
Trust
by David Moody
This book is a work of fiction. The characters and situations in this story are imaginary. No resemblance is intended between these characters and any real persons, either living or dead.
Condition of Use
This book is made available subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the author's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Copyright David Moody 2003
First published electronically by David Moody in 2002
ARRIVAL
Once I get outside I'm fine.All the nervousness, the trepidation and the apprehension disappears in seconds. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other.People ask me why I run but I never give them a straight answer. I never give them an honest answer. I give them all the usual bullshit about keeping fit and healthy and I might tell them that I run because it's good to get out and find all those places you can't get to by car. When you're running, I sometimes tell them, you're everything and you're nothing. You don't matter to anyone but yourself. You can run past a hundred people and none of them know how far you've run or how much you're hurting. I tell people that I like to run because I like the quiet. I tell them I like to be on my own. I sometimes tell them that I like to think, but I never tell anyone what I think about.I left home just under half an hour ago. There were a few grey clouds on the horizon. Now the entire sky is almost completely black and I know that in a couple of seconds the sun will disappear. There's a lone pocket of blue sky above me which is about to be swallowed up by dark clouds attacking it from all directions. I've seen this happen before when a storm's been brewing. The clouds suddenly stop following each other and start to criss-cross the sky at different heights and different speeds. Unpredictable and unstoppable.My legs are aching and my head is pounding. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive and there's a cold wind suddenly gusting all around me.Christ, here it comes. I've done almost four miles and I'm soaked with sweat and now here comes the rain to make the last mile and a half home even more difficult. I've run down sheltered streets lined with buildings and footpaths covered by a canopy of trees but it's only now that I'm out here with no protection that the rain is really beginning to pour down. There's nothing I can do but keep on running. The harder I push myself, the sooner I'll be home.Bloody hell. Now this is the real reason why I run.I must have followed this dirt track a hundred times but it still takes my breath away. The rain's ice-cold and it's crashing down all around me now but it doesn't seem to matter. The view here is incredible. The muddy path is never more than a couple of feet across even at its widest point and it's hard going - boggy and uneven - but it's worth it when I reach the top of the hill. I'm out on the edge when I reach the top of the hills, following the line of the cliffs. A two hundred foot drop and nothing to see but the ocean.The rain's so heavy now that it's almost like a mist. There's the first growl of thunder - a low, ominous rumble that I can feel through the ground. I can feel it in my legs and my belly. Exhilarating and humbling. A sudden split-second flash of electric blue light and another crack of thunder and now I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm in trouble here. I'm out on my own with no protection. I'm cold and wet and I feel as exposed as an electricity pylon. I might as well be playing golf as running.There's another flash of light. This time I'm looking in the right direction, straight out over the ocean. The lightning seemed to hit the water just past the first rocks of the Devil's Peak. If I close my eyes I can still see it in negative. But closing my eyes is the last thing I want to do up here. Shit, almost lost my footing. I've got to concentrate. One slip and I've had it. It was a bloody stupid idea to come up this way today.I never stop when I'm running. It's hard to get going again once you've slowed down. But something's not right. I can't put my finger on it. The rain's even colder now I'm standing still but that's not important. I can hear something over the noise of the sea and the storm. I can hear a new sound. A different sound.There's a jet.No, wait. There's more than one.They don't usually fly much at this time of day, and certainly not in this weather unless there's a damn good reason. There are five of them flying in an arrowhead formation. When they fly along the valley they're a hundred times faster and nowhere near as loud as this. They're never usually this close to each other.There are even more of them.I can see seven jets now, sleek and dark, still flying in formation but they're getting lower. One by one they're emerging from the heavy cloud cover. They're well away from the land now and out over the ocean.There's something else behind them.They're leading it out of the clouds.Jesus Christ.Whatever this thing is it's huge. It's black and it's fucking enormous. Fucking hell, I've never seen anything like it. It's silent. All I can hear are the jets surrounding it. This thing is immense and it's not making a bloody sound. It seems to be going on forever - hundreds and hundreds of metres of Christ knows what stretching down through the clouds and out over the ocean. It looks and moves like a fucking submarine carving its way through the turbulent air. Its vast belly is black, smooth and featureless but for a few bright pinpricks of light towards the front. I can't even begin to estimate the size of this thing.There are jets surrounding the entire machine. They look so small that they're like the shadows of scavenging birds against it. I can see the back end of it now - there's a huge brilliant ball of blue-white light behind the ship. That must be what's powering it. How can it be so quiet? Christ, how can something so big move without making a sound? All I can hear are the jets and the storm.I can't look at the light. It's so bright and powerful. Jesus, I can feel my skin beginning to prickle and tighten with the heat. The rain and sweat is evaporating and there's steam snaking up from my skin.The distance is deceptive. The whole convoy is moving at speed.Just a couple of minutes since the first jet appeared and the last one is now disappearing from view. All I can see is the ball of light moving out to sea.A second of silence, and then the sound of the waves on the rocks below and the driving rain returns a thousand times louder than before.I've got to get home.
Thomas Winter was twenty-seven two weeks ago. He has one brother, Robert, who is three years his junior. There is no other family.On March 13 last year Mary and Kenneth Winter - the parents of the boys - died in a car accident just outside London. Mrs Winter and the driver of the van that hit their car died instantly. Mr Winter hung on for a further four and a half days before passing away in hospital.As the sole beneficiaries of their parent's joint will, the two boys received equal shares of a substantial estate. Mr Winter had been practical and had made arrangements well in advance which removed much of the burden from the two shell-shocked brothers. By November last year their parent's properties had been sold, their investments and pensions realised and their bank accounts closed.Robert continued with his studies at university - there he managed to find an oasis of normality when the rest of his world had been tipped on its head. Thomas, on the other hand, left his city office job and bought a modest bungalow in Thatcham, a small fishing village some twenty miles from where he had been brought up.Thomas has a girlfriend, Siobhan, who he genuinely adores. When his parents died most of his friends quickly disappeared. Siobhan stayed by his side throughout and remained strong, dedicated and supported. Even on the nights when Thomas sat alone and cried himself to sleep in the darkness, when he wouldn't eat or drink and when he'd speak to no-one, she had waited nearby. She knew that he would need her eventually.The village of Thatcham is on the east coast and is popular with holidaymakers throughout the summer.It is late August.
I sprinted down from the cold and exposed hillside and then tripped and stumbled through the rain-soaked streets of the village. The holiday season was almost over and the summer crowds had begun to subside. There seemed to have been more tourists than ever this year but now only a determined minority of the annual sun-seeking invasion force remained. I ran down the main promenade and followed the cobbled street which ran parallel with the curve of the shingle beach. There was a long and irregular line of shuffling figures gathered along the arc of the grey sea wall. They were all stood with their backs to me, every last one of them staring out over the ocean and out towards the dark horizon. Families stood together in bright waterproofs talking, for once, to the normally insular and reticent locals. It was obvious that they'd all seen the same incredible sight that I'd just witnessed. No-one could have missed it. Even though I was only there for a few breathless seconds, I could sense a peculiar unease and uncertainty hanging in the air. The locals, the tourists and myself were united in the fact that none of us had a bloody clue what had just happened.The heavy black clouds had smothered the afternoon with a murky darkness. I glanced up the hill towards home and could see my cottage. Bright yellow electric light was shining out from the living room and, standing in the window, I could see Robert's silhouette. He too was staring out towards the horizon hoping to catch sight of the awesome thing (whatever it was) that had silently flown by a couple of minutes earlier.I took another deep breath of damp, electrically-charged air and followed the road round the hairpin bend and then up towards the cottage. The final hill usually hurt more than any other part of my run. I was so preoccupied thinking about what I'd seen that I didn't even notice the pain.'Fucking hell, Tom!' Rob yelled as I crashed clumsily through the front door. 'Did you see it?'For a few seconds I couldn't breathe, let alone speak. I swallowed, slowly lifted my head and nodded. Coughing to clear my throat, I stumbled into the kitchen to get a drink.'I saw it,' I managed to gasp between breaths.'And?' he pressed, obviously keen for me to expand.'And what?' I replied, still struggling to force enough oxygen into my body to prevent me from passing out. Now that I'd finished the effort and pace of the final mile of my run was starting to hit home.'I don't know,' Rob continued, oblivious to my suffering, 'what do you think it was? Where the hell did it come from?'I shrugged my sweat-soaked shoulders and peeled off my sodden T-shirt. I leant against the nearest unit for support, kicked off my muddy trainers and looked up at my brother and shook my head.'You tell me,' I mumbled, still finding it difficult to talk. He walked away and I slowly followed him back into the living room.'I can't believe it,' he babbled excitedly, 'I mean, for bloody years we've been talking and dreaming about something like this happening and now it has. More than that, it's happened here! Christ, the most important event in the history of bloody history itself and we're smack bang in the middle of it!'I really did want to match Rob's obvious enthusiasm and excitement but at that moment in time it was impossible. I had a thousand and one questions running through my tired brain but I didn't have the energy to even try and answer any of them. My mind was willing, but my body was most definitely still weak.'I was in the kitchen when I heard the jets,' he continued regardless. 'I heard them fly over and I came in here to see what was going on. I thought we'd gone to war or something and then I saw it. Bloody hell, it flew right over the village! It must have been a couple of miles long...'Robert didn't stop talking but I stopped listening. I walked across to the wide bay window on the far side of the room and, dressed only in my shorts and muddy socks, I looked out towards the horizon and then down onto the busy village below. The streets which had been relatively empty for much of the day were suddenly teeming with figures and there was still a decent sized crowd gathered by the sea wall. The storm was finally passing and moving out to sea and as the heavy clouds began to creep away the low light of the afternoon gradually began to improve.'So what was it?' I asked, inadvertently cutting across my brother and repeating his earlier question. I hadn't actually meant to ask it, I was just thinking out loud.'For Christ's sake,' Rob sighed, 'what do you think it was?''I think it was a spaceship,' I muttered, unable to think of a more impressive way of describing the most incredible sight I (or anyone else) had ever witnessed. 'But it can't have been. That's ridiculous.''Why is it?''What?''Why is that ridiculous?''A spaceship?! Come on, we don't...''We've been sending people out into space for decades, haven't we? If we can do it then...''Yes, but...''But nothing. Just accept it, Tom, this afternoon we were visited by bloody aliens!'Regardless of what I knew I'd seen, the reality was too incredible to believe.'Aliens? Fucking hell, there's no way that...''So what was it then?''I don't know. It could have been a prototype for a new type of plane or an airship or something like that?''Bollocks,' he snapped.I knew he was right but I still instinctively tried to find an alternative explanation. It just sounded so damn implausible. I mean, aliens and spaceships for Christ's sake? And anyway, why would any alien in its right mind choose to make its debut appearance here out in the back-end of nowhere on a miserable Friday afternoon?'Thousands of people must have seen it,' Rob continued. 'There's no way the authorities can try and keep this quiet, is there? They're not going to be able to come up with a good enough story to cover this up. How can they expect...''Bloody hell, be quiet will you?' I snapped. My brother was getting on my nerves. Whenever he became excited he would talk incessantly, and that really pissed me off because my natural reaction was to do the opposite - I just wanted to shut up and concentrate and try and make some sense of what was happening. I switched on the television and sat on the floor in front of the screen.'Jesus...' Robert whispered as he sat down on the sofa behind me.'It doesn't look like they're even going to bother trying to hush it up, does it?' I said.Virtually every channel carried the same picture - a direct live feed from the bobbing deck of a boat which swayed and rocked with the waves of the sea some fifty miles off the coast. The unsteady camera work revealed the huge ship we had seen in all its dark glory. Enormous and impervious, it hovered silently hundreds of feet above the restless water. A fleet of boats were dotted around the scene. Countless helicopters and planes buzzed and fluttered relentlessly through the swirling skies on all sides of the mighty craft. When one of the helicopters flew towards the camera from close to the hull of the ship its relative insignificance made the massive machine's vast proportions instantly and incredibly apparent. The camera pulled back again to show more of the ragtag flotilla of cruisers, ferries, tugs and other ships (most obviously military, others apparently more industrial in their design) that had gathered in the shadows of the mysterious titanic.'I just don't believe this,' Robert mumbled under his breath. 'They're here. They're actually here...'I had given up trying to shut Robert up and I turned up the sound to try and compensate. The unsure voice of an obviously dumbfounded commentator was speaking.'