Fifty Years Earlier The alien starship hurtled toward Earth. It was badly damaged. The alien captain knew that she would not survive -- the rest of her crew had already died in the battle with the enemy. She had barely been able to get the ship out before she died, as well. But the cargo was more precious than her life. She held it in her lap, cradling it in her many legs as she tried to steer the ship to a safe landing on this watery planet she had found at the edge of the galaxy. No one came here, the cargo would be safe here if she could get the ship down intact. She was coming down through the atmosphere now. She tried not to think about the flames flickering past the view screens. The atmosphere was denser than she had expected -- her planet was not nearly so wet. Finally, they were through.
But the ship was unable to land normally -- the atmosphere had burned off key parts of the landing gear. She steered towards the largest landmass she could see and hoped for the best.
=================
Down in the bar in Crimson Falls, the locals were enjoying one last beer before closing time when something went screaming overhead followed by a loud crash from the hill above town that overlooked the falls. The men looked at each other and ran out, grabbing the fire buckets in case there was a fire. They ran up the hill, trailed by a few other town folks in nightwear. On top of the hill at the end of skid marks was a thing like none of them had ever seen before. "It looks a little like one of those rocket thingies we seen on the TV lately," ventured the Mayor.
The thing was not on fire, though there were some small brush fires around it. Some of the men began putting out the flames while another, braver soul climbed in the open hatch of the ship. Inside, the captain blinked wide, dimming eyes at him. She rasped out some words he couldn't understand and handed him the thing she was cradling. Her eyes went blank and she moved no more.
He backed out of the ship. "There was an alien inside! She died but she gave me this first!" he shouted.
A babble of voices arose. "What is it? Blow it up, it's dangerous!"
The man carrying it yelled through the din. "She trusted me with this! I don't know what it is, but I won't let you blow it up!"
The Mayor spoke calmly. "Alright, Dr. McDonald, alright. You can keep it. Just be careful with it."
================== They buried the alien just below the crest of the hill. They hoped it didn't mind the burial service and was safe in its Heaven. They dismantled the ship and hid the pieces in the woods. They played dumb hicks when the government came around asking questions.
Dr. McDonald experimented carefully with the thing and discovered it was a personality divider. He put out careful brochures and advertised it to pregnant women -- instant older twin for your baby, to guide it through life. With the money he made, he built a new hospital for Crimson Falls on the hill above town. He chose the location in honor of the origins of his money. He eventually retired to Florida and died a wealthy man.
"Just great," said Stacey, venom in her words. "We're having a party now? Who's the new person, and why can they tell they're coming and I can't? What else is being hidden from me?" "Hidden is the wrong word," said Ana. She stared at Stacey, her eyes boring into her as though trying to tell her something without words. Stacey refused to relax and try and feel the thoughts that Ana clearly wanted to share. "Maria and Mariah are... older. Older than us." "Older than me," said Stacey with a snort. "Younger than you. At least for now." "You can't have a twin that's older than you," said Ben. Everyone looked at him, most of them had forgotten he and his twin were also there. He was still slumped on the floor, half-propped up against the wall. "David and I are the same age." "We're not," said David. His voice was barely more than a whisper. "You're younger. A lot younger." "I don't understand." "Footsteps," said Maria. "Approach," said Mariah. "We can't go back into the morgue," said Ana. She sighed. "This always happens with you two. You're a jinx." "You're a –" "– stuck up bitch." "Why are you saying you're older than me?" "Shut up!" Stacey's voice was a near scream. "You're all talking nonsense, and it's not important! What the hell is going on here. I want to know now!" "Footsteps are going –" "– upstairs." "Then we're leaving," said Ana. "At the very least we get to the carpark and the fresh air and then – then," she said, staring at Stacey intently again, "we'll talk about what's gone on here this evening." "No," said Stacey, but Ana was helping Ben to his feet and the Maria's (or was it Mariah's?) were picking David up like a roll of carpet. "No, this is just ridiculous. What the hell is going on here?" "Outside," said Ana, her tone so unexpected quiet and sober than for the first time Stacey calmed down and unclenched her fists. As she did so her mind relaxed and she caught one of Ana's thoughts. Maria and Mariah think they're the experiment that worked. "Outside," she said faintly. "Fine."
