An astro-anthro-apoligist from another galaxy, queried me about my overtly professed love for "our form of governance and culture".

I responded in the proper manner warding off evil, and the all present, indivisible, invisible fly-speck drones. "You dare to ask? Yea that I walk in the umbra of the Valley of Death, I fear no evil for IT is with me. Since my birth IT has been with me, guiding, directing, caring and most of all protecting as no other can. Witness all who suffer IT's might in all specters of life."

"Our Holy Books, written by our sages, are they not what the universe wants, Freedom, Life, Liberty and the Happiness Pursuit? We bowed and prayed our prayers and our pledges of love and fealty to IT every day as youth, and we believed and loved IT.

IT, the cloth of our admirations, ITS colors, so ingrained, my love everlasting, and gladly would I throw my self of the unholy hand grenades of those who would dare to do IT harm. I would sacrifice my self and kin, gladly as so many others have done. How could you imagine otherwise, for IT art with me all my days, and unto death. Blessed be IT."

I concluded, words I knew well from my catechism, "Borne am I by ITS mighty strength, I avoid, I turn my eyes and shut my mind to any who dare to blaspheme IT, knowing that IT's wrath is unstoppable, all seeing, seeking and all knowing, bless IT."

My visitor responded to my words with yet more questions, as if that were not enough of an explanation! "But can you see how others might view your love? Look at the facts, the incidents of history that blind you and bind you to this "love" as you call it?"

Much confused I answered, "Who dares to sully our blessed place? Why? Aren't we the light upon the hill, a beacon of love and freedom for others to emulate? Has IT not given much to the world, and they love IT not? What facts, what incident? All were committed as acts of love and protection for ITS followers, kith and kin. IT is a covenant, a promise and IT has been kept. You good sir need psychiatric assistance. You blaspheme. You should return to your planet blind as you are."

He responded, "No my good host, and I don't mean to be rude, I do believe you have been blinded by this love, a love of the captive, giving homage to the one who holds your chains, though these may be chains on your mind and pocketbook, and not carbon steel around your neck and feet."

"My dear alien guest, surely you have your own IT at home that protects you, to whom you owe allegiance" I responded.

"We have a galactic order that keeps things in harmony with nature. We do not go murdering others. If I may give some examples of your tribes recent history, you might pause to rethink the benevolence of ‘IT'. You think this love, terminating people in the name of this ‘IT', when many times the evidence against the accused is little or nonexistent. Or double jeopardy now instituted through the use of a slight rephrasing of ITS laws, from say, a federal case to a civil case. A duck is still a duck even if you now call it a fowl."

"IT is supreme and all knowing. It is the will of the…"

He interrupted "And what about the largest prison population by capita?"

I chuckled, "IT's business, and as you know we can achieve so much with an unlimited labor supply. Just ask the Kim's or the PRC. Look at the pyramids. Don't you just love IT?"

He changed the subject. "Let me ask this, "You have a love song to this ‘IT' as I have discovered?"

"Of course, an anthem of undying love, of respect, and a pledge too! If you haven't discovered it yet. IT's a masterpiece stating IT all so succinctly."

"Have you researched what's been done in the name of this ‘IT'? Agent Orange or chemical warfare if you will, nuclear warfare, genocide, ecological rape of your own home, glory gore, and still… you love‘IT?."

"Sir, I think I've heard about all I want to. IT protects as long as we serve IT, and IT does a blessed job. So be it that others have not the same IT we do. Our IT is stronger and better than any other IT…anywhere."

He was contrite, "I'm sorry, I was rude. Your primitive nation-tribes and your localized love for IT may be true. But it is the love of the captive, of the slave for his master."

"You stated once. No, I'm a free man and so are all the other who love IT. We have free will to do as we care. No one else on the planet has what we have."

My guest answered, "Free will within the constraints as ‘IT' sees fit. That's not free will. That is, for lack of a better word, law. But this ‘IT' is a law unto itself. IT's power here on your planet is unconstrained and it appears to use this power most aggressively."

I retorted, "It can part the seas if IT desires to, or anything else IT deems necessary and proper. And I respect IT and give IT my undivided love and obedience. I would suggest for your own health that you depart this planet and return to from where you came. Your lack of enlightenment is appalling. Because of your blasphemy, I will be forced to send a transcript of this conversation to the Department of Homeland Insecurity. Be gone."

