Reconquest: Mother Earth

Chapter VII

Chapter VII

Panting and nearly out of breath, Mitch turned the corner of the high school track. His legs felt rubbery on the asphalt. Instead of letting fatigue overcome him and slowing down toward the finish line, he kicked into an extra gear and sprinted toward Sarm, passing the alien in full stride.  

The alien clicked the stop watch and sauntered toward him with his tall insect legs. "One minute and forty four seconds. It is your fastest time yet." Mitch bent over and clutched his legs. "Next time I would like to see you achieve a time of a minute and thirty seconds." 

Mitch looked up and nodded. "I just want to improve. Every day I want to get faster and stronger." 

"To improve your condition you must set measurable goals and take steps to reach them. That is the way. Now you must stretch." 

"You're the stretching nazi," Mitch said. "You're worse than my old track coach." 

"I have learned of your physiology, and stretching is of essence, especially due to the inactivity of your limbs and muscles during your comatose stage. There are no fast answers, Mitch. Slow and steady is the way." 

Sarm made him undergo a rigorous stretching routine that included his arms, his legs, his back, even muscles Mitch didn't know existed.  

They were at an abandoned high school near Sarm's research facility. It held an open field and a weight room. In addition, it was secluded. After a month, Mitch was used to being around Sarm, but was not ready to deal with other aliens. 

Every day, Sarm made him work out until he was completely spent, but he never complained. In fact, he did more than Sarm required. His goal was to get back to his old level of physical conditioning.  

Mitch felt discouraged the first time he had lifted weights. Sarm wanted to start him off slowly, but when he told Mitch to bench press a forty five pound Olympic bar with ten pound weights on each side, Mitch scoffed at him. He insisted they start with forty five pound plates on each side and felt humbled when he could not lift it. He kept lowering weights until he reached the weight Sarm had originally put on the bar. That was all he could lift.  

He worked on different muscle groups doing bicep curls, squats, and leg extensions using little weight. As disenchanted as he had been with his lack of strength, he was pleased that since then he had doubled the weight he could lift.  

The alien amazed him with his strength and agility. When they jogged together, Sarm had to slow down for him to catch up. He was also astonished at Sarm's wealth of knowledge, especially about the history of the United States and the planet Earth.  

After they finished stretching, Sarm said, "Darkness is coming in our direction. We must be in the return path home." 

"Why do you do that?" Mitch asked. 

"Do what?"  

"You speak in such a peculiar manner. Your English is fluent. You have a very good command of the language and don't even speak with a noticeable accent. You have a large vocabulary, better than most native speakers, but you say so many things incorrectly. You don't use the words properly in a sentence." 

Sarm rubbed his head. "That is the result of my learning method of your language." 

"How did you learn English, anyway?" 

"Prior to my arrival, I purchased language modules at an intergalactic fair. Not knowing with which to familiarize myself, I was told that the most beneficial languages to have knowledge of were English, Spanish, German and Mandarin."