There was a faint haze of rain in the air and the asphalt of the carpark was wet, slippery in places. They took Ben and David to their car and sat them inside, where the two men slumped against each other. Stacey noted that they did look like they were a similar age, and she wondered now why David was hiding the difference between them from Ben. So many questions... she looked at Ana and realised that only some of them were appropriate to ask now. "Do you know all of these people?" she asked. Ana shook her head. "I met Mariah and Maria when you were a baby," she said. "They were part of a community then, and we would have been part of that, but it sort of fell apart." "We were hunted down –" said Maria. "– by policemen and soldiers," finished Mariah. "They came with –" "– guns and handcuffs and took –" "– us away, two by –" "– two until there were so few –" "– of us left that we –" "hid." "For a while," said Ana, "I think there were two groups here in Crimson Falls. One that knew about the twins and was working on increasing their number, and one that was trying to get rid of them. Now there's only one left, and I thought we were staying hidden."
The silence in the car was a tense one, with no one making eye contact with anyone else. Stacey stared out her rain-streaked window at the nearly empty parking lot and let her thoughts - and only her thoughts - tumble around inside her mind. Then her eyes returned to the hospital as a light was turned on and then off on the second floor.
"So who is in there now?" she asked. "One of the... the hunters?"
"Most likely," Ana replied after a pause that was too brief to have allowed for much thought. "Who else would have business here?"
"Security guard?" David offered weakly from the backseat.
"There are no -"
"- security measures in place -"
"- here."
Stacey ground her teeth to avoid biting her tongue. The way the twin sisters spoke was grating on her nerves. How could they possibly think that they were the experiment that worked when they couldn't even speak on their own? What kind of success would that be?
"So, a hunter then," Ana said, her eyes scanning the second floor for movement. "Clearly expecting to find something or, more likely, someone." Another light was flicked on then off. "How would they have known anyone was here tonight?"
"Either they were tipped off," Stacey said, "or this is a nightly check."
"It is not -"
"- a nightly check."
"Do you two live here then?" Stacey demanded, unable to keep the heat out of her words. "What, you just decided to shack up in an abandoned hospital because nobody would have you as their tenant?"
"Stacey..." Ana began but then a figure emerged from the front door of the hospital, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of their trench coat. "Is that...?"
The figure looked furtively from side to side then hurried to a parked vehicle on the opposite side of the lot from where the twins were located. Every few steps they looked back over their shoulder. It took until the third time before Ana fully recognized the man.
"The mayor."
"You can't be serious." Stacey said. "Why would he -"
3 comments:
Fifty Years Earlier
The alien starship hurtled toward Earth. It was badly damaged. The alien captain knew that she would not survive -- the rest of her crew had already died in the battle with the enemy. She had barely been able to get the ship out before she died, as well. But the cargo was more precious than her life. She held it in her lap, cradling it in her many legs as she tried to steer the ship to a safe landing on this watery planet she had found at the edge of the galaxy. No one came here, the cargo would be safe here if she could get the ship down intact. She was coming down through the atmosphere now. She tried not to think about the flames flickering past the view screens. The atmosphere was denser than she had expected -- her planet was not nearly so wet. Finally, they were through.
But the ship was unable to land normally -- the atmosphere had burned off key parts of the landing gear. She steered towards the largest landmass she could see and hoped for the best.
=================
Down in the bar in Crimson Falls, the locals were enjoying one last beer before closing time when something went screaming overhead followed by a loud crash from the hill above town that overlooked the falls. The men looked at each other and ran out, grabbing the fire buckets in case there was a fire. They ran up the hill, trailed by a few other town folks in nightwear. On top of the hill at the end of skid marks was a thing like none of them had ever seen before. "It looks a little like one of those rocket thingies we seen on the TV lately," ventured the Mayor.
The thing was not on fire, though there were some small brush fires around it. Some of the men began putting out the flames while another, braver soul climbed in the open hatch of the ship. Inside, the captain blinked wide, dimming eyes at him. She rasped out some words he couldn't understand and handed him the thing she was cradling. Her eyes went blank and she moved no more.
He backed out of the ship. "There was an alien inside! She died but she gave me this first!" he shouted.
A babble of voices arose. "What is it? Blow it up, it's dangerous!"
The man carrying it yelled through the din. "She trusted me with this! I don't know what it is, but I won't let you blow it up!"
The Mayor spoke calmly. "Alright, Dr. McDonald, alright. You can keep it. Just be careful with it."
==================
They buried the alien just below the crest of the hill. They hoped it didn't mind the burial service and was safe in its Heaven. They dismantled the ship and hid the pieces in the woods. They played dumb hicks when the government came around asking questions.
Dr. McDonald experimented carefully with the thing and discovered it was a personality divider. He put out careful brochures and advertised it to pregnant women -- instant older twin for your baby, to guide it through life. With the money he made, he built a new hospital for Crimson Falls on the hill above town. He chose the location in honor of the origins of his money. He eventually retired to Florida and died a wealthy man.
