Aliens don't exist! - Sndbox Writing Quest (Task 2 of 3)

(Image Sources: Unsplash Photographer Juskteez Vu and Darko Mitev)

"That's right! Aliens don't exist, you fool!" Serena Marques snapped at Alvin Forster, the mad scientist who was waving the papers filled with numerical data at her face. The fact that she, herself, was an alien hiding amongst the humans for the last decade did not make her statement less convincing. She had a reputation as a skeptic on the team, and as the lead mathematician, it was her job to confirm the numbers. Her real job was to misguide the humans, because the data before her clearly supported that aliens did exist.

"The results say otherwise, Serena!" Alvin yelled back. His face was red with anger and he seemed to be sweating from every pore.

Her phone beeped sharply in her satchel as Alvin fanned papers in her face. She ignored the incoming text message alert, while she contemplated pulverizing his sweaty face.

No. That would ruin years of work and draw unwanted attention.

Instead, she snatched the papers and controlled her temper. When she got mad, her face turned blue, her natural complexion. A few times she had to explain it was cyanosis caused by a congenital heart condition; that it made breathing difficult when she got excited.

Humans were so gullible.

Serena jabbed a finger at one line and explained to everyone watching on. "See here? This is a discrepancy. It doesn't add up because the probability is over-inflated. It would not make sense that an Earth-like planet could be located at those coordinates. The orbit is all wrong. The alignment would mean there would be a collision." She flung her arms up in dramatic disgust. Serena enjoyed the humans' habit of exuberant expression, and at times, had deliberately gone over the top to see what reaction she would get. Her team was currently confused by all the drama.

Perfect.

What she said was all true according to humanity's limited—but rapidly growing—knowledge of space. It was the year 2081 on Earth, and the race had progressed a lot in the last five decades. However, they still did not understand Titum spatial differentials. If they did, they would know that her very earth-like home planet, Aarilla, was in that exact spot.

"What are you talking about woman!" Alvin Forster yelled at her. Serena gave the man a dark stare that had him paling. He wouldn't know why, but her inner predator was displeased. That was how it was with Aarillians, each one was born a predator or prey. Both had a function. But her predatory nature was a hindrance to human males. They subconsciously must detect she was dangerous and generally gave her the wide berth. Those she slept with didn't fare well. One died from fright. A few who were offensive afterward didn't live through the night. All those who survived never returned her call. Not that she could blame them. The mating habits of her kind were dangerous, and when added with low fertility, it was no surprise her species was in danger of extinction. On top of her espionage duties, she was also expected to explore the human mating potential. Serena excelled at the former responsibility but was doing poorly on the latter. It was frustrating. She’d read every five-star self-help book on relationships she’d found on Amazon.

The door of the lab room creaked open and distracted her. She tuned her advanced hearing to the familiar pattern. The timing between steps, deliberate, steady and purposeful quiet. Only today Dorian Knight smelt different. Was that a new cologne mixed in the usual smell of apples? Was the anti-social bastard seeing someone? Who on earth would want to date someone who routinely talked in monosyllables and chose suspicion over civility? Her eyes narrowed, even though she didn't turn. Knowing what to expect, she waited.

Cruuunch!

Serena winced but tried not to react to the offensive crunch of the apple. For unknown reasons, her heightened Aarillian hearing magnified certain subtle noises. Biting into an apple was one of them. And Knight appeared to be addicted to the fruit. Initially, she'd pegged the Head of Security as a possible mate but quickly ruled him as unsuitable. Too objectionable and immune to her hypnotic techniques as he rarely looked at her in the eyes. Here he was again, checking on the team, he'd been doing that a lot lately.

Maybe she shouldn't have killed that scientist...

“People,” he said as a way of greeting.

Cruuunch!

Serena suppressed the urge to spin around, punch him in the gut and rip the fruit out of Mr. Security’s hand. It would be fun to shove the whole apple down his throat and put an end to her auditory torture. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as her team greeted him eagerly.

People? That’s it?

In all her studies of human customs and greeting habits, she did not read that telling people that they were people was an adequate form of hailing one’s presence. She ignored him and his offensive crunching apple as best she could. Her dislike of the Head of Security was well known to her team and to him. Instead, she continued scanning the remaining data Alvin had collated. The mad scientist was a genius, and it was in the Aarillians’ favor that being a genius was often mistaken for insanity on Earth.

“Your equation is invalid, Alvin,” she lied, this time switching to a calm facade in response to the sudden tension caused their latest visitor. The late Howard Hoff, the anthropologist of their group was despised. The team was on edge with his recent controversial death. “The dimensions do not agree, so your numbers are nonsense.”

"How dare you!” exploded the sweaty scientist. “I’ve checked, re-checked and re-checked again. My equation balances and my numbers add up! It’s you that’s the problem!”