...just to remind you that for the time being we'll be staying with this live coverage,' the woman's voice said, 'and to repeat once again that these are genuine pictures. This is not a hoax.'I looked over my shoulder. Robert had a dumb, childish grin plastered across his face. I turned back and continued to stare into the screen, hypnotised by a combination of bewilderment, disbelief, nervousness and utter amazement.It was one of those life-defining moments.Like watching the Gulf war kicking off live on CNN.Like watching the space shuttle explode in the sky.Like hearing that the princess had died in the tunnel.Like watching the World Trade Centre collapse after the terrorist strikes.I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same again.A stream of information ran across the bottom of the television screen which read; 'Confirmed arrival of alien ship. First official word from the Government due shortly. Downing Street spokesman advises population to remain calm. No evidence of hostility...''Can you imagine what Dad would have made of all of this,' Rob whispered. I nodded and smiled. My brother's fervour and wonder would have paled into insignificance next to that of our dad. He had been a keen kitchen-sink scientist and amateur astronomer for as long as I could remember. He'd always seemed to be more interested in what was happening in space than in his own home and I would have given anything to have had him sitting next to me and watching the television now. He would have been so bloody excited. It all would have meant so much to him.'So what do you think the politicians are going to say?' Rob asked.'Don't know,' I replied. 'You would have expected them to try and play things down but I don't see how they can now.''Why?''Because so many people have seen so much, that's why. They've got to come clean and tell us everything they know.''Everything?''Well they've got to make the population believe that they've been told everything, haven't they? They'll do more harm than good if they don't. The more they tell us, the less there is for people to make up for themselves. And the less people make up the...'The picture of the ship on the television screen disappeared and was replaced by a news reader's face. The Government's announcement was imminent. The speed of events only served to emphasise the potential gravity and scale of our situation. For me the appearance of the first grey-suited politician on the screen instantly took away the edge of excitement and replaced it with a sobering degree of nervous uncertainty. I sensed that the words I was about to hear would set an important tone. Any hostility or fear in the diplomat's voice would indicate that our safety was not as guaranteed as we might naively have presumed in the bewilderment of the afternoon.The official walked towards a speaker's plinth and as he did so he was showered with a relentless stream of light from a hundred camera flashes. He paused for a second to collect himself and then cleared his throat before speaking.'Earlier this morning,' he began, his voice initially unsteady, 'various observatories and scientific outposts around the world and in space were made aware of the presence of an unidentified object on the outskirts of our solar system. As the progress of this object was tracked it changed course several times before finally heading towards Earth.' He paused for a moment and shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot. 'Although no direct contact has been made as yet, the ship has broadcast a continual signal which, to all intents and purposes, seems to be a distress transmission.'A second pause, this time long enough to allow the assembled reporters to fire off a volley of desperate questions at the politician while their associated photographers launched another barrage of flashes. The defenceless spokesman lifted his hands in an attempt to restore some order.'The ship has been led away from land and is currently holding a position some fifty miles from the east coast of England. No resistance was offered to the armed air escort which guided it out over the ocean and, despite continual attempts, no contact has been made with whoever, or whatever, is piloting it. There's really nothing more I can tell you at the present time...'As the spokesman was hit with another barrage of camera flashes and questions I stood up and walked over to the window again. There were still flurries of activity in the village streets below. It had stopped raining and the crowds around the sea wall remained. They seemed surprisingly happy and relaxed. Even from a distance I could see that there was a surprisingly calm and peaceful atmosphere in Thatcham.I could identify with the people outside. Strange and pretentious as it might have sounded, each one of them was suddenly a friend and an ally. The unexpected arrival of a new and previously unknown life form to the planet already seemed to have made the indigenous human population subconsciously bond closer together. I could see it happening everywhere I looked. People were standing and talking and laughing with people they wouldn't have even looked at yesterday. Already there were no longer black people and white people or Muslims and Christians and Jews or men and women or upper class and working class. There were just people.'Where do you think Dad would be now?' Rob asked. I glanced over at him sitting cross-legged on the sofa. He had a deadly combination of concentration, fascination and excitement fixed on his face. If I half-closed my eyes I could see a five year-old Robert watching Star Wars, not a twenty-four year-old watching footage of man's first confirmed contact with an alien intelligence. I half expected Dad to come into the room.'Knowing what he was like,' I eventually replied, 'he'd either be out there on a boat trying to get as close as he could or he'd still be up in the attic trying to find his binoculars.'Rob laughed.'I'd go for the boat,' he smiled. 'He'd have been first on the scene.'I'd have given anything for him to have been there watching the world change with us.Cold and shivering, I forced myself to move and dragged my tired body into the bathroom.
When I moved to Thatcham I made a real and very conscious effort to try and keep myself to myself. It wasn't that I didn't want to be with anyone else, rather I didn't want to be drawn into communal life. I didn't want to become just one of the crowd or part of the fixtures and fittings. I wanted some space and some distance from the rest of the world around me. Unfortunately it didn't work. Drink was my problem.I was developing a real taste for beer, and it was fast becoming part of the regular routine that I'd vowed never to have. Siobhan, a few friends and myself had got into the habit of going into The Badger's Sett pub every Friday night for a few drinks. I hadn't realised that it had become so routine until, last Friday, I'd walked in there and found my drink waiting on the bar for me. Ray Mercer - the landlord - had poured it ready.This Friday most people needed a drink more than usual.Siobhan called at the house just before eight. I watched her arrive from the bedroom window and followed her every step as she walked up the short garden path and let herself in. There was no getting away from the fact that she was absolutely bloody beautiful. The intense buzz of excitement when I saw her was as strong today as it had always been. A cliché perhaps but true nonetheless - she was an inspiration to me. There had been some dark days recently - perhaps the darkest days - and she'd been the single beacon of light that had guided me safely through it all.She was standing in front of the TV when I walked into the living room. I didn't say anything. I just crept up behind her, wrapped my arms around her and held her tight.'You okay?' I asked, whispering softly into her ear.She pushed herself away slightly and turned around so that she could look into my face. She smiled and nodded and we kissed with the kind of passion normally reserved for lovers who have been separated for days or weeks. It had only been a few hours since we'd last been together.'I'm fine,' she replied, still close and with her gentle breath ticking my face. 'Are you?''I'm okay.'She sat down on the sofa. Like the rest of the population Siobhan was transfixed by the activity out over the ocean and she stared at the television screen in the corner of the room. I, on the other hand, continued to stare at her. Of course I was interested and anxious to know what was happening out at sea, but staring at Siobhan was infinitely preferable. She looked incredible in a short summer dress which left little to the imagination. That wasn't a problem, because there wasn't any aspect of her perfect body which my vivid imagination hadn't already explored a thousand times or more. The clouds had lifted outside and brilliant orange sunlight flooded into the room, blinding her momentarily and obscuring her view of the TV screen. I took advantage of the distraction.'You look fantastic,' I said as I sat down next to her and pushed my head close to hers. She wrapped her arms (and then her long legs) around me and pulled me close.'Only fantastic?' she teased, her voice deliberately low and sultry.'No,' I replied, shuffling closer to her (and shuffling to get comfortable because my trousers were tight and were becoming tighter by the second), 'you look fucking fantastic.''That's better.'I wanted her and she knew it. She was playing with me, and she was driving me wild.'Fancy me?' she asked. She knew the obvious answer. Something about the way I was literally drooling over her must have given my less than subtle interest away.'You know I do,' I answered, my breathing suddenly shallow.'Want me?'She stretched her legs further round until they held me tight. She pulled me down until the hard bulge in my jeans was pressed tight against her.'That's a stupid question...'Robert walked into the room.'Christ, give it a rest will you?' he sighed. I rolled over and sat down next to Siobhan, instantly deflated. Out of my brother's view she rested her hand on my crotch and squeezed.'Later,' she whispered. 'I promise.''Can't you leave each other alone for a few minutes,' Rob whined sarcastically.We sat and waited for James Marchant, a friend of ours, to arrive. He eventually turned up at twenty past eight (fifty minutes later than planned - something of an improvement for James) and made no apology. James was a hardworking man (he still worked for the firm I recently resigned from) and, a couple of months ago, his wife had given birth to their forth child. If anyone had a valid excuse for being late, it was James.The four of us were uncharacteristically quiet as we walked through the village to the pub. With everything that had happened today we had plenty to talk about but I guessed that each of us needed time to individually come to terms with the unexpected events of the day. Once we were ready, I decided, then the alien arrival would no doubt become the mainstay of virtually every conversation for weeks to come.The Badger's Sett was packed. Drinkers had overflowed outside and were sitting on the grass in front of the building, on the low stone wall surrounding it, on the bonnets of their cars in the car park - anywhere that they could find a space. Once inside I pushed my way through to the bar while the other three looked for a table. Ray Mercer acknowledged me from a distance. By the time I'd fought my way through to him he was already in the middle of pouring our usual round of drinks.'Bloody hell, Ray,' I yelled, struggling to make myself heard over the dull roar of conversation and thumping music. 'Busy, aren't you?'He nodded.'Been like it all afternoon, Tom,' he shouted as he took my money. 'Not complaining though. Bloody aliens can come here every Friday if it's going to do this to me profits!''You must have the whole village in here!''I think everyone needs a drink after today...'Ray disappeared to serve another customer and I began the precarious journey across the room to find the others.'It's heaving in here,' Rob said, stating the obvious as I reached the small table they'd found in a hidden corner.'We could go back to mine later,' I suggested. 'I can hardly hear myself think.'The atmosphere was hot and dry. I picked up my pint and knocked half of it back with a couple of long, thirsty gulps.'So,' I said, wiping my lips, 'what are we going to talk about?' The others laughed - the answer was obvious.'The weather?' offered Siobhan.'Football?' tried James.'Alien invasions?' said Rob, unable to think of anything else to say.And that was it. For the next two hours we talked about nothing else. Each one of us recounted exactly where we'd been and what we were doing when the alien ship had arrived. We shared our questions, fears, concerns and anything else that came into our minds over far too many pints of beer.
Locked in constant, fierce competition with The Sun (the pub across the road), The Badger's Sett was a warm, comfortable and welcoming place. The drink was always good, there was always hot and cold food available and there wasn't a single video game machine in sight. It was a traditional British pub - the traditional heart of a traditional British village - and not really the kind of place where you'd expect to find yourself debating makind's position in the universe. But at that moment it seemed as good a place as any.
By ten o'clock our usually relaxing surroundings had become even more crowded and was filled with even more smoke and noise. The day's events, our long conversation and the effect of copious alcohol combined to leave the four of us sitting round the table feeling suddenly quiet, insular and reflective. For a time the conversation between us was sparse, forced and sporadic.
My eyes were becoming heavy and the smoke hanging in the air was beginning to make them sting. I excused myself and stood up and went outside to get some air. When I returned (only a few minutes later) I noticed that Ray had dragged an old television set out of one of the pub's back rooms and had set it up at the far end of the bar. Without warning Ken Trentham - by habit one of Thatcham's most miserable and reclusive inhabitants - grabbed hold of my arm and stopped me as I made my way back to my friends.
'What's going on?' he mumbled. 'What d'you think they're doing here?'
'No idea, Ken,' I answered abruptly, keen to get away.
'I've never known anything like it,' he whispered dramatically.
'None of us have,' I replied as I tried to push past him and get back to the others.
'Nothing good'll come of this,' he hissed, leaning towards me secretively. 'You mark my words.'
'Whatever,' I mumbled, trying hard not to breathe in. The old man stank - an acute and repugnant combination of stale alcohol and halitosis. He stared into my face with cloudy, bloodshot eyes.
Trentham turned away for a second to pick up his pint and I seized on the chance to get away.
'Bloody hell,' I gasped as I sat down heavily on my hard wooden chair.
'Christ, was that Ken Trentham you were speaking to?' Siobhan asked incredulously.
I nodded.
'Well, it was more a case of him speaking to me,' I smiled, 'but yes, it was Trentham.'
'I didn't know you knew that dirty old bugger,' James said. 'I've lived round here for almost twenty years and I've only ever seen him talk to his dog before now...'
'I don't know him,' I said defensively.
'It's not like him to be so sociable...'
'Fucking hell,' laughed Rob, 'he must be their first victim!'
'What are you talking about?' asked Siobhan, confused.
'The aliens,' he grinned. 'Can't you see what they're doing? They've only been here for a few hours and already they're screwing up the minds of normally upstanding members of the community! Before you know it we'll all...'
'Bullshit!' I snapped.
Rob shrugged his shoulders.
'Of course it is.'
'People are acting differently though,' Siobhan whispered.
'What do you mean?' asked James.
She shrugged her shoulders.
'Well just look at this place,' she said, 'it's packed. It's like a show of unity, isn't it?'
'Is it?'
'Yes. It's the old Dunkirk spirit rearing its head again.' A little uncertain, she paused and looked around the table. 'The rules changed today, didn't they?'
'You're right. There's a new player in the game,' Rob agreed. 'None of us know who they are or what they're going to do and it's making us feel nervous. I don't suppose anyone here knows they're doing it.'
'Doing what?' interrupted James who seemed to be missing the point.
'Bonding together,' I explained. 'Like with like, can't you see it? This ship has arrived and it's different, and suddenly it doesn't matter what race you are, what religion you are, we're all the same.'
'The same?'
'Well, less different than we were this morning...'
I stopped speaking. The pub had suddenly become silent.
The jukebox had been switched off.
No-one at the bar was being served.
