3. The Andropod Alien Setback
Cynthia Urte was only a young seventeen year old High School Senior, getting ready to go off to college, who had not yet graduated. She was in her final Senior year but did not have the keen interest in school academics to the degree that her parents wanted. It was not that her grades were not superior, because she was the smartest girl in her class, maybe in the whole school. Her grades attested to that fact also, as she was set to be the valedictorian of her senior year. Not one student could even approach her academic level of achievement, yet her parents, who were college professors, always wanted more from her and she was fed up with it.
Cynthia could walk into an exam, without having studied one hour the night before and easily make one hundred on the test. The High School classes were just not challenging enough, and they were top tier science and math classes. There was something about her brain that no one else could comprehend. She already knew the answers before the teacher even asked them, and it was unsettling for her brilliant but slow High School teachers to comprehend. She often made fun and ridiculed her teachers, sometimes imitating them in front of the whole class, simply by speaking the exact same words before they said them. The students laughed at her nonsense, but the teachers took it directly as an insult, although they had no way of explaining the incredibly unusual phenomenon. Most students passed it off as a trick or mental acuity, similar to that of reading lips. Cynthia even said as much, that she simply guessed what they were going to say, because she had already cleverly memorized their idiosyncrasies and could predict their habits. It amazed the rest of the students and sort of set her up as a heroine. She was very careful not to do it too much or she might arouse suspicion. Within her own mind, it was apparent that she saw clearly deep into their minds. The talent was not something that a seventeen year old girl could readily admit and prove to the scientific community. That secret was better kept deep within her own mental regimen of self defense.
Many of the young boys in school had crushes on her, not simply passing fantasies, but a deep longing to be in some way a part of her life. She mostly ignored them and there was nothing but a brutal heartache for the ones who got to date her. The dates were in themselves non-events, particularly and personally designed by her to be boring and uneventful, unless she got intrigued by something. Yes, she always knew they were hypnotized and in love with her, but Cynthia always had a way of making it seem like she was their best friend and still maintained being the most popular girl in school, although she never ran for any school office. She was not even a cheerleader. Her friends always tried but failed to get her interested in some social competition or beauty pageants, although she would have won anything she put her mind to or competed for. Most girls were very happy not to have her competing against them. Cynthia made excuses like she had to study and couldn’t get into any competitions, because it would take away from her academics. That was mostly a lie, because the high school classes were easily done for only minutes of preparation. It didn’t make any difference anyway, because she already had won the hearts and minds of all the young boys. They idolized her and that was no secret to anyone.
There were a few things of competition Cynthia did take seriously, and that was her Martial Arts. She was now a black belt in Karate and Judo and had been one, ever since she was just a small child. She still did not compete in any of the public fighting events, because of her excuse as taking too much time out of academics. Cynthia liked to help in the Dojo, and always showed up to help other students. She competed with her classmates and that was about it, although she could have easily won the state championship and maybe nationals.
One of the regular students that had recently been taking Judo and Karate noticed that she was always there at the school, but did not take much of an active part, except to help out the Sensei when he called on her. The teacher or Sensei knew of her prerequisites for being there and did not try to persuade her to join any competitions. He knew more or less what she was and what she wasn’t. What he didn’t know was why she only wanted to be out of the limelight, but that too sometimes made perfect sense to him. He knew that she could actually take him in a real fight at any time but also was smart enough and wise enough not to let it be known. The two of them had a genuine respect for one another and besides adoring her, he felt protective of her. She was like a gift or a secret phenomenon to be shared with the world but at the same time to remain in the shadows.
Roberto Clemson was a fellow student at the Martial Arts School in the little town known as Chino, Texas. He also knew exactly what Cynthia Urte was, and it was not just simply human. She was incredibly smart and also quite a bit psychic. He did not just want to let on and spoil the fun for her, since she had quite a following and a great deal of respect from all the students and teachers at the school. He somehow was given certain clues to her personality, because he was quite extraordinarily brilliant also. Somehow Cynthia began to sense that he was following her around; taking the same classes, the same Martial Arts, visiting the same fast food restaurants at the same time as she did, and generally pursuing her in a nonchalant sort of way.
They were due up in the Karate class to be paired together in a brief kumite, which the Sensei had arranged. He had asked her to teach Roberto some of the basic techniques and help him progress toward his first belt test. He also wanted to find out how much the young boy knew and what degree of skills he possessed. Roberto had come into town and nobody seemed to know much about him, except that he was highly recommended by his teachers from his former school. His father had been transferred to another company location in Chino, and was an executive with a highly respected factory that employed many of the local workers in a very high-tech industry that had moved into town. The instructor, Ramon Ramirez, thought that Cynthia was just the person to find out these things.
