Aliens in our Midst

Chapter 2 – Starbucks

Most of my classes were in the afternoon, so that very next morning I decided to follow him and try to find out as much as I could about him. I suppose that I could have just walked up to him and asked, “Wanna fuck?”, but if he said “No”, then I had nowhere to turn. I was up early, reading the paper at the breakfast table when I saw him walk past the kitchen and out of the house. I ditched the paper and hurried out after him, careful not to get so close that he would notice.

I was ready for him to jump in his car, or hop on a bike and head for campus, but he did neither. Instead, he choose to walk, and that made my task considerably more difficult. It’s easy to hide from someone in a car. But unless you’re in a crowded city, following a walking man is next to impossible without being noticed. But I was shameless and followed him anyway.

As it was, he did head towards campus. I sighed, thinking it was going to be a long morning, just as he rounded a corner near the local Kinko’s and disappeared from my view momentarily. I hurried to the edge of the building and carefully peered around the corner, not wanting to lose him, and my mouth fell open. He was gone.

I looked for where he could have slipped away, and unless he had a key to the back door of Kinko’s, there just wasn’t any reason I shouldn’t be seeing him walking down the street. I scratched my head in confusion while I considered the possibility that he might have known someone was following him and run for it. If that were the case, then he might have been just able to clear the other side of the building before I could see him. If he were really quick, he could come all the way around and…

“Boo…” said someone softly in my ear.

I think I jumped about a foot straight up in the air and spun around so quickly that my glasses nearly left my face.

“Shit!”

“Hello, Susan.” He said calmly. He had a slight smile on his face that said everything. He had known I was following him from the very first step. He waited until I caught my breath again.

“Uh… Hi, Paul. I, um… suppose you’re wondering why I was following you?”

He just looked at me. Damn those eyes. I felt the stirring ache in my belly and cursed my own overactive libido.

“Um… well… you see, I…”

“Are you hungry?” He asked, interrupting me. I was caught completely off guard. I was hungry alright. I would have taken him into that back alley and fucked him right there!

“Pardon?”

He took my arm and led me back around toward the front of Kinko’s. “You know, food. I saw you eating that peach, so I know you eat once in a while.”

“I skipped breakfast this morning.”

His face reflected mock horror. “But breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” He said comically. “I have to drop in here and grab a workbook. Why don’t you go nab us a table at Starbucks and I’ll meet you in a minute.”

“Uh, sure…”, I replied, not knowing what else to say.

With that, he slipped into the Kinko’s and I was left standing there by myself. Idly, I headed for the coffee shop. What was going on? I had left the house this morning with a solid plan to seduce Paul, but now it seemed that he was seducing me. Hell, he had already seduced me, whether he knew it or not.

By the time I had found a table and was about to order something, Paul appeared again.

“What would you like? It’s my treat, so don’t be skimpy… 500 calories at least.” He asked.

I glanced at the pastry bar and nearly drooled. “I’ll have a Mocha and a Blueberry turnover.”

“Good girl.” He said and moved up to the counter to place the order.

I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. When Paul came back with a tray of delicious smells, I was almost giddy.

“Here you go.” He said, handing me my coffee.

I let him sit down before I spoke again.

“Paul, I want to just say that I’m sorry for spying on you…”

“Oh that. Forget it. I’m a curious guy.”

“It’s still not polite.”

“Well,” he replied, taking a sip of his coffee, “no harm done. It’s not like you’re psychotic or something, right?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” I answered with a smile.

“See. How’s the Blueberry?” He was indicating the pastry I had just taken a bite of.

“Wudufa!”

“Pardon?”

I swallowed. “It’s wonderful.”

“I always get cherry. I’m not sure why, but they just seem to have the most flavor.”

We sat and ate and drank our coffee for several minutes without saying anything. While it was nice to take the time to regain my composure, I grew more and more nervous with each second.

“I make you nervous.” He said matter-of-factly, and I nearly spit out the mouthful of cafe mocha I had just taken. “Sorry.” He continued. “I thought it might be different this time. I should go…”

I snagged his hand so fiercely that he would have had to make a scene in order to break free. His eyebrows went up.

“No!” I all but yelled. “I mean, stay… please.”

