Gettin' Bloodied and an Alien's Sense of Humor
About god damn time, correct?
Sorry for the six month delay. Life got crazy for me for awhile. Anyway, more aliens 'n' such.
Part 1: http://www.sofurry.com/view/384550
Part 2: http://www.sofurry.com/view/385707
(I'll get around to creating a folder for this series when I upload the next part which I've barely started. I promise I won't make you guys wait that long ever again. I'll try to get it done by the New Year.)
The blasted phone was ringing again. I had only been home for two hours and all I wanted was some sleep. I didn't even bother sitting up, I just rolled off my bed onto the floor until I could will myself off the cold floor. As I entered the kitchen the phone on the counter stopped ringing. Of course. The voice of the dean of the community college I worked at came through the answering machine. It obvious she was trying to restrict the speed of her speech from excitement.
"Hello, I'm just letting you all know that we are going to be giving a tour for some very important guests this upcoming Monday. So, just be aware of this." A pause, ultra-dramatic. "They're representatives from our new neighbors, so security will be a bit tighter than usual. In the sense that there will be police escorting them across the campus. Try not to make a scene, the last thing we need to do is embarrass ourselves. Anyway, have an excellent weekend everybody!"
Interesting.
I was too exhausted to care, any reactions would have to wait for tomorrow. I made my way back to the bedroom.
* * * * * * * *
Monday arrived not as quickly as I wanted it to. Getting ready for the day took too long, the drive to campus lasted more than it should have, finding a parking place seemed impossible, and I didn't have my morning coffee with me; I'd left it on a table back at home in a travel mug, like an idiot. At least I remembered my suitcase.
I entered the engineering building, a three story brick building with large windows. It had been built in the early 2050s and heavily remodeled after the plagues. The interior was the typical practical style used in many public buildings. We just added some fancy tech for the labs. My office was on the third story, right next to the stairwell, where the offices for the teachers were. The first floor was for the classrooms, while the labs filled most of the second floor. The remaining rooms were all for utilities or storage.
As I was unlocking the door to my office, I heard several people coming up the steps. In the lead was the dean, looking very formal in beige office wear. Behind her were two police officers, followed by...
"Oh, wow," I muttered without realizing it.
They were taller than I imagined, way taller. There was a male and a female. The male was a little over six feet, shorter than the female who probably was closer to six-foot-eight. They were dressed in a matching dark red formfitting jumpsuits with black markings and yellow and white insignias. Were they really that practical? It seemed past science-fiction fads were onto something after all. Their feet were covered by tough built-in boots made of the same material for the most part. There hands were exposed, showing a familiar four fingers with a thumb. We had no easily translatable name for them, and we could not pronounce their proper name, or even the name of their home planet yet, they had no issue with our languages. It was odd. Then again, they had had about a hundred years to practice.
We settled by calling them the Eridians, after the system they originated from.
The group turned to head my direction. My pulse quickened.
"Here are the offices for the teachers," the Dean explained. It was odd seeing her like this. She was too stiff and awkward, much like myself currently. "Ah, this is one of our teachers for some of the engineering courses." I was about to say something, but she took the liberty herself, with an urgent tone. It seems the minuscule gap in time from the end of her sentence to my reply was mistaken as hesitation. "Say hello, Michael!"
"Uh, hi," I squeaked. The two Eridians glanced at each other. My grip on my suitcase tightened.
The male made eye contact with me. "What do you teach, specifically?" His voice was very rough and deep, almost hoarse.
"I-introductory classes for prospective engineering students, and design classes for those interested in aerospace engineering." I was so tense, I did not like being put in the spotlight like this. He nodded slightly and held out his hand. I stared at the massive scaled appendage and slowly clasped it with my own hand. We shook, his grip was firm.
"Thank you," he said graciously. The Dean began describing some current projects and labs for the students and led the group away. That was the first time I met an Eridian, and I have to say, it was terrifying and wonderful.
* * * * * * * *
Towards the end of my workday, which was not all that productive, I realized that I had not ceased to think about the two extraterrestrial beings. I mean, how could I not? A monumental moment in human history was occurring while I was still breathing, something I had not expected. The drive home was uneventful, albeit I wasn't paying much attention to the road.
Which was bad.
Real bad.
Well, almost really bad. It could have ended up worse.
There was a four-way stop that I failed to notice. Odd, considering that I drove this route home every day. I blew through the stop sign and found my view suddenly spinning. The blur rotated once, twice, thrice, four times. The initial sound of the impact was immediately drowned out by my adrenaline and bewilderment. I had no time to react. I was effectively in shock. The last rotation came to a lurching halt at an odd angle then harshly settled itself on the ground.
