22

'I'm home!'

The loud bang of the front door alerted the two as they quickly sprang up from their seats, and Kenji took refuge in the spare room before Airi's mother could reach the kitchen.

'Hi, Mom!' said Airi, trying to look unsuspicious as she grinned a little too widely.

'Why are there two plates on the table?' said Airi's mother in surprise.

'Well, I was hungry!' said Airi, with a sheepish smile.

Her mother raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything as she switched off the radio, muttering something about 'noise' and 'kids these days'.

Airi decided to occupy herself, so she picked up the morning's newspaper and gave it a cursory look before a headline caught her eye and reminded her of her mother's remark that morning.

Aliens Speculated to Attack Earth, says Military Chief

She read the article, not without considerate alarm as she went from paragraph to paragraph about the supposed dangers and terrifying discoveries about aliens, apparently narrated personally to the reporter by actual, serving, high-ranking officers. Surely this couldn't be true!

She put the newspaper down and went for a walk outside. A few days ago, she would have laughed at such news before throwing it away and thinking nothing more of it. But now... ever since she had found out the truth about Kenji, anything seemed possible.

She shook her head at once. Surely, Kenji would never do something awful like that! He would never stand for an attack on Earth! She was sure of it. And then, hadn't he said that they were called 'the calm race'? All that talk about emotions being a vice in humans due to them being the 'root of evil' only confirmed that their people would never launch an aggressive attack on anyone!

Then why would the military give such a statement?

She frowned and went back inside. She opened the door of the spare room gently and found Kenji fast asleep on the bed, a faint smile still on his face as he hugged a large pillow, looking so content that she forgot what she had come there for, and simply smiled warmly and admired the child-like innocence on his handsome face.

She carefully shut the door again and threw away the newspaper. Kenji wasn't like that. It was still shocking enough to accept that he was an alien, not a normal high school boy, but to think that he had ever had any evil intentions whatsoever was something she couldn't and wouldn't ever believe.

*  *  *

Shen-ja stood nervously in his military uniform as he was presented an award for his outstanding bravery in the field while saving a senior officer's life. The truth was that he was the reason why that man had gotten into danger in the first place, but of course no one knew that. They couldn't. His plan was to stand out and reach the top, and so far, he was succeeding, and he wasn't going to let anything or anyone stop him.

After the ceremony was over, he was called in a private room and went there at once. He found the colonel and the general waiting for him. He stood at attention and saluted perfectly.

'At ease, officer,' said the general pleasantly. 'The reason why you have been called here is to... to offer you a chance to be... special. Do you know about the A-Unit?'

Shen-ja stiffened slightly as he nodded nervously. He had made it. Almost. He had been poking his nose, as the humans put it, wherever and whenever he got the chance, and he knew a lot of things that the other officers did not know. He knew, for instance, of the prestigious A-Unit which had been specifically created to combat aliens when the humans launched their attack on Shianxa, or Planet X as they called it. What an abysmal name they had come up with!

'Yes, Sir,' he said cautiously.

'Oh, I see...'

There was silence for a few seconds, before the general spoke up again. 'Would you like to join the A-Unit? Be warned, though, that the danger ahead is unknown, and you may lose your life as you face this unprecedented enemy...'

Shen-ja resisted the cold smile that tugged at the corners of his lips and barely kept his composure. Fools! Little did they know that the 'enemy' was in front of them, and that every last detail of the members of A-Unit had already been transferred to the Commander by him. They would find out soon enough, just how much their attempted sabotage would cost them.

'I am aware of the risk, Sir, and I gladly undertake it. A soldier's life is in the hands of his commander; send me where you will and I shall surely prove my worth.'

'Very well, then,' said the general, rather impressed. 'Welcome to A-Unit! A file will be given to you shortly, study it well before destroying it. You may leave.'

Shen-ja smiled slowly before leaving the room.

'Isn't he a little too eager?' said the colonel when the door shut behind him.

'Ah, he reminds me of my youth...' smiled the general. 'He'll rise up fast enough, he will...'

*  *  *

'Read these coordinates again for me, Ken,' said Commander Lee, looking rather nervous.

Ken obliged, before he paused and looked up. 'They're awfully close to Earth, aren't they?'

'Exactly!' said the commander fearfully. 'These are the last signals we succeeded in detecting, before they stopped altogether.'

Ken looked at him in surprise. 'You don't mean to say...'

'That whatever — or whoever it was, landed on Earth? That's exactly what I thought. And then I saw this — here, have a look!'

Ken tossed the paper he had been handed back on the table and scoffed. 'For Goodness sake, that's a tabloid! Why are you even reading this?'

'Ken!' said the commander sternly, making the scientist reluctantly pick it up again and read aloud.

'Man claims he was abducted by alien; tortured in strange spaceship until he was driven mad...'

Ken looked up incredulously. 'Oh, come on! Stories like this are a dime a dozen! They have no idea of the actual research we're doing here!'

'That's what I thought. But then, I figured it wouldn't hurt if I investigated a little in the place where the madman claimed to have seen this alien,' said the commander. 'So, I went there, with the radio equipment, and Ken, you wouldn't believe what happened...'

'What?'

'At a certain point, all the machinery just started getting funny and acting in ways they shouldn't have! I stopped and found a hiding place, and fitted everything as best as I could, in case I could catch any signals again—'

'Signals? Like, from the alien?' said Ken, interested.

'Exactly! And I waited and waited, until I nearly gave up, when...'

'When, what?!'

'It beeped!'

Ken stared at the commander in surprise.

'And not just once! Repeated, intelligent signals just like the ones we recorded here!'

'This can't be...' said Ken in anxious shock.

'But it is!' said the commander, who was equally agitated. 'I came straight back here and checked out the older signals in front of you, and it all makes sense! There is a spy from the aliens who has succeeded in infiltrating our planet before we could even set foot on theirs!'

'That is terrible indeed! We are in great danger!' exclaimed Ken.

'I will convey this to Smith this very evening,' said the commander gravely.

'Can't you tell the general directly?'

'Ah, you know, Ken, military and their hierarchies! I'll tell Smith and he'll tell the general himself.'

'You're right... still, how are you going to catch him? The alien, that is...'

The commander thought for a while. 'Perhaps, that place I went to is where he stays or signals or does something, at any rate,' he said. 'So, a hidden military team ready to ambush him as soon as he comes sounds like a good plan...'

Ken nodded approvingly. 'That seems like our best bet. That alien has fooled us enough; now his time is up!'

'Cheers to that!' said the commander, raising a glass of cocktail and clinking it with Ken's.

'Cheers!'