Beyond Imagination - 6. Chapter 5

(Elliot Taylor)

I kept looking around Mcdonalds, which is only slightly different than the ones I was used to back in my world. It is brighter with more colorful displays of deals and booths, along with the loud and happy chatter of families. I remember this was typical when I was still a kid, but things like this disappeared over the disappointing decade of unrest. It should be a joyous scene, but I also look in wonder at the individuals within the fast-food chain.

My inner voice offers me explanations, “They are the Tenctonese, aliens from a slave ship that crashed and landed on Earth four years ago. They had no way of going home and most of the technology on their ship was destroyed along with their advanced professional crews. There were more than half a million of them, who were bred for various jobs and services, so the government accepted them under a new special class of US residency. Most folks call them “Newcomers” since they are trying to integrate into human society. They’re good aliens who want to make a home for themselves and their families. They have some interesting differences from human beings.”

Was this the reason why our worlds were different? If aliens revealed themselves and lived with human beings, would the tumultuous disaster I left have been averted? Was that the reason why all the other alien civilizations, including E.T., wouldn’t come to our aid? If I dared to tell my story, would it have made a difference?

“Stop, dude. You can’t beat yourself up, since I don’t think the Tenctonese or even your revelation about meeting E.T. would have changed things. Sure, you could have done a lot more and spoken out about the various injustices that you saw, but alien existence wouldn’t have changed the mindset of the public to turn against such ingrained bigotry and fears. Human issues had to be resolved through human perspectives.”

I ponder that question as we reach the front of the line, where Jeff greets a Newcomer cashier, “Hey Sarah, how you doing?”

She waves a hand at Jeff, then turns to me, “Elliot, you look a lot better than last night. Roger and Sam are still trying to get over their hangovers and the red asses that Brenda gave them for getting you drunk.”

I gulp, finding a proper response with the help of my inner voice, “I hope Brenda wasn’t too tough on them.”

Sarah smirks, “You are too kind. They knew better than to coerce you and circumvent a Linnaum. I would have chained them to a wall for their disobedience,” she turns to Jeff, “As for you, I hope you are ready for the trip.”

Jeff answers without hesitation, “Yeah, we’ll be driving to LA on schedule as you planned. I can’t wait to meet your family. I’ll drop Elliot off at Dave’s place, then take the car there.”

She nods, then looks at her watch, “We spoke for 51 seconds, you have 39 seconds left to order breakfast. I want to meet my quota for the monthly bonus, so make your choices quickly.”

Their interaction surprises me. Despite her alien appearance, Sarah seems very human and in command of the situation, like how men were supposed to interact with women in my old life. Jeff obeyed her command and quickly orders a series of breakfast items for us and two Egg McMuffins to go for his brother.

Pondering what all this means, my internal voice offers a flurry of explanations, “The Newcomers have different gender roles compared to humans in their society. Linnaum is what they call females and males are Gannaum. Their females are the active workers and labor force in their society, while the males are domestic. Their females are more aggressive than human females…”

As we sit down with the food, Jeff interrupts the explanations with his speech, “Do you think I am doing the right thing? I mean meeting her parents, who don’t approve of this thing between us.”

Not sure what to say, I tell him by instinct as I have done countless times in my former life, “I don’t know”

Jeff mumbles, “I can’t change who and what I like, just like you and Dave. I know it’s not equivalent, because most humans will say being gay is better than being with a Newcomer or, for Newcomers, a celibate Newcomer is better than being with a human. Sarah says none of that matters and she can handle her family, while she only has the support of her grandmother. I am really scared that her family will force her to leave me.”

Jeff’s insecurities are not something I had ever encountered n my life, but I remember things happening between interracial couples trying to find acceptance. I think back to all the times I saw those people being harassed for only loving someone that doesn’t resemble them. I wished I dared to change things and speak out for them, but I feared being discovered for all my various secrets, too.

Now though, I should try, “Maybe, they’re wrong about you and Sarah. Maybe, there’s nothing wrong with your relationship.”

Jeff stares at me, “Maybe?”

I wonder what was wrong with my words, then the other me explains, “Oh, you are making baby steps trying to express your real thoughts and beliefs. However, while trying to alleviate someone’s fears about situations like this, you should try using words demonstrating certainty. Don’t quibble about support for someone fearing discrimination, discrimination is just plain wrong in itself. Don’t give it any air or equivocate like politicians, just say it.”

With some resolve, I return Jeff’s stare with determination from a decade of watching my world fall apart, “People, who would claim they know what is best for others are idiots. You are the only person, who can determine how you feel and what you want. As long as you and Sarah are happy, nothing else matters.”

