Ember

"How do you wish to be entertained?" she asked. "Shall I sing? Dance?"

I laughed. "I would love to hear you sing or watch you dance. You can just talk to me. Tell me about being Ember."

"Ah, but I am very boring," she said. "Why did you not get enough sleep, Rawlins?"

"I was thinking," I said.

"Oh? Of what were you thinking?" she asked.

"Well, I was thinking about you," I told her.

She smiled, her white teeth flashing in her dusky complexion. I noticed she had little fangs. "I like for you to think about me," she said. "Did you reach any conclusions?"

"Yes, but can we wait until the others are here? I would like their input, and that way I can only say it once."

"Of course," she said.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," she repeated.

"You said you would provide for us and protect us," I said. "What did you mean, exactly.

"I am very... wealthy," she said.

"You mean, like money?"

"Yes, but other things, too. I have treasures, gems, art and much gold. I have a hoard, and I will share this with the clutch."

I had to laugh. "I'm sure 'the clutch' will be happy to hear that. You know we all work here and earn money, right?" I asked.

"No, I know little of human commerce," she said. "It pleases me that my children are industrious. I know people sell their time for money, but I was not aware of your purpose for being here. I thought you lived here."

"We do, for two weeks at a time, then we're off for two weeks and we go home. To the places we actually live."

"Ah, I see. Where do you live, Rawlins?"

"I have a place about 20 miles away," I said. "Do you know what a mile is?"

"Yes, in a way. Distance means little to a flyer," she said. "I am also able to shift dimensions and arrive at my destination almost instantly."

"Wow! That must be convenient."

"Yes. I have failed to answer your question, though. The last part. I am a dragon, Rawlins. Few can stand before my wrath. I will protect you from your enemies."

I had to laugh. There were people, no doubt, who didn't like me, but I couldn't imagine having "enemies." "How tough are you?" I asked.

"In dragon form, I am nearly invulnerable," she said. "I cannot be harmed by fire, I can withstand any conceivable blow and I am also able to be undetectable if I wish."

"Do you know what a gun is?"

"I have seen them," she said. "I cannot be harmed by the ones I have seen."

"What about a really big one," I asked.

"Well, I am unsure. I would feel the impact, it is just physics, but they would not penetrate my body."

"What about your human form?" I asked.

"A large gun might damage me," she said.

The rest of the crew started wandering in, and Ember helped me get the food in the steam table. She hugged everyone who came in and remembered them all by name. We sat around the big round table, and talked as we ate.

"I've come up with a bit of a plan," I told them.

"Spill," Elana said.

"Ember is going to stay with me while we're off," I said. "I think she'll want to know you're all okay at home, right?" I turned to her.

"Yes, she said. "I also wish to meet the husbands and wives of the clutch, and the grandbabies. I will cherish them and love them."

"Ember," Carl started, "I don't think you realize what a shock you are to... humans. I still wonder if I'm going to wake up and this will be a dream. I wouldn't have believed this if someone told me. Neither will anyone else."

"That's what I think we can use to our advantage," I said. "Listen, we have to keep Ember a secret."

"How will this be possible?" she asked. "I must meet the grandbabies."

"I don't mean from them," I said. "I mean, outside this group, you work here, okay? Elana will hire you, and so far as anyone outside this group is concerned, you are just another employee, okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"Guys, you can't tell anyone about this," I said to the group. "For one thing, people will think you're wack and lock you up. For another, do any of you really want some weird alphabet agency to come in here and try to abduct her?"

"I will not permit anyone to 'abduct' me," she said.

"We don't want a fight, Ember," Elana said. Ember shot her a look. "Sorry... Mama," Elana said. Ember beamed.

"No, I do not wish to fight, either," Ember said. "I will do as the clutch suggests."

"Here's my plan," I said. "Friday night, next week, I'll have a barbecue at the house. You're all invited, and you can bring your significant others. Not boyfriends or girlfriends, I'm sorry. We can't risk a breakup and reveal, okay? Those of you who have kids can bring them. We'll introduce Ember to everyone. Sound good?"

There was a chorus of assent, and we all went to work. Ember came with me. I ran the shift at the Alien Telescope Array, and was the on-site director. Most of my work was administrative, but I was an astronomer. I began to explain to Ember what we did. I took her out to show her the array.