"Just great," said Stacey, venom in her words. "We're having a party now? Who's the new person, and why can they tell they're coming and I can't? What else is being hidden from me?"
"Hidden is the wrong word," said Ana. She stared at Stacey, her eyes boring into her as though trying to tell her something without words. Stacey refused to relax and try and feel the thoughts that Ana clearly wanted to share. "Maria and Mariah are... older. Older than us."
"Older than me," said Stacey with a snort. "Younger than you. At least for now."
"You can't have a twin that's older than you," said Ben. Everyone looked at him, most of them had forgotten he and his twin were also there. He was still slumped on the floor, half-propped up against the wall. "David and I are the same age."
"We're not," said David. His voice was barely more than a whisper. "You're younger. A lot younger."
"I don't understand."
"Footsteps," said Maria.
"Approach," said Mariah.
"We can't go back into the morgue," said Ana. She sighed. "This always happens with you two. You're a jinx."
"You're a –"
"– stuck up bitch."
"Why are you saying you're older than me?"
"Shut up!" Stacey's voice was a near scream. "You're all talking nonsense, and it's not important! What the hell is going on here. I want to know now!"
"Footsteps are going –"
"– upstairs."
"Then we're leaving," said Ana. "At the very least we get to the carpark and the fresh air and then – then," she said, staring at Stacey intently again, "we'll talk about what's gone on here this evening."
"No," said Stacey, but Ana was helping Ben to his feet and the Maria's (or was it Mariah's?) were picking David up like a roll of carpet. "No, this is just ridiculous. What the hell is going on here?"
"Outside," said Ana, her tone so unexpected quiet and sober than for the first time Stacey calmed down and unclenched her fists. As she did so her mind relaxed and she caught one of Ana's thoughts. Maria and Mariah think they're the experiment that worked.
"Outside," she said faintly. "Fine."
There was a faint haze of rain in the air and the asphalt of the carpark was wet, slippery in places. They took Ben and David to their car and sat them inside, where the two men slumped against each other. Stacey noted that they did look like they were a similar age, and she wondered now why David was hiding the difference between them from Ben. So many questions... she looked at Ana and realised that only some of them were appropriate to ask now.
"Do you know all of these people?" she asked.
Ana shook her head. "I met Mariah and Maria when you were a baby," she said. "They were part of a community then, and we would have been part of that, but it sort of fell apart."
"We were hunted down –" said Maria.
"– by policemen and soldiers," finished Mariah.
"They came with –"
"– guns and handcuffs and took –"
"– us away, two by –"
"– two until there were so few –"
"– of us left that we –"
"hid."
"For a while," said Ana, "I think there were two groups here in Crimson Falls. One that knew about the twins and was working on increasing their number, and one that was trying to get rid of them. Now there's only one left, and I thought we were staying hidden."
The silence in the car was a tense one, with no one making eye contact with anyone else. Stacey stared out her rain-streaked window at the nearly empty parking lot and let her thoughts - and only her thoughts - tumble around inside her mind. Then her eyes returned to the hospital as a light was turned on and then off on the second floor.
"So who is in there now?" she asked. "One of the... the hunters?"
"Most likely," Ana replied after a pause that was too brief to have allowed for much thought. "Who else would have business here?"
"Security guard?" David offered weakly from the backseat.
"There are no -"
"- security measures in place -"
"- here."
Stacey ground her teeth to avoid biting her tongue. The way the twin sisters spoke was grating on her nerves. How could they possibly think that they were the experiment that worked when they couldn't even speak on their own? What kind of success would that be?
"So, a hunter then," Ana said, her eyes scanning the second floor for movement. "Clearly expecting to find something or, more likely, someone." Another light was flicked on then off. "How would they have known anyone was here tonight?"
"Either they were tipped off," Stacey said, "or this is a nightly check."
"It is not -"
"- a nightly check."
"Do you two live here then?" Stacey demanded, unable to keep the heat out of her words. "What, you just decided to shack up in an abandoned hospital because nobody would have you as their tenant?"
"Stacey..." Ana began but then a figure emerged from the front door of the hospital, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of their trench coat. "Is that...?"
The figure looked furtively from side to side then hurried to a parked vehicle on the opposite side of the lot from where the twins were located. Every few steps they looked back over their shoulder. It took until the third time before Ana fully recognized the man.
"The mayor."
"You can't be serious." Stacey said. "Why would he -"
"Start the engine," Ana cut in. "Now."
"What? Why?"
"Because we're going to follow him."
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