Subjects

61 - Another Day At The Office

Emily is sitting on the porch at the back of the cabin.

There used to be chairs here but the one that is left is all broken and ruined from years of standing out in the rain. Emily has to sit on the floor, then. Never mind, it's not like her back hurts from leaning on the wall for so long. There is a pack (do you call it a pack?) of birds sitting in one of the trees and they just won't stop chirping. It is so annoying Emily almost abandons her post and goes into the house.

"Whenever you are stuck on something, make a list." This is what Chris told her. This is how she used to go about fixing cars. "Something must be wrong with it," Chris said. "Or else, it would have worked. You just have to find the problem." Emily would list in her head all of the different things that can go wrong. She would test each of them, one by one until she found the problem.

She tries to do the same thing now. The last time Alice went grocery shopping, Emily went with her. She got a notebook and some pens. Her mind feels like a mess right now and honestly all the talks with the rest of the group are not helping. She has to organize her thoughts.

So she starts making a list:

- Superpowers: language, science, general knowledge, spaceship

- Genes: original gene from the firsts, human version, infecting gene, blue gene

- How to remove the genes?

- How to create an antidote for the infecting gene?

- Are the blue ones going to agree to cooperate?

- Can blue ones use the influence too?

- Why does every alien have a different influence? Is it a skill they need to practice?

- Why does Ben have the influence too?

- How does Angie's influence work?

- Does anyone besides us know about the aliens?

- How many people did Roa kill? And why?

- Is there a way to stop this?

- Are they going to find us when we go to Midway?

- We can't do this alone.

Everything is quiet now. Emily got caught up in writing down her thoughts and didn't notice the birds flying away and leaving her in silence. The lake is so still, only small waves appear on the surface when fish swim up and then dive under again.

"Hi, what's up?" It's Eva.

She walks to Emily and sits next to her with her back to the cabin's wall.

"Just trying to figure things out," Emily puts the notebook on the floor next to her.

"Same here," Eva stares at the lake. "Remember when our biggest problem was not getting albatross poop on our heads?"

"Feels like ages ago."

"It was actually exactly three months ago," Eva says. "I checked it yesterday."

"Feels like much longer."

It may not seem like it, but Eva actually had a reason to start this conversation. She's just not sure how to say it. "I need your help," Eva says.

"With what?" Emily asks her.

Eva contemplates her answer. It takes some time to finally get it out, but Emily is patient. Good thing that at least one of them is. "I need to talk to my dad before we leave."

"Oh," even after burying the hatchet, the whole subject is sort of taboo.

"I just think that I can't hide this from him, I don't want to. This is not just about survival anymore, this is about intergalactic relations. Yes, I know that I'm supposed to be the expert on that subject but I still think that this is not something we can do by ourselves. And even if we do decide to tell the world, or even just several people, how are we going to convince them? I know I'd never believe our story."

"You're right," Emily says. "We can't do this alone. Even with Roa on our side, even if we can convince this other race of aliens to support us. It's not enough. We need to have the world support us. It's the only way."

"Nobody is going to believe us. The aliens are just going to hide everything and make it seem like they were never here."

"We need to get some proof. Our knowledge can only help us if people listen to us. We can use the spaceship as proof too but I bet that if we start going around showing the world we have a spaceship the aliens will send someone to stop us before we can really convince anyone."

"We can start with a small group," Eva says. "My dad, your brother. We already have Jeff and Alice on the believing side. The more people we convince, the better. We just have to keep everything a secret so that we don't attract the wrong kind of attention."

"I guess it can work, if we have some people here on earth spreading the knowledge and us out there getting support from other species."

When they all gather at lunch, Ben has an even better idea.

"I have some videos I recorded over the last few months. I have footage from Midway, from the time we were on The Panther, from the way back to San Francisco. Everything. And... Umm, I also have some vlogs that I recorded. Not many, but I did document most of what happened to us. What can I say, old habits die hard."

"This is great!" Eva says. "We can use it to convince people."

"I can tell people the truth of how I got injured," Jeff says. "Maybe recruit some friends of mine from the ship."

"The thing is, the aliens still think we're all dead," Roger says. "Unless Roa continues to play her part, or we give them any reason to suspect us, they are going to come after us again."

"We need to make sure that we leave earth before that happens," Emily says. "And that all of you have a place to hide." She refers to Alice, Angie, and Jeff.

The group agreed that only the four subjects should go to bargain with the blue ones. Eva knows, from her lessons with Leo, that they don't particularly like Roa's species so it is best if she doesn't come. Angie should probably not come either since she's half-alien and Alice won't leave her daughter behind. That leaves only Jeff who still needs to heal and can probably be of more use on earth anyway.

They decided that Alice is going to drive the four back to San Francisco. There they can explain everything to their families and then catch a flight back to Midway. They must do all of this while staying off the aliens' radar. Roa's job is to make sure they don't suspect anything. Jeff and Angie are to stay at the cabin for now.

Do you think they stand a chance at pulling this off? I don't know. For now, there is so much about to happen. If you think that so far the story was crazy, wait till you see what's coming next. Oh, yes. Abduction, experiments, and road trips were only the beginning.

Things are about to get real.