As for her buddies, I saw them come and go several times with various females. She wouldn't say much about them either.

One night I held her close to keep her there a little longer. "Everything has changed since I met you," I said. "I feel alive again, like when I was a kid, before the war. I can't feel cynical around you."

As she was leaving, I accidentally brushed the side of her head lightly. I recoiled when I felt something. She hadn't noticed, but I was repulsed. Did she have a brain tumor she didn't want me to know about, hidden under that lovely hair? I heard her open the door and lock it behind her as she left. I was alone. I sat up in bed, disbelieving, not wanting the thought to enter my head . . . it hadn't been a brain tumor that I felt, but . . . a horn! Oh my god, she had horns!

After I was sure she was gone, I got up and tiptoed down the hall. My mind was racing. I went down to the "plant room" and began seriously to pry at the lock. In a few minutes, sweat pouring down my face, I managed to get the old- fashioned doorknob to turn. I pulled the door open a few inches and quickly shut it again.

I'd never seen animals like the ones who were silhouetted there in the moonlight - and I didn't want to let them out. I sat up for most of the night, then fell asleep near morning. I woke as the sun hit the beach. My legs took me for a walk. The vendors were already setting up their snack stands. Everything was entirely too cheery. I ambled a long way, taking off my shoes and letting the waves roll over my feet.

I saw her by the dunes as I was coming back. I should have given her credit for having intuition, I reflected. She looked straight at me with those big, knowing eyes. "All right," I said, "tell me who - or what - you are." She smiled softly. "Usually no one notices we are different."

"I noticed you were different from the start." "Yes, you are sensitive to us. That is why we chose you."

"Chose me? We? What right have you -"

"Don't be angry, darling."

The "darling" made me even more angry.

"We are a different race. We are not natives here."

"You can say that again. What are those creatures in that room down the hall? And why are you here? To do experiments on unsuspecting people like me?"

She disregarded my second question. "Centuries ago, our ancestors came to Earth - yes, we are from a distant planet," she answered as my eyes widened. "They came at a crucial point in the early evolution of humans to introduce certain knowledge to the species."

"What knowledge was that?"

"Be patient. Had they introduced this knowledge through mental understanding, it would have been lost after several generations. So it was necessary to introduce it biologically."

"Biologically?"

"Into the cells. The basic matter of the body, which your race calls dna, contains certain data. Some of that data came from us.

"Representatives from our race have appeared at several critical times during the evolution of life on earth. Part of our work is to re-introduce plants and animals which became extinct here, in order to fill in gaps in the food chain and solve other ecological problems caused by the disappearance of species.

"Now we are approaching another turning point in the Earth's evolution; we must introduce another influence toward the development of higher life, or the species will devolve. It is necessary to introduce into humans the qualities of awareness and sensitivity which must accompany their development of higher technology." "So how are you intending to influence our species?" I asked cynically.

"Biologically and chemically, by close contact - especially through what you call mating."

I felt as if she'd punched me in the gut.

"You mean what you've been doing is trying to alter my dna or something?"

She smiled. I could have hit her, but the glow in her eyes made me feel weak. "I know it is hard to understand, because members of your species often mate for life," she explained. "But we have only a few days to be here.

"Contact with our race brings about subtle electrical and chemical changes in the human body, which alter the action of the brain and nervous system. Changes in the brain stimulate the capability for more objective thinking. Through stimulation of certain glands the thought functions are influenced with emotions and moods suitable for the development of higher ethics. Love and generosity balance the primitive drives for power and survival. These evolutionary effects are passed on to succeeding generations.

"During our stay, we introduced these changes into key individuals." I thought of the waitresses. She must have read my thoughts. "Not all of them are important people in the way you define important," she continued, "They are not necessarily wealthy or famous. But they are people who reach others in essential ways."

I wondered in what way I "reached people". "But you did this without asking me. And now you will just leave?" I asked angrily.

"Yes. And there will be children born to mothers here on Earth. They will never know the importance of these children, but the job is done. The race will prosper. The savage and degenerative elements will be neutralized by the positive force."

"Will these children have -"

"They will have normal Earth bodies," she said, smiling. "They will be fully equipped to survive on this planet. We know our genetics well.

"And," she said gently, "there will be a child born . . . to me."

The impact of what she said slowly hit me. "And you're leaving on a spaceship or something?"

"We have a vehicle. It is disguised and in a safe place." "You mean you're taking my child with you?" I said indignantly. "I will never see it?"

"Maybe. I cannot say now."

"I - I won't allow it! You can't just come here and . . . and . . ."

"Your child will be happy, darling. It will be like us. And you can go on with your life. You can have other children. And now that we have given part of ourselves to you, you will begin to better understand your existence. You will see that even the stars are only grains of sand in vast space, that our lives are part of the great sea of life flowing through all matter. You will see that no individual formation endures, and 'me' and 'mine' are of no consequence."

"I'll stop you! You can't do this to me! I never agreed to this!"

"You did agree. Your instincts told you what we were, and you chose to be with us."

"You tricked me!" I roared, hating her for being right. "You said you loved me!"

"And I do. Darling, be careful. We would never do any violence, but there are . . . forces which protect us." She paused. "Accept our gift. You will come to treasure it." One of her companions motioned to her from down the beach, and she walked away. I knew it was no use to follow, so I went back to my car. I drove to the last day of the convention. The day went by in a daze.

That night when I came back there were several cars in the lot. Two families were unpacking their belongings and moving into rooms.

"Got vacancies all of a sudden?" I asked Tommy.

"Yes, the foreigners left," he replied.

"What?!"

"They had the whole hotel rented," he said, "but they left today. Strange characters. I guess they just wanted seclusion."

"But where did they go?" I demanded, my heart pounding.

"Who knows? I reckon that's their business."

I ran into the office. The desk clerk looked up lazily. "Where did those people go?" I said, trying to control my voice.

"How would I know?"

"I've got to find them. They - they have something of mine."

"Maybe they're around town somewhere," he said indifferently. "All I know is they paid their money and they're square with me."

"Call the police," I said, dimly realizing that I was getting irrational. "We can't let them escape. They've got . . . horns!"

"Listen, mister, I don't care if they've got tails and pitchforks. All I know is they paid up and I've got no complaints. Don't get too crazy on us or we'll have to boot you right out of here."

I jumped in the Ford and zoomed out of the parking lot. I drove through town several times, stopped in restaurants, even asked the waitresses at Pete's. No sign of them. After several days I gave up looking. I wandered down the beach my last night there, despondent, in love, and angry. I looked up at the stars. I didn't even know which one was her sun.

I slept in the sand without even a blanket. Well, at least I had a story. After I got home, I gave the story to my boss. He thought I was crazy. I'd lost my perspective on consensus reality. After a big argument, I quit my job and just traveled for a while. It was half a year before I started writing again. I was no longer that arrogant young reporter.

But she was right; I did go on with my life. I eventually got married and had children. I did learn to treasure the gift "the foreigners" gave me. And I still wonder if someday I'll meet my son or daughter who is out there among the stars.

The End.

To Indra's Stories