Free Trust by David Moody Page A

up the coast. Everyone’s going to want to see them.’
            He was right. As we stumbled on towards home I glanced back over my shoulder. I could just about make out the twinkling lights of the camp at Brymer.
            The aliens were close. Damn close.
            I wasn’t overly concerned or worried that they were near, but I still couldn’t bring myself to match the euphoria which seemed to have consumed just about everyone else.
           
           

11
           
            On Saturday evening Siobhan, Rob and I along with James, his wife Stephanie and their four children, all gathered by invitation at Clare and Penny’s house. Clare had told me many times during the last few weeks and months that she hated spending her evenings alone and these informal get-togethers had recently become a regular event. A chance for us all to relax in the company of our closest friends.
            Fortunately the late summer evening was warm and bright and we were able to send the children outside to play - out of sight and out of earshot. Once they had disappeared we were, for a short time, able to relax without interruption. I lay back on Clare’s comfortable sofa with Siobhan’s head resting on my chest. Music played quietly in the background and long orange shadows filled the room. `See the ship leave last night, Clare?’ Rob asked. James was close to Stephanie (with their baby asleep in her arms) and Siobhan and I were most definitely sitting together. As one of the two single adults in the room, Rob seemed to feel duty bound to try and strike up a conversation with Clare. Often it was harder to stop a conversation with her, but tonight she seemed tired and reticent. `No,’ she sighed, shaking her head. `Couldn’t be bothered.
            Penny watched some of the pictures on the television this morning.’ `We walked over to the hills and watched it. Got stuck next to a really boring bastard, didn’t we, Tom?’
            I grunted and nodded. I looked across at Clare who was staring lazily into space. At the mention of the alien ship, however, the others immediately became more interested. `We saw it leave,’ James said enthusiastically. `We watched it from home. Bloody amazing, wasn’t it?’
            `I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Stephanie added as she passed her sleeping baby to Clare to hold. `It seemed to fly right over the house.’ `Tom didn’t think it was very impressive,’ Rob whined. `That’s not what I said,’ I protested. `I just said that…’ `You wanted more flashing lights and lasers and special effects.’ `No I didn’t. I just thought that when you consider the size and power of that ship you would have expected a little more.
            We were sat on the side of that hill for bloody hours and it was over in seconds.’ `Doesn’t really matter now, does it?’ Clare whispered quietly from her seat in the corner of the room. I turned to look at her and watched as she gently rocked the baby in her arms, her body haunched forward protectively over the tiny child. `It doesn’t matter how big their space ship was or how loud or quiet it was, the only important thing to remember is that they’re here now, and they’re not going anywhere.’
            The hushed tone of her voice conveyed a deadly seriousness and concern. `Does that worry you?’ Stephanie asked, surprised.
            Clare nodded. `Yes it does,’ she replied simply. Her opinion seemed to have changed since we’d spoken last week. Back then she’d seemed unconcerned and uninterested by the arrival of the aliens. Today, however, the tone of her voice made it sound as if she wanted them forced off the face of our planet altogether. `But why?’ Siobhan asked. She had been quiet for a while but was suddenly more animated and involved. `Why does it bother you?’
            Clare shrugged her shoulders, taking care not to disturb the sleeping baby cradled in her arms. `Don’t