Adopt a Space Alien (Part Three)

Fiona sat in a dark, empty movie theater, with Captain Mittens purring on her lap, and a fashion model mannequin sitting beside her with a paper bowl of popcorn. It had been almost a year since the Intelligent Beings of True Blue Planet 42 took over. In that time Fiona had been locked in an abandoned mall with all the remaining humans they could find through their television broadcasted message. They learned to fight and make weapons. They plotted and strategized. 

The last time they tried to leave the mall, the air outside was too dusty to see or breathe. No one really knew what awaited them outside the doors of the mall, but they tried to prepare for anything. 

In all this time, Fiona never saw or heard from Emma. She didn’t know if she had been captured, killed, or something worse. Though she had no reason to, she continued to believe she’d see Emma again. She thought of that honey blonde hair, and warm smile more often than she cared to. With all she had to worry about, wasting so much of her thoughts on one person she barely knew didn’t make sense. Thoughts were hard to control though. 

Fiona wondered if they had enough people to stand up to the Intelligent Beings. Their army grew through the year, and each person who joined brought passionate energy to the cause. They all wanted their planet back. They all wanted their normal lives back. After all that happened, Fiona didn’t know if that would ever be possible. She wished they had more time to prepare, but resources were very scarce. Especially water. It seemed the Intelligent Beings had sucked the planet dry, and their rations of bottled water had run out. The time had come. They were as prepared as they could be. Every minute that passed, another shovelful of dread weighed down Fiona’s gut. Something didn’t feel right. 

“Fiona? We’re opening the doors. It’s time,” Lyle called from the door. Fiona grabbed her face mask and sword. Captain Mittens kept pace behind her as she followed Lyle to the others. Burt stood on a chair giving a motivating speech through a loudspeaker. The crowd roared with cheers and applause. 

At the start of all of this, Fiona was a desperately lonely person seeking a companion. Now a room of thousands had become her family. She’d never known a loyalty so fierce. No matter what happened outside the walls, it seemed worth it to defend and fight for each of these incredible individuals. Noticing Mrs. Elmer on her left, Fiona reached out to pat her back. Mrs. Elmer was an eighty year old woman covered in hockey padding she collected from the sports store. 

“We’re getting our planet back!” Mrs. Elmer cheered. “Then I’m baking a celebratory pie for everyone in here.” 

“That’ll be a lot of pies,” Fiona smiled. 

Fiona looked around at all the familiar faces. I’m honored to do this with you all. The void of loneliness had been filled many months ago. 

The doors swung open and they charged out into the sunlight. Each one had their face masks on, expecting to get sucked into thick clouds of dust. Instead, something unusual happened. 

Vibrant green grass stretched before them. Large trees filled with flowers formed a rainbow of colors. Rabbits and squirrels and some creatures Fiona had never seen before, feasted on nuts, vegetables, and clovers. In the distance, the soothing trickling of a stream could be heard. Stepping out the doors seemed to have transported them to an entirely different place. Fiona turned to see the mall remained. The green stretched on forever in each direction. There were no buildings to be seen. Simply endless nature. 

A group of people ran to a pond of bright blue water, cupped their hands to pick up water, and slurped it down greedily. 

“Wait, you don’t know if that’s safe,” Lyle said. 

“It’s worth the risk,” said one of the people at the pond’s edge. “It’s so delicious. I’ve never had water this good.” 

“Where are they?” Burt asked. Though he didn’t say, they all knew who he meant. Everyone searched. They walked deeper into the trees. 

As they walked, Fiona looked around in awe at the violet mushrooms, indigo wildflowers, tall lemon-colored flowers, and dangling green vines. 

Should we be so far from the mall? 

“I see something!” A voice called from the front of the group. 

They all looked forward to a mossy green castle that blended with the wildlife around it. The door opened and a woman stepped out. She wore a long emerald and gold dress. 

“Emma!” Fiona screamed and shoved her way through the crowd to the front. “What are you…What is this?” 