I blacked out for a few seconds, I knew that. I awoke to blood pouring from a gash on my forehead. It was pooling in my lap and running into my eyes. I tried to wipe it away but my left arm was stuck. All I could hear the sizzling and cracking of the now useless engine as its fluids leaked onto the heated metal. My other arm was free and I shakily wiped away some of the blood off of my face. I went to unbuckle the seat belt but it was stuck, as was the door. The windshield and dashboard had flecks of blood spattered on them. My breathing was ragged and panicked; I couldn't focus.
There was a rhythmic purr approaching my car. I then realized I was in a ditch, facing a patch of forest. The sound stopped on the road behind me and I heard the sound of doors opening. Heavy footfalls neared and there were voices, but I couldn't understand them. A figure appeared at the driver's side door and peeled the shattered safety glass away. It then gripped the door, grunted, and ripped it open, where it sagged on what was left of its hinges. I felt hands on me for a moment, then the sound of cutting fabric as I was freed from the seatbelt. With a tug, I was dragged from my car. I screamed in agony.
The blood in my eyes stung, blinding me every time I tried to open them. I was placed on something flat and strapped to it, and was carried off. I lost consciousness.
* * * * * * * *
I awoke with a burst of terror. I would have choked if not for the tube in my throat going to my lungs. My mind was racing, frantic. I was restrained to the bed and struggled to make any sort of movements, save for my head and neck. I tried to calm myself so I could think clearly. It took several minutes.
The room I was in was well lit. It was a matte grey and white, very industrial looking but quite clean. There was a single door opposite of the bed I was laying in. There were several monitors around me, showing various graphs and symbols, including what looked to be x-rays and a very detailed MRI scan. My head was pounding. I was wearing some sort of medical gown made out of a heavy but flexible material that felt a bit like kevlar and silk.
The door slid in open and in came some one familiar.
The female Eridian who had been touring the campus.
She seemed worried and approached the bed and began undoing the straps. "Sorry, necessary precaution. We didn't want you injuring yourself in a panic." Her voice was deep and rich. Not too deep to be creepy. It was... soothing.
"W-what happened," I stammered. My voice was hoarse and quiet. She took a step back and pulled one of the monitors that was on a elbow joint attached to the ceiling down towards me. There, a jumble of pictures, charts, and symbols came into my blurred vision. The symbols changed to english after the screen went black for the blink of an eye.
"My vehicle collided with yours. We pulled you from the wreck and brought you to the safe house your police offered us to stay at while we explored the city." A slight pause. "We could assure to assess and treat your wounds more quickly, and more safely than your hospitals."
"How bad was I?" I interrupted. She didn't seem to mind.
Some of the pictures changed on my screen and grew larger. It didn't take a medical expert to see how nasty things looked. "Your right femur was shattered into eight pieces, your right ankle had disintegrated, and your left arm was nearly severed. Most of your ribs had fractured or been broken. Your skull had a crack running from your left eye socket to the top of your forehead. The internal damage and bruising was massive." She breathed out, in relief and what sounded to be exhaustion. "We nearly killed you."
I blinked at her blankly, absorbing the information. "How long will my recovery take?"
"You won't need to worry about that," she answered quickly. "You already have. Our medical technology is far beyond yours. We already grew what bones needed to be, and any severe internal injuries have been treated to limit bruising and scar tissue development."
I scratched my arm and let a shaky breath out. "How did you--stem cells?"
"Yes," she answered, pulling the monitor away. "Extracted and duplicated them."
"How long was I out?" I looked up at her, she seemed to tower over the bed.
There was a beep from one of the machines and she approached me, removing what appeared to be an IV with a fairly large tube. It was painless. "From the time you arrived until when you awoke, a total of roughly forty-four hours."
"What was in that," I asked, examining my arm for any sort of mark where the needle was. There was none, it didn't even feel like I had anything in there to begin with.
"Painkillers and antibiotics. We keep this area very clean, so there was virtually zero chance for an infection to occur. Nonetheless, always better to have a precaution in place."
I sat up fully. "So, what now?"
She gave her equivalent of a smile. Seems as though they had more facial muscles than I had expected. Still, it wasn't quite something I would get used to soon. With all those teeth in that muzzle it was a bit unnerving. It was kind, but damn scary. "You're free to go. We'll provide transportation to your home if you wish."
"Sorry for all the questions, but what time is it?"
"Twenty-one-o-eight."
I took a second to convert that. "Okay." I began rotating myself to get my legs over the bed. I managed to stand on my own as if I hadn't just been in an almost fatal car accident. "You sure went to some amount of trouble to save me... is there anything I can do in return?" In all honesty, I doubted it, but it made me feel better to try anyway.
