Over the Moon (24 page)

"In order to share any of these secrets with you, I had to appear
before the Star Council. They are the governing body of all people
from my planet. I asked for permission to become involved with you.
For obvious reasons, we have been strongly encouraged to date only
Helamites. I told them about my dreams where I saw you before we
met. They deliberated and agreed. They believe that I was led to you
by the creator. We are the very first sanctioned interplanetary couple
consisting of a Helamite and an Earthling."

"So we're like real pioneers in human relationships. That's great,
but I'm still worried about this whole aging thing. Am I going to
look older than you in the very near future?" I interrupted. I didn't
like the thought of ever looking older than him. I wondered how
long he was going to look seventeen.

"I should age like Earth humans do from seventeen until I'm
thirty-five. I just had to spend more time as a child and as an adolescent. Having to be a child and then a teenager for as long as I
have is incredibly frustrating. I don't recommend it. It can bring on
major depression. I was hating my life until I met you. I can heal you
and keep you from aging. In about five years, our pharmaceutical
labs will patent a serum that will make aging irrelevant. So your life
expectancy is going to increase substantially. With its use and my
help, your aging process can match mine. We have already developed it, but we can't release it to the general public until scientists
make a few more discoveries that can lead to our antiaging serum.
That way, our medicine will follow a logical course, and we won't be
perceived as a freakishly genius and therefore suspicious company."

"I'm guessing you've made a lot of breakthroughs in the medical
field already." I was beginning to see how the Martins earned their
living.

"You are right about that, but I'd rather not go into it right now.
I have to tell you the dangerous part of my secret life. I wasn't at a
convention in Vegas a few weeks ago. I was investigating a UFO
sighting near there. My family is part of a group that has the responsibility to make sure extraterrestrial visitors don't intend to harm the residents of Earth. We cover the southwestern United States, which
includes Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.

"I told you about the cannibalistic barbarians that took over the
planet Helam. We call them Hellites. Occasionally, they send scouts
to inhabited planets like Earth. So far, we've destroyed thirty-two
ships since the early i 99os. There are usually only three to five crew
members on each ship. It's an unpleasant and dirty job, but we've
become very efficient at eliminating the threat."

"So it's your duty to seek out and destroy alien terrorists," I said
as I realized most teenage boys only get to do this in video games.
They would be so jealous if they only knew. "I can see where that
could be construed as perilous. Do people from other planets besides
yours come here?" I was almost afraid to ask but far too curious not
to. I was relatively sure a lot of those freaky contestants who try out
for American Idol had to be from other planets. It was the only logical explanation to explain their extreme weird and bizarre behavior
and their inability to see how strange they were by normal Earth
standards.

"Sometimes," he answered. "Usually they mean no harm. We
encourage them to move on. If they are determined to stay, we turn
them over to the Zariba. They are from a planet even older than ours
and have been here since Renaissance times. They regulate all extraterrestrials that aren't from Helam. They have abilities that surpass
ours. Their technology is so advanced it appears to be magic. They
are the ones who visited the Anasazi Indian tribe. They took the
entire tribe home to their planet. Unfortunately, their home planet
was destroyed hundreds of years ago by a comet. Several hundred of
their ancestors escaped before the tragic event and came back to live
here on Earth. They have introduced a lot of advanced technology
to this world.

"Anyway, long story short, keeping Earth safe is a potentially
hazardous undertaking, and as other inhabited planets develop the
technology that enables them to travel at near light speed, it can
only get worse. I fully intend to keep you separate from that part
of my life, but sometimes things can overlap. I thought you should know what I do in my spare time. I hated having to lie to you." He
paused. "Do you still want to be a significant part of my world?"

"You know I do. Quit looking at me as if you think I'm going to
bolt and run away." I rolled my eyes. "How can you keep this entirely
secret? Aren't there any other Earth people who know?"

"Yes, there are some honorable leaders with whom we have
shared information. We have our people in high places like the
CIA, the FBI, MI5, and other important government organizations. Those who know are deemed trustworthy, and they only know
what they have to in order to work with us for the greater good. If
they were to betray us, the Zariba knows how to deal with them
discreetly. They have been doing it for a very long time. They are
extremely effective at keeping our existence concealed from the general population. Maybe someday we will be able to reveal our true
identity, but for now, we feel it's best to work in secret. It reduces the
probability of mass hysteria and worldwide panic.

"Even though almost half of this country's population believes
aliens have visited the Earth, most think we look like little green
men with antennae or large, creepy insects. Some actually think we
resemble those creatures with the elongated heads that have huge,
black, almond-shaped eyes and extra large skulls, complete with
massive cerebrums, as if we needed bigger brains to be intelligent
alien life forms. Science fiction writers have overactive imaginations.
We find these misconceptions amusing. Why humans would think
insects or reptiles could ever dominate them in any world is beyond
me. The truth is nothing comes close to the infinite power of the
human brain. Monsters do exist in the universe, but they originate
as human beings, and that makes them all the more frightening. Of
course, there are many strange and dangerous lesser life forms that
live on other planets, but the only way they could come to this planet
would be if humans brought them here. It would be like us taking
venomous snakes, alligators, or lions to another world."

I shivered as I thought about the monsters he had mentioned,
and then I asked, "So I am sworn to secrecy, and I won't be able to
tell anyone, not even my parents? Am I supposed to lie to them?" I was thinking out loud. It all sounded exciting, like being an underworld spy with a secret identity whose mission was to save the Earth
from extraterrestrial evildoers.

