Alien Coffee (9 page)

“Yes. It’s safe now. There are still soldiers
at the front gate and the mansion, but they’re taking defensive
positions and I think we’ll be able to get clear without
difficulty.” Jillian hoped so anyway. She tapped the button to turn
it off again.

Buffy came out of the building with the teens
behind. Jillian moved ahead of them to the clearing between the
building and the shed. She made certain it was clear, looking in
every direction. The soldiers by the mansion panicked at the sight
of aliens escaping. Buffy zapped one who raised a gun. Jillian shot
at another, but missed for the first time. She didn’t know if the
ray hit the wall behind him or something else entirely because
there was no visible light emitting from the ray gun and the low
hum didn’t give a clue either.

“Behind the shed,” Buffy told the teens,
pointing in that direction. They ran with Buffy following. Jillian
moved more slowly while staying between them and the soldiers who
were half-heartedly yelling at each other to attack. None of them
took any initiative to do so and one even ran away screaming toward
the gate. When he got there, he bawled and begged to be let
out.

The teens were going through the fence when
Jillian came around the shed. She made one last scan of the area
before following Buffy out. When the BEM stopped to look around,
Jillian tapped her button. “I’m nearby. Get them to the ship and
I’ll keep you covered.”

“Good job, Jillian,” he told her. She liked
his praise even though she didn’t normally require much in everyday
life. It was respectful, not condescending, and the words were
sincere. Jillian got the impression Buffy didn’t give many
compliments, so the positive reinforcement meant all that much
more.

“Everything is clear,” Nyxulla told them
through the earpieces. “Sclurp and I took care of all the soldiers
on this side of the fence. Come straight into the jungle and you’ll
find the ship. We’re just about there already.”

The trees surrounded them as they dashed down
a thin trail. Buffy guided the teens while Jillian covered their
retreat. It was exciting and adrenaline flowed throughout her body.
She felt invincible while invisible. A minute later, the ship’s
door opened for them and the ramp slid out.

***

Once inside, Sclurp took the ship up with the
explanation that he was moving someplace safer to find snails.
Nyxulla had the teens sit down so she could finish administering
medical care while Buffy took Jillian’s equipment to be put away.
She felt sad at losing such amazing devices. Part of her wasn’t
ready to be done with the adventure now that the adrenaline was
flowing.

“You don’t have a choice,” Nyxulla was
telling the teens with hands on hips. “Your ship was disintegrated
per orders, so you get to take a snail home. You’re lucky we were
able to rescue you in time.” She leaned forward threateningly.
“You’re not allowed to tell anyone we’re here either. I’m pretty
sure you know how much trouble you’ll get into for being on a
forbidden planet, so making a big deal out of anything will not go
well for you
or
your parents.”

Both teens shrank back at the threat. They
nodded and held onto each other while Nyxulla came back to the
table where Jillian had taken a seat. Her face showed concern.
“
None
of this went the way it was supposed to. Are you
alright, Jillian?”

“Oh yes. I’m wonderful. Thank you so much for
bringing me with.” Jillian grinned hugely, still high on the
adrenaline rush.

Nyxulla looked surprised then smiled in
return. “You were amazing. I’m glad we brought you with too. Things
would’ve gone much worse without you.”

“I’ve landed us in a safe location,” Sclurp
told them over the intercom. Jillian jumped and looked around. The
voice sounded so close and the advanced technology surprised her
once again. Nyxulla raised a questioning eyebrow and Jillian just
shrugged in embarrassment. Having known such things all her life
made the alien woman take it for granted. It would be like taking
someone from medieval times and putting them in front of a TV or
radio.

Jillian followed everyone outside into a
field of dark green bushes covered with white flowers. The powerful
aroma brought to mind sweet jasmine tinged with the scent of
coffee. She inhaled deeply and felt slightly intoxicated.

Nyxulla used a long device with three wands
at the end to find the nearest snail. Everyone stood back a ways
while she manipulated a screen on the main body of the device. The
wands began to glow, as did the snail they were aimed at. With a
loud pop, a snail shaped ship appeared much like the one the group
had used to travel there. Nyxulla turned to the despondent teens
and pointed at the new ship. “There you are. You’ll be tracked the
entire way, so go straight home.”