Primitive? That little fool, while he was debating me, IT reverse engineered his craft's systems. Wait until IT visits his defenseless home galaxy.

Ours is a jealous IT. They will come to love IT too.

I will be rewarded.

Aileen walked with John along the dusty track to the Carnival lit up in the darkness of the meadow. She was thankful for the dark, people were less likely to see the bruises. Not that anyone would speak of it. She'd had bruises before.

The sign at the entrance declared, "Dr Simpsons' Carnival of Curiosities. Entry: One Dollar". John paid grudgingly while Aileen kept her face turned away. Once within, the place was crowded with townsfolk, laughing and shouting, their feet kicking up a little dust from the hard trodden ground between the garish tents and stalls.

"What's it to be first?" John asked. "The strongman? The bearded woman?"

"Whatever you choose, John."

John was acting conciliatory for what he'd done but Aileen knew his mood to be mercurial. The smallest slight would set him against her, and if he drank! Oh Lord, if he drank.

A shout from the crowd pulled them onwards to John's cousin and friends. Aileen stood apart as the menfolk slapped each others backs. If she was lucky John would go off with them and leave her be but John was still acting sorry and broke himself free instead. Not before his cousin had given him a jar of something, a little shine from the backwood's still. Nothing made John surly like his cousin's moonshine. Aileen cursed her luck.

"Selena the Snake Woman," shouted a Barker as they drew near. "Born without bones, see her perform feats that will amaze you, astound you!"

The board outside the tent had a caricature of a woman with a snake's tail instead of legs and green, scaly skin. John pulled the flap aside and lead her in.

The woman on the stage had no snake's tail but two perfectly formed legs from what Aileen could see. Her skin was painted green though. There was plenty of skin to see too, for the green woman wore barely a scrap of costume while performing her obscene act. Bending her legs over her head and pulling them wide, the contortionist thrust her hips towards an eager audience of men. John pushed forward, eyes gleaming with lust, lust that he'd put on Aileen before the night was done. Aileen pulled away, towards the back and the exit.

"She's a snake because her blood runs cold even as it makes theirs run hot."

The woman's voice so close to her ear made Aileen jump. She turned and met faded blue eyes, faded like soft denim. The woman was faded too, although she'd been a beauty once. Now she was hard worn and threadbare. Aileen felt sorry for her, thinking how tough life must be travelling with the Carnival from town to town. Aileen saw the pity reflected back at her as the woman stared at Aileen's bruises, studying them intently.

"Do you stay with him for love?" the woman asked.

Aileen nodded, not really believing it but then why else would she still be with a man who treated her so bad.

"The things we do for love."

Aileen hurried away, desperate to be out in the cool night air again. The woman caught her hand before she'd gone a dozen paces.

"There's a special show," she said. "Invitation only. Some things are only for those who can appreciate them."

Aileen would have protested but the look in the woman's eyes hooked her curiosity. The woman lead her on, through the crowds, through the smell of dust, and straw and candy-floss, to a tent beyond the others, small and alone.

"This is my man," the woman said with pride in her voice as she lead Aileen inside to near total darkness.

"You may be shocked at first but when you truly see him you'll understand."

"Understand what?" Aileen asked.

The woman lit an oil lamp and as the yellow flame caught and flickered in the soot stained glass, it reflected dully on the skin of another.

Aileen gasped, a sharp intake of horror. It's flesh was grey, it's head grotesque and large with two huge, glistening, black pools for eyes. No nose, but the small line of a mouth. In a fluid movement it stood up, towering over her on legs so thin it didn't seem right. Aileen couldn't move, she couldn't breath. She could only stare in terror as it reached out and caressed her bruised face with soft, slender fingers.

Aileen's heart skipped.

It didn't skip with horror or fear. It skipped with joy.

She'd never known how empty she'd been, how lonely and alone, or how drab and dark her world. She knew now. Now she was full of love and was loved, she would never be alone again, and everything was full of color and everything was bright. Her sharply indrawn breath of horror was released as a tremulous contented sigh.

The woman stood by the tent opening, tears running freely from her faded blue eyes. "It's hard to love and be loved so much," she said. "I can't bear the weight of it any more. He needs someone stronger, that's why I found you."

Aileen nodded, she understood perfectly.

Outside, John was shouting her name. He was still quite far away but he'd likely been calling for some time. He'd be angry when he found her.

"All that remains is to free you of your obligation." The woman pulled a knife from the folds of her dress and held the tent open.

