Xeron
By Muscle Fan



The following is written for my friend Chris who likes science fiction. I hope
you enjoy this short story. As I've told you, sci-fi is not my forte, but I've
given it a try at your urging. Who would you cast as Xeron?

We were assembled on the flight deck on our planet Betatar. Our force would
land on planet earth some twelve parsecs from us. We had been outfitted with
earthlings bodies, which I confess found cumbersome but I did understand the
necessity of it. We had learned early on that earthlings were nervous about
visitors from other planets and quite territorial. That was why our massive
armada was assembled; we would land in virtually every civilized country on
earth with the intention of integrating and populating to save our species.

My name is Xeron and it was quite a sight to see our craft lift off and hover
before beginning our trek to earth. I was assigned a portion of the United
States. That had been my focus for the past year. I was trained to survive in
earth's atmosphere or in earth's waters.

My guidance system took me to a rocky mass in a wooded area. As I approach, I
activated the ships lasers which bore a hole into the granite surface so that
I could conceal my ship. Once properly situated, I exited the ship and made my
way down to the nearest town and my new home.

I kept to the woods until I encountered earthlings. I wasn't sure how I would
be received. The first glimpse I had of the people from earth was a man and a
woman sitting on a bench at a campsite. They had a tent and were eating,
talking and laughing. The man wore jeans and a plaid work shirt, the woman,
jeans and a T-shirt and a hoody.

'Clothing,' I thought as I walked around the campsite, out of their view, 'I
need to get some clothing.' I stepped into their campsite. Startled, the man
said, "Wh-who are you? What do you want?" The woman turned to look at me and
gasped. I could tell I was certainly bigger; perhaps a foot taller than the
man and definitely my muscularity was greater. "Clothes," I said speaking for
the first time to earthlings, "I need clothes." The woman nodded and said,
"What happened to your clothes? Are you alright?" The man got up from the
table and simply stood there gawking.

"Alright," I said, "Yes, I'm alright, but need clothes." The man nodded and
then the woman said, "Harold, get the lady a shirt and a pair of your pants."
Jarred into action, the man went to their vehicle and a minute later came back
with a pair of pants and a shirt.

He laid them on the table. "Thank you," I said and put on the pants. They fit
snug and then I put the shirt on which also was tight. I could only button the
bottom three buttons leaving my chest exposed, but at least I had some
earthling clothes.

"Do you need help, ah, what did you say your name was?" the woman asked.
"Xeron," I said. "Well, Erin, do you need help?" I shook my head. "Something
to eat?" the man asked pointing to the food still on the table. "Eat, yes," I
said and the two exchanged looks and the woman said, "I'll make some coffee."

I sat on one side of the table and the man and woman on the other side while
we waited for the coffee to heat. "What happened to your clothes, Erin, did
someone take them from you?" "Yes," I said, not bothering to correct her
mispronunciation of my name, "While I was in the bathroom." The woman nodded
and the man said, "That's terrible, perhaps we should report that to the
ranger."

I had studied earthlings so I knew their eating habits but was anxious to try
their food. "I hope spaghetti is OK with you," the woman said. "I think the
coffee is ready, Helen," the man said. The woman retrieved the coffee pot from
the camp stove.

After my long trip to earth, I was famished. I finished the plate of spaghetti
in a minute. The couple looked at each other and Helen said, "I'm glad you
liked it," picking up the paper plate. I covered her hand with mine and could
feel her trembling. "Don't be afraid," I said, "I'm not here to hurt you or
anyone."

The couple looked at each other but before they said anything else, the park
ranger pulled up in a pickup truck. "Sorry to interrupt folks," the ranger
said, "but we've been asked to shut the park down. I have to ask you all to
leave, you'll be given credit for a free visit on your way out." "Leave,"
Harold said, "why?" "All I know is that the government saw something in the
sky and is investigating, until whatever it is is found, were closing the
park," the ranger said.

