�� Shyly, awkwardly, I came to a sudden stop. � Weslee, who was ambling along still grumbling about the missed opportunity to get some candy, must not have noticed that I had stopped. � He ran right into my backside. � In my former body I would have been slammed into the floor by his great bulk. � As it was was we both tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs, both hirsute and smooth. ��As we seperated ourselves and I got sheepishly to my feet, I was wondering why Perki was making such a big production of my presence. � I had not proved myself yet to be a valuable asset to the revolution. � And besides all that it was like she was waving a red flag in Hudzabee's direction. But maybe I had completely misunderstood? � I decided to just wait her out and see where she was going with this. � I smiled at her and found myself bobbing my head like an idiot in Hudzabee's direction. � I forced myself to stop that as I waited to see what Perki would say or do next. � And as I waited I studied him.

�� The first, obvious thing I noticed was the fact that he was clothed. � He was wearing a white floor length robe that hung about him in several folds. � "Why is he wearing clothes when I've yet to see anyone else in this future world dressed in anything?" I wondered. � A possible answer, I supposed, was that people did wear clothing for certain social functions and that he had just come from something like that and hadn't yet had time to get comfortable, natural. � (And speaking of comfortable, I did not feel uncomfortable with the fact that he was dressed and I was not in the presence of a female. � That no longer intimidated me. � Perhaps the enhancement I had gone through had completed the psychological process I had started when I had decided to stick with the local custom of not wearing clothes? In any case, it now seemed odd to see someone who WAS wearing clothes.)

��� The next thing I noticed about him was the fact that he had a bitter air about him. � He was obviously similar to Perki yet he did not have the serene, supremely confident air about him that Perki did. � In fact seeing them together, made me see things about Perki that I had failed to completely notice before. � There WAS an "angelic" air about their persons that was hard to define, yet it was definitely there. They didn't have pointed ears, they didn't have wings, they didn't have a halo (unless you counted the way Perki could light up her body -- I had hoped that was a sign of her being some kind of "wild Card") ,but there WAS a softness, smoothness to their countenance that was definitely not human. � And they both had skin that was alabaster white, almost as if they had been painted with milk. � Additionally, the nipples of Perki's breasts were a pink that was only seen in the petals of some flowers. � She had no pubic hair. � In fact she had no eyebrows or eyelashes or other body hair. � The only hair was on her head. �Perki and Hudzabee BOTH were definitely Tuatha, BOTH definitely alien!

�� Shaking my head, wondering why I had not noticed all this before, it suddenly came to me. � First of all, I had thought (Hoped! � I mean, just because she claimed immortality did that neccessarily make her an alien?) with her alabaster skin that Perki might be some variety of albino -- despite the fact that her eyes were not pink. � But seeing them together (it was wonderful what a little juxtaposition could do! I thought in a self mocking tone) and seeing that Hudzabee had the same skin tone on his visible skin -- hands, face -- I realized that smooth, alabaster skin was undoubtedly a species trait. But what about her lack of body hair? How did I explain misinterpreting that? Well, I had heard that the rare individual had been born with way too much hair. � I'd asked myself: � Wasn't it possible that a wild card gene could crop up that would cause a person to be born with no hair except on her head? � Now I knew I couldn't excuse it that way. �Hudzabee had no eyebrows either, nor any fine hair on his hands or the portion of his arms that were showing. � And how did I misinterpret the odd color of her nipples? � Believe it or not, I hadn't looked at them THAT closely. � But now that I knew she was TRULY alien and HAD looked more closely I could see it WAS an odd shade of pink for nipples since it had no other hues mixed in -- the nipples were carnation pink, plain and simple. � I was still mulling over several things -- my previous lack of observation, how a person can see what they WANT to see, how I NOW knew that they WERE male and female of a DIFFERENT species, how I could NO longer, in ANY way try to fool myself that Perki was possibly a human masquerading as an alien for whatever strange reason, and, MOST importantly, how I was still attracted to her despite it all -- when I was dragged from my reverie by the fact that Perki was taking a very stern tone with Hudzabee.

�� I hadn't been listening so I only caught the end of what Perki said to him, "Hudzabee -- I hate to tell you this, but now that we have the Doc here, we don't need you anymore. � This is the end of the need to play the charade. � You will of course understand." � I had thought I was convinced by all the observations I'd just made that she and Hudzabee were truly, really aliens. � But all that was just in my head. � I mean, not that I'd been deluded, but instead that my gut still hadn't felt it. � What Perki did then made me feel it deep, deep down in my gut.

