and walked forward to the next display.
It was an old newspaper, hung on the wall behind glass, and it depicted the headline of, ‘UFO Captured on Ranch’.
Estrellas held their breath as they read, but the reconstructed image below the newspaper article appeared far too small to be real. They couldn’t recall what the outside of the mothership looked like, but they knew for sure that the interior was far larger than anything recreated in this room. Perhaps the rest of the museum was nonsense.
Estrellas laughed with shaky relief and turned to the next exhibit. “So, we don’t know much about me, yet. But what about you? Your parents seemed pretty unconcerned with a device free, no check ins, road trip with your roommate.”
Talia sighed. “Ah, yes, the parentals.” She paused. “Well, mom is a socialite, and dad is in politics. They were both, how shall I say this… not exactly thrilled that I wanted to become an art history major. But they were never really all that involved in my life. Even growing up, I was mostly at boarding schools. They basically toss money at me and call that good parenting.” She let out a mirthless laugh, but shook off the sadness that seemed to seep out of her while she had talked about her parents.
“But then, I talked them into letting me rent this cheap little apartment close to campus, you know, I wanted the real experience, and then I met Angela.” She smiled at Estrellas then looked away shyly. “She became like a sister to me. She didn’t have a family, her last foster family was thrilled to get rid of her, and I didn’t really care to be around mine, so we became each other's family. Holidays we spent together instead of going home. And she’s the smartest person you’ll ever meet! You know she got a full ride to the university.” Talia paused again and took a deep breath. She looked away and Estrellas realized she was hiding a tear that had fallen down her cheek.
Estrellas gently pulled her chin back to look Talia in the eyes. “We’ll get her back, Tal. I promise.”
Talia squinted her eyes for only a moment, then sniffled and nodded.
They continued through the rest of the lack-luster museum, not finding much else of interest, until they rounded the final corner of the self-guided tour and came face to face with the old man with the white hair from the souvenir shop.