“How did you hurt your hand? That looks like it might have been pretty bad, and it is still bleeding a little from the cut you received.”
“How did you know I cut my hand? It could have been some other accident like a dog bite, or I could have fallen on some barbed wire, while fixing one of the fences on our ranch,” Cynthia said glibly, not meaning to confess everything all at once.
“Maybe you were fighting aliens and you finally managed to cut one in a very specific place, like maybe taking out an eye?”
“Well, that’s a good guess, Roberto. I actually did take out his eye, but it was all non too soon, or I would have been reeled into his spaceship in a moments notice, if I had not reacted quick enough. You see, things like that have to be done with a seventh sense, like taking out someone’s feet from under them before they can launch an attack.” She quickly swept the feet from under Roberto, and it was as if he twisted in midair to avoid her, before completely being overbalanced and spilling onto the floor, sprawled in front of her. She just laughed at having missed him, and in a split second followed it up with a devastating kick to his solar plexus, which he did not expect. All the breath seemed to gush right out of him instantly, and it took several minutes to recover.
The Sensei ran over to the two of them, “Cynthia, be careful, because he doesn’t know exactly how to defend himself yet. It takes a little time to adjust to the full contact.”
“He’s not so new. I swept him unexpectedly, and he acted like it was some kind of playtime, not taking me seriously, and completely avoiding my takedown. He’s faking and already knows Martial Arts.”
“Anyway, Cynthia, humor him and give him a little time. I think the two of you might be able to help each other. I know you’re a black belt and he is a white belt, but just bear me out and have a little patience with him. It will be good for the both of you.”
The teacher went back to the junior students and resumed his lessons, keeping an eye on his star pupil and her admirer. He could sense the attraction the two had for each other and thought it better to let them ease into their relationship with a little first hand information.
“OK, now just take it easy, Cynthia. If I react fast or think fast, it doesn’t necessarily mean I have had a lot of experience in Martial Arts. Not everything in life is preparation and memorization of things like kata and learned techniques. Sometimes, certain people can learn almost by osmosis, adapting to the other person with split second timing and coordination,” said Roberto, hoping to stem the flow of ire and heated battle spirit that somehow had welled up in Cynthia. She simply reacted to his having speed and split second timing.
“OK, lets take it slow and try something called a dance kata. Motobu-ryu, or simply Te, is a combination of fighting and a Japanese dance known as a Ryukyuan Dance, which reveals the movements of a fighting kata. However, I have transposed most of my own inventive movements into the integrity of the dance sequences and made it virtually my own style. I want you to react slowly to my own movements and see if you can integrate your own defenses into the combination of my strikes, blocks, and kicks. I might even throw in a few take-downs and joint locks, that you will have to automatically figure out a way to get out of. Everything will be done in slow motion, so you don’t have to worry about receiving really full contact strikes at the moment. Are you ready? Now, just react to my fighting dance movements.”
The two of them began instantly, a very beautiful and rhythmic sequence of actions and reactions that proceeded from the experiment. Cynthia performed many different series of katas from Judo to Karate in various forms of fighting styles, all wrapped into a series of dance moves that mimicked deadly serious fighting scenarios. Roberto responded in a very excellent way, constantly evading and capturing her hands, arms, and feet, while at the same time delivering very slow motion counters and locking positions with her limbs, which forced her to think about reactions that would never have been presented in a traditional exhibition of Karate katas. The rest of the class all simply stopped what they were doing to admire the unique presentation that was automatically beautiful and instructive at the same time. The teacher, Sensei Ramon Ramirez, told the class to sit and watch for as long as it lasted, which went on for about twenty minutes. The entire class was mesmerized, and they would remember it for a long time, creating a special place for the occurrence in their memory.
“OK, class, that is all for today. Remember exactly just what you saw and try to relate that to a real life fighting scenario. Something you witnessed tonight, just might save your life one day,” said Sensei Ramon Ramirez, clapping his hands and bowing, as the whole class returned his respect. “Well, the two of you might be able to find some mutual respect for one another and both succeed in having a successful relationship. I’ll leave you two and Cynthia can lock up for the night, since she has her own key. Don’t forget to come back next Tuesday evening at seven o’clock. You’ll need a lot of training if you want to fight her, Roberto. She is quite vicious and unpredictable when you least expect it. I know from experience. Cynthia has beaten me on several occasions, and I will readily admit it in private.” Cynthia just smiled a little shyly.
“Thanks, Sensei. I appreciate all the help I can get. I really don’t know that much about the Martial Arts, except to just go with the flow and use the same techniques as best I can,” said Roberto.