“Alright, but that uncomfortableness that you feel is because of me. It’s alright, really. I’m somewhat used to it now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look, ever since I was old enough to talk to people, I have made them nervous. It will build with time until you can’t stand it anymore. It’ll be like an itch in the dead center of your back. Just out of reach, but growing stronger by the minute.”

As I listened, I realized that he was right. I did feel uncomfortable around him. When I finally understood, it was the strangest feeling. It was like being torn in two. I was simultaneously being drawn to and repelled from this stranger. My body wanted him, and wanted him bad, but my brain was telling me to run. It wasn’t a girlish nervousness, it was fear, plain and simple. Fear that something wasn’t quite right.

I took a closer look at Paul, a real good look. It was the kind of examination that you couldn’t do without breaking someone’s personal space, and I knew it. I did it anyway. I had to know what was so different about this guy that had me so worked up, so I let myself forget about rudeness and leaned forward. I tried to keep my gaze away from his eyes, at least directly. I had already drowned in those pools and needed to concentrate. I was squinting at him, trying to take in his face as a whole when it hit me. I gasped, and pushed back in my chair. For some odd reason, I didn’t let go of his hand, but I wanted to. I wanted to scream in terror.

Apparently, Paul wasn’t expecting this reaction. His mouth dropped open and he blushed.

“What are you?” I asked, nearly shaking. I glanced quickly to the other tables, but no one else seemed to notice us.

“What do you mean?” He asked, stalling.

“What are you?” I asked again, this time with more force. “I’d swear on a stack of bibles that you’re not human, even though I have no real evidence to that effect.” His eyes grew wide again.

“Maybe we should talk someplace else.” He said looking around him.

“No! I’m safe here.”

“Someone might hear.” It was his turn to be nervous.

“Then they hear. If you let go of my hand, then I’ll bolt out of here and go straight to the police, I swear I will!”

“Alright. We’ll talk here. But can we please try to keep it to ourselves? It’s very important.”

I studied his features again. I had no way of knowing if he was being sincere, yet I knew he was. I could taste it. It was sort of like how dogs can sense fear. I was tasting him, or his emotions, or something. It frightened me.

“You’re right, I’m not human… Or rather Terran, since there are many humanoid races, and it wouldn’t be fair to label Earth humans as the only one.”

“You’re an alien.”

“Well, not technically. I was born in Southern California, actually. Biologically, my mother and father were born and raised off-planet.” He was perfectly serious when he said this, and again, I knew he was telling me the truth.

“But you’re not like us…”

“I’m not like YOU. There are quite a number of US actually. Nothing compared to the general population, but enough to be a small nation should we ever foolishly choose to come together.”

My head was spinning. Yesterday, I was just a college gal, trying to get laid and basically letting the world revolve on its own. Today I was seated with an entity that flew in the face of everything that I knew to be normal. I needed time to adjust, but there wasn’t any. I had to make a choice. Either accept this being as “friendly” and stop fearing it beyond reason, or give in and get the hell out of there and go to a shrink. I chose. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a few seconds. When I opened them again, I looked him right in the eyes.

“Are you dangerous?” I asked, coldly.

“To you, or to your people?” He asked the question as coolly as I had.

“Either.”

“I’d be a liar to say that I’m not… That WE aren’t. But no more so than any other race on the planet… any other person. Our intentions are the same as yours. To live in peace and make what we can of our lives. We’re gypsies actually, or castaways. Our home world was destroyed by the collision with another planetary body. There were several thousand of us that managed to escape, purely because we happened to be in orbit, or in ships. My great-grandparents were among those. They could have chosen to meld back into galactic society, but instead they chose to try and find a new home world. There wasn’t one available at the time, so we decided to use Earth as a sort of temporary waiting zone.”

“How long have you been here?” I asked, incredulous.

“Well, I’m only 24.”

“No, your, um… people.”

“Oh, for about a hundred and fifty years.”

“And no one knows?”

“Lots of people know. It’s kind of hard to interact with you day in and day out, without there being SOME mistakes. I mean, we do the best we can to keep it quiet, but just like you, there are thousands of other Terrans that know.” He smiled again. I was deep in thought.

“Why hasn’t someone gone to the press about it?” I braced myself for his answer, not knowing if I fully believed him just yet.