Emma’s smile was soothingly sweet. It filled Fiona with warm, tingling infatuation. Her soul lunged forward wanting to wrap her in her arms, but her body froze in place. 

“I’ve been helping the Intelligent Beings. They’ve created such a genius plan. I can’t wait to share it with all of you!” 

“We’re not interested in anything those monsters have to say!” Burt yelled and raised his nail covered bat into the air. 

“We’re taking the planet back!” A voice yelled. The crowd cheered in agreement. 

Emma’s face didn’t lose an ounce of confidence. “This planet is no longer enough for us.” 

“Yeah because they stole our resources! We know. We’re not stupid or blind,” A man yelled. Then someone lit one of the bug torches for outdoor parties and used it to set flame to a beautiful strawberry flowered tree. The fire rippled across the branches in a beautiful wave of golden embers and then pulled back leaving the tree unharmed. 

“What the–” 

"Magic?"

"Witch craft."

“This is a display. It shows you what is possible.”

The group of people backed up with worried looks in their eyes. Then their eyes collectively widened to follow a large white oval floating in the air. 

“What’s that eggy thing?” Someone asked. 

Emma smiled patiently. “They’re pods. Each family would have a pod which serves as a bedroom and transportation vehicle. You port the pod in large establishments like this where we engage in communal living. It’s energy efficient.”

“You think a whole family can live in a little space egg thing?” 

“Not live. Sleep and transport.” 

“Well, this is all bonkers! You think you can come in and just hijack our planet.” 

“It’s my planet too!” Moisture pooled in Emma’s eyes. “This is what’s best. Let me show you.” 

Emma placed her hands on her stomach, and gently rubbed. That’s when Fiona noticed the bump. 

“Are…are you–”

“Pregnant?” Emma’s face radiated a golden glow as she nodded her head. “I hear it’ll actually be more comfortable than…a typical human and human pregnancy. With their gelatinous nature and all.” 

Fiona nodded. I was foolish to think she’d feel the same. That she’d be searching for me all this time too. 

Emma looked up at the crowd, “Please let me show you. Then you can decide.” 

“Where are our families?” A woman cried.

“They are waiting,” Emma said and waved them to follow her inside. 

Fiona followed a few paces back so she could listen to the whispers of the crowd. 

“This is ridiculous.” 

“I just want to go home.” 

“No one wants this shit.” 

“All I want is a beer, my football game on, and some burgers on the grill.” 

“This lady is nuts if she thinks I’m giving up my Mustang for some ugly pod thing.” 

“You really think any car runs after over a year of sitting in dust storms?” 

“I don’t trust them.” 

“Can’t trust anyone.” 

Fiona sniffled back tears. Now felt like an important time to be strong, but she had grown to love and care for all these people in the past year. Captain Mittens yowled and Fiona bent down to scoop him in her arms. She had nearly forgotten him in all this chaos. 

Inside the doors, water flowed through tubes and Emma explained how they filtered rain water. A long table ran down the hall.  

“Please everyone have a seat. We’ll have a meal and talk.”

They sat around the table, which stretched further down than anyone could see. Fiona couldn’t believe any building or table would be so long. In front of each of them was a small, white, technological ball. 

“Type in your favorite food and it will release the scent,” Emma explained. “A lot of how we enjoy food is scent. The food itself is basically flavorless, but it’s packed with all the nutrients you need. It doesn’t kill animals or plants. It’s made in an environmentally friendly way. Five of these meals is all you need. It’s how we eat now.” 

They all cautiously and slowly removed their masks. Well, mostly all. Some kept them on in resistance.

Fiona typed in burger and fries. The salty, fried scent overtook her nostrils and caused her mouth to water. Then the ball opened to a bowl of what looked like cream of wheat. She took a spoonful. 

Burt grunted his disapproval. 

“What about those who can’t smell,” someone yelled from down the hall. 

“What’s important is this gives you all you need. The way we were eating before wasn’t helping anyone or anything.” 