“He is really quite extraordinary and perceptive, Sensei. I’ll look forward to working with him. I apologize if I was too quick to react and judge, but I was assaulted on the road yesterday, and I am a little edgy from the suddenness of it. I’m alright, nothing very bad.”
“Alright, Cynthia, you know that you have to be careful out jogging in the abandoned areas of the country. It might seem peaceful, but at any time things can change suddenly.”
“Goodnight, Sensei, and I’ll lock up.” Sensei Ramon Ramirez saluted both students with the left hand covering the right and bowed, then turned and left the dojo. Cynthia looked at Roberto and smiled, a little curiously, not wanting to be too direct, but still she wanted to know how he knew about the alien encounter that she had experienced. No one else knew about it, because she never told anyone and never would, even if she knew of the danger. She sensed that he knew more than what he was indicating.
“How did you know about my encounter with the alien?”
“I was there and saw what happened, Cynthia.”
“So, how is it that you weren’t targeted and I was? What makes you able to avoid capture, when they have done it to hundreds or maybe even thousands of humans.”
“I haven’t avoided capture. They took me one day, but I got away. I learned how to block them from my memory and my mind. You need to be able to do the same. I was near to the exact same location where they almost took you, just waiting and watching, because I knew that they would try it again. You have the ability, but you almost lost it that day.”
“Well, I didn’t and I won’t ever lose against them. I know what they are now, and I’m prepared to defend myself from any and all attackers.”
“You don’t seem to understand, Cynthia. They think differently than we do, planning and scheming, predicting our movements so that we will not be able to resist. They inject the back of the neck with a spinal needle, which renders their victims unable to resist, even if they wanted to. You have to be able to fight them with your own mind, not just your reaction time and your skills in the Martial Arts. You were lucky that day, or maybe you might have received some help from someone else, a person that you are not even aware of.”
“Like who? Or, what being would be able to help me think better than I already think? I’m the top student in my class, even in the whole school. I’m not just bragging, because it is a fact. Most of the students at Chino High School don’t even care if they show up in class half the time, and when they do, they only dream about getting out of class. At least I apply myself and know my lessons before I go back to class. I’ve tried to help other students in extra out-of-class sessions, designed to give them an advantage. Most don’t even want help if I offer it. I show up after class to help others and nobody comes to the help sessions. That’s how much they care, preferring D’s or even F’s to getting prepared to do better in math and science. The teachers won’t do it, ridiculing me, because I try to help others who don’t care.”
“You’re different, Cynthia, and I noticed it from the first time I met you. Although, I try not to, I find myself almost always bumping into you in the store, the fast food restaurant, and even here at Karate classes. We seem to be finding a serendipitous way to constantly be in each others company. I’m not actually stalking you, well not much.”
“Ha, aha, yes you are stalking me. I knew it. I see you always everywhere I go. I’m certainly not following you around. I don’t even know you, and have never thought about someone who could be mentally helping me, although I did dream about this strange planet. It’s out in the Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy, the same as Earth, in the Aquarius Constellation, orbiting a brown dwarf star called Trappist-1, and the planet is simply designated as ‘e’. I looked it up, and it’s one of those earth-like exoplanets that have been recently found with a new telescope. It’s only 40 light-years from Earth.”
“Well, that’s it. You’ve been contacted by someone from Earth who has been abducted and is now on that planet. They must have gotten away, the same as I did. The aliens can be stunned and make mistakes, the same as humans can. But we can also compensate for our mistakes and over-correct in order to be able to survive and overcome unusual circumstances.”
“So, how do you think that I have been contacted by someone on another planet?”
“I don’t know, Cynthia, but I just think that is what happened. Look in the newspapers and see if you can find someone who has completely disappeared from this area recently. I’ll bet that is the person who made contact with you and helped you in that situation, the encounter with the alien. It wasn’t me, because I was just as scared and almost completely froze when I saw what was happening to you.”
“How do you know that it wasn’t just me and my quick reflexes? What if I attacked you and held you down, did things to you that are not very nice, dirty little things that hurt?”
“I don’t know, Cynthia. I might even like it. Go ahead and try.”
Immediately, she spun around and hooked one leg behind his knees and crossed the other in front, making a scissors with her long legs and forcing him to fall face down on the mat. At the same time she took a hand full of his hair and pulled back, causing extreme pain on his legs, while pulling his head back and arching his spine.
“What are you going to do now that you have me in a very compromising position, kiss me? That might be nice,” said Roberto, trying to talk while in extreme pain that she was causing him, forcing his joints into a very uncomfortable position with his torso twisted and his legs and knee hurting.
