Flying above the patterned landscape below, I twist and turn to take in the whole view. Here and there the faint reddish glow of living forms dot the grid, but this late at night they are unsurprisingly few. Turning my attention towards the horizon, I see flickers of blue forms darting to and fro, reflecting what I know I also look like to their eyes.
Satisfied that the boundaries are safe and there are no breaches, I begin my descent to the ground below. Retracing my steps, following the silver thread that connects me to my material form, the countryside recedes, fast replaced by the gray forms of buildings.
Seeing the townhouse that is my destination, I slide through the tiled roof. My vision is black for a moment, then suddenly replaced by the image of a room. I always find it odd, looking at my sleeping body from above, seeing the faint pulse of life rippling through the silver thread that connects me to it. Lying in the bed next to me, he stirs, and I smile, thinking how like an angel he is in sleep. He throws his arm around my body and snuggles closer to me. If only he knew.
Sighing, I move the last few feet and shudder back into the material world. As usual, I feel suddenly heavy, and a little confined. Opening my eyes, the world seems a little less vibrant – a little more dull.
Shaking off my petty personal feelings, I review tonight’s reconnaissance. Everything seemed to be normal. No sign of a disturbance or unbalance. I ponder the information we received. Could it have been wrong? Could our contact have misinterpreted the signs? No, she was reliable. There was no reason for her to be mislead this time. Unless it was deliberate.
But who would do that? The list was quite long, I realised with a cold stab of fear. If The Watchers were mislead, then the domino effect of that information would create chaos that would eventually be reflected in the material world. Which could be helpful to those who wanted to wrench control from our hands. Although most people had no idea who we were or what we did, the revelation of those facts would very easily be our undoing, and theirs. Humans always destroy what they can’t understand. And I doubt that they would understand what we were here for.
Remembering that I have a business meeting in the morning, I close my eyes to attempt sleep. He holds me tighter to him, maybe sensing on some deeper level my heightened concern. Taking comfort in his embrace, I calm myself. I have done my job tonight and will report to the Others tomorrow. And for now, that’s all I can do.
After all, I am only half-human.
© S. McLean 1999
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