The Angry Visitor from Xon
He landed his spacepod in a field near Carlton, Minnesota. It was night
and he hoped that there had been no sign of his landing. He had landed without
lights.
He meant no harm, visiting this planet for the first time in more than a
hundred earth years. During his last visit he was instructed to refrain
from making contact with the residents of this planet, called Tortell in
his own world (which means, Two Thirds Water.) It was not a creative name,
as most of the inhabitants of Xon are factual, reality based engineers,
lacking in imagination. (Xon means, "The Largest Blue Planet in our
Solar System", which it was.)
His name was Som Felo Fint, which translated means he was the first born
son of Som Felo. His parents, however, called him Rau, which means "Male
Boy." Happily, Rau had discovered in his previous visit that Tortell
had ample supplies of oxygen, that the molecular designs and carbon based
life forms corresponded to his own planet and that, but for his clothing
and one other handicap, he could practically pass for a Tortellian, that
is, earthling.
Rau's unfortunate handicap was the lack of vocal chords. The peoples of
Xon had developed their telepathic communication skills to such an extent
that it was believed by Xon scientists that vocal chords were irrelevant.
The vocal chord gene was removed from the genetic code shortly after the
elimination of the genes that cause migraines, cancer and an assortment
of other miscellaneous maladies. The only peoples to be infuriated by this
decision were Xon's pet owners and pet trainers. Telepathic communication
with animals has yet to be developed, in spite of that "can do"
attitude of high ranking Xon technologists.
The spacepod landed without mishap in a farmer's field shortly after dusk.
He made only a modest attempt to conceal it, intending to depart by morning.
Rau's visit to Northern Minnesota corresponded with the county fair season,
and as luck would have it, these were the days of the Carlton County Fair.
His first stop: a farmhouse just off Highway 61, to pick up a set of clothes.
The farmer and his family had gone to the fair and for a Xonian, subduing
the family watchdog was a cinch. In no time at all he was appropriately
decked out. He smiled when he caught his reflection in the mirror. On the
surface, at least, he made a passable rural Minnesotan, and a handsome one
at that.
So it was that Rau was off to the fair.
·
Lisa Flanagan was mad at her boyfriend Curt Steffle and she wanted him to
know it. Curt had made fun of her in front of his friends. Roland Kinney
and Billy Mitchell were laughing so hard tears spilt from their eyes. And
if that wasn't bad enough, Tess Harper saw everything and she probably wouldn't
get off Lisa's case for a year. For definite and for sure Curt was finished.
Lisa took a walk in the field beyond the parking lot and found a place to
be alone with herself while her friends went off to have fun. She cried
into the folds of her sweatshirt, then quietly composed herself in the dark.
As she stood up to head back toward the fairground she heard the sound of
footsteps and whirled about only to see a man's silhouette moving toward
the lights.
At first it frightened her to think that she may not have been alone. Then,
she wondered if maybe it had been Curt feeling awkward and guilty, having
followed her but being too timid to approach her.
Walking briskly, she pursued the dark figure until she reached the open
lighted space between a tent and a vendor's trailer. The figure turned,
and it was not Curt at all. In fact, it was a young man, taller and fuller
in the shoulders, and very handsome, with deepset eyes that seemed to possess
an understanding which exceeded his years. The glare of lights shone on
her face and he saw that she was looking at him with a strange expression.
Rau turned and walked out of sight around the corner.
About ten minutes later she found her friend Melissa. "Did you see
him? That new fellow. Know anything about him?"
But Melissa hadn't seen him. "Where's Curt? Didn't you come with Curt
tonight?"
"Curt's history," Lisa said and she spat. She wasn't very good
at spitting, so it was more like she sprayed a bit of spittle in the direction
of the ground. The sound was effective and showed what she thought of her
former boyfriend.
"So what's his name?"
"I don't know," Lisa said. "We haven't really met."
"You don't even know the guy and you --"
Lisa cut her off, pointing. "There. He's over by the cotton candy."
Rau was standing alongside the glass, mesmerized by the furls of air and
sugar that were being wrapped into pink and blue clouds of cotton.
"Come on," Lisa said. "Let's go meet him."
Melissa was reluctant, but she went along. Lisa acted like she had lost
her footing and brushed against him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm
such a klutz."
Rau looked at her and smiled. He found her features delicate and pleasing
to look at. Using his telepathic powers he attempted to tell her she was
beauitiful and that it was O.K. that she bumped into him. He said he was
shy and wanted to comfort her in the field, but sensed that she wanted to
be alone. He said many more things, but on his face he wore only a smile
that seemed strangely sad.
Unfortunately, human comprehension of Xonian telepathy is zilch and Lisa
wondered if she may have said or done something wrong.
Awkwardly, he reached out and put his hand on her upper arms and nodded
slightly. He realized she did not hear him, that his words were all locked
up in his head. He hoped that his touch would reassure her.
"Lisa, look," Melissa said, "It's Curt."
Sure enough, Curt, Roland and Billy were standing beneath the awning of
the shooting gallery, staring at Lisa and the stranger from out of town.
As soon as Lisa saw them she, too, reached out her arm and slipped it about
Rau's waist. "Let's go this way," she said, leading him toward
the arcade games. Somewhere behind her she heard Melissa mumble, "I'll
catch ya later, Lis," but she didn't turn. Rau, so much taller, rested
his arm across her shoulder.
They stopped at the darts game, the one where you pop balloons, and he won
her a stuffed frog. At the baseball throw, where you knock down the bottles,
he won her a stuffed snake. It went on like this till her arms were full.
At first she talked a lot, but his silence made her feel quietly foolish
and after a while she became as mute as he. They walked around behind the
stadium and down through a gate to the horse barns. She had been to the
fair every year since she was ten and she knew the places where they could
be alone. "Is this all right?" she asked as she led him to a stack
of hay bales in an empty stall. He seated himself and she, with bold abandon,
climbed into his lap and curled up against his chest.
For Rau, of course, everything in this world was new and he had been taking
it in like a newborn gasping for its first breath. But this, this was beyond
his expectations, beyond his comprehension, beyond his capacity to believe.
This beautiful young female person-species seemed genuinely desirous to
be his, to share a moment of pleasure-time with him. With fear and awe he
anticipated that he was about to experience the most truly wonderful experience
in the universe... and his heart began pounding hard in his chest.
CONTINUED
copyright 1996 ed newman
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