A brief blast of static and white-noise filled the air as Ray struggled to force an aerial lead into the back of the television set.
More silence.
Then more hissing. More static.
More silence.
A flickering picture appeared on the screen, disappeared and then reappeared seconds later.
'Got it!' yelled Ray.
A perfect picture (from where we were sitting) and clear sound.
I struggled for a second or two to focus through the smoky haze. The television showed more pictures of the alien ship hovering over the ocean. The scene was darker, of course, and a hundred dancing spotlights now ran continually along the smooth underbelly of the vast machine, but generally nothing seemed to have changed.
'Silly beggars,' Mrs Grayson, the lady who worked in the newsagent's said. Her voice was so loud and shrill that everyone could hear her. We used to joke that when she spoke her squeal was so high-pitched that it made the dogs in the street stop and run to her whenever she opened her mouth. 'The whole of the bloody universe to chose from and those daft sods wind up here at the back-end of nowhere!'
'Bloody hell,' Rob whispered, 'can you imagine what the odds against them turning up here must have been?'
He was right. The chances of the aliens finding our planet must have been slim enough, but to have stumbled upon our village? It defied all comprehension.
Rob got up and went to fetch more drinks.
I shuffled my seat round so that I had a better view of the television screen, taking care to stay close to Siobhan. Her hand was resting on my knee. Her touch was more comforting and reassuring than usual tonight.
'It's hard to believe that the rest of the world is watching us here,' she said under her breath. 'Just think, millions of people round the world are watching the same pictures as we are, and we're only a few miles away from where it's all happening.'
'Makes you nervous, doesn't it?' I said, suddenly feeling brave enough to be honest about my emotions. 'I just want to know what they're here for.'
Robert returned to the table and put down another round of drinks. He spilled half of my pint - he couldn't cope with handing round the beers and watching the television at the same time. I tried to mop up the spilt drink with an already soggy beer mat and, as I did so, I became aware that the pub had fallen silent again. I looked up, instantly unnerved.
Every face was angled towards the television set, and every last face bore an expression of bewildered fascination and uncertainty. I rubbed my tired eyes and stared into the flickering screen.
The pictures being broadcast were still coming from a position similar to that from which the footage we had seen earlier in the day had been shot. The dark and featureless alien ship was silhouetted against the clear, star-filled sky and it's immense belly was gently illuminated by lights from the countless ships floating on the rolling ocean below. As I watched, a large rectangular section of the vessel's metal skin began to slowly slide back in on itself leaving a wide, black hole in the machine's otherwise featureless undercarriage. I swallowed hard (my mouth was dry) and watched as a soft light began to shine out from the insides of the ship. A sleek, bright and smooth, streamlined object (a missile perhaps?) drifted down into the space between the ship and the surface of the ocean and then stopped. It just hung there, completely motionless.
'What the fucking hell is that?' Robert croaked, his voice also dry with nerves. 'You don't think that...' He stopped himself from completing his half-finished sentence.
The pictures on the television screen continued although I feared that, if it was some kind of alien weapon which had just appeared, the live transmission might be cut at any second. In the dark haze on the screen I could just about make out countless shifting shapes scurrying to and fro on the decks of the cruisers and battleships that had gathered there in the past few hours. Within a minute of the mysterious new object appearing the sky had filled with swarms of jets, helicopters and surveillance aircraft. Every last weapon on the deck of every last one of the floating war machines was primed and trained skywards, all aimed towards the awesome creation hanging soundless and motionless in the turbulent night air.
A brilliant electric-blue light began to shine out from the back of the second, smaller alien ship and then, as I held my breath along with the rest of the planet, it gracefully swooped down towards the surface of the water. Instinctively I squeezed Siobhan's hand and she pulled me closer to her. Like a glider drifting back down to land, the second ship soared silently through the night, eventually stopping perfectly still just a few feet above the rolling waves.
Every single available spotlight was fixed on the new machine. And every face in the room continued to stare at the television set on the bar.
For a long time nothing happened. There was a long, overpowering and oppressive silence in the pub. A few muffled conversations were taking place but, generally, few people spoke. At twenty-past eleven Ray Mercer cleared his throat and banged a glass on the bar to attract the attention of his customers. Most people didn't react. One or two glanced up at him to see what the disturbance was before turning back to face the television set again.'Ladies and gents,' Ray shouted, seemingly unconcerned at the lack of attention being paid to him. 'I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we need to keep drinking tonight. To hell with the law, we're going for a late one. We're staying open.'Had Ray made that announcement on any other night his words would have earned him a round of applause and a standing ovation at the very least. Tonight, however, the reaction of his customers was unusually muted and subdued. A steady stream of drinkers continued to make their way quietly to the bar. The television and the ringing of Ray's till were the loudest sounds to be heard.And still the two alien ships hung motionless over the ocean.We had amassed a vast collection of empty glasses on our small table and I was alarmed to see just how much drink we had managed to knock back in our extended evening session. I felt fine - completely sober in fact - and that alarmed me too. The alcohol I'd drunk hadn't had its normal numbing effect on my brain. What was happening out to sea was keeping everyone's emotions firmly in check and our feet on the ground.The next time anyone spoke (other than when they fetched another round of drinks or disappeared off to the toilet) it was well past midnight. Without any of us noticing Friday night had silently disappeared and become Saturday morning.'Shit!' James yelled. He had noticed me checking the time and had looked at his own watch. 'Christ, have any of you seen the time? Bloody hell, Steph'll have my balls if I don't get back...''What?' Siobhan mumbled, half-listening. Like just about everyone else she was still watching the television screen.'I've got to go,' he said anxiously. 'Jesus, I'm in trouble now...''She'll understand,' Robert yawned. 'Just tell her you were watching the television and you got engrossed.''Do you really think she'll buy that?'Rob shrugged his shoulders.'Why not? She's probably sat there at home watching it herself.''No,' James whined, 'she's going to go ballistic. I can't tell her I've been watching telly, can I? Christ, we've got three bloody tellies at home. She'll want to know why I didn't go back and watch one of those, won't she?''All right then,' Siobhan sighed. 'Why don't you just go back now and...'She suddenly stopped speaking. I looked up from my pint to see that something was finally happening on the television screen.The smaller alien ship (which I'd decided was a shuttle craft of sorts) hadn't moved since it had first drifted down from the belly of the mother ship. Now, without any apparent warning, it had silently raised itself slightly higher into the turbulent air and was being illuminated by the brightest, most brilliant light imaginable. Even more intense than the blinding light which had shone from the other ship's engines, it flooded the entire scene and it was almost as if the sun had suddenly reappeared in the dark night sky. This new light, however, came from deep within the bowels of the massive ship hovering above. As I stared at the shuttle on the screen a small, rectangular opening appeared in its roof. My tired eyes immediately became bright and focussed again.'I don't believe this...' James said under his breath, instantly forgetting about going home.A lone figure silently emerged from the shuttle craft. Lifted up into the air by some kind of graceful hovering platform, the figure remained completely motionless until its feet were clear of its ship. It then stepped off the platform and out onto the hull of the vessel.The first alien that I (or anyone else for that matter) had ever seen was an unnerving and yet strangely exciting and inspiring sight to behold. It stood somewhere between six and seven feet tall (although the distance made it difficult to be certain about the size) and I decided that it was probably male (if there was such a thing as a male or female alien). There was something about its appearance and the way it carried itself which led me to think that way. The creature had smooth, dark pink skin and it looked, to all intents and purposes, as if it had spent too long basking unprotected under the strong summer sun. Its head was unusually disproportionate and looked almost too heavy and cumbersome to be supported upon such a gaunt and wiry frame. There was a light covering of greasy grey - almost silver - hair on top of its head which clung to its skin and which was swept back away from the temples. Dressed in a formal uniform which seemed to be made of a light, cotton-like material, the alien stood proud and motionless for the longest thirty seconds in history.What thoughts must have been running through its head as it stood there?The creature seemed content to stand its ground with an almost military authority as it was scanned, scrutinised and inspected by the entire population of our planet.The first official contact between our two species was about to be made.'Shit,' Robert whispered. 'Is that what I think it is? Is that thing really an alien?''Well what else could it be?' I mumbled with my mouth still hanging open in awe. 'A fucking rabbit?!'In the hours since the ship had first appeared I had just about managed to come to terms with the implications of its unexpected arrival. Now that I was sitting watching live television pictures of an alien, however, my ability to accept what was happening was suddenly questioned. The nervous disorientation I had felt earlier returned. Everything was back to square one again.'What do they want?' Rob asked. He had an irritating habit of asking pointless questions that no-one could answer at just the wrong time.'Bloody hell,' I snapped, irritated, 'how the hell should I know?'The alien on the screen continued to stand its ground as the fevered activity in the surrounding seas became even more frenzied and intense. Very slowly it seemed to take a long, deep breath and then tilted its obtuse head back on its slight shoulders until it was looking straight up towards the source of the brilliant white light that continued to pour down from the bowels of the mothership hovering high above. The television picture suddenly changed to a close-up of the creature taken from a nearby boat. I was taken aback by the obvious similarities to a human face. Other than an unusually pronounced forehead (which gave the alien a slightly Neanderthal appearance - totally unjustified considering the obvious technical expertise of the species) the basic facial elements were much the same as our own. It had a wide, thin-lipped mouth, a small button nose, two ears (which were flat and smooth and tilted back at a more acute angle than a human's) and a pair of sharp, crystal-blue eyes.The alien looked back down from the mothership, took another deep breath of salty sea air (was it nervous?) and then turned to its right where a group of heavily armed soldiers waited on the deck of a small military boat. The shuttle drifted down lower until it was almost touching the waves. The creature then held its arms out wide to indicate, perhaps, that it had nothing to hide, and then carefully walked down the sloping hull of its ship. It stepped out onto the boat which then, in a matter of a few short seconds, disappeared away into the night.The light from the mothership faded into darkness.Once again the entire pub was silent.Another few seconds (which felt like minutes) passed before anyone did or said anything else. Ray Mercer rang the bell for last orders.'Right then, ladies and gents. Let's have those glasses now please.'Obediently and without any complaints the pub slowly emptied.'Ready?' I asked Siobhan. She nodded, yawned and reached out for me.'I'm tired,' she sighed as she wrapped her arms around my neck.It was twenty-past one. We walked back home together in silent disbelief.
The heavy curtains were still closed but I could tell from the shadows and the heat in the room that it was a bright day outside. I glanced up at the alarm clock and saw that it was almost midday. I couldn't remember anything much after getting home last night. I remembered getting undressed and falling into bed with Siobhan but that was about it. It had been cold last night. Now the temperature in the room was stifling and the bedclothes were soaked through with sweat.
Suddenly deciding that it was time I made a move, I sat up quickly and swung my feet out over the side of the bed. A big mistake. A tidal wave of sickness washed over me and for a few seconds I thought I was going to pass out or vomit or both. Once the bile and disorientation had settled I pushed myself up off the bed and stumbled naked towards the window. I drew back the curtains and winced as the room was filled with brilliant, warm sunlight. Outside the sky was a deep, clear blue and the sun danced and played on the calm surface of the ocean beyond the land. The village itself was teeming with activity. There were more bodies outside than I'd seen all summer. There were queues of cars and queues of people everywhere. It was as if the entire population of the country was trying to cram itself into Thatcham. It was then that I remembered what had happened.
The door creaked open behind me and I turned round to see Rob shuffling into the room. He looked as bad as I felt. He kicked his way through the piles of discarded clothes on the floor, mumbled something unintelligible, and then handed me a mug of hot black coffee.
'Thanks,' I croaked, my mouth dry. 'How you feeling?'
'Fucking awful,' he muttered before turning round and stumbling back out again. I pulled on my jeans and a T-shirt and followed him out.
'Seen how busy it is out there?' I asked, gesturing back over my shoulder.
'I know,' he replied, 'it's been like that for hours.'
'Has it? How long you been up then?'
He managed half a smile.
'I haven't been to bed yet.'
'Twat. Why not?'
Rob shrugged his shoulders, scratched his unshaven chin and ruffled his already matted hair.
'I dunno. I wasn't tired. When you two went to bed last night I sat and watched television for a bit. I must have fallen asleep for about half an hour, but then I woke up and started watching the news again.'
'Anything happened?'
'What?'
'Any developments?'
He shook his head.
'Not that I know of. Christ, I sat here and watched that bloody ship for hours last night and nothing happened.'
He sat down on the sofa in front of the television and rested his head in his hands.
'Are you okay?' I asked, concerned.
'No,' he said quietly.
His skin was grey and his face was getting greyer by the second. He suddenly pushed himself up from his seat and rushed towards the bathroom. I heard the door slam and then, after much moaning, groaning and retching, the toilet was flushed.
'Been sick?' I asked stupidly as he staggered back into the living room.
'Well I wasn't cleaning my fucking teeth, was I?' he spat.
I switched on the television and the fixed plastic grin of a news reader stared back at me. In a box in the top-right corner of the screen was an image of the huge, dark alien ship.