"You can tell whomever you want. However, don't be surprised
when they think you're having a psychotic episode. If you want to
avoid psychoanalysis, you would be wise to keep this knowledge to
yourself. You don't have to lie. You'll just have to filter the truth." He
seemed relieved that I was accepting this information without overreacting. I probably should be overreacting. Why wasn't I?

"I think I can do that," I said. I realized that I had sort of already
been filtering the truth that I told my parents. "Will I ever be able
to tell them?"

"Perhaps sometime in the future if it becomes necessary for
them to know."

"What about Sonya?"

"What about Sonya?" He did a really dramatic eye roll and
seemed astonished that I would mention her name, even though
she was the catalyst for this whole conversation. "Forget Sonya. She
means less than nothing to me. I'm sorry she was so abhorrently
cruel to you. I'll make sure she never bothers you again. She is completely irrelevant."

"She was right about one thing. You are out of my league." I
frowned up at him.

"I love you with all my heart, mind, and soul. You are the only
one I want in my league!"

"You know what I mean. I'm a lowly Earth girl with no superpowers. How can you love me?" I put my head in my hands, thinking about how Sonya's painful words had stung and how they had
so efficiently dismantled my self-confidence and reduced me to a
wimpy, weeping woman.

He lifted my chin. "That's totally false. You have a unique power
to love, to feel, and to understand me. You see things that others
never see. You are the most beautiful, intelligent, and captivating girl
I've ever met. You see the world in a whole different way. You are also extremely entertaining," he added, watching to see how I was
going to react to this revelation.

"I'm entertaining? What does that mean?"

"Love, you are hilariously funny. I've laughed more since I met
you than during my whole life up to now."

"So you find me amusing? How is that supposed to make me
feel better?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, Tiana. You are funny in a good
way. The way you react to things always amazes me. Your thought
process is priceless. You make me want to be a better person. You
never stop surprising me."

"Does that mean I'm a motivator?" I grinned up at him. I guess
it was okay to be entertaining as long as it was the good kind of
funny and not the stupid, strange, and lock-me-up-and-medicateme kind. Some of my self-respect was starting to recover.

"Definitely," he said, and then he took my breath away as he
held me and kissed me with fierce enthusiasm. I was now beginning
to feel even better. Being an amusing motivator has to be a good
thing, right?

We boarded the next bus back to the park entrance. The sunlight
was fading fast, painting the clouds pink and orange on the glowing
horizon. The bright, white, full moon was just barely visible in the
eastern sky. I would never see that sky in the same way again. I now
had the knowledge that it was full of frightening, intelligent aliens
who might wish to harm the residents of Earth. Who knew, and
why didn't they tell me? Oh yeah, it was the same reason I couldn't
tell anyone. It was so utterly unbelievable!

We made our way off the bus and back to the car. The others were already gone. I was relieved. I never wanted to see Psycho
Sonya again. I would rather live on a planet without monkeys than
lock horns with that horrendously hateful hag from outer space!

"Before we go home, I want to drive through the tunnel. Is that
okay?" He waited for my approval.

"Sure, I love tunnels," I said, thinking about the tunnel in my
recurring dreams.

He drove through the park entrance and up the steep hill to the
tunnel at the top. The sign on the side of the road said it was i. i
miles long and was finished in 1930. It was longer than any tunnel
I had ever traveled, and it burrowed straight through solid rock. At
night, without the aid of headlights, it would have been darker than
the deepest cavern. It was narrow, and there were a few windows
cut out of the stone along the way. In the daytime, they would have
allowed some sunlight inside intermittently.

I remembered my father telling Mark and me stories about how
he and his high school buddy, Clyde, had driven up to this tunnel at
night, parked their car, and proceeded to run through in the complete darkness, trying to avoid cars and stone walls. After traveling
through it, I realized that was a pretty crazy thing for my dad and
his friend to do. I was much too sane and valued my life too much to
ever attempt such madness. The craziest thing I had done was to fall
in love with a spaceman. Okay, I guess that trumps running through
a tunnel in total darkness. Insanity must run in my family.

By the time we reached the end, the heavens were filled with
the glowing sheen of millions of brilliant, shining stars. We turned
around in the first scenic overlook after leaving the tunnel. He killed
the motor and helped me out into the starry night. We gazed up at
the pinpricks of twinkling light. His arms surrounded me, making
me feel content and secure again. I thought of the dream when I
took his hand and we floated up into the heavens together.

I was proud of myself for coping with adversity today. I wasn't
pathetic after all. I had survived my terrifying encounter with Sonya,
the gorgeous and vicious ex-girlfriend, and I had refrained from
reacting violently toward her. I hadn't pushed her out of the bus, and
I hadn't slapped her silly when she spit in my face. I must be developing some serious self-control. Whatever dangers lurked ahead had
to be easier than meeting the lovely, psychotic Sonya. What could
possibly be worse than that?

Life was looking good, especially mine! I was dating an extraordinary extraterrestrial with amazing powers, and, as incredible as it
sounded, he loved me, Tiana Dawson, the ordinary, everyday, nondescript Earth girl. I felt like I was queen of the universe. Andrew
treated me like I was a veritable intergalactic goddess. I even loved
living in Hurricane. There was no place in the whole known universe that I would rather be.