Julie could hear Charlie Hanson coming up the walk. She heard the thud of his footsteps and the slight hissing
of his shoe soles when they dragged on the concrete. Julie could imagine the swing of his stride, the way he'd
glance from side to side before he came on the porch to knock. He rapped his knuckles against the solid oak of
her door. The rocking chair squeaked a little as she continued to move it gently back and forth. She'd found
that just the barest tap of her toe on the floor could keep her rocking for hours at a time.
"Julie, you in there?" Charlie said.
She could hear him plain enough; the window was open. She could even hear the way he fidgeted. Charlie
didn’t out-right fidget. He always had his hands in his pockets, but if you heard the constant jingle of coins as
he riffled through them, why, you knew the state of Charlie Hanson’s nerves. Those coins jingled right along
today.
"You going to answer the door, Julie Bradley?"
She grinned. He knew she was in here. Where else would she be on a Friday afternoon? That was Stillbrook
for you. Everybody knew everybody else's business. Charlie had been her husband Frank's best friend, and he
thought he knew her pretty well -- enough to keep after her to take up her duties. She tapped her foot on the
floor, pleased with the way the rocking chair kept up a steady, metronomic movement.
"You're going to have to come out and face this sometime, Julie Bradley, or I reckon we're going to do this
without you."
Julie snorted softly. As if they hadn't made up their minds already. She frowned a little. Now she sounded like
Bob Tilley. He always voted against the town's decisions, and always loud-mouthed enough to shout down
Charlie’s softer voice. She listened to Charlie's retreat and pushed away her niggling worry. Charlie was pretty
level-headed. He could handle Bob Tilley.
Twenty minutes had gone by when the phone rang. That would be Cora Mae Paskey, one of the few with gall
enough to walk where angels feared to tread. Julie thought about not answering but the persistent ring of the
phone cut up her peace. She got up, the hitch in her hip she had developed lately biting her with sullen teeth.
She picked up the receiver.
"Yes, Cora Mae, what is it?"
"Julia Carol Bradley, you get right on down to this meeting!"
"What for? You'd think none of you'd ever seen an alien before the way you're all carrying on," Julie said dryly.
"Not in Stillbrook we haven't! Why didn't you answer the door when Charlie knocked?"
"Does a person have to answer the door every time someone knocks on it?" Julie asked in her most reasonable
tone of voice.
"For God’s sake, Julie, you’ve got to come down here! That alien is sitting up there on the stage and he won't
speak until you get here!"
Charlie's voice. He must have grabbed the receiver out of Cora's hand.
"You're planning on telling him, her, or it that they can build their relay tower here anyway. Why do I need to be
there?"
"Because it's your land they want to put it on! And to top that off, he won't speak until all the town's leaders are
here. That airhead Amelia Jackson just happened to mention that you're the mayor. Evidently he knows what
that word means."
Julie sighed. She'd have to go down to the meeting or she’d never hear the end of it.
"All right, I'll be there, but don't even talk to me about using my land," Julie said, and hung up in the middle of
Charlie's thanks.
Julie checked her reflection in the hall mirror and frowned. She looked older than her forty-six years. The lines
went deep around her mouth and a lot of gray peppered her dark hair. It looked straggly and unkempt, that
hair; when was the last time she'd had it trimmed? Its shining brown length used to be her pride and joy. Julie
realized with a start that she hadn't been to the beauty salon since Frank's death a year before. She tried to pin
her hair into a knot, then gave it up as hopeless. She took a sweater from the hall closet. Autumn chilled the
days now, and it was a fifteen-minute walk to the school gym.
The late fall air seeped into her nostrils like wine and smoke. The quiet of a graveyard lay over Stillbrook and
Julie thought nearly everyone must be down at the gym trying to catch a glimpse of the alien. She felt the first
dim stirring of curiosity. She'd never seen a Breshean in the flesh before. When they were on television, you
could almost pretend they were just a figment of someone's imagination. Five years was a long time to ignore
something that fateful, that momentous, but she'd been doing just that. Frank had always been excited about
the Bresheans. For him, they stood as a symbol of hope for Earth's future, something to look forward to, a goal
toward which to work. All she'd seen were the changes their presence had brought.
