Chapter 2

Duma was nervous inside his newly formed humanoid shell. He was now in close contact with the residents of this strange new world and he was uncertain if his charade would be undiscovered. A lot was riding on his ability to blend in with the humans and make his report back to the dying world on the other side of the universe sending the survivors of his race on their final journey to this newly discovered sanctuary as quickly as possible.

He was already making plans to find a location safe from the dangers in the new environment to set up his headquarters with a full staff of humanoid female slave-girls and hard-working male laborers to tend to the minute details. He had already gotten the lengthy reports from his scanning devices that this world was virtually teeming with plenty of human units to keep his kind in the luxurious lifestyle they had experienced in their past planetary dominations.

He noted that the primary dangers were from the humans and not from the variety of wild animals that still roamed the open ranges. It was true that some of the species were capable of casting poisons to their opponents but that was easily defeated with the cloaking shields and reversal pills that would defuse the danger. The carnivorous animals were almost a joke because they had been pushed into tiny sectors of the wilderness far away from the developed areas and that was a big plus for our upcoming invasion.

Duma had already consulted his classified records and confirmed that the world was into the ultimate weapon of the universe but that only a few countries actually possessed the weapons and they were all reluctant to even mention the name. That was also good because they could easily gain control over the stored units and the means of production and their deactivation rays would make the already distributed units in dispersal mode inoperable in a matter of seconds.

All of the other military resources were manageable and easily eliminated if they proved reluctant to fall in line with the new world order. It would be much easier than the last two worlds where the resident populations proved treacherous and firm in their resistance making near extinction the only solution. Perhaps they might be able to coerce these Third Planet humans into cooperating with the program for mutual pleasure and peaceful existence.

The inside of the restaurant was fairly well crowded with the humanoid units. They had not noticed his arrival with any sign of undue interest which was a sign his "blending in" process was a success. He did notice that his shoes were out of place since most of the resident humans were wearing some type of canvas and rubber shield or simply a platform on the bottom of their feet. His thick leather shoes with the tightly closed laces were not the least bit similar despite the memory bank insistence they were appropriate.

He moved to the long counter because it had several still vacant chairs for customers. The tables were all filled up with humans starting their new day with customary "coffee" and an assortment of solid food that looked dangerously greasy to him. His new humanoid stomach turned over at the thought of placing the molecules of fuel inside his shell but he knew he had to do it in order to stay off the human's radar for unusual reactions.

"Good morning, Mister, what are you having?"

At first, Duma thought he might be confused by the syntax but his computer-driven brain sorted it all out and he realized he was being asked what he wanted to eat. His mouth formed the words of an appropriate response.

"May I see a menu please?"

He almost breathed a visible sigh of relief. Contact had been made and his mission was beginning without any detours.

The waitress was a pretty young girl called Bonnie and she was a favorite with all of the truck drivers that stopped at the diner for some good old American chow served with a smile and enough hot coffee to float a battleship. Her younger sister Nell had already gone off to college because she had gotten a scholarship for playing soccer. She was the only one of the family to actually go to an institute of higher learning because they didn't have the kind of cash needed to fund a single semester much less four full years.

Bonnie had wanted to study Astrology and learn everything there was to know about the Stars. She had received the blue ribbon each of the two past years for her science projects at the local high school and her grades were consistently all "A"s.

But that didn't pay the tuition fees and she had to take the job in the local eatery to help the family make it through the harsh winter when the tourist trade dried up and the summer residents packed up and headed to larger cities for more interesting things to do. The year-round crowd almost went into hibernation and she knew if she didn't find a suitable boyfriend this year she would almost burst with the need to experience the budding sensations of nubile female flesh.

Her only chances at that would be the transient truck drivers on their way to Los Angeles or even up to San Francisco with the bridges that filled her mind with hints of romance and adventure. Bonnie knew that would be a bad move because most of those guys were either already married or just looking for a piece of ass on a cross-country run. She didn't want to be just another hump in the back of a truck and forgotten as soon as they shifted gears for the highway.

Bonnie liked the job in the restaurant because the tips were good and the cook was almost always polite unless he didn't get the order correct and he took it out on her for mumbling or saying something that confused him. Most of the customers were not the fussy type and that helped out a lot in the scheme of things. Sometimes her mom or one of her sisters would come in for a snack and she made certain they got extra portions of whatever they wanted. They didn't tip her but that was all right because family is different. She looked at the thirtyish man at the counter and took in his funny shoes that were so out of place in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and noted that he parted his hair in the middle like the guys in the silent films or some parody of the last century. It was a little weird but not in the same category as piercing the nose or the lip or a guy wearing a pig-tail that down below his shoulders.