Page 49 of I Think I’m in Love with an Alien

“You can always be yourself with me,” she replies.

Warmth suffuses me. I do trust her; I’ve placed my fate in her hands. And I want to seize this opportunity. Jaz may wonder what I’m thinking, but this seems like my best opportunity to be myself and see how it feels to explore the bond with Jen with no pretense or prevarication between us.

She is so incredibly special.

“Let’s do it,” I say at last.

“Then…are you ready?”

It’s a fraught question.

But I rise in reply, ready to see what the world makes of me. I pick up my bag out of habit and she adds, “You can leave your stuff here. Unless you’re staying with Tad tonight?”

“Do you trust me to share your accommodations?” I ask.

“You trusted me first. I doubt you’d do that if you had any intention of harming me. Though I guess you could off me to keep your secret…” Then she smiles. “Kidding!”

I relax as she speaks the last word. “Most amusing. Yes, I’ll store my things. I won’t need any of them today.”

“Just stay calm. And if anyone acts odd about your look, let me handle it,” Jen says.

With that, she leads the way to the car. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Just…out. No protection from the tech camo.

The parking lot has ten people in it, a few getting into cars. One does a double take when they see us. I tense. Then someone calls, “Way to go, Kira Nerys!”

I realize they’re talking to Jen. I don’t recognize her costume, but she has different head fur and her nose has some ridges in it. Her facial decorations are a bit different today as well. She wears a smart uniform and dark boots; I feel that I should know who she is supposed to be, but I’ve consumed so much local media during my exile that it all blurs together.

She flashes a sign with her fingers and continues to the vehicle. I get in without attracting undue attention, perhaps because they don’t recognize my “costume.”

“What should I say when people ask about my appearance?” I ask.

“You designed a costume to match your favorite alien from Tad’s game. People will think it’s a PR move, spreading buzz ahead of a potential fundraiser.”

That is…remarkably clever. It’s also simple enough that I won’t become confused on the details, should I need to repeat the explanation.

She drives with quiet competence, delivering us safely to the outdoor spectacle that has become even more incredible on the second day. Even more humans. Even more costumes. I don’t recognize most of them. But the air buzzes with a cocktail of excitement, even more perceptible than the day before. I drink in the myriad scents—cooking food, human sweat, hot plastic, and the faintest tang of something sweet and familiar.

Jennette.

She leads the way. I think there’s a plan to meet up with everyone else. In this whirlwind of cosplayers and booths that stretch as far as the eye can see, she weaves a path like an expert, reacting and smiling when people recognize the character she’s portraying.

“Is it always this loud?” I ask.

“It gets bigger every year,” Jen says over one shoulder.

We pass a booth where a bookseller is vending used paperbacks, and it occurs to me that I could grace one of those covers, just as I am. Of course, in those books, humans are always shooting at those who look like me. Finally I recognize Tad, who looms over the rest of the group. Next I spot Ravik and Poppy with Jaz bobbing along in his wake. At least, I think it’s Jaz, but she’s different today. Slender and purple, and… Oh. She’s Vertesian.

No wonder she said her people are gifted at pattern recognition. It’s what they’re known for. They’re also the reason there’s a ban on uplifting lower-tech civilizations, because the Vertesians trusted the Solirins and lost everything, including their homeworld. It’s the greatest scandal in the history of the Galactic Union.

It hasn’t been long since we met at Tad’s campsite, but the world feels different now. Because Jaz knows—and so does Jen. I’m not alone anymore.

“What does everyone want to do?” Jaz asks.

She seems to be studying me, but she doesn’t react. It would be strange if she did, considering that she’s given up her camouflage as well.

“Oh my God!” Poppy squeals, bouncing on her toes. “It’s Sapphire Griffin!”

She points across the sea of heads bobbing between stands filled with every geek treasure you could imagine.