"The things we do for love," the woman said and then was gone.

Aileen turned into her lover's cool embrace, breathing deeply the musk of dust, straw and candy-floss that surrounded her. Somewhere outside, John's shouting was cut off right in the middle of calling her name.

"I knew you were not the monster that everyone said you were," Kayla said. Her Ferrari-red hair filtered the morning sunlight. Really, if it weren't for us you might have ended up as some hunter's stuffed trophy! Especially running around the forests with that stupid ape-like mask and bear-like costume on!"

"The mask and costume are a disguise that has protected us from the world, and you know that, " Teddy said. "I owe you and your brother so much. That is certain…but…I must leave soon," Teddy said, Kayla's name for this bigfoot she and her brother saved from an illegal-bear trap that was set near the river.

"Why?"

"My tribe would not approve of us together. Really, just think for a second— what would you family say if you brought me to your shelter?"

Kayla sprang to her feet and placed her hands on her hips, then said: "I don't care what my family thinks!"

As Kayla stood looking at Teddy with two eyes that mimicked laser beams, Teddy, sitting on a log, placed his hands on each side of his head, then slowly shook his head and mumbled: "Why me—why me! My father said that after seventeen summers a female would be attracted to me. But I'm sure he didn't mean this!"

Kayla ran. And Teddy followed shouting Kayla..Kaya as he limped after her. She stopped when she reached the river, and started to cry as she held her shoulders with her crossed arms. The sun beamed through the crisp-early-morning air that harbored traces of fog that clung to the river as if it were hot-water waiting to explode into steam when reaching its boiling point.

Teddy reached the river. He slowed down. Kayla eyes looked to the side, then she looked into the misty river and whispered to herself. Words she uttered were not clear to Teddy; they didn't have to be, for he softly stroked her hair as he had many times during his recovery. A deer not far away didn't run or even hesitate while eating some mountain laurel as Teddy and Kayla stood together, in silence.

Then Teddy hugged her, and gently held her while she cried and sobbed and nestled her head into his broad-muscular chest now void of hair for he hadn't donned his disguise, yet.

"Watch that deer over there. It knows things without ever learning them. Things that are inborn and natural as Nature intended. Elemental rules that have guided the stars and aided in giving birth to all living things on this and other worlds. Believe me. Other worlds out there exist with beings not so different from you and…" Teddy started to say.

Kayla broke free. The deer raised its head. Teddy stepped back and Kayla shouted: "I'm not stupid you know. I've had biology, English literature——I bet you don't know about Shakespeare and Einstein and Thomas Edison! See! We even had men on the moon! I never heard of a bigfoot on the moon!"

"Please don't call me a bigfoot. You know I hate that—-title. We're Approhonians, that name given us from antiquity by the great leader Orion. Please, Kayla," Teddy said.

An feeling turned Kayla's eyes away. She shrieked. A large-graying bigfoot stood at the edge of the forest facing her and Teddy. Teddy's eye's widened and then he smiled and said: "Father, I was trapped. My foot almost ripped off. She helped me to recover at great sacrifice…she never told anyone about me. It was her brother, a healer that believes in Nature's rights of freedom that nurtured me and swore his sister to secrecy. Without their help I would have been captured—-alive.

Kayla trembled. Her eyes grew large and dark as she watched the bigfoot walk over to her and say: "Is that true, human?"

Kayla nodded her head up and down.

Teddy's father then looked at Teddy and said: "You should not have removed your outer garments! You know the fifth rule of Orion.! No outsider can see us as we are! Why have you done this?"

Kayla stopped shaking. Her eyes narrowed and she said: "Me and my brother who's a Veterinarian removed that stupid costume! Without our help Teddy would have died! Why didn't you come get him? Huh? It's been two months!"

"Oh, please Kayla… please don't say those things to my father—-please," Teddy said.

Teddy's father removed his mask. Kayla's face soften and her eyes relaxed, and she let out a breath of air while looking at Teddy's father now bearing his true appearance. She smiled as she studied his face.

"I apologize. I must realize that not all humans are hunters. Many are nice and many have helped our people, especially the ones known as Indians. But for us to survive and prosper we must remain hidden until it is time for us to become known. And that time is not yet," Teddy's father said.

"Then leave!" Kayla said. She ran back into the forest, Teddy started after her, but his father stopped him, grabbing one of his shoulders. Teddy stopped immediately.

"Forget your garments, we must leave now," Teddy's father said.