“But we didn’t get any coffee,” the boy
whined.

“I think that’s for the best at this point.
You’re already in enough trouble,” Buffy told them. “Go on, get out
of here.”

They glared at Buffy and Nyxulla, but got on
board without another word. A minute later, the ship rose into the
air before turning invisible. Jillian assumed they were flying off
toward home. “What sort of drive does it use? Does it travel faster
than the speed of light?” she asked.

The three aliens exchanged glances. “Light
has nothing to do with travel nor does its speed,” Nyxulla told her
hesitantly.

“And it’s a high crime to tell you how travel
does work, so please don’t ask,” Buffy chastised gently before
turning to Sclurp. “I see you landed us in a coffee field. It’s a
waste of time considering they’re flowering and haven’t developed
berries yet.”

Sclurp looked around in dismay. “Oh, dude . .
. that sucks.”

“I’m not a dude,” Buffy informed him.
“Jillian has more than enough coffee already. Let’s go.”

“Berries? I thought coffee came from beans,”
Jillian responded in curiosity. She had never really thought about
how the beans were grown.

“Yeah, the beans are inside the berries.
We’ll just stop and get another sack instead,” Sclurp told her.

“No. We will not stop. She already has a
sack,” Buffy disagreed.

It looked as though the two would get into a
bigger argument when Nyxulla stepped between them. “Buffy’s right
on this one. Jillian has a bag already and we need to get back so I
can file the report, which I’m not looking forward to.”

She led the way back to the ship. Sclurp
sulked, but went to the cockpit and flew while Nyxulla and Buffy
began their reports at the table with Jillian sitting in her
original seat. Nyxulla brought her another cup of the quxoma juice.
During the journey back, Jillian stared out the window and
reflected on the events of the previous few hours while sipping the
juice.

***

The air of the hangar was only slightly
cooler than the jungle they had come from. Jillian suspected all
three of her new friends came from warmer and more humid climates.
Upon reaching the sitting room, the aliens stopped suddenly and
Jillian ran into Buffy who was just in front of her.

Sitting quietly on one of the benches with
hands in his lap was a well-dressed, blue-skinned alien with a
large, round head and milky purple eyes. “Congratulations on
rescuing the teens. The boy’s father is very powerful and will be
thrilled they didn’t die.” The imposing alien’s voice was deep and
sonorous, like a soothing narrator. However, there was an
underlying tone that made it seem somewhat threatening.

“Thank you, Mister Fizziggle,” Nyxulla
responded deferentially. Her voice was trembling, while Buffy and
Sclurp were backing up a few steps forcing Jillian to step back
too.

“No. Thank you. You truly did a wonderful job
. . . except for the part where you turned half the captors into
emo bunnies, a species not native to Earth.” Mister Fizziggle
thoughtfully rubbed his chin between a thumb and two of his six
fingers. “And something else . . . what was it . . . ah yes, the
part where you brought a human with you on the rescue mission, gave
her invisibility equipment and a transformer ray gun and then let
her help you zap other humans into said emo bunnies, putting her
life and the security of this station at extreme risk.” He crossed
a leg over the other and clasped his hands on the knee. “Other than
that, you did excellent work.”

Jillian got the impression that Mister
Fizziggle wasn’t actually paying anyone a compliment. It seemed as
though her new friends were in a great deal of trouble and the fact
that all three were visibly shaking gave credence to that belief.
None of them responded.

“I believe the human’s name is Jillian?”
Mister Fizziggle asked. At Nyxulla’s nod, he patted the seat next
to him. “Please sit by me, Jillian. I’d like to talk to you about
everything.” When Jillian remained where she was, he encouraged her
in a non-threatening voice. “I promise I don’t bite. Please sit.”
He patted the seat once again.

Nyxulla and Buffy both nodded that it was
alright, so she went over and sat next to the imposing alien. She
noticed that he smelled like almonds, one of her favorite
scents.

“That’s wonderful, Jillian. I’m certain we’ll
get along fine,” he reassured her with a winning smile. “Now please
tell me how you came to meet these fine beings.” Mister Fizziggle
gestured toward Jillian’s new friends.