Jeff’s expression brightens, “That’s my roommate, the fearless Elliot Taylor,” he smirks as he pushes the cup of coffee at me, “I know you are still hungover; some coffee will help. Roger will get an earful from Brenda. Even though he’s only a Binnaum, I bet Sam will probably avoid you and Dave for a while.”

The relationship between the three Newcomers seems odd, the other me offers a short description, “It’s a complicated relationship. Brenda and Roger are married and friends of ours from college. Sam is helping them with conceiving a child. The Newcomers have a third gender, the Binnaum. In human society, it’s best to consider them fluid or non-binary, who are deeply empathetic caregivers. It’s not that weird, some studies are starting up about a queer history that also shows a potential for such classifications in ancient human societies with intersex individuals. Sam has…a history with me and Dave, but he probably feels like he failed us for not protecting me.”

Something in his explanation concerning Sam made me wonder, but Jeff continues to banter about his plans to visit Los Angeles, distracting me from that line of thought. In some ways, I’m a newcomer to this world too, trying to learn and understand what’s happening. It’s all so new and unexpected to find a world like this, where various things I dare not hope for existed.

After finishing our breakfast, we made our way across town to a place called the Castro district. I saw men openly holding hands, wearing bright colorful shirts, and even a couple openly kissing in the middle of the street without fear of persecution. We parked in front of a Victorian townhouse, a far cry from the single-story bungalow that Professor Freeman resided in my world.

After parking, we head the stairs and rang the doorbell. In a few moments, Professor David Freeman appeared.

Upon seeing Jeff in front of him, he hugs his brother and mumbles, “I’m sorry.”

(David Freeman)

For ten years, I wanted to tell my little brother those words. I wanted to apologize for not walking with him when he got abducted. I wanted to apologize for being selfish with my time.

As I felt his body stiffen to my touch, a sudden realization came to me. This wasn’t my Jeff. The cold logical portion of my mind that held so much knowledge told me that this version of Jeff never experienced what my brother and I did. With that thought, I withdraw and retreat.

Jeff moves beyond the threshold of my doorway, “Are you okay?”

The door behind Jeff closes and I spot Elliot behind him. In my life, I had only confided my previous secrets to two people; Jeff and Elliot. I don’t know if Jeff will accept the idea of parallel universes, but I want to confide in someone.

I try to act nonchalantly, “It’s just good to see you.”

Jeff glances over at Elliot, then back at me, “You usually hug Elliot, like that. Is this some kind of psychological deflection? Dave, I don’t know what caused you guys to break up and get back together again exactly, but maybe you guys should stop playing these mind games with each other.”

Seeing a way to explain away my prior action, I answer him curtly, “I’ll try my best.”

After the initial awkward interaction, we make some small talk about news items such as the higher cost of gas after Iraq took over Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union’s collapse. Some things may be different in this world versus the one I left, but human strife seems to be constant. While I did not know the geopolitical realities here, I did recognize that the underlying dangers from my world were not present, at least not in its fullest form. Human beings are only different by degrees of antagonism and ambition.

Jeff ends the conversation abruptly as he became startled when he glanced at his old F-87W Casio wristwatch.

Apologizing and preparing to rush out the door, he exclaims, “Oh crap, I need to get back to the apartment to pack for the trip.”

Seeing that old 1980’s Japanese-made wristwatch, I had to ask a question before he ran off, “Why are you still wearing that old thing? That model is from the early 80’s, there are tons of newer digital watches out.”

Jeff looks at the watch, then at me, and winks with an acknowledgment, “My brother gave it to me for my 12^th birthday, because I was always running late, like right now. Thanks for watching out, Dave.”

As Jeff left, I recall the watch in question, which I had considered buying him for his birthday. In my history, I didn’t buy it, instead, I got him a catcher’s glove for baseball. It was one of many little decisions I have agonized over over the years if it could have changed his fate. Jeff had bad time management since he was a kid, it was one of the factors that led to my encounter with Max’s spacecraft in the first place, due to him spending too long at a neighbor’s place and me being sent by my parents to retrieve him. It got progressively worse as he grew up, which contributed to the delay in me and my family searching for him after his abduction. Hearing him thank me, a pang of guilt floods my consciousness and the hallway falls quiet.

In silence, Elliot approaches me and asks, “Professor Freeman, is that you?”

I nod, “We didn’t go back.”

He touches my bare forearm and an odd feeling of separation engulfs my body, like I was not in control any longer.

Words came out of me that were not from me, “Is my pup okay?”

Shocked, Elliot retracts his hand, “What did you say? Was that the other you?”

Analyzing my knowledge of extraterrestrial psionic sciences, I realized what Elliot did and his true innate ability.

“You are an empath.”

(Note: Do people want me to continue with this fan-fiction story? Or should I start publishing my own original stories?)