CAPA Nominee-Undercover Alien by Barbara Romo

Excerpt from Undercover Alien ~ and thanks again for the nomination!

http://www.barbararomo.com

Gideon skimmed his flashlight along the edge of the clearing. With the jagged stump spearing up from the center, it would not be an attractive spot to land even a craft as small as Brost’s. But the area was isolated enough for an alien ship to be looking it over, especially if the species had cloaking technology sufficient to fool Earthers. The N’weretil were only one of several species who possessed such devices.

Lost in thought, he almost didn’t notice the familiar twin reflections in the underbrush until the beam of his flashlight had passed them by. He immediately retrained his light on the spot, but what he'd seen was gone.

One of the photographers was standing behind him. “Hey, there’s something bigger than an armadillo back in there.”

Hannah’s light and several others swerved to the spot Gideon’s had just abandoned. Half alarmed and half exasperated, he had no trouble briefly spiking his power. Her flashlight dimmed, along with every other light within ten feet.

“What the . . . ?” She smacked her flashlight on the palm of her hand. “I just changed these batteries this afternoon.” Muttering under her breath, she rummaged in her backpack for replacements. All around them, packs were being searched and pockets emptied as everyone else did the same.

She tore into a packet of fresh batteries. “Did you see it, too?”

He admitted he had. “It was some kind of animal,” he ventured, not knowing what else he could say.

“We must have surprised a possum. These woods are full of them."

He couldn’t recall ever having seen a possum. For Brost’s sake, he hoped possums weren’t dangerous. “Is that bad?”

She replaced the battery cover and tried the flashlight again. It worked, but then it would have worked with the old batteries, too, now that he'd regained control. "I wouldn't want to corner one, but they're more scared of you than you are of them."

Since this was the usual reassurance humans gave when he expressed concern upon meeting an animal, Gideon resolved to stay close to the others. He had enough to do without having to deal with the inevitable reactions of one of Earth’s non-human species to the presence of an Olam.

Emerging from the group surrounding their guide, the photographer named Bill came back to join them. "See something?"

"Nothing that doesn’t belong here.” Hannah led the way toward the center of the grassy area. "Do you know what we're supposed to see tonight? Sid didn't have a lot of detail."

"I just got a copy of the full sighting report from the local." He handed Hannah several pages stapled together. Gideon held up his flashlight and looked over her shoulder as she flipped through them, stopping near the end.

The witnesses’ idea of trajectory and elevation were vague. The only “fact” the viewers had all agreed upon was that the object could not possibly have been of terrestrial origin.

She returned the report to the photographer. "The sheriff said he didn't notice at the time whether there were clouds in the sky or not. But his car stopped working."

Bill shrugged. "I saw him earlier. He’s got an ancient pick-up. Probably just a loose wire. He said he got out and fooled around under his hood for a minute before he tried starting it again. It would have been better if he’d gotten it started again before he opened the hood.”

"Yeah. The lights could have been an airplane. This place is under a regular flight path."

"Or Venus, for that matter.”

Gideon was surprised. "The planet?"

Bill grinned at him as Hannah nodded. "You'd be amazed what people think they see,” she said. “We're easier to fool than we'd like to believe. Venus is a very bright light in the night sky, especially at certain times of the year."

As she talked, she dug into her backpack again and this time pulled out a thin blanket. Moving to the closest spot not already occupied, she spread it out and plopped down. When Gideon started to sit beside her, she raised a restraining hand that brushed briefly against his thigh. "Wait a second. I want you to see what I'm talking about."

She stared upward for a moment, then pointed. "There. You see that really bright light over the shorter pine? That's Venus."

Gideon straightened, tried to ignore the interesting tingle that had traveled up his leg from her fingertips, and followed her directions. He knew exactly which of the lights in the sky was Earth's neighbor. He could easily point out a few lights to her--like which cluster of far-away solar systems sheltered the mystical planet of Etokia. "I see it."

"Okay. Walk over there . . . that’s far enough. Turn around and tell me what you see now."

He did, feeling a bit foolish. "Venus?"

"It doesn't look ten feet further away?"

He blinked at that one. "It's still more than twenty-five million miles away. Considering the speed of Earth’s orbit and taking the distance I walked into account . . . "

She waved her hand, interrupting him mid-calculation. "Just tell me what it looks like."

He did, limiting himself to the range of human vision. "It’s the same."

"Exactly. It appears to be just as close as it was a moment before. If you didn't know it was a planet, you could believe it was following you, couldn't you? Especially if you suddenly noticed it in your rear-view mirror and the light seemed to be right outside your back window."

"I suppose," he said, though he really didn't think he could be that gullible, even if he'd been fully human.

She spoke as if she’d read his mind. "Trust me, some very intelligent, rational people have been fooled by this same planet, especially when it's near the horizon and the light reflected from it passes through more of the atmosphere. It can appear to change shape, color, even move about."

"Really." He stared at the planet in question more intently, and to his surprise, it did seem to waver slightly. He blinked once and it settled back into place.

"See? Pure optical illusion, but that’s been enough to fool any number of people who would have sworn they were immune to confusing a planet with a UFO."

Knowing what he did about the level of alien activity around Earth, he rather doubted many of the sightings were really of Venus, but it was hardly the moment to say so. Instead he sat beside her, close enough to feel her warmth. “I thought all you did was interview abductees."

"This kind of thing comes with the territory. Can't talk to people who think they've had encounters of the fourth kind without getting involved in the first through third."

"But you’re able to look at this as if you were an ordinary person." It was a talent he admired, especially since it was far from easy for him.

She laughed and leaned back. "I am an ordinary person."

Gideon stretched out on the blanket, linking his hands behind his head. "Are you? You don't seem like an ordinary person to me at all."

She rolled to her side, the movement bringing her closer, and propped herself up on one elbow so she could see his face. He caught a whiff of her scent as it mixed with the musty smell of the forest floor.

No designer perfume for his boss. She smelled of coffee and soap, with just a hint of good merlot.

"Trust me, someone like you would find my life utterly boring. You're the one who's got stories to tell, I’ll bet."

He smiled.