�� The best way I can describe it is that Perki "LOVED" him to death! � She put her arms around him, lit up like she had before, smiled at him in the most sweetest way I had ever seen and kissed him full on the mouth. � Hudzabee got a radiant look on his face -- the sort of radiant look you saw (in pictures) on the face of martyrs as they were dying and being received into heavens -- held that look for a moment or two then suddenly gasped, sagged in her arms and I had no doubt that he was dead. � The beatific look did not fade from his dead face.

�� I stood there stunned, the reality of who Perki was permeating down to the smallest molecule of my body. � I could not think beyond that. � Finally Weslee broke the spell I was in by whispering to me, "Doc. � It turns out that the Tuatha were the "messengers of God" spoken of and written about in the Bible. � Or at least they were concluded to be. � That's why Perki was talking earlier about it being a time to end superstition. � You see why I called her an angel?"

�� I was still stunned into immobility and insensibility when Perki laid Hudzabee's body down and then came over to where Weslee and I was standing. � Suddenly I blurted out, "With a power like that what do you need me for?" This time I didn't slap my hands over my face like I was belatedly trying to stop myself from saying something I'd immediately regretted. � I didn't regret saying this. � If anything I feared her, but I WAS going to have the cards out in the open.

�� She held her hands out to me, palms out and the look on her face suggested that I had hurt her so bad that I might as well go ahead and actually kill her. � What she said then turned my opinion of her around 180 degrees -- back to where it had been. � And it also gave me a new respect for her. "It only works on my species. � And then only on close relatives. � Hudzabee was my brother!" And then she began crying copiously, tears running down her face unimpeded by her.

�� I couldn't help myself. � I took her into my arms and cried right along with her. � Alien or no alien, immortal or no immortal, Perki was a "person" just like I was. � The same way that Weslee was. And I loved her even more now because I knew that she not just an ideal, but was someone good who I COULD love. � (This is of course not to mention how good her smooth naked body felt in my grasp. � But I was not turned on by it THEN. )

�� After a few moments Weslee interrupted our little scene. � "Uh, guys. � I mean this is all very touching and all, but have you forgot we STILL have a battle to wage?"

�� Perki disengaged herself from my grasp, dried her eyes and gave me a shaky smile.��I dried my eyes with the back of my hand, wishing that I had my T shirt back. � It would've been good for that if nothing else.��I looked at Weslee. � There were suspicious drops of moisture in the corners of his eyes. � But he was giving me a casual, defiant glance as if he was daring me to say something. � I winked at him and didn't make an issue out of it. Instead I turned to Perki and said, "There was something said about some weapons, wasn't there?"

�� Perki nodded, still unable to speak. � Instead she motioned for Weslee and I to follow her. � As we left the room I was about to ask Perki what about Hudzabee's body, but then the point was moot. He began to shimmer like a mirage of water on the highway and then he was gone. � I didn't even want to ask. � Instead I followed her and Weslee from the room without a backward glance.

�� We went back outside into the courtyard. � We crossed the courtyard until we came to the "altar". � Once again Weslee had to be restrained by a look from Perki to keep him from going for the candy. � After that we went behind the altar where Perki brushed away the altar skirt and crawled under. � Weslee and I followed on hands and knees also. � Once we were all under the altar a few feet Perki lit herself up and I could see that there was a a large metal ring set in what looked like the ground itself. � But when Perki lifted on the ring, a trapdoor, covered by chalky dirt, was revealed. � By the considerable light coming off Perki's body I could see that there was a set of stone stairs leading down into the earth.

�� I looked inquiringly at Perki. � She smiled serenely, as if she was showing me the location of heaven rather than where weapons were being cached. � It seemed she was her old self, then. � Or else she was giving a darn fine act. I decided not to probe. � I motioned for Perki to lead the way since she was still lit up and the stairway would be impossibly dark without her light. � Perki nodded aquiesence and started down. � I followed her and Weslee followed me -- as a sort of rear guard, letting the trapdoor down behind him. � Once we reached the foot of the stairs I could see a short hall leading towards a door. � When we had traversed the hall and had gone through the doorway into the room beyond, I stopped dead in my tracks, looking around in awe.