“I might bite you, now that I have you where I want you. I don’t do this to just anyone, only the ones I like to play with.”
“Cynthia, you know that you’re not a normal person, don’t you? This is not even a date and you’re already attacking me. What will your boyfriend say, if he finds out you held me down?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend, stupid. I only date to amuse myself with all those idiots who think they can take advantage of me. I’m really a very nice girl who goes to church every Sunday.” She began to pull back even harder on his hair and cranking down on the leg lock, making him cry out in pain.
“You’re not making me do something I don’t want to do. I know you think I can get out of this locked position, but I really can’t.”
“Well, then do something else. You’re not fooling me with that helpless act you’re putting on. Go ahead. Get out of it, unless you want more and more pain. I’m serious. I won’t kiss you, but I am going to bite down on your ear.” With that, she began to laugh and then bit him, just like she said she would, causing him more pain.
Cynthia’s long light brown hair fell into Roberto’s face and he smelled the perfume of her shampoo, which made him almost giddy with her closeness, and at the same time she really did bite his ear. As much as he wanted to keep receiving her attention, the pain made his mind revolt at being overcome with her aggression, and in the back of his mind a ball of electrically charged ions escaped from his grasp. He made the packet of electrons jump the very short space between his cerebellum and that of the brain of Cynthia. Her face was right next to his with her forehead touching his own. She felt for a minute that she was almost light-headed with a slight dizziness and began to relax the iron grip that her legs made by crossing his own in the tight scissor-grip. Her hand released his hair and relaxed, causing her face to gently come to rest upon his own, with her body limp. Her eyes rolled up in her head and the pupils dilated. Slowly her arms relaxed and he rolled over on top of her, holding her arms down. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she exclaimed in a loud voice.
“What did you just do? I’ve never had anyone get out of that scissor takedown, not in ten years of full-contact kumite in this place.”
“I didn’t do anything. You just got tired.”
“That’s bullshit! You did something. I made you do it just now. I knew it. I knew you could do something that was different. It was you who stunned that alien yesterday. I would never have seen him coming, if I hadn’t looked in that piece of broken mirror glass. I just barely saw his reflection behind me, and spun around before he could stick that needle in the back of my neck, and I jabbed him in the eye with that broken piece of glass. Then I ran, just ran as fast as I could to get away.”
“Well, it wasn’t me. I was completely frozen, because I was so scared. I got away the first time, but I knew that they might take me again. It was something else. I sensed that a contact was made with someone who had beaten them before. They have been broken, and they know it now. We’ll have to be more careful than ever. Can I kiss you, Cynthia?” He held her arms down, and got closer to her, looking right into her eyes, so clear and blue that he was lost in their beautiful color and so enamored by her nearness.
“You might as well. I’m right where you wanted me, and you’ve been stalking me every day, watching me, and looking at me every chance you get.” She relaxed and closed her eyes, as he moved in closer to make contact with her lips. All her body felt like something different was going on inside, and she did not want to fight it. He did something to her, and maybe it was the beginning of the end to all her nightmares, the ones that never seemed to end. The only way to combat them was to wake up and study until her mind took over the darkness. Somehow the aliens were now getting a setback, and next time she would find out how to do what he had just done and get even with them once and for all. They would be the ones to fear her, instead of the other way around. There was more to winning a fight than just flailing at the air. The most important weapon was the mind. They stayed on the mat until they both had taken as much from the other as they could endure. It became like a sudden opening of a door that had remained closed for both of them, and they realized that they were no more just two people fighting against all the evil in the world. For some reason they had been brought together and would now be able to form a bond that was stronger than the alien hive culture, where many were combined into one mind. Suddenly the two young teenagers had increased their mental capacity two-fold, exchanging ideas and dreams that would try and change the world. Even in the alien spatial plane of mental existence, they recognized that some kind of bond had been made that would interfere with their constant taking of more humans for their reproductive facilities on their spaceships.
A constant hum of alien communication occurred back and forth, trying to figure out how to fight this new force that had been suddenly united into one unit, one Collective Mind that could know beforehand ways and procedures that for centuries had been passed on through one generation of alien Andropod beings to another. Any successful hunting process needed to be perpetually able to find a winning strategy and keep the prey unaware of their approach. This was now a definite problem for procuring other humans to use for slaves and breeding purposes. The humans would know they were coming and prepare to intercept the hunters with schemes that were unknown. The minds of the two young humans had opened doors that had remained closed for centuries. Always humans had been taken by surprise, until that day when two of their captives had escaped. Another one now knew something of the minds of the aliens and caused them to make mistakes, leading to another escape. Then another one even put out the eye of one of their main predators, with over thousands of successful captures. Now, he was in recov