“No,” Benita confessed. “Spanish and English, that’s all. And even my Spanish has gotten rusty since my mother died.”
“Well then, I won’t quote the French ambassador. He feels we shouldn’t listen to the envoys, they can be up to no good, because if they’d had any culture at all, they’d know that French was the language of diplomacy, and they’d have started their mission in France.” She chuckled, rather ruefully. “Anyhow, the president is out of town today, so I called to invite you over for supper tonight.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Benita said.
Murmuring at the other end. “Chad will pick you up around six, will that be okay? Just you two and the Secretary of State and me.
“Thank you,” she agreed, wonderingly, shaking her head a few times, trying to clear it. She had really had a casual conversation with the president’s wife. She had not imagined it. My, my, how her life had changed! She put the receiver down and returned to her perusal of the daily papers.
ET’S PROVIDE CAUSEOMETERS NATIONWIDE
HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS MADE SINCE DETECTORS AVAILABLE
ET INQUIRY TOO PERSONAL SAYS CHRISTIAN COALITION
CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE ASKED ABOUT FEELINGS
QUIET REIGNS IN ISRAEL FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE WEEK
AFGHANI WOMEN, CHILDREN ENTERING PAKISTAN
FAMILIES FLEEING PLAGUE, SAY BORDER GUARDS
GEOLOGISTS ATTEMPT SONIC PROBE OF JERUSALEM HOLE
NOTHING THERE, SAY TECHNICIANS
MORSE DEMANDS TESTIMONY BY INTERMEDIARY
PRESIDENT CLAIMS NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHEREABOUTS
PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY ET’S HAVE SENSE OF HUMOR
PUBLIC UNSURPRISED
BAPTISTS CLAIM ET’S POSSIBLE DEMONIC INVASION
FALWELL SAYS ET’S MORE LIKELY GAY
AFRICANS ON MOVE
MIGRATIONS STUMP EXPERTS
That evening Benita waited inside her back door for the car to arrive, having decided to be cautious about standing about alone in deserted places. Once the bookstore was closed, the parking lot looked empty, but one couldn’t tell, really. Some lurker could pop up from behind a Dumpster or come zipping around a corner on skates. She was wasn’t afraid, not really, but she was homesick. She wanted the shady portal of her parents’ house, and the smell of the sun on the pinons and watching for the first golden leaves in the cottonwoods. She imagined being there, then imagined Bert being there with her and decided it was better where she was. After all, even here the evening felt like late September, with air that was crisper and cooler than it had been. Perhaps winter air would be drier.
She was so lost in nostalgia that she missed the arrival of the car until she heard the horn and looked up to see Chad Riley standing beside it, waving. He insisted she sit in the backseat, and they chatted about the book business on the way, not even mentioning the ET’s. The car had darkly tinted windows, but she obediently lay down on the seat and covered herself with a blanket before they approached the gate. When he showed her up the back way, to the White House family quarters, she found the First Lady and the Secretary of State already partway through a bottle of wine and a tray of hors d’oeuvres.
A little later they served themselves from the simple buffet that had been set out earlier. Only when they had filled their plates and taken their places at the small table did the First Lady ask about the ET’s.
“Intermediary, what are they really like?”
She shook her head. “I don’t honestly know much more than you do. They keep switching shape, which can be confusing. I’d say they’re even tempered, for they don’t get angry at me when I get grumpy, and I have been a time or two. I believe they do intend to help us live happier lives.”
“The questionnaires don’t bother you?”
“No. It makes sense to ask people what they think before you try to make them happier.”
“I’m told the FBI believes each of the ideograms on people’s hands is unique,” said the FL with a glance at Chad.
Benita chewed a bit of roast beef, nodding slowly. “That doesn’t surprise me, either.” She held out her hand, palm upward. The mark gleamed like a ruby. When the other three laid their hands down, it was obvious that though the three marks had some similarities, each mark was different, like a very complicated Chinese ideogram.