Free Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore Page A

culture approaching space competence in some sectors, but with xenophobic reactions, as earlier monitoring teams had recorded.
    Then the bigger of the two Barcons told us the skeletal remains showed burn signs. From the skull computers and Mica’s own reports, the Barcons determined that these Gwyngs were killed when the twist friction caused supplies and ship metal to ignite.
    I sat like an ice person while this went on. The Gwyngs stared at me, eye assault.
    The whole planet Earth, I thought, is on probation.
    The big Barcon twitched his jaw in some funny way, as though some of those bones were jointed different than the jaws of all the rest of us. He hit one key on a machine, which began printing and speaking the autopsy results.
     
    Initial Injuries appear to be well-healed cuts and burns on the body. This correlates with both accounts given by the planet species natives and by Mica in his reports. A second series of less well-healed scars resulted from injuries caused by small lead projectiles, one of which was recovered from the left calf.

    Subject showed fat loss consistent with a period of lowered metabolism and some mineral deficiency. The subject was taller than he’d been at his last physical examination, and showed muscle development consistent with manual labor. Subject had been shot in one lung, which seemed to have precipitated a shock death within less than one hour. The lead projectile wound was not necessarily fatal. Subject appears to have died due to possible misapprehensions about an injection of a local painkiller, residue of which was found at an injection site near the arm joint.

    The examiners feel that if subject had attempted to fire a projectile weapon at the planet species natives, he had little or no understanding that the results could be lethal. However, since weapons of this type can be lethal, the defensive reaction on the part of the senior native was not unwarranted. Both natives seemed to have tried to help subject following the shooting Incident.
     
    Avoiding alien eyes, I stared at the printout as the machine sprayed out other translations.
    “Mica willed his position in the Academy to this human,” Tesseract said. “If we don’t take Tom off-Earth, we’ll have to destroy his memory or credibility. Tom, we won’t kill you or your brother.”
    Black Amber said, “Brain-wipe this one, and his crazy brother, too.”
    Brain-wipe sounded extreme, a death inside the body. Gonna steal my body or my mind.
    “Rector Karriaagzh will decide,” Tesseract said with a grin. He added some alien words that Black Amber hissed over.
    Tesseract sent a message pod back on the cable net, and we waited. A wait in a house full of aliens.
     
    When Monday came around and I was dressing, the male Barcon handed me a stiff leather belt. As I put it on, I felt two little wires prick through my clothes and skin. I climbed into one of the aliens’ rental cars with the Barcon, who checked the car dash as thoroughly as if the Toyota had been a spacecraft. He turned the ignition key delicately, head cocked. I directed him toward town and the courthouse.
    “What do I call you?” I asked.
    “Barcon. We don’t share names.”
    “That won’t work well in the sheriff’s office,” I said.
    “Sam Turner, then,” he said stiffly.
    As we walked in, the deputies stared at the black guy, and he looked from them to me, slowly.
    “Got you a new lawyer, Tommy baby,” one deputy called out, “or is the man investing?” I walked on with the alien to the probation office. The probation officer, Mr. Jenkins, waited.
    “Who’s this?” Mr. Jenkins asked.
    “Sam Turner,” I said, using the big Barcon’s alias. “He’s thinking about buying some of my land.”
    “Well, he’ll have to wait outside if he’s not a lawyer. And your land’s tied up now.”
    The Barcon put one hand to his waist. We got you covered, I knew he meant.
    “Nah, he ain’t mah lawyer.” Pile on hick, I thought, let’s just get