Once deep within the forest, Teddy's father said: "She will forget her affection for you soon. Females pout about things, then hate, but after a while she'll realize the merits of my decision, for these humans are not really unlike us!

Zhu Anji could truthfully say he now possessed everything he had ever desired in his life: the thirty-year-old Chinese building contractor was incredibly rich - part of the most modern towns in his country had been entirely built thanks to his business; he was undoubtedly handsome; and he was bursting with good health. His body was slender, well-proportioned and he had an attractive face topped-off by a full head of black hair.

There was almost nothing that he wished for that seemed to be out of range for him: sports, car races, games of chance, he had everything at hand. But instead of simply having a good time and savouring his life, one thing was always on his mind more than everything else: sex!

He was a playboy well-known throughout his country and also internationally. There was not a renowned actress or beautiful model he hadn't already spent one night with. After dating all the most notable and most wondrous women in China, the man had finally turned his attention to the most renowned and loved women abroad, so he had begun collecting several love affairs with many famous women from the world of fashion. There was apparently no kind of girl he didn't like or didn't search for: Indonesian TV announcers, Swedish dancers and Venezuelan hot babes. But he proved to be never satisfied, he wanted more and more, so his unending lust made him go abroad, always looking for new beautiful women. Brunettes or blonde, fair-skinned or tanned, of northern or southern birth, not one of them appeared to be unreachable to him.

Many said he had a sexual addiction, and the newspapers usually called him by many other names like degenerate or mad about deep lasciviousness and the worst excesses. But the man didn't care; he liked to live as he thought best and to have a good time under any circumstances. Until one day Zhu, who was now 38, decided he was fed up of all those brief love affairs, he needed more! And something new which would renew his appetite, certainly…

It happened one day when he was inspecting a new structure built in Guilin, in the northeast region, that he noticed an ancient but still flashy mural painted in a religious palace. It represented a slim, spectacular woman with long curls and a wonderful face. Such a wondrous image seemed just to protrude out of the wall itself! Zhu soon asked the monks what that painting was about and they told him it was a work of art: it had been built to honor a legendary Huli jing who was thought to be capable of assuming human form and was endowed with immortality. She was said to be living in the jungles around there since the oldest times and was a representation of love, lust and attractiveness, even though others simply thought of her as a dangerous monster.

The playboy immediately asked if they thought that such a creature was true and those simply smiled in return, revealing that she used to appear before anyone who really loved women or was looking for a true love.

Since that moment, Zhu had been aching for an encounter with her, desiring to meet that beautiful woman, and finally it happened! One night a soft wind was fondling the meadow outside the window of his refined hotel room when suddenly the glass door opened. The man saw a slender figure on the balcony, it was a female presence, better, she was the most beautiful woman Zhu had ever seen. Her body appeared to be half-naked, enveloped in a transparent light gray dress that let him imagine everything.

The female figure entered the room, approaching the bed he was lying on and reached him. Before Zhu could even speak or object the woman shook her head to silence him, then simply touched his chest and kissed him vehemently. The man soon responded to her gesture and kissed her deeply.

It was only after they had made love all night that Zhu dared to ask her, "Who are you really? Why are you here?"

She told him: "I'm the Huli jing called Gui. Your yearning invoked me yesterday and here I am, with you!" The answer pleased the man, but before she said anything —in his heart— he already knew the answer.

It was only early in the morning that the woman arose from the bed,went towards the glass door again and exited the hotel room.

"Will you be back, my love?" Zhu asked her.

"Every night, for as long as you stay here, my dear…" the other smiled. So the man was reassured and stayed in bed for a while.

The Huli jing moved away from the hotel, completely unseen, and walked into the jungle nearby. She followed a hidden path through the undergrowth that only Gui seemed to be able to see. Then she entered a clearing where she found another older Huli jing, just like her. The Elder's hair was darker, and the head of the other one looked more slender and pointed.

"How is that love interest of yours going?"

"Not bad, he's already mine! You know, humans are narrow-minded. After all, he should be glad that I'm not a profiteer or a gold-digger who would waste all his resources by always asking for more and more, for gifts like precious stones, necklaces and expensive dresses…"

"It's very good for him, after all, that you're not that kind of creature."

"No, I'm not…I just satisfy my senses by draining all of his life energy, day by day, slowly, until the moment comes when he will only be an empty shell in the end…"

"So the story goes, he gets what he thinks he needs…"

"…and I get all the rest, as usual," Gui sneered.