"I know it's a small matter," Helen said addressing the ranger, "but Erin here
had her clothes stolen from the shower." "Is that right, miss," the ranger
asked. I only nodded. "When was that?" he asked. "Earlier today," I said,
keeping my answers short. There was a pause and we looked at the park ranger.
Finally he said, "I'll look into it, miss." He got back into his truck and
left.

"Looks like we better pack up," Harold said, "can we give you a lift back to
your camp site?" "Could you give me a lift into town?" I asked, "I need to get
some proper clothes." Helen chuckled, "Of course," and we set about breaking
camp.

"Look at the army trucks and even a tank," Harold said as we drove to town.
"What the hell is going on?" Helen asked as we pulled up to the general store.
I got out of their vehicle and said, "Thank you for the ride, drive careful,"
and I entered the store, and a bell above the door signaled my entrance.

The store sold everything; fishing tackle, first aid supplies, souvenirs,
clothing, etc. I went to the clothing section. "If you need help, just
holler," an old man called from behind the register. I looked at the jeans
first and held a pair up that seemed to be my length. I stripped off the pair
that Harold had given me and put the new pair on. They were a little roomier
and fit better than Harold's.

I was just unbuttoning the plaid shirt when two soldiers came into the store.
"Good afternoon," the man behind the counter greeted them. They nodded and one
asked, "Have you seen any strangers around here today?" The man automatically
looked in my direction and the other soldier started my way. "Can I see some
identification, miss," he said, reaching the aisle I was standing in. "I don't
have any, my clothes were stolen," I told him. He looked back to his friend.
"Perhaps you should come with us and we can sort this out."

He stepped closer and put a hand on my upper arm. I grabbed his wrist and
twisted it, it snapped like a twig. He let out a high pitched yell. The other
soldier near the front of the store drew his pistol and fired a shot in my
direction. It went wide, hitting the coolers behind me, shattering glass and
sending a spray of liquid out onto the floor. I tossed the man aside that I
had broken his arm and came around the corner of the aisle advancing on the
soldier that had taken the shot at me. He squeezed off three more shots before
I could reach him, each one hitting me in the chest. The bullets flattened
themselves against my reinforced skin.

With one hand I grabbed the man's outstretched arm that held the pistol and
with the other, gripped his belt and lifted him over my head and threw him in
the direction of the coolers at the rear of the store. He hit them and fell to
the floor. I looked at my chest and brushed the flattened bullets from my
breast and sternum.

"Who are you?" the man behind the counter asked. "Xeron," I said, "but that
doesn't matter does it now that the military is here." He shook his head as a
burst of gunfire tore through the front door and window. I stepped to the
front door and grasping the edge of the door, tore it from its hinges. I had
hoped to blend in with the earthlings, but that was lost now as I stepped out
onto the sidewalk.

A female soldier held a rifle aimed in my direction. I ripped what remained of
the shirt from my torso and tossed it aside advancing on the soldier. She let
loose with a stream of automatic fire which did nothing to slow my advance.
Bullets either flattened themselves against my chest or ricocheted off. I
reached out and took the barrel of the rifle from her and tossed it aside
while grasping her by the throat and lifting her off the ground. "Where is
your leader?" I asked.

No sooner had I asked than I heard the rumble of an advancing tank. I dropped
the female soldier and turned to face my new nemesis. With a roar, the shell
hit me in the chest. The blast rocked me, but I advanced on the mechanical
beast. Before the gunner could load another round, the machine gun opened up.
The bullets were as troublesome as buzzing insects as I reached the front of
the tank.

I reached up and bent the barrel of the down aiming it at the street. "Where
is your leader?" I called out. Stepping forward I bent and picked the front
end of the tank off the ground. The driver tried to reverse the machine but I
flipped it over onto its side. The treads turned uselessly for a minute and
then went motionless. Soon men began to scramble from the hatch running in all
directions.

One brave soldier came from behind the tank with what looked like a length of
pipe aimed at me. I quickly advanced on him and he looked behind him as he
fired his weapon. The missile whizzed by me missing me by several feet and
exploded when it hit the store I had just come from. I grabbed his face in my
palm and squeezed. His thrashing as I lifted him from the ground lasted
momentarily as I crushed his head with one hand. 'Fragile little insects these
earthlings,' I thought as I looked for my next threat.

