Free Heritage and Shimmer by Brian S. Wheeler Page B

composed in
an age when teenage love and angst seemed the world’s most pressing
concerns. Later, Beverly listened while Jayce named the make and
year of each rare car they encountered on the road. When night
fell, Beverly concentrated on the shoulder of the highway and
helped Jayce spot the nomadic families who took advantage of the
cooler night to shamble a little further down the asphalt while
they searched for a community that might hold a place for them.
     
    Beverly did her best to avoid thinking about
aliens and ghosts, but no matter how proud she felt of her fiancé’s
uniform, she couldn’t vanquish her worry. The night had always been
a time when danger and monsters crawled out from the shadows. The
aliens changed many things, but they never changed that.
     
    * * * * *
     
    “Welcome to the Patriot’s Memorial built by
the Starwatch to forever commemorate the brave men and women of New
Bethany, who defied the alien agenda that fateful, June night. Any
contribution to the memorial’s maintenance fund is deeply
appreciated.”
     
    Jayce rummaged through the empty coffee can
brimming with silver change, his fingers digging out quarters while
ignoring the nickels and dimes stained with spilled soda and
coffee.
     
    Beverly took Jayce’s hand and forced him to
pause. “I thought we were saving all those quarters so we could
rent a private hotel room on our wedding night.”
     
    Jayce patiently smiled. “But we don’t need a
room, Bev. My mother’s cottage has plenty of room to give us some
privacy, and my mom will sleep in the camper parked behind the
house if we ask her to. I thought we might put all these quarters
to a better use. Thought we could donate them to the memorial’s
upkeep. Don’t you think that’s the least we can do to honor the
people of New Bethany?”
     
    “Of course you’re right,” Beverly sighed,
“but you can’t hold it against me. Aliens or not, I’m still only a
day or two away from being a new bride.”
     
    “And I love you for it, Bev, but let’s hear
what the speaker has to say after I dump these quarters into the
donation tray.”
     
    A small screen of blinking, red numbers
tallied the total of Jayce and Beverly’s donation. The sum was
hardly enough to afford the luxury of a private hotel room, but
they hoped the offering might at least supply a little gas for
whatever lawn equipment the Patriot’s Memorial required. The
speaker perched just before the front gate again popped static, and
the recorded words of a faceless narrator drifted through Jayce’s
car window.
     
    “For an additional fifty dollars, the Patriot
Memorial will reward a bumper sticker for your vehicle.”
     
    Jayce sighed. “I wish I had more money.”
     
    “We will one day.”

“Where would I be without your faith, Bev? I’ll just hit this
button on the console to let it know we don’t have anything more to
give tonight.”
     
    The console clicked and the narrator’s voice
returned. “Nearly three decades ago, the vanguard warship of the
alien armada appeared over the star-filled sky above New Bethany,
scouting humanity’s defenses for weaknesses they might exploit to
establish a permanent foothold upon our dear planet. But thanks to
the courage and sacrifice of the men and women resting in this
cemetery, humanity turned away that malicious force from the
heavens.
     
    “The Starwatch encourages guests to the
Patriot’s Memorial to stroll through the cemetery and consider the
sacrifices made by these good, common people of New Bethany in
their defiance of the alien menace. Please feel free to engage the
holographic projectors mounted atop each of the cemetery’s
tombstones to hear the residents themselves tell of their efforts
that fateful June night. Special thanks to our cemetery’s sponsors,
and please refrain from smoking while on these premises.”
     
    The mechanized iron gate in front of the
vehicle opened, and Jayce guided his car along the single-lane
brick road that