Fiona found the sludge hard to swallow. “Why are they helping us?” 

Emma looked grateful for the question. “They understand us. Once they did the same thing to their own planet. They want to do better and help us do better with the same mistake.” 

“Does all of Earth look like this?” 

“No.” Emma took a spoonful of her own sludge. “That’s the thing. We’ve created another planet that looks like this.” Emma pressed a couple buttons and screens popped up above the table. They showed a beautiful, vibrant planet. 

Some people looked awe stricken and others skeptical. 

“We’re leaving you with a choice. You can join us on this new planet or remain on Earth. However, there isn’t much left. We are hoping that most of you will join us. Then this planet can rebuild either from less or no people. We can thrive on this new planet. Now that we know how to properly care for it, hopefully we won’t repeat the same mistakes.” 

Burt slammed his fists into the table. “I’m not leaving my home.” 

Some others cheered their agreement. 

Fiona silently thought. With all their time together, she had come to feel like a part of this group of people. The new planet seemed like a good idea, but everything about it looked new and unfamiliar. She still didn’t trust the Intelligent Beings. Their approach had been confusing, unpleasant, and unfair. They scared people and ripped apart families. 

Then a man floated into the room with glowing green eyes. Fiona knew it was one of them in human form. He put his hands on Emma’s shoulders and whispered, “Are they ready?” 

The table erupted into panicked discussion. Clanking noises rose up as people began throwing things. 

“None of this is right,” Burt said. Then mumbled, “We can still fight.” 

“Don’t you want to live in a better way? In a better place?” Emma asked. 

“We want our homes. We want to live how we want to.” 

Emma rolled her eyes. “I knew it was pointless giving you all a choice.” 

Fiona looked at her and saw something different in her face. Something had changed. “It’s never pointless having a choice.” 

“Some opposition is healthy,” Lyle shrugged. 

“You weren’t exactly a fan of theirs before,” Fiona said. 

“I came to see we have the same goals,” Emma said. 

The man gripped tighter on Emma’s shoulders. “We’ll leave them then.” 

“They won’t survive. Not this many.” 

“Because they’ve stolen our resources,” Fiona said. 

Emma shook her head. “This is like some toxic family. Staying even though it’s bad for you.” 

Burt’s eyebrows furrowed and his lip trembled in anger. “How did you think we’d ever trust all of you. Where even are the rest of our people?” 

“They’re in–” 

“Safe in the pods or whatever we know. A lot of pods are involved in this.” 

“We want them back! We want them now!” 

“They’ve made their own choices. Better choices.” 

Burt stood up. “We’ll rebuild Earth together! We have each other. We’ll fight for the lives we once had!” 

The crowd cheered. 

Fiona’s heart leapt. She always wanted a family. Always wanted to belong. Yet, maybe Emma was right. Maybe there wasn’t enough left to survive. 

“Leave our planet and don’t come back!” Burt growled. 

Fiona felt the tension pulling through her body. Emma turned to her. “What’s your choice?” 

Fiona weighed all the options. “I’ll stay with them.” 

Emma shook her head disappointedly. “I thought at least you’d have more sense.” 

“We’ll leave then,” the man with the glowing eyes said. 

The crowd cheered, but fear seized Fiona’s chest. They had no idea what was out there. How would they make water? How would they get food? Were they all headed towards death. The people patted each other on the backs, exchanged hugs, and smiled. 

“We’re finally free of these space scum,” Burt said while watching Emma and the man walk into a pod. 

Maybe, but at what cost. Fiona thought about chasing after Emma, but the little pod floated into the air and then vanished. 

"They probably killed the others."

The others might also be living well on the new planet. Fiona worried over her decision.

“We’ll get through this,” Lyle said. “We survived a year in that mall. We can do this.” 

Fiona smiled. It’s worth it to try. We have each other. Either option is scary, but maybe we can do this. Fiona sat up straighter. At least they'd know they gave it all they could.