Communication established, even if, as Aleja says, it’s kinda gross. Do we stand on the threshhold of interstellar war over this?

At the end of this segment, we meet Doe, a Fusion first introduced in Irrational Pai. A nice girl, but used to getting her own way and comes across very rude.

To her left was one of the two small windows with a workbench under it, with rusting tools.  Her uncle never took the time to clean, oil, or put them away.  Next to that, another bench, random tractor, and plumbing parts he said he would get to “some day.”  That means never.  Her cot was along the wall to the right; a thin blanket against the desert cold.  They really resent Father sending me here and are likely counting the days until I’m gone.  I certainly cannot let them or their teen son see what happened today.

In the middle of the small building was a blue-black hexaped space alien.  Likely wondering what happens next.

“Uh,” was not a good start. “This is the best I can do for one or two days.  I guess I can try to contact my mom, a biologist, as to what to feed you.  While my country, Peru, manages to get along, I do know there are some nations north of us, who have spaceships.  Maybe they…?”

With another tilt of its head – it is kinda cute – it reached its left claw to one of the pouches about its waist.  Rummaging, it came out with a small red crystal, which it promptly popped into its mouth.  After less than half a minute, it took it out and offered it to Aleja.

Gross!  I don’t want alien lizard spit in my mouth!

It took a half step forward on its four legs and waved the offered claw at her face.

“Fine.  I did this to myself.  Jesus?  Help me.”

She took the red orb and put it into her mouth.

“My name is Paethos.”  In her mind, she heard pai-toss.  A male.  “I came from very far away.  I am young and was misbehaving.  I took one of my family’s ships to run away.  As you saw, I broke it.  They will be very angry when they find me.  I am sorry to be a bother to you.”

God help me!  I picked up some rebellious teenager!

“My family is powerful.  They will come looking.  I mean no harm to you or your world.  I am sorry.”

And I just started an interstellar war!

Her breathing short, Alejandra forced herself to calm down.  “Okay,” she mumbled around the crystal in her mouth, “If it can talk to me this way, so can I.”  She thought of a reply.  An introduction, where they were, closing with I will help you; this will take time.  She took it out of her mouth and passed it back.  Paethos put it into his mouth.

“Sssss…kak, hoo.” He tried.  Was that him saying thank you?  I guess.

“You’re welcome.” She pointed at his mouth, then hers.  He passed it back.  “Let’s find out what you can eat and drink, then we’ll talk about getting all this sorted.  Somehow.”

While Paethos chewed his way through the second cherimoya – Auntie will kill me when she finds they’re missing.  I’ll have to buy more – and now and again sticking his snout in a bowl for water, Aleja sat at a workbench and tried to think of what to do next.  Because of the smoke and that plane, everyone was going to know in hours that a UFO crashed in the Nazca desert.  Good Lord, will that make the conspiracy theories come back with a vengeance.  After he’s finished, we’ll need to talk more about how he got here and where he’s from.  She knew there were only three space-faring nations on earth who mattered:  Russia, Japan, and the imperium.  The latter are closest, in what was the old US South.  No way to drive, and I can’t sneak him onto a plane.  She dropped her head into her hands.

“I’m just a kid!  Should I tell mom and dad about all this?  She has a Doctorate in Biology and dad’s in the government…” No, getting the government involved did not seem the smart thing to do.  Paethos finished his second fruit and was drinking more water.  “I don’t know what to do!”

When he raised his head, she pointed at his pouches and her mouth.  This time, he passed her what looked like a blue marble.  I wonder what’s different about them?  She put it in her mouth and thought her questions before giving it back.  After maybe five minutes, with her guest looking out the cracked window, he nodded and returned it to her.

“So,” she said, taking it out of her mouth but rolling it between her fingers, “that ship is, well, was, only interplanetary.  His people have some kind of interstellar teleportation thingy for longer trips.  But it keeps records, so that’s how his family will know he came here.  But we humans are only on Mars and some asteroids and moons; we’ve nothing like that.  How can you get home?”

He tilted his head at her.

“I will say, the few random images of your world are nice!  It’s like the northeast of my country:  a mix of forest and jungle.” She handed back the marble.  “I do have my old laptop, and Father gave me the code to access the orbiting wifi stations.  Maybe, in the vaguest way possible, I could ask…there’s an idea!  I can say I’m writing a story, and need technical help on getting a crashed alien back home!”

She looked out the window.  It’s getting dark.  I’ll get something to eat and more water for him and try to get this sorted in the morning.  She stood, making a “stay here” gesture with her hands, and walked to the door.  Just shy of it, there was a knock.  Oh, no.  Aleja whirled about, pushed Paethos into a corner, and tossed a blanket over him.

“Grrk?”

“Quiet!”

Back to the door, she opened it only a crack.  That young Anglo woman she saw earlier.  Besides her sunglasses and sombrero, she was dressed like a well-off local, a shirt in bright Peruvian colors and khaki shorts.

“Hello!” she said in heavily accented Spanish.  “My name is Doe.  May I see your new friend?”