My Cousin, the Alien

978-0-7613-4632-6

With six of his eyes, Chief Agent Zythis gazed out his window.
From his office near the top of the Central Government Tower, the spires and multicolored towers of the Galactic Union capital spread out before him. Transports of all sizes wove through the air.

His other six eyes and most of his attention were trained on his austerely furnished office and the white-haired, purple-skinned humanoid standing there.

“Agent Sorn, thank you for accepting this mission on such short notice. An unexpected crisis has arisen on a planet called Earth. A little out-of-the-way spot, but with a promising species of humanoids. Some years ago, we planted our pre-contact Agent there, but if we don’t act quickly, that Agent and the planet’s chances of entry into the Galactic Union may be destroyed.”

Agent Sorn frowned. “Has this Agent come into his powers yet or been made aware of who he is?”

“No, he’s still a child and hopefully has no idea of his real identity. Several years back, we sent a feline agent to check on his progress and had one unfortunate incident of near discovery, but the child was quite young and no ill effects are likely. Recently, however, we discovered that Gnairt operatives on Earth are tracking him down. Apparently they’ve been illegally exploiting the planet’s resources and are desperate to keep Earth out of the Union so they can continue doing so.”

“So our Agent is a threat to them, and they want to abduct or kill him.”

Zythis slammed the heaviest of his many tentacles down on his gleaming desk. “Precisely. Your job is to prevent that, hopefully without making the young Agent aware of his status.” With a tentacle tip, he slid an info-cube across to Sorn, its shimmering surfaces concealing a vast store of information. “This will tell you about Earth. You’ll need to change skin tones since theirs range from dark brown to pale beige. But white hair is fine; it’s a mark of maturity with their species. And please report back at frequent intervals. Any questions?”

Sorn’s mind seethed with questions, but she asked only one. “Weaponry?”

“Take plenty. The Gnairt are ruthless and will do anything to keep control over that planet. You’re one of our best Agents, Sorn, and the young Agent we planted on Earth has a great deal of potential. Make sure he lives to use it.”

“Zack, I hear your crazy cousin, the alien, is moving back to town in a few weeks,” Ken said as he sauntered up to me on the playground, where I was sitting on one of the balance beams.

I gritted my teeth and repeated my mother’s line from last night after I’d said almost the same thing to her. “Cousin Ethan’s not crazy. He’s just . . . attention deprived.”

Ken raised his eyebrows so they disappeared under his thatch of dark hair. “Well, he sure picks a crazy way to get attention.”