“A few have. You’ve seen the stories. Usually in some hack newspaper. ‘Aliens ate my dog,’ and all that crap.”

“Those are real?” I had never given much credence to that sort of journalism.

“Some of them have a sprinkling of truth here and there, but for the most part, they’re ignored. Or if they aren’t, they aren’t taken seriously by those that matter. Besides, look what they’re up against. Hollywood makes extraterrestrial out to be either slime-coated death, or skin-wearing bugs. Sure, we have our biological differences, but we’re so close to Terrans that we can pretty much mix right in without any disguise at all.”

I caught his wording and jumped on it.

“Close? But not exactly…”

He eyed me. “No… Not exact.”

“How?” I asked, turning my head just a bit. This is where I would find out for sure if he were lying to me.

“Well… hmmm… First, let me explain something about how we are similar. You see, your scientists have it all wrong. You didn’t evolve from apes, as they would like to believe. It’s more likely that they evolved from you.”

“Huh?”

“There are basically twelve different gene types of sentient beings, humans, or humanoid life forms being one of those types. Those twelve types make up the nearly fifty thousand different galactic races in known space. Some are barely recognizable within their type, but if you look closely enough, you can see the genetic patterns. Most humanoids, type four, look basically the same. There are differences that develop over time from being on a given world, but the stock is the same if you simplify it down. Are you with me so far?”

“I… Barely.” I answered, confused. My brain was fighting to hold on to its pre-existing reality.

“Okay. My own people, for example, have almost identical biological systems to your own, with only minor differences based on our own individual evolution. We have sensory organs that you lack in particular. You might have had them at one time, and they may even be in your genetic code, but for one reason or another, you don’t need them anymore, so they have faded out.”

“What kind of sensory organs?” I was examining his face more closely.

“If they were openly visible, we wouldn’t be able to blend in. In our case, we have sensory arms, or tendrils on our chests and pubic area. We used to have them on our backs, and even our heads, but they have disappeared for lack of use.”

“Lack of use? How?”

“Well, I suppose it’s like your sense of smell. Ever notice that animals seem to have much keener noses than you? Ever wonder why? You used to have the same sharp sense, but as you grew intellectually, you had less and less need for that sense. Now, most people hardly notice it.”

“I notice it.” I said quickly.

“Sure, when you pick up something strong, like a cake, or putrid fumes. Imagine how much more a dog must smell in the same situations. You only THINK you notice it because you have no idea how much more is out there. You can’t see in the infrared, right?”

“Of course not.”

“So you don’t notice that one object is warmer than another unless you use another sense and touch it.”

“Why would I need to?”

His face lightened. “That’s it exactly! You don’t need to. But many animals do, and so they can sense that spectrum.”

“I get it. But you haven’t told me about your extra senses. What do they detect?”

He took a deep breath and considered me for a moment.

“Do you find yourself attracted to me?”

This caught me by surprise and I’m sure I must have blushed.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked defensively.

“Well, I know that you are indeed attracted to me because I can sense it chemically. I can tell by the scents and pheromones that your body is producing, that you are sexually attracted to me, as well as quite frightened.”

I gulped. If he was lying to me, then this was by far, the most elaborate come-on line that I had ever heard.

“These… tendrils, tell you that?”

“That’s right. They have other uses, but they are mainly chemical receptors.”

“How else are you different?” I was getting genuinely curious.

“Our skin. You probably noticed subtle differences in my skin when you leaned in close to me. You might not have even been aware of it.”

“I wasn’t.” I replied. “How is it different?”

“We have some specialized surface cells that are sort of like the stingers of jellyfish, only much more complicated.”

“How? Forgive my prodding, but I am a biology minor.”

“That would explain a lot.” He said cryptically. “Our stinger cells are a means for us to directly communicate with each other’s biological systems. In the past, they may have been used as a primary means of defense. A stinger cell invades a host’s system and quickly grows, extending itself from the surface inward until the target zone is reached. There, it can manipulate various chemical processes to stimulate certain responses in the host.”

I cringed and looked at our clasped hands.

“And you don’t think this is a major difference?”