'I still can't get my head round all of this...' I said, talking to myself.
'Neither can I,' Rob replied.
'Something must have happened since last night.'
'Oh yeah, there was something.'
'What?'
'Just a press conference or something like that.'
'And what was said?' I pressed.
'Don't remember.'
'What do you mean, you don't remember?' I snapped, irritated by my brother's nonchalance. 'Bloody hell, the single most important event in history and you can't remember what's happened.'
'Listen,' he hissed through clenched teeth, 'this is the worst fucking hangover in history. How do you expect me to keep you up to date with the news when I can't even focus on the fucking screen?'
I said nothing. I just waited for the headlines to come on.
It was almost half-past twelve.
By half past one I'd seen everything I needed to see. The press conference gave me all the information that was available, and that was a surprising amount. I supposed that in these days of the Internet, digital television and mobile phones and the like, there wasn't much that could be kept hidden. With so many means and methods of communicating, how could anyone keep anything quiet anymore?
So these were the facts as I understood them; an observation station in South Australia picked up a distress signal from an unidentified ship of unknown origin on the outskirts of our solar system early yesterday morning. The vessel was tracked, visual contact was made and it was guided towards the planet and, eventually, out over neutral waters off the coast of England. At one o'clock this morning (our time) one of the occupants of the ship voluntarily allowed itself to be taken into custody to explain their sudden and unexpected arrival here.
That was the point where I'd had to stop and try and get my head around what I was hearing. These really were aliens - that was the hardest thing to accept. Okay, so I'd seen their ship arrive and it was obvious that their intelligence and capacity were far beyond anything we humans had managed to do, but it was still difficult to try and come to terms with the fact that alien contact had finally been made. So how did they communicate with us? How come they could speak English? Apparently they could speak all our major languages. That didn't ring true. It reminded me of the way all aliens in the original Star Trek series were always just humans with different coloured hair, skin, costumes or all three. It seemed a little far-fetched to believe they could speak our language word-perfect but, then again, they were obviously so technically advanced that maybe they really were capable of anything. If we could decipher ancient hieroglyphics when there was no-one left using them, why shouldn't they be able to work out what we're saying to each other when there are billions of us talking, writing and broadcasting all round the planet every minute of every day.
So why were they here?
Again, what I heard was plausible. It seemed that the massive ship was used primarily for mining and that the engines or reactors or something were damaged towards the end of the aliens' present mission. They couldn't get home, it was as simple as that. Our planet, I learned, was the closest with an atmosphere capable of sustaining them temporarily but what was close I wondered? A billion miles? A hundred billion miles? And I found myself wondering why, if these creatures really were so advanced, couldn't they just patch up their ship and limp home?
So they were stuck here. That was the short and the tall of it, they were stuck here with no means of getting back. Apparently they had called for help, but that help would be at least several months in arriving.
When the people on the television started harping on about the scientific importance of the visit and how mankind's destiny had been forever changed I got bored and switched the television off.
Now that I had been freed from the shackles of a regular job and a daily routine, my life had changed and I frequently found myself doing things which, a year ago, I wouldn't even have considered. When it came to Clare's I had become a janitor of sorts. She lived alone with her daughter, Penny and I often helped her out by doing odd-jobs around her home for her. I'd change a plug, cut the hedge, fix a lock or, as she'd asked me this afternoon, put up a shelf. It wasn't that she couldn't do it, it was more just an excuse for us to get together. Today I welcomed the interruption. Sitting at home in front of the television I had nothing much to do except try and get over my lingering hangover. A visit to Clare's house would, I hoped, bring some life and purpose into a strange day that was badly in need of a kick-start.
After taking the call from Clare and getting my tools together I was out of the house in minutes. It was a bright, warm and pleasant late-summer day and I drove slowly along the part of the main street which ran parallel to the grey stone sea wall. Countless holiday makers drifted aimlessly across the road in front of me, dragging behind them their bucket-and-spade carrying, ice-cream licking kids. Although they were a pain in the backside to the locals throughout the summer months, the tourists contributed so much to the economy of the village that Thatcham would struggle to survive without them. They were a nuisance that we had to bear.
Today felt somehow different to most other days. There was a light and happy, almost carnival atmosphere in town and it felt more like the start of the summer season than the end. Everything felt almost, but not quite, normal and it was only when I glanced to my left and looked out over the sea wall that thoughts of yesterday's bizarre encounter returned. The ocean was calm, cool, deep, blue-grey and as reassuringly familiar as ever and yet, somewhere out there, an immense alien ship was hovering over the water. The road slowly curved away to the right and entered the centre of the village proper and I concentrated on driving again.
Clare's house was only a few miles away and I was there in no time. I knocked at the door and it was quickly answered by Penny. Her mum appeared in the hallway behind her.
'Hello,' I smiled. 'All right?'
Clare nodded and walked towards me.
'You were quick,' she said.
I went into the house and pulled the door closed behind me.
'I know. I had nothing else to do so I thought that...'
'Haven't you got a life anymore?' she laughed, interrupting me. 'It's a sad state of affairs when all you've got to do on a Saturday afternoon is come round here and put shelves up for me!'
'Siobhan's at work and Rob's still half-drunk from last night,' I explained.
Clare said nothing. She just shook her head and walked towards the kitchen.
Penny hovered at my side. I looked down and she flashed a toothy smile back at me.
'How are you, mate?' I asked, ruffling her already untidy hair.
'All right,' she mumbled before turning and running away from me as quickly as she could. I didn't take it personally. She was often awkward and embarrassed for the first few minutes whenever I visited. Once she'd got used to me being around I couldn't get rid of her.
I followed Clare deeper into the house.
'Want a drink?' she asked.
I stood in the kitchen doorway and watched her.
'Something cold, please,' I replied.
'Juice or a beer?'
'Juice.'
Clare glanced across at me and then took a glass from the draining board and poured my drink. She looked tired but relaxed, a million miles from the smartly-dressed professional career-minded woman I'd first worked with at the office. Although we had worked well together from day one, it was only recently (since I'd actually left work) that our friendship had blossomed. She and James were the only two people from the company that I'd bothered to keep in touch with since leaving. Coincidentally, they were the only two people who had bothered to keep in touch with me.
I took my drink from Clare and followed her into the living room.
'How's work?' I asked for no real reason as I sat down on the sofa.
She looked at me with an expression that spoke volumes. She knew that I wasn't really interested and that I had asked more out of courtesy than for any other reason.
'Shit,' she replied bluntly. 'Remember how it was when you left?' I nodded. 'Well it's worse now. A damn site worse.'
I said nothing. For a few long seconds I remembered my time at the office and then immediately did my best to blank them from my mind. The months and years that I had spent there had without doubt been the most unrewarding period of my life so far.
Penny distracted me from my daydreams by slamming the door of a nearby cabinet shut. She stomped heavily across the room (with all the grace of someone fifty times her weight) and slammed a video cassette into the machine beneath the television. She sat cross-legged in front of the screen and waited impatiently for her film to start.
'So how are you two getting on?' I asked.
Clare was sitting on the arm at the other end of the sofa to me. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders and I noticed that her face had dropped slightly. She was obviously trying to keep her change in expression hidden from me but it wasn't working.
'We're okay,' she replied softly.
'Sure?' I pressed. I knew her well enough to be able to risk probing a little further. She shrugged her shoulders again.
'Honestly, we're fine.'
I wasn't convinced, but I could tell that she didn't want to talk. Times had been tough for Clare recently and I knew that she would confide in me if and when she needed to. Until then I knew that I should just back-off and give her space. Upsetting or offending my friend was the last thing I wanted to do and I didn't want her to misread my intentions. She was in the middle of a messy divorce from her husband and it didn't take much to upset her at the moment. He had walked out on her just before last Christmas and although he continued to support Penny financially, he had no other interest in the daughter he had abandoned. Sitting there watching her sitting in front of the TV I found it hard to believe that anyone could be so hard and callous. A perfect, innocent and helpless little girl whose life had been turned upside down by the adults she had trusted more than anyone else in the world. Clare's husband had casually announced that he was leaving over dinner. As they had eaten their evening meal together one night he had told her that he'd met someone else and that he was leaving. And that was it. By the morning he had gone with no explanation and no more discussion. He'd left without looking back.
I was conscious that there was suddenly a heavy, almost oppressive silence in the room.
'Shall I show you where I want the shelf?' Clare asked.
I nodded and got up to fetch my tools from the car.
The shelf (which was in Penny's room) took less than half an hour to put up. The job had been so quick and easy that I'd even had time to sand down the woodwork and give it a coat of varnish. Once I'd finished and tidied up I went outside to the back garden where Penny was playing and Clare was relaxing in the warm orange rays of the late afternoon sun.
'All done,' I announced as I stepped out of the shadows of the house and into the sunlight.
'Brilliant,' Clare said, shielding her eyes.
'You'll need to give it another coat of varnish in a couple of hours. I've slapped some on but...'
'Do I owe you anything? Did you have to buy anything to...'
I shook my head.
'Don't be stupid,' I sighed. 'It was a pleasure. And anyway, you wouldn't be able to afford me if I charged!'
'Cheeky sod!' she snapped, hurling a discarded teddy bear at me. 'I feel terrible though, you've given up your Saturday afternoon and...'
'Doesn't matter,' I interrupted. 'Saturday afternoons are the same as Monday afternoons these days. There's no difference to me anymore.'
'Yes, but...'
'But nothing,' I insisted. 'I really don't mind. But if you're insisting on giving me something for my trouble then make it another drink will you?'
Clare smiled and brushed past me as she disappeared into the house.
Back in the cool of the living room I found myself drawn to the incredible pictures that were still being broadcast from out over the ocean. Penny's half-watched video had finished and the tape had automatically stopped, rewound and ejected itself from the player.
'So what do you think about all of this?' I asked Clare as she passed me my drink and sat down.
'Not a lot,' she replied abruptly. It was clear that her nonchalance was honest and heartfelt.
'You've got to be excited by it?'
'Have I?'
'Christ, yes. Bloody hell, for the first time we've made contact with another intelligent life form. This could open up so many possibilities for us...'
'What do you mean, another intelligent life form? You think mankind's intelligent? Jesus.'
'But there's going to be so much we can learn from them, Clare. We don't know what kind of advances they might be able to...'
'The only advances I'm interested in,' she interrupted, 'are advances on my salary so that I can afford to pay the mortgage and keep a roof over our heads. What's it matter to me if they show us how to build spaceships or...?'
'It might not matter now, but what about the future?'
'What about the future?' she sighed. 'Look, I don't want to rain on your parade, Tom, but I'll be honest with you because I always am. I really don't give a shit what's happening in the next street, the next town, the next country or even the next bloody galaxy. All that I'm concerned about is making sure that my little girl has what she needs and that she's happy. I've got to put her first because no-one else ever will, will they? No one gives a flying fuck about her but me.'
I had obviously touched a nerve. I hadn't meant to upset her - it had been the last thing I'd wanted to do. It didn't take a genius to see that she was still smarting from what her husband had done to her and Penny. She hadn't deserved any of it. No-one deserved that kind of treatment.
'You know that I'm here if you need anything, don't you?' I said, struggling to find something constructive to say without overemphasising my concern or embarrassing my friend. 'I'll be around if you want me.'
She smiled.
'I know,' she sighed. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offload at you. I know you're here for both of us but...'
A moment's silence.
'But what?' I asked cautiously.
'But it's not the same, is it?'
'How do you mean?'
'I don't want to offend you, Tom, but...' It was obvious that she was struggling to express her feelings.
'Doesn't matter,' I said, trying to save her the effort (and myself the hurt).
'Please don't take this the wrong way,' she continued, 'but you can't take the place of the man I married. No matter what he's done he's still Penny's dad and there's still a place for him here...'
'I'm not trying to take anyone's place,' I began pointlessly. 'I just want you to know that...'
I let my words trail away into an awkward silence. To my relief a change in the picture on the television screen brought a welcome distraction. It was another United Nations press conference. I picked up the remote control and turned up the volume so that I could hear the news.
An extremely ordinary looking official stepped up to a plinth to deliver more extraordinary news. He cleared his throat and shuffled his papers.
'Further to the facts that were released earlier this morning,' he began, 'we're now able to bring you an update on the present situation. A thorough inspection and examination of the alien ship has been undertaken during the last few hours. The visitors have now concluded that the damage to the ship is beyond repair. To this end contact has been made with the alien home world today and a rescue mission has been dispatched. It is estimated that this will arrive within the next ten months.'
The official paused for a second and the gap in his delivery was seized upon by the hordes of media representatives gathered around. He held up his hands to try and calm the crowd.
'Bloody typical,' Clare hissed under her breath. 'I suppose that's it now, they've got their feet well and truly under the table.'
'What?' I grunted, half-listening.
'We're never going to get rid of them now.'
'Why do we want to get rid of them?'
