“So you don’t set out to conquer worlds, but to help them?”
His slow smile should have come with a warning because it suddenly had Colette flushed. “Depends on the planet. Sometimes, if a certain populace is being difficult when it comes to trade or other things, then we will step in and take control.”
“And do you genocide the original inhabitants?” the doctor asked, looking at him over the rim of her low-perched glasses.
“We only eradicate those who would do us harm.”
“Good to know,” the doctor murmured. “Shall we begin?”
Colette perched on a stool and watched as the doctor puttered. Putting Cade on a scale. Against the wall for measuring. Pulling out a tape and measuring his biceps, thighs, chest. Even his head!
When it came time for samples, Cade did frown at the presented needle. “You wish to poke me with your weapon?”
“It’s a needle for drawing blood.”
He glanced at Colette as if seeking reassurance. “It’s okay. It doesn’t really hurt. Just a pinch. It will be over in seconds.”
At her claim, he gave a nod. “Go ahead.”
Given he had no familiarity with normal human medical procedure, Colette explained each process as the doctor went through a rote of sample collection. Hair plucked. Skin scraped. Nails clipped. Saliva spit into a tube. Ultrasound to map his inner organs and bone structure. Where Cade balked…
“You want me to urinate in a cup?” He eyed the plastic container with disgust.
“Yes.”
He glanced at Colette. “Why?”
She bit back a smile. “Because it can be used to detect illnesses.”
“But I’m not sick.”
“Call it curiosity, then. You’re physically like a human male, but things like analyzing your blood and, yes, even your urine might pinpoint the differences we can’t see,” Ouellet explained.
“If I must,” Cade sighed.
The doctor showed him to the bathroom attached to her office and closed the door.
Ouellet sighed. “He is nothing like I expected.”
“Definitely not a skinny gray alien like we’re used to hearing about,” Colette agreed.
“It’s more than just the appearance. He is well spoken. Intelligent. Seemingly very honest and open with his replies. I’m afraid I was biased coming into this, expecting…” She paused, and Colette filled in the gap.
“Something like that monster from the movie Predator that couldn’t be reasoned with and wanted to kill us all?”
“Yes, even as I know those kinds of aliens are fiction.”
“I thought the government had already encountered visitors from space.” Colette had heard all the conspiracy theories in her lifetime about Area 51 and of the encounters with ETs supposedly being hidden from the civilian population.
“We have come across aliens, but the majority didn’t remain alive or intact for long once exposed to our atmosphere. In most cases, we only ever managed to recover samples from UAPs that crashed on Earth, and what we did find and manage to reconstruct with computer modelling didn’t resemble him in the least. And you say his partner has the same appearance?”
Colette nodded. “The general indicated you were aware of them. Is this really your first time actually speaking and coming in contact with his kind?”
The doctor hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t say anything, but we did manage to capture one once.”
“Why do I get the impression I won’t like what comes next?”
Ouellet grimaced. “Because it ended up being a failure. The one they got into custody was injured, and the doctor in charge was more interested in dissecting than giving him a chance to heal.”