"These devices search the sky for alien transmissions?" she asked after listening carefully to my explanation.

"Yes. We're talking advanced life-forms," I told her. "They will be broadcasting some sort of waves, communicating, and that's what we're looking for."

"I see," she said. "Rawlins, I am able to "see" and "hear" in spectrums that human's cannot."

"I don't understand," I said.

"I do not have the... terminology to explain," she said. "From my human interactions in the past, I know I can see and hear things you cannot."

"Would you mind if I did some test?" I asked.

"I am uncertain," she said. "It makes me feel... uncomfortable."

"It's okay," I said. "I don't want you feeling uncomfortable. We'll forget about it."

"There are... intelligent extraterrestrials," she said. "I have encountered them."

I was agog. "Oh, my God, Ember. Where? How? What were they like? Where are they? Do you think they can be contacted?"

"You wish to touch them?" She seemed confused.

"What? No. Well, maybe. Why would you ask that?"

"You said you wished to 'contact' them. Is this not the meaning of contact?"

I laughed. "Well, touch is one meaning of contact. I meant like speak to them, exchange information, communicate with them."

"I see." She looked thoughtful. "I do not believe it is possible for you to exchange information. They are not that sort of intelligence, at least the ones I have encountered. Do you have a name for a tiny organism that infects its host, makes the host sick, perhaps kills them?"

"You mean like a virus or a parasite?"

"Yes, like a virus," she said. "They are what I consider evil, Rawlins. They exist only to expand, devour, exploit. They are the reason I am the last dragon. The rest of my race perished in overcoming them. You do not wish to 'contact' them, I assure you."

"Oh. My God, Ember. How did you survive?"

"I am THE dragon," she said. "I burned them. You have no conception of the brightness of my wrath, Rawlins. They did not survive it, those who came here. They exist, out there." She made a sweeping gesture toward the skies. "There are others. I have never made any effort to... contact them after my experience with the virus."

I stared at her, my mouth open. "Well, that sort of puts a damper on my work," I finally managed. "I had no idea you were so dangerous."

She must have sensed my trepidation. She took my hands and turned me to face her, her glittering black eyes reading my soul. "You need not fear me, Rawlins. I will never harm you or any of the clutch. I will defend you with my life. I do not harm those I love."

Looking into those alien eyes, I found nothing but truth, and I was a little shocked. "Those you love?"

"I studied and watched you, hidden from detection. Yes, love. I know your heart. I have watched the clutch. They are good, as are you."

I swallowed nervously. "Well, thanks, Ember. I think you're good, too."

She laughed. "Good talk," she said. "Extraterrestrial intelligence is very rare, and nearly incomprehensible, even to me. Your search may one day be successful in the way you hope."

She let me go with one hand, and pulled me toward the path down with the other. "Let us go to your office and I will discover how you work."

She drank Monsters like they were soda, and sat beside me as I worked, asking questions, even helping me. Computers and phones were a mystery to her, but she was supernaturally smart, I soon discovered, never forgetting anything I said or did, and she was soon lost in the internet, flashing through page after page, soaking up information like a sponge.

She also sat very... close to me. She seemed to want to be touching me all the time, and it was very distracting. She was very warm, for one thing, and had she been human, I would have suspected she was running a high fever. She was also very soft and... feminine. She smelled good, too. I felt sure it was just part of her, because she had no perfume or scents. We simply didn't have those among our meager stocks of personal items. I also never got used to how gorgeous she was. I didn't think I would ever get over looking over at her and being stunned.

We got her on the payroll, blatantly lying about things like social security numbers, work history and shit like that. She took over meal preparation, and she did wonders in the kitchen. She fed us like she was fattening us for slaughter, and nothing made her glow more than the staff complimenting her.

Everyone got used to calling her "Mama," as she insisted. Everyone except for me, that is. I called her Ember, and she never corrected me like she did the others. I never quite understood why, and when I asked her, she was evasive.

"You are different," she said, and refused to elaborate.

We worked together, became very familiar with each other, and I felt that she was quickly becoming my best friend. I was a bit of an introvert, had been all my life, despite taking on several leadership roles in my career. She broke through all that, confiding in me in ways that made me reciprocate without even thinking about it.

