Mark McGinnis - The Simpleton

As they sped through the town of Woodbury and passed in front of the firehouse—the noise coming from the wailing air raid siren made Cuddy want to cover his ears with his hands. He was folded into the bug’s cramped back seat, while Jackie drove and Momma occupied the passenger seat. Every so often, Momma glanced back at him, looking concerned. And every so often, Jackie’s eyes found him in the rearview mirror. Before the three of them had rushed out to the car, he had dropped the bombshell about the alien… and the spaceships. Cuddy couldn’t worry about their concerns and doubts about his sanity—not now, anyway. He had his own issues to deal with at present. For one thing, his mind had continued to transform over the hours since he’d sat within the confines of the Evermore ’s wellness chamber. Cuddy thought about Tow and his decision. One that fundamentally changed Cuddy’s life. Perhaps Tow hadn’t considered the ramifications of bringing a human into the chamber—the adverse effects that would ensue. Tow had told him that Pashier and human brains were so very different. Tow had contemplated on that—on the fact that, from a technological evolutionary standpoint, the Pashier were obviously far more advanced. Tow had said the human brain was much larger—with their hundreds of trillions of firing synapses and exponentially greater capacity for learning.

At the moment, Cuddy’s cognitive processes were overwhelming him. The rapid transition—going from being an imbecilic child-like individual to… whatever he was now —had adverse effects. It was one thing to be smarter. But that hadn’t compensated for the simple fact his emotional state was constantly in flux. He was spending so much time with self-talk—reining in the wild spikes of feelings—one moment joyful the next sorrowful. One moment angry the next something else. He wished Tow was here. He’d tell him how to cope… what he needed to do.

“What is it, exactly, the nurse told you on the phone?” Momma asked Jackie.

“Only that there had been a change in Dad’s condition and I should get myself to the hospital as soon as possible. I don’t think the nurse wanted to tell me over the phone. I’m worried sick that it’s something bad… I just want to get there.”

Cuddy felt the little car accelerate. He watched as Jackie took the next turn faster than she should have.

“Well, don’t kill us all in the process,” Momma said. “I’m sure he’s fine, dear.”

“You doing okay back there?” Jackie asked.

“I’m good,” Cuddy said, giving her a more confident smile than he was feeling.

“For goodness’ sake!” Momma said. The hospital was a madhouse of activity. An ambulance was dropping someone off as another was just pulling in. Dodging a stream of pedestrians, Jackie impatiently urged an old lady to move it along. It was quickly apparent the lot was full, and Jackie was forced to park on a nearby side street. Getting out of the car, Momma told Jackie to run ahead, she and Cuddy would catch up. He watched her sprint for the double doors beneath the big red Emergency sign. He felt for her, while mentally checking his emotions—one more time.

Momma took Cuddy’s arm in hers—something she had always done. He had a tendency to wander off at the slightest provocation. Something he knew would no longer be an issue. He smiled at her—and he found the human contact was comforting—grounding.

“Let’s hurry it up, Cuddy,” she said, quickening her stride.

Up ahead he saw Officer Plumkin’s SUV pull up to a red curb. He flung the driver-side door open and quickly got out. He repositioned his gun belt as he half ran half walked toward the hospital. He yelled, “Out of the way… come on… get out of the way!” opening a path for himself between the people moving too slow for him.

“Maybe it’s the radiation,” Momma said. “People getting sick from that damn power plant.”

Cuddy didn’t think that was it. Before Momma had turned it off, they had listened to the radio on the drive over, and the announcer had relayed the latest scientific information coming out of the NRC, the Nuclear Radiation Commission. The levels were significantly higher than normal, but not lethal. At least not for the short term. The news caster had made it clear, this was no Chernobyl or Three Mile Island situation. Cuddy wasn’t really sure what those two references meant—but it did seem that things weren’t as bad as they seemed.

So why all the activity here? he wondered.

Momma and Cuddy entered into the frenzy—all the emergency room seats were taken and hordes of people were standing around the periphery. Momma approached a middle-aged couple Cuddy recognized as two school teachers from the high school. He thought one or both of them may have been Kyle’s teacher at one time or another.

“Catherine?… Don?… what in God’s name is going on here?” Momma said, almost sounding angry.

The two, both looking distressed, glanced to each other. Catherine said, “Dotty… you must have heard… it’s unbelievable.”

“What is? What’s unbelievable… the power plant?”

Don shook his head. “No… well not entirely that… Dotty… there’s been sightings… hundreds of them all over the state.”

Momma’s eyes darted to Cuddy and then back to Don.

“They’re saying everyone needs to get to safety… into protected shelter. That means the firehouse, which was already overflowing, or here at the hospital.”

Cuddy said, “Sightings? You’re talking about aliens?”

All three of them looked up to Cuddy, who wasn’t supposed to be able to offer up this kind of question.

Catherine said, “Yes, Cuddy… exactly. We’ve seen it… the spaceship! Flew right over our house. Half the windows blew out. They’re saying it may be an invasion! It’s horrible.”

Cuddy watched as Momma put a comforting hand on Catherine’s arm and nodded several times sympathetically—but there was nothing Momma could say. It was all too preposterous. She pulled Cuddy away from them, her expression resolute.

She kept her barely controlled voice low so no one else could hear her. “Talk to me, Cuddy… tell me about… all this craziness.”

“What I told you this morning is true. That ship they were describing is looking for the Evermore … they’re looking for Tow… an alien.”

“And you’ve had contact with this… alien?” Her expression was full of worry.

“Momma… the simple fact that I’m having this intelligent conversation with you should tell you things are different. I’ve been on the ship twice… I’ve been… modified. That’s a stupid word for it. But know, I would never lie to you. That spaceship Mrs. Lampard was telling us about… it’s looking for the Evermore … which is in the woods close to our ranch.”

Wide-eyed, Momma put her hands to her mouth. “Cuddy! We need to tell someone… the police!”

“No, Momma, we can’t do that.” Cuddy hesitated while he tried to think of a way to tell Momma the situation so she’d understand… to believe him. “You need to trust me, Momma. I would never do anything to put anyone in danger. But the ship the Lampards were describing… the aliens… they are called the Howsh… they’re very bad. Evil. Tow is good… a pacifist… he is the last of his kind. The Howsh destroyed his planet… they’ve been chasing him through space… for years. He just needs time to make repairs to his ship. I should be helping him.”

At that moment, Officer Plumkin was hurrying through the crowd, making his way back toward the exit. Momma pointed to Plumkin. “But why not tell…”

“The authorities will think they are all together. Think about it, you yourself barely believe me. We need to help Tow…”