�� Even though the stairs and short hallway were not illuminated apparently there was a source of power in the room somewhere since Perki put her palm on a wall plate and the edges of the ceiling lit up, casting a bluish white light into the room that was plenty sufficient to see by.� The aura around Perki diminished and then disappeared. � I thought it made sense to only have the room powered for light; it would minimize the chances of someone finding their way in or even wanting to try since they could easily assume that the blackness in the stairway meant it went to someplace abandoned. � But I quickly forgot all about that as I gave Perki a questioning look. � Obviously she could see what was on my mind. � "Weslee is more of an expert on these things than I am," She gestured that he should give me a guided tour, then stood with a moue of distaste on her face as Weslee guided me around the objects stored there. (This time the back of his T shirt said, "All you need are the "Bear" necessities". � WHERE did he get these changes of T shirts?)

�� The weapons were mostly rifle sized objects and were shaped roughly like rifles. � I doubted, however, very seriously that they were rifles. � I picked one up, a deep purple color, and found that it was as light as plastic. "I'm sure we wouldn't dare fire this in here, but what does it do?" I asked Weslee.

�� Weslee gave me an evil grin. � Obviously he was not the pacifist that Perki was. � (Like I said earlier in this narrative Weslee could be a formidable foe -- if he wanted too, that is. � He just needed to be motivated to get over his laziness. And I think he was sufficiently motivated now by what he had seen Perki do to her brother. � In fact he told me later. "How could I do less for the cause?") He took the weapon from me and said, "It operates on the uncertainty principle."

�� "Wait a minute!" I interjected in surprise. � "Isn't that the paradigm that more or less states that anything is possible up until the last infintely small second when determinism kicks in and sets the event or object? � How do you make a weapon out of that?"

��Weslee frowned for a few moments as he was obviously trying to think of a way to explain it that he could describe and that I could understand. � Then he brightened, obviously having figured it out. � "It's not that kind of uncertainty. � This thing emits a hardened quantum field that makes any object -- or person -- it touches so uncertain that they cease to exist in the macro universe and they "fall" into the micro universe of quarks and charmed particles. � It is a fate to be devoutly avoided since once in the uncertain field of the micro universe one can never quite re-attain this plane of existence." He shuddered. � "I don't even want to find out what it might be like there."

�� "You know, this would be the prefect weapon for a pacifist like Perki. � It doesn't leave behind any messy bodies to haunt you. � But I would have thought that phasers or disruptors would be more the speed of the Annunaki. They seem viscious enough to want to do more than just send a person down the rabbit hole, as it were."

�� "Rabbbit Hole, Doc?" Weslee gave me a blank look. � I waved it away as untranslateable. � He nodded and went on to answer my unframed question, "Phasers and disruptors are science fiction. � They can't exist because there is no field that will break apart the molecular bond without accelerating the object beyond the speed of light. � Can you imagine trying to fit an accelerator like that into an an object the size of a rifle, let alone a pistol?" � I shrugged helplessly, indicating I couldn't. � Weslee went on after giving me a stern look like he was a teacher trying to explain something to a student who wasn't paying attention. � �� "This is the perfect weapon to use against the Annunaki. � It was developed by a renegade Annunaki who had dreams of empire all his own. � You see the Annunaki we are going to be facing don't even know that these weapons exist. � I played a small part in finding out about them and liberating them from him." Weslee took a moment to preen.

�� "OK. � But why are they so ideal?" I prompted him when he seemed like he was so caught up in self admiration that he was forgetting to go on. � "Huh? Oh, sorry, Doc." Weslee gave me a sheepish grin. � "You saw how the Annunaki were sparkling inside and how they sometimes seemed like they were two dimensional?" I nodded, remembering. "Well, they were encased in a, for lack of a better word, a personal shield that is a variation of this uncertainity weapon. � You see sometimes they were "there and sometimes they weren't "there. � That means if you had fired a projectile weapon at them that the bullet would have gone right through where they "weren't" missing them entirely. However, this weapon works against and with that shield at the same time, effectively "disrupting" it and then sending them to this rabbit hole you mentioned. � So there's your "disruptor after all!"

�� I asked Perki then if there were enough rebels to match the weapons I saw cached here. � She nodded as if it hurt her to have to confirm that. � I turned to Weslee and matched his earlier evil grin. Thinking about the headquarters and what I'd said by chance and what Weslee had highlighted by repeating it, had given me what I thought was the perfect plan to overwhelm the Annunaki. I explained it to Weslee and Perki.