She looked at the expanse of blue sky in the surrounding countryside. Soon it would be marred with one of the
Bresheans' relay towers. Stillbrook would never be the same. Her stomach felt as if it had a knot of pain in it.
While she watched, a Breshean vessel went silently past, high overhead, traveling to an unknown destination. If
you squinted, you might think it was a jet with no sound. Julie sighed.
Cars and pickups surrounded the gym like flies around sugar water. Bright paint and chrome glittered in the
sunlight, blinding her. She glanced over at the school and saw faces in every window. So much for class today,
she thought wryly. The circus is in town. Stillbrook hadn't seen this much excitement since Gerald Dean's
daughter, Amanda, had gone off her meds and holed up in the Dean house, holding the sheriff off with one of
her daddy's hunting rifles.
Julie slipped past the die-hard curiosity seekers and news reporters camped outside. Even after five years, the
Bresheans were news, especially when the relay tower was being voted into a small, obscure town like
Stillbrook. Only people registered in Grant township, however, could actually attend the meeting.
Julie entered a little-used side entrance. The impression of too many bodies in one place bore in on her.
Everybody voting age and over in Stillbrook packed onto the gym’s shiny hardwood floors. People she'd known
all her life greeted her.
"Nice to see you out and about," Donna Hood whispered.
Old Mrs. Jones said bluntly, "It's about time you stopped moping around the house and let Frank pass on in
peace."
Julie felt her face freeze and close up. Why did they think they could interfere into every aspect of her life?
She'd mourn Frank her way; they could mourn their dead their way.
A commotion behind her brought her head around. Bob Tilley stood in the doorway to the gym, toting his ever-
present shotgun under his arm and arguing with the school superintendent, Tim Sells, who flat told him he
wasn't bringing that shotgun onto school property. That must be giving the reporters outside a good show. Bob
Tilley got loud and red in the face. Tim got a little hot and bothered as well. Julie went over to them.
"Tilley, you take that shotgun and put it right back in your truck or I'm fining you a hundred dollars for disturbing
the peace."
He glared at her. She faced him down.
"But, Julie -- "
"I mean it, Bob. This is no place for a shotgun."
Muttering, he turned and went out, presumably to do as she'd told him.
"Thanks," Tim said, relief on his face.
Julie looked at the stage. Charlie had been watching; he gave her a nod. He beckoned for her to come up on
the stage but she ignored him. Her eyes slid past and stopped on the alien. Later, she remembered thinking,
oh, so that's what they look like in person. At that moment, however, Julie felt conscious only of the Breshean's
alieness and the way the blood roared in her ears. Small wonder Tilley had wanted his shotgun.
Bresheans were not so much different from humans. In fact, the two species had more points of similarity than
not. Maybe that was the trouble. Something with tentacles and bug eyes might have been easier to take than a
man -- a man a little too tall and too thin and far too pale, but a man, nevertheless. The Breshean's presence
murmured at her senses, keeping her on edge. Julie found an empty seat and took it.
"I'd like to know where the devil they're going to put their fancy tower if they vote it in," Gerald Martin growled
from somewhere near Julie. "The only good place is the hill outside of town, but that's on Bradley land. If they
think Julie's going to let them do that, they've got cowpiles for brains. She's already made her feelings real clea
-- What!"
Julie looked around soon enough to see Marjorie Martin give her an agonized glance and punch her husband in
the side. Marjorie fiercely whispered something at him and he subsided with a low grumble.
Julie looked back at the stage. Cora Mae scowled at her from her chair as city clerk. The Breshean nodded at
Charlie who stood up and went to the microphone. He cleared his throat and a discreet silence fell on the
assembly.
"As all of you know, I'm Alderman Charlie Hanson --"
"Yeah, we know who you are, now let's get to the important stuff!" a voice heckled from the back. A titter swept
the audience.
Charlie looked black. "That's what I'm trying to do if you'd shut up long enough to let me!"
Fresh laughter brought the red into Charlie's cheeks. He gave Julie a harassed stare that said he thought she
ought to be up here doing her job. Well, running for mayor had been a big mistake. She remembered how
happy she'd been when she'd beat out Kip Tyler, how proud Frank had been of her, how she was really going to
do something special for Stillbrook. Now a year and a half later nothing had changed in the town and Frank was
gone. The knot of pain in her stomach grew. She caught herself rocking in the seat and stopped.