Several men had formed a line with their weapons raised. 'Very well,' I
thought as I tore my shredded pants from my body, and faced them, 'let's get
this over with.' Slowly I walked towards the four men. One had the good sense
to drop his weapon and run, but the other three held their ground, firing. One
bullet ricocheted off my arm and struck one of the soldiers sending him to the
ground. 'Ha,' I thought, 'wounded or killed by your own bullet, how fitting.'

I took the two remaining soldiers rifles, one in each hand, and tossed them
aside. I grabbed one soldier by the arm and pulled it from his body and then
hit the second soldier with the severed limb. Both men screamed in pain but
the one whose arm I had pulled off quickly bled out. "Where is your leader?" I
asked the remaining soldier. Before he could answer, a voice behind me said,
"I'm Captain Johnson, I'm in command here."

I dropped the severed arm and turned to see a balding man in a military
uniform. He had a pistol in a holster still on his hip. He looked at me and
said, "Who are you?" "I'm Xeron," I said, "I had hoped to avoid all of this,"
sweeping my hand over the scene of destruction. He surveyed the carnage and
nodded his head.

"I'm with the National Guard," he said, "we were sent to investigate UFO's
sighted near here. You must be one of the aliens?" I laughed and said, "Yes,
I'm from Betatar, a long way from your earth. I was sent to see how earthlings
would receive us." Captain Johnson nodded and shook his head. "I'm sorry that
your arrival turned into a battleground."

By now the rest of the soldiers flanked the captain as well as towns people.
All were staring at me. "Put some clothes on," one woman yelled. "She needs to
pay for the market," a man yelled. The market had been destroyed and the fire
nearly out.

"Ferguson, you and your men gather the dead and wounded. Put them some place
out of the public view," the captain ordered. One of his lieutenants said,
"Right, captain, and set about taking care of the wounded and gathering the
dead. "I'm sorry about what happened," I said, "the soldiers in the store shot
at me and then one of your men blew up the store." He nodded and said,
"Jensen, yes, I saw that. He tried to stop you with a rocket, missed and hit
the store." I nodded.

"My orders were to observe and report," Captain Johnson said, "I'm not sure
what I should tell headquarters." "Tell them this bitch destroyed our town,"
one woman yelled. "I need to notify headquarters of the killed and wounded,"
the captain said to himself.

"Captain," I said, "perhaps I can help." I walked to where one soldier lay
with a bullet in his shoulder and knelt beside him. I put a hand on his wound
and the bullet was drawn to my palm and the laceration closed. The captain and
the town's people looked on and gasped when the soldier got up and rotated his
arm. "It's healed," he said, "it doesn't hurt."

"That's amazing, young lady," and elderly man said, "I'm Doctor Williams and
I've never seen anything like that in my forty plus years of medicine." "I've
been trained to treat the sick and wounded," I said. He nodded and looked at
Captain Johnson.

"Here, try these on," the woman who had said about getting dressed said,
handing me a pair of stretchable leggings and a flannel shirt. Seeing that the
people were uncomfortable with my nakedness, I pulled on the leggings. They
clung to my muscled legs like a new skin. I liked the feel of the smooth black
material against my skin. While the shirt covered my torso, it was snug in the
shoulders. "Thank you," I told the woman.

"What's going to happen to her, captain?" the doctor asked the soldier. "I'm
not sure, that will be up to headquarters." The doctor nodded. "Maybe she can
help at the clinic," one man said.

Prologue

Captain Johnson retired from the National Guard but not until he reported to
his headquarters that a tank had been destroyed after rolling down into a
ravine and several men lost their lives in the process. He now lives in the
small town that I call home.

I go by Erin now and the town's people have grown to accept me, although my
height and muscles still draw attention on the street or in the café or the
rebuilt general store. I assist Doctor Williams at the clinic and am happy
living amongst my adopted earthling friends.

If you've enjoyed this short story, please let me know at covert.1@hotmail.com

Thanks you,

Muscle Fan