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Chapter Three: Resistance is Futile, Assimilation is Inevitable:
She is surprised by how soon he has seemingly mastered the language and she is even more surprised by how quickly he has healed. They sit across from each other in the small den one night and she decides to have a serious conversation that she has been putting off until he could articulate himself better.
"Is it okay," she starts "if we talk about your situation?"
"It would be logical for you to have questions."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes" he says after mulling over the consequences of the answer. He decides that after all she has done for him and how he is dependent and indebted to her that it is logical for him to tell her what he can.
She takes a moment to ask the first question. "How did you get here? To this planet I mean."
"I was on my ship, passing through this system. The ship was very old. The sensors malfunctioned and a cloud of meteorites were not detected in time. They struck the ship, creating a large amount of damage. Important systems failed and it was logical for me to evacuate. After I boarded and detached the evacuation pod I was rendered unconscious from injuries sustained and the prolonged lack of oxygen. When I awoke I was laying in the bed in your spare bedroom." He says everything matter-of-factly with no snippet of emotion.
She doesn't respond, just looks at him with her eyebrows knitted together. "Is there a way to alert your people? Tell them you are here?"
"No" he says simply. "Even if I could it would be too risky."
"Why is that?"
"It is not the way of my people to make contact with a civilization until they develop warp capabilities. It is illogical to influence a young cultures development."
"Okay" she doesn't really know what else to say in response. She watches the cat jump onto his lap. "What are you going to do?"
He is silent for a moment, staring at his hands, the cat nuzzles his head into his hand until Saren opens up his palm and pets the animal. He comes close to sighing but resists. He closes his eyes trying to figure out how to respond. The cat's purr reverberates in the small room.
"It's okay, you can figure this out later." She watches him slowly lift his head. "In the meantime you are welcome to stay here."
"Thank you." She smiles and after a few seconds he adds "I will not be a burden to you, I will earn my stay."
"If that makes you feel better, then okay."
"It is logical."
The days of the month tick by and she teaches him the ropes around the ranch. He does everything that he is capable of and his productivity soon reaches her own. Abigail finds herself enjoying living with the man and formulates plans to help him stay on the planet more securely.
"You'll need an identity" she says a few nights before her monthly town trip arrives. "You can get by here for a while without one, but in this day and age an identity is important."
"A logical assumption, but how would I go about getting an identity?" He asks not taking his eyes from the fire he is lighting in the small fireplace.
"I know a guy" she says as he pokes at the wood with the metal rod. She watches him sit down across from her. "He was in the same high school class as me, he just made fake id's for underage drinking, but I hear that he's still doing it." She sighs and shakes her head slowly "of course he's not capable of what we need but I'm sure he knows someone. I think he still works at the same place, so we'll go to see him when we go into town."
"Are you sure it is wise for me to go with you?" He asks gesturing to his appearance.
"Don't worry, I have a plan."
She goes through her list one last time before putting it into her rarely used purse. "Saren" she calls out and she waits until he walks into the kitchen. "Here" he looks at the object she is holding out before taking it from her.
"Is this your plan?" He says sceptically, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, now put it on" he does and she moves closer to him. She reaches up and traces her fingers over the rim of the hat. "If you get close to anyone pull this down" she tugs downwards and his eyebrows are covered. She grins as she pats him on the cheek before moving away from him "now you are a bonafide cowboy."
He stiffens up from the gesture, she notices and frowns a little. "Lets finish loading up and we can go." She puts her purse around her shoulder and grabs a heavy crate. He grabs the last one and follows her out the door.
The truck is loaded with wooden crates and they climb into the cabin. She turns on the heater for him before shifting into drive and pushing the car forward. "Remind me to teach you how to drive."
"I will remind you in the future." She smiles and turns on the radio. He spends the rest of the drive with his brows knitted together staring at the noise making machine. She smiles a little wider every time she looks over at him.