"You all know what we're here for tonight," Charlie said. "I think we can dispense with reading the minutes of the
previous meeting, so I'll introduce Ambassador Alt -- Altemire from the Breshean Empire who can explain
everything a whole lot better than I can."
Altemire stood up and approached the microphone. His body might look thin and ungainly, Julie noted, but his
movements were graceful.
"A truly heroic effort on Mr. Hanson's part over the pronunciation of my name," Altemire said.
The crowd laughed and gave scattered applause, and Charlie looked gratified. Julie grinned. Give the alien
points for a graceful character, too, she thought.
"I'll be brief," Altemire said in his soft voice. "Your government and my empire have made agreements. For
some of our technology and an exchange of ideas, Earth has agreed to let us place a relay tower for our
communications here. This sector of space is sparsely inhabited, and a great deal of distance exists between
the heart of the empire and our outer citizen worlds. Reliable communications will benefit all of us. Once you
have installed the proper receiving equipment, you will be able to pick up our signals."
Julie felt dizzy. It hit her all at once that Earth's billions were as nothing to the teeming trillions of the empire this
alien so casually mentioned. Beings lived out their lives somewhere who had nothing to do with the Earth; who
probably didn’t even know the location of this little planet in the backwater of the galaxy. The realization gave
her all the sensation of walking over an unexpected cliff. Julie looked at Altemire from underneath her brows.
What kind of thoughts do you think, Breshean? she asked silently. Do you think about how you change the
cultures you touch?
"We chose Stillbrook for the location of the Western hemisphere relay tower because it is away from your cities,"
Altemire continued. “We felt that the tower should be in an open countryside where it would cause the least
disturbance.”
Julie read the delicate undertone. Far enough out of a city to be less of a tourist attraction, but not so far away
from civilized society that said society couldn’t protect it from anyone thinking to hold the tower a political
hostage. Another mark for his intelligence.
"Please understand that if you vote not to have the tower here, we will respect that decision. It will mean change
for your community -- great change, but you will still be the people of Stillbrook. Nothing can change that."
Scattered applause greeted his speech. Altemire's dark eyes rested on Julie for an instant, then moved on.
Julie hovered on the brink of a vast and awful surprise -- she laughed silently and shook off her fancy. A
coincidence, she thought. A sudden vision of Frank's excited face rose in her mind when the first Breshean
ships had landed. "Julie, they're going to turn this old world upside down!" They'd done that, all right. The knot
in her stomach eased a little. For once, Frank's memory hadn't upset her.
"What will the tower look like?" someone called out.
Altemire touched a button on a wide belt encircling his thin waist. A tower glowed into existence on the stage,
detailed and three-dimensional. A gasp circuited the room, then a low murmur of voices. Julie's breath caught
in her throat. It was beautiful. It resembled Earth's mess of steel girders like a butterfly did a toad. A tall,
slender pyramidal crystal shot like a spear point of light toward the ceiling.
"This is like what you would call a hologram," Altemire said, and indicated the shining structure. "This is how the
tower will appear."
"How do they do that?" Julie heard a neighbor murmur. The knot of pain in her stomach unwound a little more.
"I nominate we vote on it right now!" Cora Mae said. Several seconds came from the floor.
"All right," Charlie said into the microphone when Altemire yielded it to him. "Let the nomination stand. Cora
Mae will pass out a slip of paper and a pencil to each of you. Just write yes or no on it, fold it up, and put it in
the hats we'll be passing around."
Cora Mae tried to catch Julie's eye while passing out the paper and pencils. Julie kept her head down and
marked her decision firmly. She folded the ballot and put it into the hat as it passed. Jack Trothman and
Charlie had been counting votes as soon as a full hat came up on stage. When all the votes had been
tabulated, Charlie stood up.
"The yes votes have it by simple majority. The votes cast were 427 for, 36 against. Stillbrook will be the
location of the Breshean's relay tower," Charlie said.
Excited voices and laughter ran around the room like wildfire.
"Now that we've voted in the tower, we need to vote on a place for it," Charlie continued. "I'll remind you that the
nomination must have the approval of the person who owns the land."
