And a horrible reaction

James stared at the phone number that sat on his phone. Could he really do this? Call her in, and risk her returning to the place that had brought her so close to **** to begin with? He took a deep breath, clenching his fist as he tapped the button.

<Novaxan Placement Program headquarters, this is Larry.>

"Hi...I uh...I found a Novaxan in my backyard. Naked and almost dead?"

<Excuse me?>

"I'm not kidding, she's in my bathtub. My name is James Stewart, and I found her dying in my backyard."

He followed with his address, and agreed to wait while authorities came to retrieve her. By the time there was finally a knock at his door, she had woken up. She sat still in the tub, grey and orange waving across her body. The first person to step in took James outside.

"Mister Stewart, can I ask you some questions?", the woman flashed a bright blue badge at him with her name and the program emblem. James nodded, taking a deep breath. "What time did this happen?"

"Uh...around midnight...the day before yesterday."

"Why didn't you call when you found her?", she was already taking notes. Great.

"I...thought I could help."

"Help what?"

"Well...she was naked and almost dead from dehydration. I don't think there could be a good reason for that. I read online they're supposed to have these special suits to stay hydrated."

"They do. She didn't have her own?"

He shook his head. "No. Just her. I thought if I called too soon, she might just end up back with whoever it was that made her wind up here."

She nodded. "We'll have her pod alpha conduct an interview. Any unusual activity?"

Well, we gave her chocolate and fucked her silly before corrupting our relationship as siblings... "No more unusual than finding an unexpected alien in your back yard..."

She gave a half-sarcastic sideways nod. "Understandable...has she been hydrated since you found her?"

He nodded again. "Yeah, in my bath tub. She's had a little bit of food, too."

"What kind?"

"Uhhh...first night she threw everything in my fridge across the house and ate moldy yogurt...and after that some raw eggs."

She nodded again. "Totally normal food for them. Thanks for calling it in."

There was a shriek from his bathroom. James's instinctive reaction was to run inside and see what happened. She sat in his tub, screaming and glowing bright orange at the two men from the program trying to wrangle her up. James held his palm out as he'd done once before. She grabbed him by the hips and put him between herself and the two men.

The taller one of the two clenched his jaw. "Sir, please move she needs to come with us."

The woman who had interviewed him interrupted. "Actually, she needs to talk with her alpha...surprised you didn't know that. Standard protocol." James saw the suspicion on her face. She spoke her concerns openly. "Show your badges..."

The two men flashed small badges with their photos, no names, and placed in white rectangles. She glared at them, reaching for a police woman who had shown up with them.

"Stay in the living room with them...If they try to leave, arrest them please...the color she's showing means she's afraid of them, and those badges are fake."

She glanced at the alien woman in the tub, flashing her own badge. A relieved smile came to the Novaxan, who now shimmered blue in return. "Her alpha will be here soon...stay here please. She seems to like you."

James nodded. "Yeah...kinda rough at first but when she knew I wasn't going to hurt her she calmed down."

"Ever think about getting into the program? If you care, it could be good for her to stick with the person she found after...whatever happened. We'll know more later." She started to move toward the living room. "If you do decide to...call the number I'll leave in your desk. I'll recommend you and her get paired, if she decides she wants to try placement again."

James bit his lip. They would let him sign up? Even recommend that he keep taking care of her? This felt less and less like a betrayal toward her the longer they were here.