She didn’t answer. They were in trouble and
everything they told her indicated that all of them were going to
suffer badly. It was hard to keep tears from welling up in her
eyes, but she desperately wanted to avoid crying.

Mister Fizziggle took her hand and patted it.
His skin was very warm and even softer than Nyxulla’s. Jillian
wondered if he used some sort of exotic lotion from another planet.
“Here now. You need to tell me everything you can. If you don’t,
then I have to take all of you to the Hub in order to sit before a
council. That’s not a good idea because they record all the details
and dole out official punishments.” He smiled again. “This station
is unofficial and it’s best if we kept things that way.”

“Go ahead and tell him everything,” Nyxulla
said with a reassuring nod. “They’ll find out anyway and it’s
always best to cooperate with the whole truth.” She smiled
sadly.

Jillian nodded and took a deep breath. Mister
Fizziggle’s solid purple eyes were entrancing and looked like they
had mist in them. She began with coffee, which is where everything
had started. “For quite a while now, my coffee has been
disappearing and I’ve known that I haven’t been the one drinking
it.”

“Coffee?” Mister Fizziggle asked, his
expression brightening. “You have coffee? It’s been so very long
since I’ve had a cup.”

“Jillian makes the best coffee ever,” Sclurp
said suddenly and hopefully. “She has a roaster and a big bag of
beans to roast too.”

Buffy threw arms in the air. “This is just
ridiculous.”

“She really does brew the best,” Nyxulla
agreed.

“That sounds wonderful,” Mister Fizziggle
stated dreamily. “I would very much love to have a cup of coffee,
Jillian. Would you be willing to make me one?”

“Umm . . . yes?” It was more of a question
than an answer. She wasn’t sure how to handle the sudden twist of
events. “I have everything at my house down the hill. Roasting
takes a while, but I have some bags of roasted beans from the store
I can grind if you like that.”

Mister Fizziggle rose to his feet, gently
pulling Jillian up with him. “Yes, that would be wonderful. Let’s
take a walk. It’s a beautiful day on this planet. I love the smell
of the forest and relish listening to the sounds of wildlife.”
Without hesitation, he led them all to the door and into the woods.
“Tell me the story as we walk, Jillian.”

The walk down the hill didn’t take long.
Mister Fizziggle was in excellent shape, more so than Jillian. She
told him about the events with Sclurp and going to the station.
Mister Fizziggle asked a couple of questions and Sclurp added
details that made him appear less guilty.

Jillian was sweating a little when she led
them into her kitchen. At least it wasn’t as bad as the heat and
humidity of the jungle. Nyxulla and Buffy sat around the table with
Mister Fizziggle while Sclurp squatted near the end of the
counter.

“You should make the crazy monkey coffee,”
Nyxulla suggested eagerly. “It’s
really
good.”

“That sounds very interesting,” Mister
Fizziggle stated happily. He crossed a leg over the other and
leaned back in the chair. “So what happened when you and Sclurp
reached the station?”

Jillian ground the coffee and set it to brew.
She made enough in case Buffy wanted some too. In the meantime, she
talked about the events in the station and the call to save the
teens. After serving everyone coffee, she lifted herself up onto
the counter and talked about the trip to the jungle and the
adventure of rescuing the teens. It was impossible to keep the
excitement out of her voice and she grinned madly while talking
about the escape.

She had truly enjoyed herself. Meeting all
the aliens and fighting the drug lord’s soldiers had been the most
thrilling events of her life. She wanted to get into a spaceship
and go to new worlds, learn new things and experience adventures
like in books she had read and in movies she had watched.

“And then we got back to the station and met
you,” Jillian finished the story. She had just finished brewing a
second pot and was pouring their cups. Buffy abstained from coffee
but accepted a cup of tea, which was legal in the Amalgamation.

“What a wonderful story,” Mister Fizziggle
told her. He breathed deeply of the aromatic coffee, the third
different flavor Jillian had made for them. “I’ve lost count of all
the legal violations committed by everyone involved. It sounds fun
though.” No one responded other than to exchange nervous glances.
He took another sip of his coffee and sighed pleasurably.