By the time we reached the end of shift, we had things organized. She was going with me to my place and we had a big barbeque organized for the following Friday evening, when all the staff would come to my place.

Ember had done the laundry for everyone, had us all packed up and ready to go when the other shift arrived. I introduced her, told them who she was and we sold them on the idea that she had a PhD in Atmospheric Science and Astrophysics.

The truth was, she could have. Her mind was like an encyclopedia. I was sure she would be able to converse intelligently with anyone who was curious.

She was waiting for me at the front door when I was ready. As soon as we were around the corner from the door, she was holding my hand. I had warned her about appearances. She hugged every person on staff as they got in their cars, telling them how much she was going to miss them, as if we were parting forever instead of two weeks, one if you counted the barbecue.

I had one of the Durango SRTs, and she was enchanted with "automobiles." Once we got out of the curves and on the highway, she wanted to "go fast." I had to explain cops to her, and she was not enthused.

"But this is horrible, Rawlins! Who would do such things to other persons?"

"Assholes," I told her. "It's just the way it is, Ember."

She remained disgusted, but was mollified when I "went fast" on a stretch with no visible cops. She wanted the windows down, the sunroof open, and her hair blew in billows over both of us while she laughed in delight.

My place was over on Stinson Beach. It was on a little hill, and you could see the ocean out the front view. I thought she was going to love that, since she had lost her breath at her first sight of the ocean. Ember was unbelievably excited as I drove her along, seeing the surfers catching the break.

"We must do this, Rawlins," she gasped. "When can we do this?"

I laughed. "Soon, I promise. Do you surf?"

"I have never tried," she confided. "I am very athletic, though. I can fly, Rawlins."

"Well, I don't have a surfboard big enough for flying Ember," I said.

She laughed and I had to smile. Here was a 12,000-year-old being, and she was as excited as a small child at everything in life. She was enchanting, and I reflected on how she made me feel. I was shocked to discover there were deep-seated emotions inside me about her, how mundane my life had been before she landed on the roof, and what a change she'd made in my life in only two weeks. I realized that I would have hated spending two weeks apart from her and would have been anxiously waiting to go back to work had that meant seeing her again. I became aware that she was saying something.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"Were you not attending?" she asked.

"No, sorry, I was lost in my head," I told her.

"Ah, Rawlins is thinking deep thoughts?" she asked.

I had to laugh at the quaint way she spoke. "Yes."

"Of what were you thinking?" she asked.

"Well, I was thinking about you," I said.

She glowed. "What about me?"

"I don't tell you everything I'm thinking," I said.

"But why not? I tell you everything I am thinking," she said.

"Yes, but I'm not a gabster like you," I teased.

She swept her hair back and laughed. "Yes, but I have not had anyone to talk to like this for ages."

That made me a little sad. "I love that you tell me everything and talk to me," I told her. "Don't ever stop."

"No, I won't," she promised. "Being with you also allows one to pose questions a second time, too. How much farther to our lair?"

'Our lair.' I had to laugh about the lair part, but the 'our' part rang in my mind. I liked the sound of that. "Not far. Five more minutes."

My driveway was kind of long and winding, and I stopped in front of the garage doors. "Push that button," I told her, indicating the garage door opener clipped to her visor. She did, and clapped her hands as the door started up.

She saw the two jet-skis in the other bay. "What are those?" she asked.

"Small watercraft," I told her. "They're powered by something like powers our cars."

"Do they go fast?" she asked.

I laughed. "You are obsessed with speed, aren't you?"

"But of course," she said. "Who isn't?"

"Old people," I told her.

She looked at me solemnly. "Is that a joke about my age?"

I laughed. "Yes. I'm sorry if I offended you."

She winked at me. "I am not offended. I like jokes."

"Tell me a joke," I said.

"No, let us go in and survey the lair," she said.

We went in and I gave her the tour. She danced her way through the house, admired every fixture and piece of furniture. I got her a Monster, and we sat on the sofa while I drank a glass of iced tea.

"May I ask you something?" I enquired.

"Yes, anything."

"Would you like wearing clothes? I mean, if we go out somewhere, surfing, riding the jet skis, to dinner, to a club, the "body suit" might not be a good look."