“Certainly, but less so than you might think. The stinger cells are very thin, almost undetectable. A host could have millions of them latticed throughout their body and their presence wouldn’t interfere with normal biological functions at all. They would simply be absorbed in a matter of hours. Unless the cells are given a task or function, they are completely inert.”

“What kind of task?” I asked cautiously.

“Well, they can be used to stimulate other sensory cells, causing either pleasure or pain. They can block the nervous system and cause paralysis. In extreme cases, they can shut down entire brain functions, or stimulate events such as visions, memories, even sexual response.”

This last item caught my attention.

“Is that what you’re doing to me?”

He looked hurt.

“No. I would never sting someone without their consent, except in very extreme circumstances. It would be like you using a karate hold on me. Self defense and all that. Even then, I would never intentionally hurt another. I would probably paralyze them or something. As for sex, well… I can’t say that I’ve had a lot of experience along those lines, but it’s always been consensual, and I’d never force a woman to be attracted to me that way. It wouldn’t be right.”

That helped put my mind a little more at ease, but only a little. He could still be lying.

“Could you sting me with your hand right now?” I asked the question before I realized the implications it presented. Paul waited a second, and then smiled.

“I could. In fact, my hands have the second highest concentration of stinger cells on my body.”

I didn’t ask what the first was. “Could you sting me without paralyzing me, or whatever?”

“I suppose. Is that what you want me to do?”

This was it. Fish or cut bait. Either I would believe him at his word, or I would need physical proof. My curiosity got the best of me.

“Yes…” I said in a whisper.

“Alright then. Are you ready?”

My heart was pounding in my chest so loudly that I thought he would hear it. I acknowledged him with the slightest of nods.

There was a tiny prick on my palm, and I jumped about an inch off my seat. It hadn’t hurt, I just didn’t know what to expect.

“There.” He said smiling.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Give it a few seconds.”

“What, er… task, did you give it?”

“You’ll see.” He replied grinning. “Be patient.”

I was sweating big time, and beginning to think that the whole thing was a crock of shit when my hand started to become warm. It was a soft, pleasurable heat that radiated out from my palm and took in my hand and forearm. I sat there, dumbfounded, staring at my limb as if it had gone crazy. Then I looked back to Paul. He had an I-told-you-so look on his face. The sensations stayed localized to my arm, but they grew a bit in intensity. The warmth became an almost erotic pleasure.

“This is incredible.” I commented, looking back to my hand. “You… told your stinger cell to do this?”

“Well, as long as I’m in contact with you, I have control of the cell and can feel what you feel, to a limited extent. I told the cell to activate the surface cells of your lower arm in a way that would stimulate pleasure. I also told it to go a bit more into your body and calm you.”

I looked up in surprise, and my mouth came open again. He was right, I was calmer. My heart rate was almost normal, and the fear that I had been experiencing earlier was almost gone.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked.

“No!” I blurted. “I mean, not if you don’t have to. It’s rather nice.” I knew I was blushing. If one touch from this guy’s hand could make me feel so wonderful, I could only imagine what he would be like in bed. Suddenly, I felt quite aroused, and I think Paul noticed it. He looked up at me, and his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Okay.” I said, enjoying the strange, fuzzy pleasure. “Let’s say for a second that I believe you. What are you doing at WSU?”

“Probably the same thing you are, getting an education.”

“But I thought that since you’re from outer space, you’d have advanced minds and all that. Could you let it go a bit more up my arm?”

He smiled, and I felt the warmth flow up to my shoulder. “We might be a little smarter overall, but we still have to learn like everybody else. And I’m not from outer space, I’m from L.A., which is pretty out there as it is.”

I was grinning as well, but not entirely from his humor. I was quiet for a minute while I considered how to ask my next question. It was something I just HAD to know.

“Um… I suppose this is probably a very personal question, but… well, do you have to have sex with your own kind, or can you, you know, do-it with, uh… Terrans, as well?”

Paul burst out laughing. When he was calm, he leaned in close to me and spoke softly.

“I’ve had three lovers. Two were Barovi, and one was Terran. Of the three, sex with my Terran lover was by far the best, so… yes, we can indeed, do-it, with your species.”

I felt my heart flutter, and since Paul was manipulating my heart rate, I’m sure he felt it too.

“Could I, er… we, get pregnant?”