"We would have done the same for anyone. It's not much of an inconvenience with how efficient our medical techniques and technology have become. We may have become a bit too reliant on the latter in my opinion, but it does help a great amount." She paused and lay a rather large, clawed, somehow reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Michael, you owe us nothing."
I smiled to myself and relaxed. Sure, my mind was tripping over itself in trying to cope with the overall situation but I decided being the blissful fool for now was a better choice.
* * * * * * * *
One shortcoming on my sudden trip to the alien ER is that I had no clothes to return in. Luckily, the officers keeping watch on the safe house lent me some spares. They were a bit big on me, which wasn't too much of an issue except for the pants. No extra belt. I had to walk around holding the damn things up.
I made my way downstairs (slowly, I was sore as hell) and stood by the front door. Wherever this safe-house was, it was homely. Although, the jumbles of arm-thick cables and randomly strewn alien tech gave the whole thing a surreal feel. A lot of wood in the construction.
It was also surprisingly vacant of others; only the guards and the lone Eridian.
I heard the Eridian approaching from behind and turned to face her. She handed me my now slightly torn and scuffed suitcase. It had a brownish-red stain in one corner.
"Ready to go?"
"Yep, you need the address?"
I was surprised by her answer. "No, I do not. I retrieved it from the identification card in your wallet."
She stepped past me and opened the door. It was a fairly large and she still had to duck down. We stepped out into a pleasantly humid evening. The sun had begun setting ahead of us. The world seemed to glow, basking it in a rejuvenating orange light. I squinted and let the light warm me up for a few seconds. She passed by me and went down several stone steps to a very exotic vehicle. It was as if someone took a metallic gray Land Rover and made it more angular, giving it a somewhat sportier look. Still had wheels, which disappointed the inner child in me. I was hoping for a hover craft. She opened the gull-wing doors and I stepped down and got in on the passenger side. Took me a couple tries to hoist myself inside, even then my successful attempt was still awkward at best. I heard her laugh gently. It's not my fault that I'm not two meters tall.
I noticed some paint chips on the front of her vehicle that matched my car.
I looked past here at the house. It was an old plantation or mansion sitting atop a hill. Somehow, it had been cared for through the plague or was very resilient. She pulled away from the mansion, around the circular cobblestone driveway, and out to the road.
The ride was incredibly smooth, the seats were comfortable (despite me being way too small for them), and it was very quiet. She opened the windows, which was perfect since it was so nice out. Somewhere along the trip my mind decided it was a good time to deal with trauma. I was perfectly content, then through a slightly wrong direction taken in my train of thought I had come back to the accident. The intensity of it, the feeling of shock, blood, the metallic crunching, the stench of oil. She sensed me tensing up immediately and slowed down.
"What's wrong?" She asked, very concerned
I forced myself to unclench my fists but I could not force the rest of me to relax. "N-n-nothin'." I was lying to her, and myself. She knew, but said nothing and continued on.
Somewhere around a half-an-hour later we pulled up to my house. I swung the door open enough for me to gracefully fall out, followed by an amused grunt from the giant ugly alien in the car. 'Ow,' said my pride and hip.
As I was recovering from my bout of embarrassment, the Eridian was kind enough to hand me my suitcase. "Thanks."
"You are welcome, Michael."
I tensed, and then recalled she had gone through my wallet. "Do I get the pleasure of knowing your name, or do I have to rifle through your wallet too?"
She grinned back at me like a Cheshire cat. "It is a common practice!"
"I didn't expect sarcasm to carry across species," I shot back. I tried my best to appear disgruntled but a smile was beginning to form.
"Nor did I!" She beamed."Oh, and my name is-" a series of noises the human voice would never be able to accomplish, except some of the more blessed vocalists of metal bands.
I acted like I could somehow remember that and nodded, confused but as understanding as I could be. "I guess I'll see you around the university?"
"Yes, my compatriots and I have much to learn about your species still. I currently do not have a communication device that is compatible with your cell phone system. It is an issue we are quickly trying to resolve." A moment of silence. "I will be sure to figure out some sort of system we can use until then."
I brushed some dirt off of my pants. "Sounds good."
I watched as she reversed out of my driveway and went back in the direction we had come from. I scratched my head and sighed.
"Been quite the trip the past few days," I muttered to myself as walked up the steps to the porch and unlocked the door. "Nearly died and made a friend: An alien with a sense of humor."
I made my way to my bedroom on the second floor, tosssed my bloodied suitcase on the bed, soon followed by myself and flicked on the TV.
I wonder if I could get more time off of work? That'd be swell.