'I want to get rid of them,' she replied. 'I don't like them.'
'You don't know anything about them.'
'No-one knows anything about them...'
Simple and direct as it was, I couldn't argue with her logic. The United Nations spokesman continued;
'We have extended our earlier agreement and will allow the travellers asylum until their colleagues arrive. It's hoped that both the visitors and ourselves will be able to take advantage of this time together in order to learn about each other's planets, technologies and societies. This is an extremely important stage in both the history and future development of both races...'
'Bullshit,' Clare interrupted again. 'Who the hell are they trying to fool? What are they going to learn from us? There's not going to be a fat lot we can tell them that they don't already know. Bloody hell, look at the state of their ship. We're still crashing planes...'
Again she was right. I wondered whether Clare really was as anti-alien as she sounded, or perhaps her venom was so obvious because she was just anti-everything at the present time? To her the sudden arrival of the aliens was nothing more than a temporary (and not very interesting) distraction. An unnecessary complication of her already unnecessarily complicated life.
The man on the screen had still more to say.
'Finally, after several hours of discussions with the commander of the alien ship, it has been decided that the vessel will be destroyed. There is a very slight danger of a leak from the ship's engines and so it has been decided that it is in the best interests of all concerned if the ship is destroyed. Arrangements have been made to launch the vessel away from the planet and into the sun. We are certain that this will have no detrimental effect on the sun and it would seem to be the safest and most convenient way of avoiding and potential danger. Furthermore...'
I didn't get to hear the official's last sentence. Clare switched the television off.
'Sorry,' she sighed, sounding tired and harassed, 'I've heard enough for one day.'
I forced a smile and then looked deep into my friend's face.
'Look, I'm only going to ask you this one more time, are you sure you're all right?'
For a fraction of a second I thought that Clare was about to become even more annoyed and defensive than she already had been. But instead she managed a smile and relaxed. She reached across and squeezed my hand.
'I'm fine,' she sighed. 'I'm sorry I'm such a miserable bitch, it's just that...'
'You don't have to explain,' I interrupted. 'As long as you're okay, that's all that matters.'
'I'm okay.'
Penny thumped into the room, leaving a trail of mud and dirt on the carpet behind her. Clare's face fell and, sensing that she was about to explode, I decided to make a move.
'I'm off,' I said, walking towards the front door. 'I'll see you both soon.'
'Okay,' Clare said as she followed me out. 'Thanks for what you've done today. I really appreciate it.'
'It's fine. And if you need anything else...'
'I'll call you.'
'Promise?'
'Promise.'
Up until today I had always assumed that what the media didn't know, they made up. If that really was the case, then today every television, radio and newspaper company must have had access to every last known fact about the alien arrival. There wasn't a single paper that hadn't printed dozens of pictures of the aliens and their ship by Sunday afternoon. Every television station continued to devote much of their programming to covering the unexpected arrival. Today all our questions were answered. For once no-one seemed to be hiding anything.The eyes of the world were focussed on Thatcham.I'd expected to hear stories about three-eyed monsters, about the aliens eating cats or people or each other, or that the pilot of their ship had turned out to be Elvis. But there was nothing. In the hundreds of articles to be read, web-sites to be hit, sound-bites to be heard and television reports to be watched there didn't seem to be anything that didn't sound like the complete, direct, unbiased and unequivocal truth. From the broadsheets to the tabloids, the cheap talk-shows to Prime Minister's question time, everyone dealt with the subject of the alien's arrival in a cool, calm and collected manner. Sensationalism was put to one side and replaced, to my complete and utter amazement, with honesty, acceptance and understanding.It became harder not to learn facts about the aliens than to learn. There didn't seem to be any barriers to our knowledge - no hurdles to overcome before the truth was obtained. For once all reporting was undertaken without bias or unnecessary emotion. Silently, and without anyone noticing, the fantasy of science-fiction had become the reality of science-fact.The streets of Thatcham were heaving with reporters, journalists, anchormen and women and correspondents. Every day the village was crammed with thousands upon thousands of unfamiliar but good-natured people, each of them clamouring to get closer to the centre of it all - to get closer to the aliens.A month ago all of this would have seemed laughably implausible and unbelievable. Today, though, it's accepted. There's no debate and no question. The aliens are here and things are never going to be the same again.Everyone tells me that's a good thing.
9
By the following Wednesday morning much of the initial novelty, trepidation, excitement and uncertainty surrounding the arrival of the aliens had disappeared. With a startling rapidity that I would never have predicted, daily life for the vast majority of the people living on the surface of our planet returned to its familiar humdrum pace. The relentless monotony and tedium about which most people complained (but which most people also secretly clung to) was back.
10
In spite of the huge and sudden increase in the population levels of Thatcham, no-one in the village went to The Badger's Sett that Friday evening. Ray Mercer wasn't even there. In fact, for the first time in living memory (apart from when the cellar had flooded two winters back) the pub was closed.Exactly one week had passed since the arrival of the alien visitors and preparations were well in hand for the jettison of their useless, crippled transport away from our planet and out towards the sun. Although no exact time scales were available, we were assured that it would happen tonight. Across the world the media reported that, within the next two or three hours, the massive machine's silent engines would be fired for the final time.A vast crowd had gathered on the sprawling hills and cliff tops overlooking the ocean to watch the monumental event. During the last few days the flow of bodies into Thatcham and the surrounding villages and towns had been relentless and had increased still further once the launch date of the ship had been revealed. Even now with only hours to go and with the entire area heaving with people I could still see apparently endless columns of cars snaking along country roads towards the coast. They were so tightly packed that the headlamps of one car did little more than illuminate the back bumper of the one in front. Many had simply stopped and parked up on grass verges. Everyone wanted to be as close as possible to the alien ship when it finally left our atmosphere. People clamoured for a chance to see an alien or, at the very least, some distant alien activity. Everyone wanted to be there to witness history being made. Although I hadn't seemed to match the excited fervour of most people, I too didn't want to miss anything. This was a chance to be a part of something that would be permanently etched into our history books and, in all probability, into the alien's history books too.Robert and I sat amongst the excited masses on the cliff-top not far from where I'd stood and watched the ship first arrive. We crouched down together on a small patch of dry, brittle grass and waited impatiently for something to happen.'Bloody hell, did you see that one?' Rob gasped as a jet of brilliant white light suddenly shot across the distant horizon from left to right.'I saw it,' I replied, finding it increasingly difficult not to sound bored. I had seen the last flash of light, and I had also seen the last twenty or thirty identical flashes before it. The aliens were stripping their ship - removing anything of value and using their small, silver shuttles to transport it back to the shore.'There can't be much more left for them to do now,' Rob said, babbling like an excited child. 'Christ, they've had all week to empty the bloody thing.''Think they'll keep those shuttles here?' I asked as I lay back on the grass and looked up into the clear, dark sky. My head was suddenly filled with images of the incredible, sleek ships struggling to fit in with the flow of our own clumsy, ground-based traffic.'They can't,' a loud and cocksure voice said from the darkness just behind and to the right of me. I sat up and turned around to try and locate the owner of the disembodied voice.'Why not?' I asked, aiming my question in the general direction from which the last answer had come.'Because the shuttles are powered by the mothership,' the voice replied. 'They would be able to function for a couple of days, but after that they'd be useless.''Did you know that?' I asked Rob.He nodded his head with some surprise.'Course I did. Everybody knows that. Christ, haven't you been paying attention?'A middle-aged man wearing a flat cap and a shirt (with the sleeves neatly rolled up to just above the elbow) and brown tie shuffled awkwardly down the gentle slope towards us and squeezed himself in between Robert and myself. He had a pair of thick, heavily framed glasses perched on the bridge of his proud, pronounced nose, and had a dark little moustache nestling above the middle of his top lip. In the low light he looked bizarre - the bastard son of Adolf Hitler and a pigeon-fancier.'The shuttles were only designed to be used for short distances,' he continued, uninvited. 'They're nowhere near as well shielded as the main ship.''They're stronger than anything we could ever make, of course,' Rob said, picking up where our visitor had left off, 'but compared to the mother ship they're nowhere near as robust.''Bloody hell,' I sighed, 'have you done anything this week except sit and watch the TV?'The other man interrupted again.'I don't think I've missed a single piece of news yet,' he said with some pride. 'I've travelled almost two hundred miles to get here today. I was on the train before seven this morning.''Were you really?' I sighed, neither impressed or interested.'I was. What about you two? Have you come far?'I shook my head nonchalantly.'No. If you stand up and walk to the top of the hill you can see my house.''Really?' he gasped, suddenly appearing to be both rabidly interested and insanely jealous at the same time. 'Did you see the ship when it first arrived?' he asked excitedly. 'Where were you when it first appeared?''I was just over there,' I replied, pointing over to my right in the general direction of the twisting path I had been running along when the storm had broken and I'd watched the ship fly out over the ocean.'Could you see much?''I saw everything,' I answered, taking some sadistic pleasure in taunting our new friend.'What was it like?' he demanded impatiently. 'I've watched the footage again and again on the television, but to have actually been here when it happened...''It was okay,' I mumbled, deliberately trying to wind him up. 'You know, big and black and...'I was interrupted as a helicopter suddenly reared up from behind us and screeched through the air above our heads, causing a shock wave of noisy, slightly nervous excitement to quickly spread through the tightly-packed crowds like a massive Mexican wave. The unexpected deluge of sound and light was confusing. For a second or two just about everyone gathered on the hillsides thought that something had started to happen.'Damn,' said the man sitting between Rob and I, 'just a helicopter.'I turned and noticed that he had a pair of battered binoculars hanging around his scrawny neck.'Could I borrow those for a second?' I asked.He thought carefully before reluctantly taking off the glasses and handing them to me.'Here,' he mumbled. 'Watch what you're doing with them won't you. I've had them for years...'Staring out over the ocean and out towards the horizon I was just able to make out the shadowy shape of the alien mothership. Its smooth, black fuselage still hung steady and motionless over the calm sea. As my eyes became accustomed to the low light where the purple-black sky met the sea I could see hundreds of tiny lights which pinpricked the bulkhead of the ship and shone out into the night like the countless stars above me. A steady stream of busy shuttles poured out from deep within the bowels of the ship. Each one of them swooped down towards the surface of the water, unloaded their cargo onto the decks of a fleet of waiting boats, and then quickly disappeared back up into the dark safety of the cavernous ship again. Then, after I had been watching for a minute or two, they suddenly stopped.Conscious that the man next to me was keen to get his binoculars back, I deliberately ignored him and turned my attention below to the gently rolling waves in the shadows of the colossal ship. I could see a long line of boats which were now travelling back towards land. The flotilla virtually stretched from the ship to the shore.'Looks like something might be happening,' I said under my breath.'What can you see?' Rob asked.I put the glasses down for a second and they were immediately snatched back by their owner. He quickly lifted them up to his own eyes and stared out to sea.'The ships are moving back towards the shore,' I answered, 'and the shuttles have stopped flying. Looks like they've finished packing!'The sudden change in the behaviour of the aliens was also noticed by some of the many other people in the vast crowd who were also using binoculars or, in one or two extreme cases, telescopes. Once again an unstoppable wave of contagious excitement and interest swept through the massive gathering with the deadly speed of a bush fire tearing through a tinder-dry forest.'They must be taking everything to their new base,' the man who still perched between my brother and I said under his breath. He watched transfixed as the line of ships snaked away from the shadows of the belly of the alien craft. 'Did you know that they've constructed a safe area near here for them?''I had heard something,' I replied, suddenly a little more interested in the conversation. 'I was wondering where they were going to go. You'd have thought they'd have been carted off and hidden somewhere well away from...''Not at all,' he interrupted. 'There's a disused holiday camp near here...''Brymer Sands,' Rob piped up.The man continued.'That's right. It's been refurbished and security has been tightened so that they can stay there.''But will they stay there?' I wondered.'Why should they?' Rob snapped, sounding strangely defensive. 'Bloody hell, it's not their fault they're stuck here, is it? Christ, remember when Mum and Dad took us to Brymer Sands when we were little? We were hard pushed to spend a week there. You can't expect bloody interplanetary travellers to be locked up there for a few months, can you? No, they said on the news this morning that they were going to be free to travel.'Was there anything that my brother and the irritating, annoying little man who had joined us didn't know about the aliens? They seemed to know everything about their needs and their plans, far more than I would have expected them to. But then information didn't seem to be very hard to come by. Every time I turned on the television or logged onto the Internet I saw nothing but alien news and updates. I guess my problem was that I didn't have the same rabid interest as everyone else seemed to. Their arrival was interesting and had changed the course of human history for sure, but my life was still the same. Nothing much had altered.'Is it a good idea to give them freedom?' I asked.'Why not?' questioned Rob. 'We all know so much that there's nothing left to hide. And if the authorities did an about face and closed ranks on us now, what would it achieve? If people don't get told the truth, they'll invent their own version, won't they? If the flow of information was cut-off now it would only be a matter of hours before the papers would be full of stories about little green men and ray guns and crap like that...'I understood what he was saying but something didn't ring true. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and I couldn't begin to explain how I felt because I wasn't really sure myself. Something was definitely eating at me. Everything seemed inexplicably simple and uncomplicated. In a sense it felt as if every question I could think to ask about the aliens had been answered for me before I'd even had chance to speak.At seventeen minutes past eleven the last human ship reached the shore and, for the first time since the aliens had arrived, the skies over the ocean were almost clear. A hushed and expectant silence swept through the enormous (and still growing) crowd that had gathered to witness the final few moments of the mighty machine. People scrambled further up the hillside and balanced themselves precariously on the obliging shoulders of friends, stretching and craning their necks so that they could get a clear view of the release of the ship.Without warning, in a fraction of a second, the sea for miles around the rear of the immense alien machine was suddenly illuminated by a flood of searing, incandescent light which poured out from the powerful engines. The ship remained bewilderingly silent and I watched in wonder as it graciously turned full circle and began to glide back towards the shore. Billions of pairs of eyes stared out from every last corner of the globe to watch as the beautiful black machine gently lifted its nose to the stars and then blasted out into space, soaring straight over my head. Less than two minutes had passed before the incredible machine had disappeared completely from view.A sudden wave of spontaneous cheering and applause echoed through the warm summer air. I stood up (my view had been good enough for me to remain seated throughout) and then reached back down to help pull Rob up onto his feet.'Bloody hell,' he said with a vacant grin of disbelief plastered across his face. 'That was incredible. Did you see the size of that thing?'I nodded and yawned and began to walk back up the slope of the hill towards home. Hordes of excited, chattering people swarmed around me.'Impressive, wasn't it?' I said sarcastically, trying unsuccessfully to hide the unexpected disappointment that I was feeling. The ship had been an amazing sight to behold but, now that it had gone, I was left filled with a sense of anticlimax.Rob was ignorant to my feelings and carried on talking regardless.'How could something so big be so quiet?' he wondered enthusiastically. 'And the light from those engines! Jesus, I've never seen anything like it!'I weaved my way through the sea of vast, meandering figures. Some of them were still fixed to the spot, staring up into space transfixed and hoping to snatch one last glimpse of the awesome alien ship.We reached the top of the hill and I looked down towards Thatcham. Even from a distance I could see that the village streets were heaving with cars and people.'We could have made a bloody fortune tonight,' I mumbled, stifling a tired yawn.'How?''I've never seen so many people,' I explained. 'I could have hired out the spare room or let a couple of them put tents up in the garden...''It's not too late.''Suppose.''You could still do it, there's plenty of time. There are still people arriving. I bet there's going to be hundreds of people sleeping in the back of their cars tonight.''More fool them,' I grumbled.'Don't worry,' Rob continued. 'It's going to stay busy round here for a long time yet.''You reckon?''Course it is. Bloody hell, we've got aliens living thirty miles up the coast. Everyone's going to want to see them.'He was right. As we stumbled on towards home I glanced back over my shoulder. I could just about make out the twinkling lights of the camp at Brymer.The aliens were close. Damn close.I wasn't overly concerned or worried that they were near, but I still couldn't bring myself to match the euphoria which seemed to have consumed just about everyone else.
