Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Author:Gini Koch [Koch, Gini]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781101186329
Google: mv_dS5l-5jUC
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2010-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 31

STUNNED SILENCE FILLED THE ROOM. The girls looked shocked, but I didn’t need to look at Reader or even Martini for confirmation—Christopher’s expression was proof enough. Guilt radiated from him.

The full realization of what was going on hit me. “They did send criminals here, didn’t they?”

“Just one,” Martini said, his voice clipped. “As a test.”

I wondered how to phrase this delicately and came up with no ideas. “What had your grandfather done?”

Christopher deflated. The anger just seemed to whoosh out of his body, leaving him looking sad and lost, like a little boy who’d never gotten to play with the other kids. “He was our religious leader. Only . . .” He stopped talking and closed his eyes.

“Only he wasn’t peaceful like his son,” Martini finished, voice still sharp. “He wanted to fight, to take what he considered our rightful place in the world.”

“It’s understandable. So why did they send the rest of you?”

Martini shrugged. “The shield was getting battered. They knew our grandfather had survived on Earth, so they could tell themselves they weren’t killing us or dooming all of you by sending us here. They agreed to give us what we needed to keep the parasitic threat somewhat at bay.”

“Everything but the materials to make an ozone shield here.”

“Right.” Martini looked exhausted. I wondered how long he’d been carrying this knowledge around. I checked out Christopher—at least as long as Mr. Surly had been, since he looked equally spent.

I decided to sneak up on the Horrible Truth. “You’re susceptible to Earth diseases, aren’t you? At least some of them?”

“Yes,” Christopher said. “We don’t get heart disease or anything related to it. But we’re fair game for other illnesses.”

“And, the real reason you have strict rules about interspecies marriages is, what?”

Martini looked as though I’d kicked him in the gut. Christopher didn’t reply—he looked over at Martini and I didn’t have to see his face to know he was glaring. It was clear he wanted me to hear this from Martini directly.

“The internal organs remain A-C dominant.” The words sounded dragged out of him.

“I’ll bet Paul’s parents were allowed to marry as a test, weren’t they? I’ll meet some others, interspecies couples with the human side coming from, what, every country or just every race?”

“Country and race both.” Martini’s jaw was clenched again.

I nodded. “You’re scientists, after all. Good testing theory.” I didn’t say that I figured all the tests had been run already. I’d save that for when I needed it. “So, how long before the parasites hit Earth did you arrive?”

“First waves came in the nineteen-sixties,” Christopher answered.

“Right when the parasites really started littering the ozone shield,” Martini added.

I shifted on the table, just in case I needed to jump out of reach. “Did your tribe reconnect with their exiled leader?”

Could have heard a pin drop. This time it was Martini who looked at Christopher with an expression that said it was time to return the Awkward Answer favor.

“We tried,” Christopher said finally. “But . . .

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