“Well,” he answered, considering, “it’s supposed to be biologically possible, but as far as I know, it has never been allowed to happen. We can control that part of our physiology.”

“Really?” I was genuinely amazed.

“Really.”

“How cool. Um, Paul? How much of my body can your stinger cell, er… stimulate? I mean the one in me now.”

He cocked his head slightly to one side. “One cell can pretty much cover your whole body. But if I were going to do anything that involved deep-level control or manipulation within your brain, I would want two or three in there.”

“Hmm… Do you think you could let your stinger cell cover a bit more territory? It just feels really nice, and I could use the relaxation. That is, unless it’s taxing…”

“Not at all, but I have to warn you, right now the cell is only stimulating the receptors in your arm, where they are relatively isolated. If I let my stinger cell branch out to encompass very much more of your body, then your brain may start to interpret it as sexual.”

I smiled. “That’s okay. It’s not like we’re actually having sex or anything.”

“It may feel like it.” He replied seriously. “You would be amazed at the level of arousal we can generate. But, okay. I’ll let it go slowly, so not to frighten you. Just tell me to stop if you find yourself changing your mind. I’m also going to let go of your other functions so that you will know how you should be feeling.”

Almost at once, I felt my heart rate rise again. I also felt the warmth spreading over my shoulder, to my neck and then down across my chest. When my right breast was swallowed up in the growing field of pleasure, I gasped. My breath caught again, when my other breast was taken in. Almost immediately, my nipples were hard as rocks and pulsing under the strain of the sports bra I was wearing. The erotic sensations were shocking.

“Oh my god…” I whispered as the pleasure slowly moved down my back and belly.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked, watching me.

“Don’t you dare!” I was smiling, so Paul smiled back.

“Um… You might want to brace yourself. When it reaches your, uh… female organs, it might be a bit more, er… arousing.”

Unconsciously, I found myself looking down into my lap as the warmth gradually dripped lower. He was right, but “a bit more arousing” was like saying the Titanic was a nice boat. It took everything I had not to cry out like a banshee.

“Holy shit!” I cursed under my deepening breath. It was as if he had suddenly turned on every foreplay experience I had ever had, only all at once, and from the inside out.

“Just say the word, and I’ll tone it down some.”

“Ummm… Please don’t!” I begged. “It feels so good. God, Paul… ughh… Did your human lover leave you… ummm… willingly? You could do this to me all day if you wanted. Ughnn…” The sexual sensations were building, and I knew that if I sat there much longer, I was sure to have an orgasm. I just hoped I could keep it quiet enough so that no one would notice.

“My family moved.” He replied chuckling. “And as a matter of fact, I can’t stay much longer. I need to be in class in another twenty minutes.”

“Ohhhh…” I said, whimpering. “I’m… ughhh… I… ahhh… MMMmmmm!”

Glorious ecstasy washed up from my loins as the softest orgasm I have ever had. I kept quiet, but not by much. When I came back to reality a few seconds later, Paul was staring at me with raised eyebrows.

“You okay?”

“Oh yeah…” I said dreamily. The pleasure was still there, and it was building again in my hips.

“Look, Susan. I really want to talk more with you. It’s very important to me. Are you free this afternoon?”

I took a deep breath and considered skipping class. Then I remembered we were having a quiz.

“I can’t till later. Ummm… How about dinner? You really have to go?” I gave him a sad puppy dog look.

“Yes, I really do. But dinner sounds great. By the way, the stinger cell should last at least an hour or so after I go, if you want to stay here and enjoy it some more.”

“Are you serious?! An hour… Hot damn!”

“If it gets to be too much for you, or you need to stop it before then, just touch the back of your neck and it will fade.”

“How…” I started to ask.

“It’s looking for stimulation there. If it gets any, it will cease. Okay?”

“Ummm… I’m looking forward to dinner.” I was looking forward to a hell of a lot more, but I kept my mouth shut.

“Me too.” He said standing. It was almost painful to let go of his hand. There was a slight change in the pleasure coursing through my body, but overall, it stayed much the same in intensity. Taking his workbook, he gave my hand one last pat and was jogging off toward campus.

I sat there for that full hour, quietly sipping my coffee and letting myself build into orgasm again and again and again. It was going to be a long afternoon.