Silence.
"I nominate the hill on Julie Bradley's land!" Cora Mae said in a loud, defiant voice.
"I second that nomination," Donna Hood said.
Charlie looked at Julie and waited. Julie bowed to the inevitable. In honor of Frank's memory, it should stand on
Bradley land. She gave Charlie a short nod.
"Let the nomination stand," Charlie said with a satisfied tone in his voice.
#
Julie rocked steadily. She heard light footsteps on the porch and a tap at the front door. She leaped to her
feet. If one of those nosy, prying reporters and have-no-fear camera crews stood on her porch this time of night
she was getting Frank's rifle out of the gun cabinet, by God, she was! Julie strode to the door and snatched it
open, a dark fire of anger in her brown eyes. Shock replaced anger when she saw Altemire in the light that
spilled onto the porch.
"Hello, Julie, may I come in?" he asked. When she hesitated, he added, "I'm here as a friend, not an
ambassador."
Julie stood aside and Altemire came into her living room. His presence in familiar surroundings made him seem
more real, a personality. No longer an abstract on television, or something that could be ignored. Change had
come right here to her living room and indirectly asked to be her friend.
Everything looked smaller and duller in contrast to the Breshean. He stood and looked at her, and her anger of
a moment before seemed juvenile in retrospect. Altemire's clear eyes circled the room and fell on the rocking
chair. Suddenly she felt embarrassed, as if she had been caught doing something harmful. Julie tried to ignore
her strange feelings.
"I came in the darkness because I did not wish to be seen and followed by your persistent media," he said.
Julie looked at him sharply. His voice didn't fool her. A frank and open grin crossed her face for the first time.
"Slipped by them, did you? I'm amazed. They're like hounds; they can smell a fox a mile away."
He puzzled out her figure of speech then nodded, his eyes gleaming. "I came to ask if you would like to see the
tower. It is operational, now, and very beautiful in the moonlight."
"What about the big opening ceremony with all the reporters and the dignitaries and the crowds?" Julie asked.
"I thought that was when you were going to turn it on for the first time."
He made a gesture with his fingers. She thought it might mean the same thing as a shrug of the shoulders.
"I wanted you to see it first," Altemire said. "You must live with the tower everyday. This will be your ceremony --
your change."
Julie's head jerked and she stared at him but his calm expression did not alter. "All right. I'll get my sweater,"
she said.
They left the house by the back door. She had been carefully not looking before when the Bresheans brought
the tower in one piece and set it on the hill yesterday in front of a crowd of thousands. Most of those people
hadn’t been Stillbrook people and she hadn’t wanted to see them in her town.
Julie’s eyes homed in on it at once. The tower shone with a milky radiance, a pure white finger pointed to the
sky.
Oh, Frank, if only you could have been here to see this! she thought in bittersweet pain.
Altemire led her up the hill. As she got closer to the tower, she felt a humming vibration in her body.
"Resonance," Altemire said. "It doesn't get any more powerful than what you'll feel right at the foot of the tower."
Julie saw someone standing like a black blot against the milkiness of the tower and she stopped.
"My mate, Thebe," Altemire said.
Thebe stepped forward and looked down at Julie from her graceful Breshean height. Her eyes gleamed softly in
the tower's glow.
"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Julie," Thebe said in a formal yet eager voice. "It is long we have
waited to build this link between our worlds."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Thebe," Julie said.
"Take my hand, Julie." Thebe reached for her hand. The touch of the Breshean was cool and silky. "Do you
hear the voice of your loved one? There is no need for you to rock in your chair, only to remember and be
happy."
"Thebe," Altemire said in a warning tone of voice. "Do not go so fast! They do not have that ability -- they do
not understand yet."
"How did you know --" Julie whispered, then she felt the vibrating warmth of the tower behind her as it entered
her blood and spoke to the pain that had been her constant companion for over a year. She began to cry.
"Nonsense, Altemire," Thebe said. "They will do well. Especially this one. Our choice is good. She will be a
strong link between our peoples."
Not yet fully understanding, just barely perceiving the edges of the vast change that had just engulfed her, Julie
looked up at the slender spire of the tower as it sang softly to the stars and let the pain go at long last.
end