11
On Saturday evening Siobhan, Rob and I along with James, his wife Stephanie and their four children, all gathered by invitation at Clare and Penny's house. Clare had told me many times during the last few weeks and months that she hated spending her evenings alone and these informal get togethers had recently become a regular event. A chance for us all to relax in the company of our closest friends.Fortunately the late summer evening was warm and bright and we were able to send the children outside to play - out of sight and out of earshot. Once they had disappeared we were, for a short time, able to relax without interruption. I lay back on Clare's comfortable sofa with Siobhan's head resting on my chest. Music played quietly in the background and long orange shadows filled the room.'See the ship leave last night, Clare?' Rob asked. James was close to Stephanie (with their baby asleep in her arms) and Siobhan and I were most definitely sitting together. As one of the two single adults in the room, Rob seemed to feel duty bound to try and strike up a conversation with Clare. Often it was harder to stop a conversation with her, but tonight she seemed tired and reticent.'No,' she sighed, shaking her head. 'Couldn't be bothered. Penny watched some of the pictures on the television this morning.''We walked over to the hills and watched it. Got stuck next to a really boring bastard, didn't we, Tom?'I grunted and nodded. I looked across at Clare who was staring lazily into space. At the mention of the alien ship, however, the others immediately became more interested.'We saw it leave,' James said enthusiastically. 'We watched it from home. Bloody amazing, wasn't it?''I've never seen anything like it,' Stephanie added as she passed her sleeping baby to Clare to hold. 'It seemed to fly right over the house.''Tom didn't think it was very impressive,' Rob whined.'That's not what I said,' I protested. 'I just said that...''You wanted more flashing lights and lasers and special effects.''No I didn't. I just thought that when you consider the size and power of that ship you would have expected a little more. We were sat on the side of that hill for bloody hours and it was over in seconds.''Doesn't really matter now, does it?' Clare whispered quietly from her seat in the corner of the room. I turned to look at her and watched as she gently rocked the baby in her arms, her body haunched forward protectively over the tiny child. 'It doesn't matter how big their space ship was or how loud or quiet it was, the only important thing to remember is that they're here now, and they're not going anywhere.'The hushed tone of her voice conveyed a deadly seriousness and concern.'Does that worry you?' Stephanie asked, surprised.Clare nodded.'Yes it does,' she replied simply. Her opinion seemed to have changed since we'd spoken last week. Back then she'd seemed unconcerned and uninterested by the arrival of the aliens. Today, however, the tone of her voice made it sound as if she wanted them forced off the face of our planet altogether.'But why?' Siobhan asked. She had been quiet for a while but was suddenly more animated and involved. 'Why does it bother you?'Clare shrugged her shoulders, taking care not to disturb the sleeping baby cradled in her arms.'Don't know really,' she admitted. 'It's probably nothing. I'm probably just wary because I don't know anything about them yet. When I get to learn a little more then things might change.''It might not be long before you get a chance to do that,' Rob said suddenly.'Why?' I asked.'Haven't you heard?' said James.'Heard what?''They're letting them out.''Letting them out?' gasped Clare. 'They can't do that, surely?''Why not?' questioned Rob. 'Once they've been quarantined for a while and we're sure they don't pose a risk to our health, why should they be locked away? There won't be any reason to keep them separated, will there?''No, but...' Clare stammered.'Will they want to mix with us?' I wondered.'Of course they will,' Stephanie said. 'Why shouldn't they?''Well there are bound to be differences between us, aren't there? They're going to have completely different needs. They'll probably eat different food and they're going to have their own religions and etiquette, aren't they? Bloody hell, you shake someone's hand here and you're letting them know that you're pleased to meet them and you don't pose a threat. Shaking an alien's hand might mean something completely different to them. It might be their way of telling each other to fuck off!'Siobhan laughed.'He's got a point,' Clare said, quickly jumping to my defence.'But come on,' James sighed, 'they're only going to be here for a few months, aren't they? And they don't want to be here, do they? Surely we can make an effort to accommodate them and their needs until they can get home again.''Do we really want to make an effort?' Clare asked.'Of course,' Stephanie snapped. 'Well I do, anyway.' She seemed surprised and almost annoyed by Clare's apparent refusal to be flexible and by her uncompromising attitude towards the aliens. 'Christ, these people have travelled millions and millions of miles from their homes and now they can't get back. It's not their fault they're stuck here, is it?''No,' Clare agreed, 'but it's not my fault either. I'm sorry, Steph. I just don't seem to be able to get into the spirit of interplanetary co-operation as easily as you have. Not just yet, anyway.'There followed a long and unexpectedly awkward silence in the conversation.'This reminds me of something I was working on at university last term,' Rob said suddenly.For some inexplicable reason best known to himself, my younger brother had decided to study towards a degree in twentieth century English history. Personally I couldn't see the point. I had always considered any historical study to be a complete waste of time. Where was the sense in continually looking backwards? My philosophy was simple - if you spend all your time looking backwards, you're going to walk into something eventually.'So what were you studying?' James asked, sounding only half-interest.'We were looking at the increase in immigrants who set up home here after the end of the Second World War.''What's that got to do with the aliens?' Siobhan asked.'Just think about it,' Rob continued, adopting a pretentious tone of educated seriousness. 'When those people first arrived here back then the indigenous population were paranoid. The newcomers were different, and because they were different people were afraid of them.''I'm not frightened of anyone,' Clare snapped.'I didn't say you were. That's not the point I'm making at all...''So what are you saying?'He took a deep breath before trying to explain, obviously choosing his words carefully.'In the forties and fifties, many of the people born in this country were convinced that the immigrants were here to take their jobs, families and homes from them.''What's your point?' I wondered.Rob cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked around the room, paying particular attention to Clare and I.'Those people were frightened because of their ignorance and their short-sightedness. I'm just trying to make you see that you've got a fear of the unknown and as soon as you learn more about these people, I'm sure you'll be more than willing to share the planet with them.''You're a patronising bastard,' I sighed. 'You make it sound as if we don't want anything to do with the aliens.''Do you?'I shrugged my shoulders.'I don't know yet.''Clare.''I'm just not interested,' she said, very definitely.'You should both just give it time.''But it's not just about time, is it?''Come on,' James interrupted. 'I can't believe that we're even having to talk like this. Regardless of what you might think about the aliens, you've got to admit that there is a hell of a lot we stand to gain from having them here with us. You've got to be able to see it?''Whatever,' I mumbled.The children returned to the room, bringing a welcome distraction from the increasingly heavy conversation. Their noisy, muddy arrival came as something of a relief.I really hadn't intended to sound anti-alien. I knew that their arrival here was of monumental importance to every single person on the surface of the planet.But there was still something that bothered me. Something that didn't quite ring true.All caution was being thrown to the wind. In an age when the person who reads your gas meter needs full identification, we were being asked to embrace these visitors from the other side of the universe with open arms.I wanted to accept them, I really did. But I needed to be able to trust them first. To download the full novel and read the conclusion to TRUST

The eyes of the world were focussed on Thatcham.
I'd expected to hear stories about three-eyed monsters, about the aliens eating cats or people or each other, or that the pilot of their ship had turned out to be Elvis. But there was nothing. In the hundreds of articles to be read, web-sites to be hit, sound-bites to be heard and television reports to be watched there didn't seem to be anything that didn't sound like the complete, direct, unbiased and unequivocal truth. From the broadsheets to the tabloids, the cheap talk-shows to Prime Minister's question time, everyone dealt with the subject of the alien's arrival in a cool, calm and collected manner. Sensationalism was put to one side and replaced, to my complete and utter amazement, with honesty, acceptance and understanding.
It became harder not to learn facts about the aliens than to learn. There didn't seem to be any barriers to our knowledge - no hurdles to overcome before the truth was obtained. For once all reporting was undertaken without bias or unnecessary emotion. Silently, and without anyone noticing, the fantasy of science-fiction had become the reality of science-fact.
The streets of Thatcham were heaving with reporters, journalists, anchormen and women and correspondents. Every day the village was crammed with thousands upon thousands of unfamiliar but good-natured people, each of them clamouring to get closer to the centre of it all - to get closer to the aliens.
A month ago all of this would have seemed laughably implausible and unbelievable. Today, though, it's accepted. There's no debate and no question. The aliens are here and things are never going to be the same again.
Everyone tells me that's a good thing.
