Aliena Too Read Online Free

said. “This is Martha. They are our bodyguards. And this is Gloaming, from—from the spaceship.”
    Sam stepped forward and shook hands with the body, showing him how to do it. “We’ll get along, Gloaming.” He gave no sign of amusement at the odd name.
    â€œThank you,” Gloaming said. “I am fatigued by the journey. May I rest?”
    â€œHe came from the ship nonstop,” Johnson said. “Moving to Earth gravity. He should lie down for a while, become acclimatized.”
    This was her cue. “This way, Gloaming,” Lida said. She nerved herself to take his hand, and led him to the bedroom. Thus suddenly she was alone with the creature, and wishing she were not. “You may lie down on the bed.” Then, uncertain of the impression she was making, “Do you want me to join you?”
    â€œPlease, if you would. I should sleep, but am unable to do so alone.”
    Was this a pickup line? Lida was not amused. “Take off your shoes. Lie down. I will join you.” He looked so much like Quincy!
    He lay down on the bed, somewhat awkwardly, on his side. It occurred to her that starfish did not have to lie down: they were already flat on the floor of the sea.
    She removed his shoes. Then she removed her own and lay beside him, facing him. “How is it that you can’t sleep when you need to?”
    â€œIt is a problem with our species. We are sea creatures. Outside of the sea we find it difficult to relax. We need the reassurance and contact of an understanding person to enable us to relax sufficiently. I apologize for this inconvenience.”
    What could she say? It was more than an inconvenience. She didn’t want to be near him, let alone touch him, let alone sleep with him—even in the literal sense of losing consciousness. Was he a baby who had to be cradled and rocked?
    But she had agreed to do this. She had to perform. She reached out with her right hand and took his left hand. “Will this do?”
    He held it lightly. “Yes. May I comment?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œYou are hostile.”
    She jumped. This was too close to the truth. “I—am ill at ease.”
    â€œAs am I.”
    She had to say something to defuse this threatening disaster. “I’m doing this because it is the only way to save my husband, the man I love. Otherwise I would not touch you. I am not hostile to you personally, so much as to the situation. Why are you doing this?”
    â€œThat would be a complicated story.”
    â€œSimplify it.”
    â€œI was an energetic young male on my planet, prone to bending rules. I got into trouble with the prevailing norms. I was given a choice: pay a penalty for my misdeed and suffer re-education, or volunteer for the space voyage, which would take me entirely out of the culture, never to return. I volunteered. When I woke, seemingly an instant later, a hundred years had passed. I had been selected to occupy an alien host, so as to learn the alien ways and become an envoy for my world.” His mouth quirked. “Perhaps the machines did not realize that I was a troublemaker.”
    Lida suffered a flash of empathy. “Or maybe they did. This was your punishment.”
    â€œPerhaps,” he agreed. “Now I must do my best for my world, and for the association of dissimilar sapient species. I apologize for complicating your life in this manner.”
    â€œNo, you are like me in this respect: doing what you have to do. At least you have some spirit. I respect that.”
    â€œIf I may ask, what is the meaning of the name you gave me, Gloaming? I am familiar with the dictionary definition, of twilight or dusk, but I do not see how it relates to my situation.”
    â€œMy husband’s favorite song was ‘In the Gloaming.’ It was running through my mind as I thought of him, and of our marriage, which is finished by no choice of our own, our twilight. So when I needed a