Alien Opportunities Ch.5 : Acceptance Part 1

Ch. 5 : Acceptance

    After another ‘normal’ day at the company office, which had involved going out to a publisher’s office to locate promising scripts, which had been passed over for publication in the past but which might now be suitable for the alien market, he set off to his own home in his car. The streets were not busy at this time in the evening. He had seen little in the aliens to suggest that they had a hidden agenda against the human race. They seemed as avid and genuine in their regard for Earth’s cultural richness as they had before Thomas and Tony had placed the seeds of fresh doubt in his mind. He felt the glances and interest of alien females, and even of males, in the office and their sexual interests seemed at least to be honest. There was no sign of any desire or intention to do him, or any other humans, harm. He found he missed the overt attention Braidt and Credardt had given him when he had visited the Household on that one afternoon. Both of them had talked to him at length during his time there, but neither had attempted to encourage sex. He found that against his better judgement he almost wished they would return to the direct sexuality they had practised before. It seemed that both were well aware of his newfound caution, and that they realised they were, in some sense, on trial. They exuded instead patience, to regain his trust. But neither of them could give him the evidence of safety for the travellers to Starmanena, which he needed before he could allow himself to discount Thomas’ fears.

     Chris came into the alien household. As usual the doors remained open, unlocked, but there was no one about in the hallway. (Alien households are like communes, typically large houses, in towns suburbs or even the countryside. Often they have bought adjacent houses, terraces or semi detached and converted them inside to join them together, knocking doorways or arches through adjoining walls, and perhaps closing off some of the outer doors) Normally one or other member of the household would be waiting expectantly for him, keen to talk. As he walked down the hallway he heard sounds of sobbing, rising and falling, much like the sounds women make in mourning, in eastern lands. It sounded as if it came from a group of people simultaneously. He felt suddenly like an imposter, reminded for once that these were not actually his people, that they were alien to him and he would never understand them. Was this some bizarre ritual which he had not yet come across, perhaps best left to the privacy of the household or could it be some private grief or sexual matter unintended for Earth humans. He suspected that it could well be some strange sexual ceremony, to which he may or may not be a welcome visitor. Or perhaps it was worse. Could he finally be about to stumble on some unpleasant torture as Tony had speculated, or an alien group meeting in which alien secrets he would rather not know about were being aired. How could he know? He could hardly stand in the corridor without letting someone know he was here. Curiosity led him towards the room, the main lounge, it seemed, where he usually spent much of his afternoons when here. As he stood outside the closed door he could hear the muffled sounds of dialogue, human accents, in English, still the sobbing sounds which seemed to come from a gathering of some size. This was strange. He had been here before so often, but never had he come across this sound. Then the thought came to him that the dialogue must be coming from a film or drama. There was the rising sound of music, film music, classical and rousing. Probably they were all watching a film. He had hunted copies of rare and unusual films for the alien market, but had not interrupted aliens in the course of watching one. That was what it must be, he was relieved, there could be no other explanation. Nevertheless he was reluctant to open the door uninvited in case he would be interrupting what sounded like some personal outpourings, unintended for human ears or eyes.

     The door opened unexpectedly and a familiar alien face appeared. Xenaidt, one of the household daughters, came into the hallway, her eyes yellow with alien tears. She recognised him immediately. “Chris, welcome. I must find more cloth.”

      “Cloth? Why?” he asked clumsily.

      “To wipe my eyes. I cannot see.”

      “Oh.” He was at a loss for words.

      Xenaidt could read his confusion. “We are watching a film.”

       “Oh.”

       “It is very moving, as you can see.”  She gestured at her yellow eyes.

    He came home and listened to music for a time. Realising that he needed human company in this time of changing perceptions he phoned his friend Michael, the one who had become a teacher with the aliens. They went out to a bar together in town. It was a Thursday night, quiet but not as quiet as earlier in the week would have been. The human people of Earth were out in reasonable numbers, although perhaps in these days of alien influence they were not working as late as they would have done when times were more competitive. That should have made the bars busier, but perhaps more people were staying in. How many, he wondered were ‘working’ for the aliens, like himself, and had been shown the mysteries of alien sexuality? How many had disappeared to that distant alien planet, Starmanena? What effect were the aliens having on Earth society?

     “In the back of my mind I suggested we came here in the hope that we might meet some desirable women,” admitted Chris honestly.

     “Wasn’t that always in the back of our minds when we came to bars like this,” said Michael.

     “But how often did it transpire that we found any?” laughed Chris.

     “There were always plenty of desirable ones,” said Michael, “But rarely did we ever make much contact with them.”

     “And whenever we did it was always quite impossible to keep them talking.”

     “They were usually on a different wavelength.”

     “Yes. Their own.”

     “Other men seemed to manage alright,” suggested Michael.

     “Yes, but there was an art to it, or you had to know them from somewhere else.”

     “The basic requirement is that you’re confident. And persistent,” Michael added.

     “The truth is I did not try most of the time. I was out of my depth,” said Chris.

      “What are you suggesting for tonight. Do you think we should look out for some women to talk to?”

      “Maybe. I would like to get close to a real human woman, for once,” Chris admitted.