“Me?” she raised a finely plucked brow. “It’s not my faulty error-checking under scrutiny! If we presented your findings to the Scientific community, Project ETC would be a laughing stock!”

Her team’s project acronym ETC stood for ExtraTerrestial Confirmation. Serena's goal was to un-confirm every major finding while confirming the minor wins. So far, her misdirection had been unnoticed and effective. She tried to look accommodating. “Let’s reconvene in a fortnight to discuss. For now, the status quo remains: Aliens do not exist.”

She stared at her other team members in good humor. They all nodded slowly, their smiles submissive but uncertain. She didn’t bother to acknowledge the stony presence behind her; Knight was a waste of her hypnotic energy.

Alvin’s bespectacled red face blocked her, his crazy eyes magnified behind his glasses. “They exist! They’re already amongst us, walking around and spying on us!” He jabbed a shaking fat finger, almost touching her. He was fortunate her instinct was dampened, otherwise, he might have lost a digit. She tolerated his spittle flying at her as he continued to rant. “YOU! You could be one of them! In fact, before Howard was murdered, he told me to watch out for you, he had found something on the Dark Web!”

“Excuse me?” challenged Serena, allowing her infamous quick temper to come forward. She jabbed her own finger back but ensured contact with her sharpened nail. Alvin flinched back and rubbed his chest. “Is this slander you wish to spread? It was my understanding that the only data found on Howard’s hard drives was the illicit, under-aged kind. His deviance will not be missed by his victims. I would reward the murderer myself for the job well done.”

In fact, she did reward herself. There had been an unopened carton of Ben and Jerry’s Caramel Cheesecake Ice Cream in Howard’s fridge. As the perverted scientist had met his gurgling death lying in a pool of his own blood, she’d been savoring spoonfuls of creamy goodness. Unlike the humans, and in spite of their advanced intelligence, the Aarillians’ ancient roots were that of warriors. They lived by the Law of Retaliation. “An eye for an eye” - as the humans put it - was practiced with zest by Aarillians.

“Really, Alvin! How could you imply such wickedness of Serena? She’s been nothing but an asset to our team! Her work has brought in many Investors!” exclaimed Pamela Wong. Pam was the team’s leader and Serena’s strongest supporter. What no one knew was that the Investors were Corporations with Aarillians at the helm.

Alvin walked a wide berth around her. “I’m not implying anything, I’m just telling you what Howard told me the night before he died.” He gave Serena an accusatory stare, the distance making him brave. “Dorian! Maybe you can give us an update on the investigation? You were talking to the Sheriff and the FBI earlier.”

Cruuuunch!

As the Security Guard swallowed, Serena imagined his imminent death. Maybe she could hotwire his petrol-guzzling truck to switch on by itself one evening and run him over. It was entirely doable with her skills and some Aarillian technology. Child’s play actually.

The stony presence finally cleared his throat deeply.

Serena suppressed a sigh and reluctantly turned to stare at the male leaning against the sterile wall. His thick tattooed arms were crossed and his face a granite slab lacking expression. Dressed in dark clothing, he looked like a fallen angel against the stark white plaster. Only, his looks were far from angelic. His face looked like it had been rearranged a few times. He pushed off the wall and walked towards the group, stopping at the other side of the metal examination table where Serena stood.

Dorian shrugged. “Can’t say much.”

No surprise there. The man had limited vocabulary in the two years she’d known him. His words would fit comfortably on one side of an A4 page with room to spare.

Cruuunch!!

With her irritation increasing exponentially, she watched Alvin shuffle behind the bigger man as if he was a human shield. Moderating her voice with discipline, she asked, “Why are you here again, Knight? This is your third visit for the week. This is a team meeting and I doubt you’d be interested in if Aliens exist.” She looked pointedly at Alvin. “Which unless proven otherwise, they don’t.”

“They do! You keep insisting my equations are wrong, Serena. You and I both know that’s not true! I’ve been watching you closely, something isn’t right about you. What are you hiding?” replied Alvin, looking around the bulk of Knight.

“I am not the one hiding, Alvin,” she stated, her tone bored. Then she nodded at Knight whose gaze was deliberately somewhere above her shoulder and avoiding eye contact. She eyed Knight from his buzzed head to his heavy boots. The man looked like he planned to stand there all day and his presence was fraying on her nerves. She could see her fingertips turn bright blue. It was a bad sign that her synthesized genetics to mimic human form were reversing.

She closed her eyes, breathed deeply in and silently called on the Aarillian Guiding Spirits for serenity. Thankfully, her blue fingers turned rosy again. When she glanced back at Knight, he caught her gaze and winked.

Winked!

The grim reaper must have had caught some dust in his eyes. Then he bit into his apple enthusiastically.

Cruuunch!!

That was it. He either needed to leave now or he might have to die later.

