from the ship, but he would have to worry about that later. “ I ’ m sending him down. ”
Web grabbed a blanket from the back seat and stepped out of the vehicle. New Guy stepped from the driver ’ s door and walked around to the passenger ’ s side, where Web was unfurling the blanket. Mindy watched them stretch the blanket between themselves and stare into the sky, trying to line themselves up with some unseen object. They held the blanket tight, like firemen preparing to catch someone jumping from a burning building . . . only there was no building or person to be seen. Mindy ’ s curiosity was too great. She stepped out to join them without even considering whether she should stay put.
“ Okay, we ’ re ready, ” Web reported over the radio.
Mindy was ready, too. She was ready to see this. And she was ready to jump out of the way, if necessary.
“ He ’ s on his way, ” she heard Stewart say over the radio.
Mindy waited. Then all at once, there it was, falling toward her. She flinched and took a step back before realizing she wasn ’ t in its path. It was the unconscious trespasser, and he was already falling when he appeared. In her peripheral, she saw Web and New Guy shuffling to get into position. Then she noticed something unexpected — not that anything she had seen so far could have been expected. The body was falling at a slower rate than normal, though it was still too fast to hit the ground without a cushion. She was hit by an overwhelming urge to check for prying eyes. As much as she wanted to watch, she knew others shouldn ’ t be, so she scanned the area. There was not a spectator in sight. By the time she turned back, he was right overhead. As he struck the blanket, Web groaned, almost collapsing. New Guy picked up the slack and kept Web and their alien from hitting the ground.
Web chuckled as he righted himself. “ We got him. ” He turned to Mindy. “ Can you get the back door? ”
“ Sure. ” She moved to the rear of the vehicle, opening the hatch. The back — like any other SUV — was mostly open space with a few supply boxes lining the edges. There was also an overnight bag of Mindy ’ s that Stewart had recommended she pack. She did another check for prying eyes as New Guy and Web carried the unconscious man and loaded him into the cargo area. He was big, but with some careful folding, he fit. This was Mindy ’ s first look at an alien. He looked like a man — in every way. She studied the few features that she could see: mostly the side of his face. It was familiar. It was all human. Curled up asleep on the carpet, he looked peaceful, like a friend who had too much to drink. Web stretched the blanket over him and the picture was complete.
“ So, is he okay? ” Mindy asked.
“ Yeah. ” Web nodded. “ He ’ ll be out for a few hours, but he ’ s fine. ”
“ And he ’ s human? ”
“ Absolutely. Just like you and me, ” Web said. “ Well, not just like you and me. There are differences — small differences. ”
Mindy noticed a shiny circle that had slipped out of the alien ’ s pocket. She picked it up and saw that it was a cheap, metal souvenir button with a pin on the back for attaching to clothing. On the front, the words “ I VISITED EARTH ” were stamped around a rather cartoonish picture of the planet.
“ Is this for real? ”
Web laughed. “ He probably gets them from the gift shop just outside the Earth ’ s atmosphere and sells them to the tourists. ”
Mindy was about to ask Web whether he was serious, when —
“ Are we ready yet? ” Stewart ’ s voice arrived in their ears.
“ Oh, yeah. ” Web had somehow forgotten. “ Just a minute. ” He grabbed the blanket off the sleeping man and scurried back to the landing zone, where New Guy was already waiting.
“ Okay, we ’ re good, ” Web said, as he handed New Guy his half of the blanket. “ Go ahe —” Before Web could even get all the words out, Stewart was headed face
Heidi Hunter, Bad Boy Team