      “It won’t work you know,” said Michael. “Not in one evening of chance meeting. You’ve got to work at it, say all the right words, have the correct level of humour, and if you fancy them somehow you’ve got to make your feelings known to them. If you ask me we’d be better chatting to some alien women. You’re far more likely to score then, in fact I have been finding that it’s almost inevitable. They really are keen on us.”

    “I don’t bother trying to catch human women any more,” said Michael. “They are too much bother. I have had a few girlfriends in the past but they force big choices upon you. They want one man at a time generally, and they expect loyalty. So if you say yes to a woman, you are making a potentially very big commitment. It could end in marriage, but even if it doesn’t you are dedicating yourself to spend a large amount of your time and energy with one person. While the relationship goes on there are few opportunities for developing relationships with any other women. Any actions against the spirit of this result in punishment of some kind or an end to the relationship. Then you have to start trying to find another girlfriend with all the difficult choices repeated. If you show attention to one woman will you be missing out on other potential partners who may be kinder, more sexually inclined, or more attractive to you. There is a feeling that whatever choice you make reduces the number of choices you have. Monogamy or serial monogamy has its logic but it is very restrictive. The aliens don’t practice it at all. They believe in a much closer relationship between all people, and particularly the opposite sexes. Aliens are never lonely, never sexually alone.

      “I told you about the attention I was getting from the aliens at the school they employed me in,” Michael went on enthusiastically. “I told you about their interest in our culture. They want to find out about everything we have done over the centuries, and everything we have to offer. They value me so much as a teacher. I told you about that didn’t I?”

      “Yes, you told me all that last time I saw you,” Chris confirmed. “Since then I have taken your advice, given up my accountancy work, and gone to work for aliens in the cultural trade business. I have seen and encountered their fascination with our culture, and with us.” He held back from revealing the new found extent of the aliens’ interest in humans, not wishing to reveal his own rather embarrassing acquiescence in their sexual games.

      “So you have seen how much they love us,” Michael went on. “I told you I was getting ‘romantic’ attention from one of them, and interest from others. Do you remember?”

      “Yes, I remember.”

      “I entered into a relationship with her, Elspish. It was wonderful. I never imagined such a wonderful relationship. I tell you it was everything a man could want. Our human girlfriends and wives are full of other concerns, beyond the sexual. They wish to build good lives for the family, expect kids, want their partners to earn lots of money, to create a full home, varied aims, but not all of them sexual. Men want these outcomes too, but in the early years of adult life we want and aspire to the sexual more than everything. That’s one way of looking at it, maybe an overgeneralisation, perhaps. With Elspish there was none of this complexity. Whatever we did it didn’t matter, because none of the other things mattered, only the sex and the conversation, the fun without any of the responsibilities and the big choices, the heavy decisions. And it didn’t end there. All of us men and probably plenty of the women too, if they are really honest, find our relationships stifling and restricting. Most of us would love to be free of convention and the requirement of sexual loyalty. Well the aliens are not concerned with sexual loyalty. Relationships aren’t like that for them. After a few sessions of lovemaking with Elspish she introduced me to other alien females. She made love to them too. I was encouraged to make love to them all too. Then there were orgies with alien males participating also.

    “She has introduced me to human women too. I love having sex with human women. They may not have the patience and sexual dedication of the aliens but I still find them more attractive. But if I was to choose, which I do not have to, I would say that sex with alien females is better. The way their tongues flicker on my penis and wrap around it, their sensitivity to our needs, their devotion to sexual pleasure and comfort, their willingness to spend hours, if I desire it, coaxing me patiently until I orgasm and beyond if I wish. Human women who have been introduced to the alien ways are now liberated, but the women who have not yet tasted alien ways are traditional and careful. I have tried once or twice to encourage human women to my bed in recent times, but have failed. Traditional engagements are an uphill struggle. Elspish loves nothing better than having two or three or more males, alien and human, on her at the same time. The more the better. She likes to be watched by observers while she is the centre of their attention.”

     Chris listened passively, his face reddened by Michael’s unexpected outburst of enthusiasm. Then he relaxed. He had intended to gently introduce the subject of sex with aliens, to see whether Michael had experienced anything like he had. It appeared that Michael had experienced far more than he had. He had not yet considered that through the aliens he might gain access to human women, or that he would be able to participate in large orgies. “I see you have been sucked into a strange lifestyle by the aliens. Are you sure it is sensible to join them in this. Is there a risk that the aliens are using you so that they can control you?”

      “No they mean us no harm at all,” went on Michael. “They are beings much like us, as you surely know from your work among them. Have you experienced sexual attention from them?”

      “Yes. In fact I have, but not as much as you by the sound of it,” admitted Chris. Chris related his experiences of the previous evening and the one before that, revealing the confusion it had prompted within, and also the excitement he had felt as he had allowed himself to let go earlier. Michael understood the confusion he felt. “I felt that way myself to begin with,” his friend said, “I think that all of us who have come into sexual contact with them feel the same way, until we can sort our pleasures from our prejudices and fears, our old rules from our natural instincts. Believe me you’ll get used to it, and you’ll feel a whole lot better for it. I am glad you’ve been introduced to this.