By the following Wednesday morning much of the initial novelty, trepidation, excitement and uncertainty surrounding the arrival of the aliens had disappeared. With a startling rapidity that I would never have predicted, daily life for the vast majority of the people living on the surface of our planet returned to its familiar humdrum pace. The relentless monotony and tedium about which most people complained (but which most people also secretly clung to) was back. At some ridiculously early hour (I think it was somewhere between half-seven and half-eight that morning) I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of James' beaten-up and rattling old car, being driven at speed along the rough dirt track which connected Porter Farm to the main Portland Road and, therefore, to the rest of the world. Porter Farm was a little secluded family business nestled deep within the hills just a few miles outside Thatcham. Once or twice a week I would spend some time there helping out Joe Porter who had been a close friend of Dad's for many years. I was relying on a lift because today, for some inexplicable reason, I had allowed Robert to borrow my car. Christ alone knows why I let him get away with it. I could never understand why he hadn't bought his own car and why he stayed at my house when we'd both inherited exactly the same from Mum and Dad's estate. I suppose it was easier (and cheaper) for him to sponge off me when he needed too rather than dip into his own pocket unnecessarily. Today - for reasons best known to himself - he had decided to travel halfway across the country to see a couple of his friends from college. I didn't understand the need. Rob and his friends drank, studied, socialised and partied with each other almost all the year round, and yet they always seemed to want to meet up in the holidays too. More drinking, socialising and parties perhaps? Still, looking on the bright side Rob had only been back with me for just over a month and I was already sick of the sight of him. It did us both good to be away from each other for a while. The loss of my car for a day was a fair price to pay for a little peace and space.'Why the bloody hell do you do this?' James asked suddenly, waking me from my early morning daydreams.'Do what?' I mumbled, confused.'You know,' he said, shouting to make himself heard over the throaty roar of his car's exhausted engine, 'work on a farm for nothing? Christ, if I had the chance to stop at home and do nothing like you could then I'd do just that. You wouldn't catch me doing anything I didn't have to. And that tight bugger Porter doesn't even pay you!'From the outside I guessed that his feelings were pretty understandable. My decision to give up my time voluntarily to work at the farm did seem out of character for someone who had recently jumped ship from the rat race. But there were reasons why I did it. Reasons that I usually chose not to share.'I get bored sitting at home all day,' I said, hoping to throw James off the scent. It seemed to do the trick. He nodded thoughtfully and returned his full attention to the dusty road which stretched out in front of us.That answer was partly true, but it wasn't the only reason why I helped Joe out. He had been a close friend of Mum and Dad, and he'd been the one who had broken the news of their accident to me. He'd been the one who had driven me to the hospital and he'd been the one who had picked up Rob from university and brought him home when it happened. I owed Joe Porter a lot. I had a debt of gratitude to him which I wanted to repay. On another level I knew that my dad would have been appalled if he'd known I'd left my job. It was something of a consolation to be doing something with my time that I thought he might approve of.There was another reason for working at the farm. It was much more simple and obvious. The fact of the matter was that I couldn't stand spending all that time on my own. Siobhan worked long hours and Rob was usually away at university. I had other friends, but they worked too and were not often about during the day time. It wasn't so much the boredom that bothered me, instead it was the danger of having too much time to think. I had pretty much come to terms with losing Mum and Dad (well, as much as anyone ever can come to terms with such a loss) but there were moments when the strong facade I put up crumbled and fell. It was often when I was doing the most ridiculously mundane and uninteresting thing - mowing the lawn or washing up or cooking for example. Sometimes just hearing their names or seeing their faces in photographs on the walls would do it. A crack would appear that would quickly become wider and wider until it was more like a gaping chasm. Then it was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened and a tidal wave of grief washed over me. I always felt better again eventually. But whenever the pain begins it feels like it will never go away.'The atmosphere's bad at work at the moment,' James sighed.'When isn't it bad?' I replied, not in the slightest bit interested. I had hoped that we might get through the journey without having to hear about the office but no such luck. If I'd turned to my right and smacked James in the face he wouldn't have stopped. He was on autopilot - a pre-programmed routine of moaning and whining. I'd sat through this far too many times before, and I guessed that before long I'd have to sit through it again.'I tell you,' he continued, 'it's pretty desperate right now. I know things were bad when you were there but Christ, I've never known it like it is at the moment.''So what's happened now?' I heard myself ask. I hadn't really wanted to know, but some stupid subconscious reaction inside me made me speak. What a bloody idiot. When would I learn to shut up?'Remember Simon?''The bloke with the red Jaguar?''No, that's Marcus Phillips. Simon's got an old Rover.'I thought carefully for less than half a second. I couldn't remember ever working with anyone called Simon but I knew that would be inconsequential. James would continue with his tales of woe whatever.'Oh yes,' I lied, trying to speed things up, 'I remember.'James paused for a second to concentrate as he steered the car around a deep pothole in the track.'Middle of last week, one of the new juniors we've got asked him to check over an order he'd put up. Now Simon's just like the rest of us, his desk's piled high with crap and he didn't check the order properly. Turned out it was an urgent order for E S Carters and they only got half of what they wanted. They'd had problems before apparently. Upshot of this one was that they closed their account. And they were worth a fucking fortune...''But if you don't give the customer what they want then...'James ignored me.'Worst of it was though, because Simon's signature was on the dispatch note, he's the one who's taking the rap for us losing the business. He's up on disciplinary for it.''Really?''Really.''And was it his fault?' I asked.James thought for a moment.'Suppose it was. I mean, the junior should have...''Tough shit then, isn't it?' I said, successfully and abruptly ending the conversation for a couple of seconds.Less than a minute later it started again.'They've downgraded him,' James said.'Who?''Simon. They've downgraded him. And they've transferred someone in from another department to do his job. Then they had the nerve to turn around and ask him to train the new bloke up!''So has he done it?''No, he told them to piss off.''And what did they do?''They suspended him. Now we've got some bloody graduate in there until Simon's back or he's given the boot. It's all wrong, you know. There are four of us sitting there who could do the job with our eyes closed but instead of paying one of us a little deputising they bring in this fucking high-flyer who doesn't know his arse from his elbow.'I smiled to myself. As James became angrier so his language became worse.'Just grin and bear it like you always do,' I sighed. James nodded. I sympathised with him to an extent, but James was one of those people who were happy enough to moan but never willing to do anything about the problem. He'd quickly enough point out what was wrong, but never look for a solution. At that precise moment in time the only emotion I felt was sweet relief that I had managed to leave behind the desperate and dirty world of back-stabbing and seedy office politics. No matter how bad things got I could never imagine going back there.'How's the baby?' I asked with my voice full of blatantly false enthusiasm. The parents of young children had, in my experience, a devastating ability to bore. But these were desperate times, and desperate times called for desperate measures. I knew that if I wanted to avoid more soul-destroying stories about overtime, shipping orders and in-trays then I would have to suffer a string of humourless anecdotes about the varied colours of the contents of James' baby's nappy instead.'Fine,' he smiled, suitably distracted. 'She's fine. Doing really well.''Glad to hear it.''I just wish I could spend more time at home.'Here we go again, I thought.'I'm sure you do,' I sympathised.'If I could resign tomorrow then I'd do it.''Why don't you?'As James struggled to answer me we finally arrived (thankfully) at the entrance to Porter Farm. I had my seat belt off and the door half-open before he'd even stopped the car.'You okay for a lift back tonight?' he asked.'Don't know,' I replied. 'But don't worry about it. I can walk or get a lift back from Joe.''You've got my mobile number in case you get stuck?''I've got it.'James looked up at me and then slowly shook his head from side to side.'What's the problem?' I asked.He shrugged his shoulders.'Nothing,' he sighed. 'I just can't get my head round the fact that you'd rather be here than sitting at home with your feet up. You could be there in front of the telly with a cool can of beer in your hand...''It's not even nine o'clock yet...''You know what I mean,' he scowled.I nodded.'I know what you mean. You'd understand if you were in my shoes,' I assured him.'I doubt it,' he grumbled. 'I'd like to have the chance, mind you. Hey, if you ever feel like swapping places for a few days then give me a shout and...''No.''Just think about it for a minute...' he joked.'No,' I said again.'I don't know, when I look at those bloody aliens...''What about them?''Well, they're bloody stupid, aren't they?'Stupid was the last thing the aliens seemed to be.'What makes you say that?''Just look at them. They've come half way across the galaxy to get here and now they can't get back.''So?''So, they're working. Imagine leaving your home for months on end to go to work? It's bad enough just being out for the day. And I wouldn't even go to the end of our street for my lot!'I laughed and shut the door. James turned the car around in the dusty farm yard and stopped when he was level with me.'Thanks for the lift. I'll give you a call.''See you at the pub on Friday?'I knew that I had to make an effort to try and stay away from the pub but he'd put me on the spot.'Probably,' I said, being deliberately noncommittal.'See you there,' he smiled, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of a pre-weekend drink.James drove away and I watched him disappear before turning and walking towards the farm house.
Exactly one week had passed since the arrival of the alien visitors and preparations were well in hand for the jettison of their useless, crippled transport away from our planet and out towards the sun. Although no exact time scales were available, we were assured that it would happen tonight. Across the world the media reported that, within the next two or three hours, the massive machine's silent engines would be fired for the final time.
A vast crowd had gathered on the sprawling hills and cliff tops overlooking the ocean to watch the monumental event. During the last few days the flow of bodies into Thatcham and the surrounding villages and towns had been relentless and had increased still further once the launch date of the ship had been revealed. Even now with only hours to go and with the entire area heaving with people I could still see apparently endless columns of cars snaking along country roads towards the coast. They were so tightly packed that the headlamps of one car did little more than illuminate the back bumper of the one in front. Many had simply stopped and parked up on grass verges. Everyone wanted to be as close as possible to the alien ship when it finally left our atmosphere. People clamoured for a chance to see an alien or, at the very least, some distant alien activity. Everyone wanted to be there to witness history being made. Although I hadn't seemed to match the excited fervour of most people, I too didn't want to miss anything. This was a chance to be a part of something that would be permanently etched into our history books and, in all probability, into the alien's history books too.
Robert and I sat amongst the excited masses on the cliff-top not far from where I'd stood and watched the ship first arrive. We crouched down together on a small patch of dry, brittle grass and waited impatiently for something to happen.
'Bloody hell, did you see that one?' Rob gasped as a jet of brilliant white light suddenly shot across the distant horizon from left to right.
'I saw it,' I replied, finding it increasingly difficult not to sound bored. I had seen the last flash of light, and I had also seen the last twenty or thirty identical flashes before it. The aliens were stripping their ship - removing anything of value and using their small, silver shuttles to transport it back to the shore.
'There can't be much more left for them to do now,' Rob said, babbling like an excited child. 'Christ, they've had all week to empty the bloody thing.'
'Think they'll keep those shuttles here?' I asked as I lay back on the grass and looked up into the clear, dark sky. My head was suddenly filled with images of the incredible, sleek ships struggling to fit in with the flow of our own clumsy, ground-based traffic.
'They can't,' a loud and cocksure voice said from the darkness just behind and to the right of me. I sat up and turned around to try and locate the owner of the disembodied voice.
'Why not?' I asked, aiming my question in the general direction from which the last answer had come.
'Because the shuttles are powered by the mothership,' the voice replied. 'They would be able to function for a couple of days, but after that they'd be useless.'
'Did you know that?' I asked Rob.
He nodded his head with some surprise.
'Course I did. Everybody knows that. Christ, haven't you been paying attention?'
A middle-aged man wearing a flat cap and a shirt (with the sleeves neatly rolled up to just above the elbow) and brown tie shuffled awkwardly down the gentle slope towards us and squeezed himself in between Robert and myself. He had a pair of thick, heavily framed glasses perched on the bridge of his proud, pronounced nose, and had a dark little moustache nestling above the middle of his top lip. In the low light he looked bizarre - the bastard son of Adolf Hitler and a pigeon-fancier.
'The shuttles were only designed to be used for short distances,' he continued, uninvited. 'They're nowhere near as well shielded as the main ship.'
'They're stronger than anything we could ever make, of course,' Rob said, picking up where our visitor had left off, 'but compared to the mother ship they're nowhere near as robust.'
'Bloody hell,' I sighed, 'have you done anything this week except sit and watch the TV?'
The other man interrupted again.
'I don't think I've missed a single piece of news yet,' he said with some pride. 'I've travelled almost two hundred miles to get here today. I was on the train before seven this morning.'
'Were you really?' I sighed, neither impressed or interested.
'I was. What about you two? Have you come far?'
I shook my head nonchalantly.
'No. If you stand up and walk to the top of the hill you can see my house.'
'Really?' he gasped, suddenly appearing to be both rabidly interested and insanely jealous at the same time. 'Did you see the ship when it first arrived?' he asked excitedly. 'Where were you when it first appeared?'
'I was just over there,' I replied, pointing over to my right in the general direction of the twisting path I had been running along when the storm had broken and I'd watched the ship fly out over the ocean.
'Could you see much?'
'I saw everything,' I answered, taking some sadistic pleasure in taunting our new friend.
'What was it like?' he demanded impatiently. 'I've watched the footage again and again on the television, but to have actually been here when it happened...'
'It was okay,' I mumbled, deliberately trying to wind him up. 'You know, big and black and...'
I was interrupted as a helicopter suddenly reared up from behind us and screeched through the air above our heads, causing a shock wave of noisy, slightly nervous excitement to quickly spread through the tightly-packed crowds like a massive Mexican wave. The unexpected deluge of sound and light was confusing. For a second or two just about everyone gathered on the hillsides thought that something had started to happen.
'Damn,' said the man sitting between Rob and I, 'just a helicopter.'
I turned and noticed that he had a pair of battered binoculars hanging around his scrawny neck.
'Could I borrow those for a second?' I asked.
He thought carefully before reluctantly taking off the glasses and handing them to me.
'Here,' he mumbled. 'Watch what you're doing with them won't you. I've had them for years...'
Staring out over the ocean and out towards the horizon I was just able to make out the shadowy shape of the alien mothership. Its smooth, black fuselage still hung steady and motionless over the calm sea. As my eyes became accustomed to the low light where the purple-black sky met the sea I could see hundreds of tiny lights which pinpricked the bulkhead of the ship and shone out into the night like the countless stars above me. A steady stream of busy shuttles poured out from deep within the bowels of the ship. Each one of them swooped down towards the surface of the water, unloaded their cargo onto the decks of a fleet of waiting boats, and then quickly disappeared back up into the dark safety of the cavernous ship again. Then, after I had been watching for a minute or two, they suddenly stopped.