She frowned, her cute little black eyebrows drawing together. "You do not like it, or it would be socially unacceptable? This is how I have always appeared to humans."

"I love it, personally," I assured her. "More along the socially acceptable line."

"I will wear clothes, so as not to embarrass you," she said. She scooted up against me, snuggling into my side. "I want you and the clutch to be proud of me."

"Trust me, I'm very proud of you," I said. "You are the kindest, most amazing creature I've ever encountered. I think the others feel the same way. I just want you to be comfortable with us, with me. Will you be able to wear clothes without looking like you have the body suit on underneath?"

"Yes. I once told you I can make the rest of me like my hands and face. I have three basic body forms, but I can make... modifications within those forms."

"What is your other form, besides dragon and human, I mean," I asked.

"I can become a firefly," she said. "I don't often assume that form. I rarely find it... useful."

I laughed. "No, I don't expect you would. Maybe at night sometime you can show me."

"Yes, I will. If I am to wear clothes, Rawlins, do you have an extensive wardrobe?"

"Well, not of women's clothes. I may have a few of my ex-wife's things somewhere, but I'm afraid that's all. We'll have to go shopping."

"Oh, that sounds fun." She seemed quite female, in regard to shopping, at least. "You said, 'ex-wife.' Explain this to me."

"Do you know what marriage is?" I asked.

"I know of the custom among humans. I thought it was a permanent joining."

"It's supposed to be," I said. "Sometimes it's not. If the two married people aren't getting along, sometimes they get divorced, which means they are no longer married."

"Did you not wish to remain together?" she asked.

"Not exactly," I said. "Her name was Sybil, and she found out she didn't like being alone for two weeks out of every month. She said she needed more stability, more attention, so she divorced me. She married another guy about a year later."

"Shall we find her and punish her?" she asked.

I laughed. "No, she's really very nice. We're friends and her husband is a good dude. We just got married too young and I understood why she wanted out."

"I do not," she said. "Why would anyone not wish to be with you. Luckily, we work together and so this will not be an issue for us."

This made me uneasy, so I mustered up my courage and asked, "Umm... Ember, how long are you going to be staying here?"

She looked up at me, her nearly black eyes shimmering. "I do not plan to ever not stay here," she declared. "You have my heart, Rawlins. I must watch over the clutch." She seemed startled by my question.

"Not that I don't want you to stay here forever, but we have never really talked about it, you know."

"Ah, yes. I understand. You wish to know my intentions. This is wise. We will have many discussions, I am certain. Are you hungry, Rawlins?"

I laughed. "You're telling me you are, right?"

She giggled. "You see right through me."

"How about I make you a sandwich, we go clothes shopping and I'll take you out for dinner?" I asked.

"This is a delightful plan," she decided. "When will we begin?"

We went to the kitchen. I was going to have to buy groceries. I did have peanut butter and jelly, and she loved that. I had chips and drinks, so we just made it a little snack to tide her over.

Shopping with Ember was quite an experience. She had hellishly expensive tastes, and I knew my credit card was going to take quite a hit. She insisted on trying on every item, and giving me a show. She wanted my approval for everything, and I thought she looked stunning in everything she tried. Evidently, she "changed" in the changing rooms in more ways than one. When she came out after the first place, the "body suit" was gone and the short red dress showed only a mile of muscular brown legs and more brown skin up top.

She was barefoot, and I asked what happened to her boots. "Boots? I have no boots." She seemed puzzled.

"Oh. Never mind," I said. Evidently, what appeared to be six-inch heeled and platform boots were part of the other form. "We have to get you some shoes."

That was another extended shopping thing. By the time we made it back to the house so she could change for dinner, I was exhausted and she was a ball of energy. I changed and when she came out of the bedroom she had chosen, I found myself unable to speak or move.

She laughed at the drooling idiot she'd created, took me by the arm and we went out for steaks. She ate like she was starving, and I was to discover, she ate constantly. Meals were consumed with enthusiasm, and she snacked non-stop. I would have weighed 300 pounds in a month if I ate like she did.

I took her to a club and we had a couple of drinks. I quickly discovered she hated alcohol, wouldn't touch it after the first try. "It is poison, Rawlins," she said. "Dilute poison, but poison, nonetheless."