They unload the crates at the local farmers market. A man comes out and hands Abigail a check before calling out a few workers and taking the wooden boxes into the store. She has Saren sitting in the truck for the entire exchange. She climbs in the cabin and shifts into drive. She goes through the drive-thu for the bank, showing Saren as she does how to deposit a check with an ATM. Saren watches her carefully and she wonders whether or not he is taking detailed mental notes. She half smiles wondering if they're Cornell notes.
It takes a few hours to get everything from Costco and Saren helps her load up the last sack of animal feed before climbing into the truck. "Okay" she looks hesitant while taking out a sheet of paper from her purse. She looks at the paper "he works at the FedEx a few blocks from here." Saren looks straight ahead and watches a small snow flake slowly fall on the windshield. "It'll be fine, he knows how to keep things on the down-low, he won't go telling anyone." She turns the key slowly and backs out of the parking space.
She glances over at Saren before climbing out of the car "come on" she says before he starts to move. He follows her into the store. She walks up to the counter. The entire store it deserted except for an elderly woman on a computer in the front of the store. She rings the bell on the counter and waits for her guy to come out.
"Hey you" he says when he sees her and says with a cocky grin "What can I do for you?"
She leans over the counter and says in a quiet voice "I was wondering if you can refer me to someone."
"That depends on what you're looking for" he leans in a little bit and lowers his voice when he notices the old lady. "Drugs, coke, weed, illegal guns..?" She doesn't really believe he knows too many people in these businesses.
"I need someone who can create a new identity, the full deal."
"For that guy" he gestures to Saren.
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not, and yeah I know a guy. He lives another state over though. It'll take some time for you to get everything."
"That's okay, I have time." she pauses. " How do I go about contacting this person."
He pulls out his phone and scrolls through his contact list. He takes a blank sheet of paper and a pen from the counter and copies down the information. "It won't be cheap." He slides the paper to her.
"That's fine." she folds up the paper and precedes to stick in into her old purse. "Thank you." She turns away quickly and follows Saren out the double glass door. Saren suppresses a shiver as they walk out into the cold air.
"You don't have to do this for me."
"Stop saying that. I already said its okay." She holds the kitchen phone up to her ear. She waits for the other end to pick up. "Hello, I was calling to" she goes quiet for a moment "yeah" another moment passes "everything" she listens to the phone for a moment before writing something on the notepad she had in her hand. "That sounds great. Thank you." She puts the phone on the hook and walks into the living room. Saren follows her.
"We need to take a picture of you and send it to him."
"That's it?"
"For now it is." She walks over to the closet and takes her digital camera from the top shelf. " We should do this in the kitchen, there's more light." She follows him into the room and puts the camera on the table. "Sit" she orders and he takes a seat. She moves a chair close to him and sits down. He stiffens up when she reaches her hand out and adjusts his hair. His hair has grown a bit from his time here and with some adjustments she can move it to cover his ears and the pointed parts of his eyebrows. She does so and his body relaxes a bit when she moves back from him.
She takes the camera and positions it in front of him. "Say cheese."
"Why do I need to say that?" She can tell he is raising an eyebrow and that makes her smile widely.
"It's tradition" she starts to explain "just say it!"
"Cheese" he says dully and she snaps the picture laughing slightly.
She puts the camera down and tries not to giggle at his now blinking eyes. "Was that necessary?"
"No," she tries to school her features "but I forgot to turn it off."
"That is apparent." She can't stop the stupid grin from forming on her lips. She hides it by turning away and grabbing her laptop from the kitchen counter. After fishing a cord from the bottom of a drawer she starts the computer and plugs the camera into it.
After she downloads the picture and attaches it to an email she grabs the notepad from by the phone and types in the email address. She presses send and sits back in her chair, looking out the window. The snow starts to fall and she watches Saren watch it with an interested look in his eyes. She smiles softly before looking away. The cat slides his face across her shin and she picks him up. He curls up on her lap and Saren looks over at the cat as he starts to purr loudly.
Saren turns again to the window and watches snow glistening from the porch light. He stands up and almost walks to the window. "Goodnight" he says and leaves the room.
"Goodnight" Abigail says quietly into the fur of her tabby.
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