Conscious that the man next to me was keen to get his binoculars back, I deliberately ignored him and turned my attention below to the gently rolling waves in the shadows of the colossal ship. I could see a long line of boats which were now travelling back towards land. The flotilla virtually stretched from the ship to the shore.
'Looks like something might be happening,' I said under my breath.
'What can you see?' Rob asked.
I put the glasses down for a second and they were immediately snatched back by their owner. He quickly lifted them up to his own eyes and stared out to sea.
'The ships are moving back towards the shore,' I answered, 'and the shuttles have stopped flying. Looks like they've finished packing!'
The sudden change in the behaviour of the aliens was also noticed by some of the many other people in the vast crowd who were also using binoculars or, in one or two extreme cases, telescopes. Once again an unstoppable wave of contagious excitement and interest swept through the massive gathering with the deadly speed of a bush fire tearing through a tinder-dry forest.
'They must be taking everything to their new base,' the man who still perched between my brother and I said under his breath. He watched transfixed as the line of ships snaked away from the shadows of the belly of the alien craft. 'Did you know that they've constructed a safe area near here for them?'
'I had heard something,' I replied, suddenly a little more interested in the conversation. 'I was wondering where they were going to go. You'd have thought they'd have been carted off and hidden somewhere well away from...'
'Not at all,' he interrupted. 'There's a disused holiday camp near here...'
'Brymer Sands,' Rob piped up.
The man continued.
'That's right. It's been refurbished and security has been tightened so that they can stay there.'
'But will they stay there?' I wondered.
'Why should they?' Rob snapped, sounding strangely defensive. 'Bloody hell, it's not their fault they're stuck here, is it? Christ, remember when Mum and Dad took us to Brymer Sands when we were little? We were hard pushed to spend a week there. You can't expect bloody interplanetary travellers to be locked up there for a few months, can you? No, they said on the news this morning that they were going to be free to travel.'
Was there anything that my brother and the irritating, annoying little man who had joined us didn't know about the aliens? They seemed to know everything about their needs and their plans, far more than I would have expected them to. But then information didn't seem to be very hard to come by. Every time I turned on the television or logged onto the Internet I saw nothing but alien news and updates. I guess my problem was that I didn't have the same rabid interest as everyone else seemed to. Their arrival was interesting and had changed the course of human history for sure, but my life was still the same. Nothing much had altered.
'Is it a good idea to give them freedom?' I asked.
'Why not?' questioned Rob. 'We all know so much that there's nothing left to hide. And if the authorities did an about face and closed ranks on us now, what would it achieve? If people don't get told the truth, they'll invent their own version, won't they? If the flow of information was cut-off now it would only be a matter of hours before the papers would be full of stories about little green men and ray guns and crap like that...'
I understood what he was saying but something didn't ring true. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and I couldn't begin to explain how I felt because I wasn't really sure myself. Something was definitely eating at me. Everything seemed inexplicably simple and uncomplicated. In a sense it felt as if every question I could think to ask about the aliens had been answered for me before I'd even had chance to speak.
At seventeen minutes past eleven the last human ship reached the shore and, for the first time since the aliens had arrived, the skies over the ocean were almost clear. A hushed and expectant silence swept through the enormous (and still growing) crowd that had gathered to witness the final few moments of the mighty machine. People scrambled further up the hillside and balanced themselves precariously on the obliging shoulders of friends, stretching and craning their necks so that they could get a clear view of the release of the ship.
Without warning, in a fraction of a second, the sea for miles around the rear of the immense alien machine was suddenly illuminated by a flood of searing, incandescent light which poured out from the powerful engines. The ship remained bewilderingly silent and I watched in wonder as it graciously turned full circle and began to glide back towards the shore. Billions of pairs of eyes stared out from every last corner of the globe to watch as the beautiful black machine gently lifted its nose to the stars and then blasted out into space, soaring straight over my head. Less than two minutes had passed before the incredible machine had disappeared completely from view.
A sudden wave of spontaneous cheering and applause echoed through the warm summer air. I stood up (my view had been good enough for me to remain seated throughout) and then reached back down to help pull Rob up onto his feet.
'Bloody hell,' he said with a vacant grin of disbelief plastered across his face. 'That was incredible. Did you see the size of that thing?'
I nodded and yawned and began to walk back up the slope of the hill towards home. Hordes of excited, chattering people swarmed around me.
'Impressive, wasn't it?' I said sarcastically, trying unsuccessfully to hide the unexpected disappointment that I was feeling. The ship had been an amazing sight to behold but, now that it had gone, I was left filled with a sense of anticlimax.
Rob was ignorant to my feelings and carried on talking regardless.
'How could something so big be so quiet?' he wondered enthusiastically. 'And the light from those engines! Jesus, I've never seen anything like it!'
I weaved my way through the sea of vast, meandering figures. Some of them were still fixed to the spot, staring up into space transfixed and hoping to snatch one last glimpse of the awesome alien ship.
We reached the top of the hill and I looked down towards Thatcham. Even from a distance I could see that the village streets were heaving with cars and people.
'We could have made a bloody fortune tonight,' I mumbled, stifling a tired yawn.
'How?'
'I've never seen so many people,' I explained. 'I could have hired out the spare room or let a couple of them put tents up in the garden...'
'It's not too late.'
'Suppose.'
'You could still do it, there's plenty of time. There are still people arriving. I bet there's going to be hundreds of people sleeping in the back of their cars tonight.'
'More fool them,' I grumbled.
'Don't worry,' Rob continued. 'It's going to stay busy round here for a long time yet.'
'You reckon?'
'Course it is. Bloody hell, we've got aliens living thirty miles up the coast. Everyone's going to want to see them.'
He was right. As we stumbled on towards home I glanced back over my shoulder. I could just about make out the twinkling lights of the camp at Brymer.
The aliens were close. Damn close.
I wasn't overly concerned or worried that they were near, but I still couldn't bring myself to match the euphoria which seemed to have consumed just about everyone else.
Fortunately the late summer evening was warm and bright and we were able to send the children outside to play - out of sight and out of earshot. Once they had disappeared we were, for a short time, able to relax without interruption. I lay back on Clare's comfortable sofa with Siobhan's head resting on my chest. Music played quietly in the background and long orange shadows filled the room.
'See the ship leave last night, Clare?' Rob asked. James was close to Stephanie (with their baby asleep in her arms) and Siobhan and I were most definitely sitting together. As one of the two single adults in the room, Rob seemed to feel duty bound to try and strike up a conversation with Clare. Often it was harder to stop a conversation with her, but tonight she seemed tired and reticent.
'No,' she sighed, shaking her head. 'Couldn't be bothered. Penny watched some of the pictures on the television this morning.'
'We walked over to the hills and watched it. Got stuck next to a really boring bastard, didn't we, Tom?'
I grunted and nodded. I looked across at Clare who was staring lazily into space. At the mention of the alien ship, however, the others immediately became more interested.
'We saw it leave,' James said enthusiastically. 'We watched it from home. Bloody amazing, wasn't it?'
'I've never seen anything like it,' Stephanie added as she passed her sleeping baby to Clare to hold. 'It seemed to fly right over the house.'
'Tom didn't think it was very impressive,' Rob whined.
'That's not what I said,' I protested. 'I just said that...'
'You wanted more flashing lights and lasers and special effects.'
'No I didn't. I just thought that when you consider the size and power of that ship you would have expected a little more. We were sat on the side of that hill for bloody hours and it was over in seconds.'
'Doesn't really matter now, does it?' Clare whispered quietly from her seat in the corner of the room. I turned to look at her and watched as she gently rocked the baby in her arms, her body haunched forward protectively over the tiny child. 'It doesn't matter how big their space ship was or how loud or quiet it was, the only important thing to remember is that they're here now, and they're not going anywhere.'
The hushed tone of her voice conveyed a deadly seriousness and concern.
'Does that worry you?' Stephanie asked, surprised.
Clare nodded.
'Yes it does,' she replied simply. Her opinion seemed to have changed since we'd spoken last week. Back then she'd seemed unconcerned and uninterested by the arrival of the aliens. Today, however, the tone of her voice made it sound as if she wanted them forced off the face of our planet altogether.
'But why?' Siobhan asked. She had been quiet for a while but was suddenly more animated and involved. 'Why does it bother you?'
Clare shrugged her shoulders, taking care not to disturb the sleeping baby cradled in her arms.
'Don't know really,' she admitted. 'It's probably nothing. I'm probably just wary because I don't know anything about them yet. When I get to learn a little more then things might change.'
'It might not be long before you get a chance to do that,' Rob said suddenly.
'Why?' I asked.
'Haven't you heard?' said James.
'Heard what?'
'They're letting them out.'
'Letting them out?' gasped Clare. 'They can't do that, surely?'
'Why not?' questioned Rob. 'Once they've been quarantined for a while and we're sure they don't pose a risk to our health, why should they be locked away? There won't be any reason to keep them separated, will there?'
'No, but...' Clare stammered.
'Will they want to mix with us?' I wondered.
'Of course they will,' Stephanie said. 'Why shouldn't they?'
'Well there are bound to be differences between us, aren't there? They're going to have completely different needs. They'll probably eat different food and they're going to have their own religions and etiquette, aren't they? Bloody hell, you shake someone's hand here and you're letting them know that you're pleased to meet them and you don't pose a threat. Shaking an alien's hand might mean something completely different to them. It might be their way of telling each other to fuck off!'
Siobhan laughed.
'He's got a point,' Clare said, quickly jumping to my defence.
'But come on,' James sighed, 'they're only going to be here for a few months, aren't they? And they don't want to be here, do they? Surely we can make an effort to accommodate them and their needs until they can get home again.'
'Do we really want to make an effort?' Clare asked.
'Of course,' Stephanie snapped. 'Well I do, anyway.' She seemed surprised and almost annoyed by Clare's apparent refusal to be flexible and by her uncompromising attitude towards the aliens. 'Christ, these people have travelled millions and millions of miles from their homes and now they can't get back. It's not their fault they're stuck here, is it?'
'No,' Clare agreed, 'but it's not my fault either. I'm sorry, Steph. I just don't seem to be able to get into the spirit of interplanetary co-operation as easily as you have. Not just yet, anyway.'
There followed a long and unexpectedly awkward silence in the conversation.
'This reminds me of something I was working on at university last term,' Rob said suddenly.
For some inexplicable reason best known to himself, my younger brother had decided to study towards a degree in twentieth century English history. Personally I couldn't see the point. I had always considered any historical study to be a complete waste of time. Where was the sense in continually looking backwards? My philosophy was simple - if you spend all your time looking backwards, you're going to walk into something eventually.
'So what were you studying?' James asked, sounding only half-interest.
'We were looking at the increase in immigrants who set up home here after the end of the Second World War.'
'What's that got to do with the aliens?' Siobhan asked.
'Just think about it,' Rob continued, adopting a pretentious tone of educated seriousness. 'When those people first arrived here back then the indigenous population were paranoid. The newcomers were different, and because they were different people were afraid of them.'
'I'm not frightened of anyone,' Clare snapped.
'I didn't say you were. That's not the point I'm making at all...'
'So what are you saying?'
He took a deep breath before trying to explain, obviously choosing his words carefully.
'In the forties and fifties, many of the people born in this country were convinced that the immigrants were here to take their jobs, families and homes from them.'
'What's your point?' I wondered.
Rob cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked around the room, paying particular attention to Clare and I.
'Those people were frightened because of their ignorance and their short-sightedness. I'm just trying to make you see that you've got a fear of the unknown and as soon as you learn more about these people, I'm sure you'll be more than willing to share the planet with them.'
'You're a patronising bastard,' I sighed. 'You make it sound as if we don't want anything to do with the aliens.'
'Do you?'
I shrugged my shoulders.
'I don't know yet.'
'Clare.'
'I'm just not interested,' she said, very definitely.
'You should both just give it time.'
'But it's not just about time, is it?'
'Come on,' James interrupted. 'I can't believe that we're even having to talk like this. Regardless of what you might think about the aliens, you've got to admit that there is a hell of a lot we stand to gain from having them here with us. You've got to be able to see it?'
'Whatever,' I mumbled.
The children returned to the room, bringing a welcome distraction from the increasingly heavy conversation. Their noisy, muddy arrival came as something of a relief.
I really hadn't intended to sound anti-alien. I knew that their arrival here was of monumental importance to every single person on the surface of the planet.
But there was still something that bothered me. Something that didn't quite ring true.
All caution was being thrown to the wind. In an age when the person who reads your gas meter needs full identification, we were being asked to embrace these visitors from the other side of the universe with open arms.
I wanted to accept them, I really did. But I needed to be able to trust them first.
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