Her Superiors had directed her only to remove those who caused provocation to her well-being or the mission. That offensive ear grinding sound of apple crunching was a provocation to her auditory health. Despite the inferno brewing inside her, Serena delivered a cool stare at the tattooed ape. She was a tall woman at six foot, and in her heels, that put her exactly the same height as Knight. His presence was challenging her authority. This was her domain and she’d have none of that. But aggression was ineffective with one such as him.

It was time to change tack.

As her laser blue eyes held his hazel ones, she caught an errant brown lock that had slipped from her haphazard topknot and curled it behind a delicate ear. His eyes followed the small movement. With him pinned to where he stood, Serena sidled closer, invading his personal space. The instant creasing of his brow and the slight backward lean of his torso perked her mood drastically. While he was off balanced, she smiled sweetly and reached down.

She grabbed his apple.

Without looking, she flung it thirty feet away into the bin by the door.

“See? She’s eerie. Only an Alien with extraordinary abilities and heightened senses can do that,” Alvin whispered loudly into Knight’s ear.

“Alvin! You must stop this insanity immediately,” reprimanded Pam. “Serena is not E.T. Where do you get your ideas from dear man!”

Serena cast a grateful smile at her team leader and then rolled her eyes at her colleagues who remained in varying states of bemusement.

“Yes, do be quiet, Alvin,” replied Serena. “This is my lab room. I know the exact placement of every piece of equipment. And my accurate throwing arm came from months of practice throwing balled pages of your invalid data printouts.”

The scientist poked around Knight again and cried, “Why you horrid lying b—”

Pam’s sharp “Alvin!” was drowned out by Knight’s low growl. “Watch your mouth, Forster!” He shoved the flustered scientist back.

The room buzzed with disapproving sounds before the Head of Security whistled sharply.

Silence.

“Look, to answer Serena’s earlier question. I was waiting for the meeting to finish before giving this team an update on Howard Hoff’s murder investigation. There have been some new developments you all should know about.”

“The meeting is done,” said Serena, painting a concerned look on her face and placed a hand on her chest. “An update would be appreciated. I’m quite frightened for my safety!” Hopefully, her private drama class last week was time well invested.

Knight’s lips quirked oddly and shook his head. After a brief pause, he spoke again. “There have been more murders.”

Shocked gasps filled the room followed by frantic conversation.

Seren twisted her head and hissed at her colleagues. “Quiet!” Foreboding curled in her stomach at the unexpected turn of events. When the stream of chatter broke, she continued. “Who was murdered?”

“The CEOs of our top two Investors. Amrin Tech and Bisman Pharmaceuticals.”

Serena’s mind raced as disbelief set in. Am-rin and B’man were highly trained Aarillian spies, they could not have been murdered by humans…

There was only one explanation; they had a traitor in their ranks.

“Is that it, Knight?” asked Serena, her expression grim. “If so, I’d like to conclude this session. We’re all overwrought from Howard’s death and under enough pressure.”

The Security Guard nodded, his expression enigmatic. He turned and left in ghostly quiet without so much as a goodbye. The man had atrocious manners.

“I just know I’m going to be next!” cried Alvin, he slapped his slicked forehead dramatically. “I’ve confirmed the existence of Aliens! Now the government wants to shut me up!”

Everyone ignored Alvin as they filed out. Once they were all gone, Serena retrieved her phone from the satchel. She had one text message from an unknown number.

Aliens do exist and we know you’re one of them. You’re next, S’ren.

---

Quick Notes from Linny:
[1] This is the Post Two of Three that I posted for the Sndbox Summer Camp Writing Quest. For the Task Two, a story with a minimum of 2000 words had to be written. This submission is just over 2500 words.

[2] I wrote my Alieness a long time ago and I was fond of her. I had thought it was going to be a simple re-work of an existing story, but I ended up only having a 600 word starter (I was horrified, I thought the original story was longer!). I ended up writing it all on the fly in the last 12 hours. My husband kindly woke up at 4 am to edit this draft -- poor man. Hopefully, it's polished enough for the judges and readers. I apologize profusely if you see any massive typoes or grammatical ugliness. I need to stop doing challenges last-minute...

[3] To view Task One - Click here to read My Writing Journey.

[4] Thank you to the Sndbox organizers for creating this quest and your consideration. The last compilation post to combine the two previous post will be written up soon.

[5] I spend a lot of time on the discord servers of @teamaustralia. It is an active and supportive community for all Aussie Steemians. If you have not already, please get in contact with @choogirl on PAL discord Server.

[6] Using your Witness Voting Power: If you have a spare moment and witness votes, please consider voting for @ausbitbank , @aggroed , @jackmiller , @cryptwo & @quochuy for their work in keeping the blockchain secure. (https://steemit.com/~witnesses)

If you got this far, sincere gratitude for taking the time to read my story! <3