"Precious stones and expensive gifts would have cost him much less, for sure…" the other Huli jing considered.

"Darn it Daisy Dukes! Why do they make those commercials so loud?" The woman holding the cleaver stopped chopping the meat on the counter, putting her arms over her ears.

"Buzz, Buzz, buzz," blared the sound coming from the living room.

The small dog sitting on a chair in the corner whimpered and the irritating sound subsided.

"That's better," said the woman, returning to chopping up the chicken, separating the wing from the breast. She floured the portion and dropped it into the hot grease in the frying pan.

She looked out the small window over the sink and marveled at the gently rolling hills in the distance. "I never knew how much I missed Virginia until you convinced me to move back home." She looked over at the medium-sized border collie who perked up her ears. The pair happily listened to the sound of the chicken sizzling in the pan.

"Daisy Dukes, could you go out to the back room and get some more meat from the freezer?" She looked at the dog who cocked her head sideways, inquisitively. The woman chuckled at her joke while washing her hands. "Oh that's right – you're just a widdle biddy puppy, aren't you?" She walked over to the dog and scratched behind its right ear. "Who's mama's good dog? Who is it? Who is it?"

"It's me," replied the dog.

"Yeah, that's right – it's Miss Dukes."

The woman walked to the back door, held her breath, and opened it. She stepped through the air lock, into the domed, silver room – grabbing a chunk of meat before going back inside her kitchen. Maggie threw the frozen meat into the sink and began running hot water over it, hoping to quick-thaw it. She looked out over the darkening hills in the distance, where a crescent moon was rising.

"That's odd," she said with wonder. "Where's the other moon? Oh, that's right, this planet only has one satellite." She looked over at the dog that watched her with huge brown eyes and chuckled nervously. "I'm so silly. Of course Earth only has one moon. What was I thinking, silly me." She turned off the burner on the stove and began putting part of the fried chicken into the dog's food bowl, who immediately came over to eat up the tasty meal.

She put a plate full of fried chicken and lima beans on the table and began to enjoy the meal as well. "I had the strangest dream last night, Daisy. I dreamed I was living on Mars – yes Mars! I was in a tiny dome and there were other people there who were running and – well, then I was the only one left."

"I had that same nightmare," said the dog. "And in my dream, I came to rescue you – making sure that the rest of those bad people didn't hurt you. And then you saved me by making sure I had plenty to eat."

"That's right. And doggies need meat to keep them strong." The woman was busy now cleaning up the kitchen, loading her dishwasher. "I'm so glad you helped me get back home. I was so unhappy, waiting, waiting for those other people to arrive – and they just didn't come. You know how much I hate to wait on people. It's just as easy to be ten minutes early as ten minutes late!"

Why hadn't more humans come to Mars as planned? Why hadn't the colonists heard from Earth in over two years? Had the people of Earth finally killed each other off? Had there been a plague? More than likely the funding had been cut as people simply lost interest, leaving the ten people on Mars to live out their lives alone, with no hope of rescue, in their very expensive prison.

The dog looked up for a minute, and the woman began laughing. "Imagine me back on Mars! What a nightmare! I'd much rather be right here with my widdle biddy Daisy Dukes." She leaned over to pet the black and white furry animal on the back and noticed the dog felt like cold wet leather. She pulled her hand back quickly, but softened, as she stared into the dog's big brown eyes.

"I love you Miss Dukes. If you eat all that I'll fix you some more."

Maggie went over and sat down at the table to finish her supper.

While the human was busy eating her supper, the Glasathon finished and sat down on its behind, curling its six legs around it. He looked at the woman that some would have called a monster for killing others of her species in this tiny outpost of humanity. But no one could have known how lonely she was with only the other humans for company. No one could have known how much she longed to look out a window and see the rolling green hills of her cozy home. The small creature still marveled at the depth of what she labeled ‘homesickness', and her love for the tiny, furry animal she had left behind on Earth.

But that was okay. Soon the swarm would come and the Glasathonians would pick him up on their way to Earth, and they would all profit from the borrowed images inside Plunth's mind. He looked again at the delusional woman and realized that somewhere, deep down, he loved this monster who cared so much about him. And she really was an excellent cook. He hoped his comrades would come soon, so he wouldn't have to drag her down and rip her apart, devouring her like they had devoured every member of the colonists of Mars Won.