Human-alien encounters -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories; Spy stories
I got to be great friends with a man named Nat Brown, an automobile
mechanic. He lived with his extraordinarily beautiful wife, Helene, in
a house about a half mile away.
The Browns used to ask me to dinner, and I would meet their friends. I
grew very fond of them. We would sit around and drink beer and play
cards and talk until late at night about politics and philosophy and
love and everything else on earth. It was by far the swiftest part of
my education in America, living with these lighthearted, charming
people who obviously liked me.
The only disadvantage was the problem raised by my increasing fondness
for Helene Brown. She was a vivid incarnation of the female principle,
and yet I knew I must not touch her. I had a constant battle with
myself to maintain the disinterested relationship necessary to
continuing with these people without complication.
Both Nat and Helene Brown used to come to see me wrestle whenever I
had a match in Washington. Whether I won or lost we would go out and
drink beer together. I would sometimes bring another girl along. More
and more I started to feel like a real native American. A couple of
close friends, Excellency, did a lot for your humble servant.
Three days ago I was riding along Connecticut Avenue in my new car.
When I stopped for a light, I saw a familiar face in the crowd
crossing the street. It was the tall heavy man, the F.B.I. agent who
had tracked me down and tried to capture me in the theatre the night
of the big battle. I could sense the mass of metal carried under his
left arm.
He was hurrying along with another man. When I saw who it was my blood
froze in my veins. It was my neighbor, Nat Brown. He also had a mass
of metal under his left arm.
It was clear to me then that, in spite of my precautions, the F.B.I.
had spotted me weeks ago. How, I do not know. Nat Brown was their
surveillance agent.
I drove home immediately to finish this letter and get it off to you.
I may not be alive tomorrow. The launching apparatus is concealed in a
tool shed about a half a mile behind the house. I am going to put down
my recommendations and get this off immediately--before it's too late.
* * * * *
As I see it, Excellency, there are only four courses available to us:
(1) A chemical or other isolation of the female principle,
followed by an attempt to synthesize it at home to see what
its effect would be on our women. This might save us.
Unfortunately I have yet been unable to isolate what causes
the female principle here; so this is not a possibility yet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account