Merko gazed upon the living room, enjoying the order and neatness. In one of the corners, there was a lit fireplace which flames gave the house a warm atmosphere. Over the sideboard, there were photographs of the major and Lorena, his wife. Merko had removed the projectile on his shoulder with his telekinesis and applied a medicine from his planet, which he always carried in his emergency belt. Lorena also wanted to take care of the injuries and was impressed by the rapid healing.

"Come on, honey, take a warm shower. Everything's ready upstairs, but hurry up, because the food is delicious. And I came across that wine you love at the wine house, and brought it home for you."

Without a word, he did as was told and took his shower. He came back after a few minutes and soon realized that his voice was a copy of the officer's. He also thought about how well Genetic Engineering and Nanotechnology worked.

"Can we have dinner, babe? You're too quiet, is there anything wrong? Was it the robbery?"

"No, I'm okay, just exhausted", the captain said, worried about his friend Silion.

Merko knew he could only infiltrate the military base the next morning, with the appearance of the major. For now, he had to rest and prepare for the difficult mission that awaited him.

"After dinner, I'll give you that massage you love," Lorena promised with a seductive look.

The E.T. tasted the delicious wine along with the dinner, and soon yawned, showing exhaustion. Then, they both went up to her bedroom, and Lorena started to kiss him. He couldn't resist the lips of that enticing woman; he smelled her aromatic scent and they started making love. The E.T. had never lived a moment like the one he was living then.

When he woke up in the following morning, he got up, put on his military uniform, and went to the base with just one thought in mind: to save his friend. When Lorena woke up, he wasn't there anymore. When she went to the gate to look for him, she found a bracelet unlike anything she had ever seen on planet Earth. With the object in hand, she said:

"He must have dropped it and must have gone to the base."

Merko contacted Silion, who answered:

"Where have you been, Merko? For a moment, I thought you had left me. I'm in serious danger here, and it seems the experiment's going to be soon. There's a constant stir here", Silion communicated telepathically, worried.

"Just a moment, I'm on my way", he answered right away.

With the military badges of his uniform, the commander would get into the building for a previous recognition of the area and would be able to calibrate the teleport coordinates in order to reach his comrade and find a way to escape with him.

That wasn't a simple operation, though, since he had no access to information about the top-secret place beforehand.

The site itself was invisible to computer webs. If he tried to teleport without the right orientation, he could run the risk of embodying underground and suffocating to death.

"Your ID, Major," the officer at the entrance asked.

"There you go," Merko said, showing him the credentials he had found in the car.

"Permission granted, Sir", the man answered, and all sentinels saluted him.

He saluted back and read the officer's mind, checking the paths he would have to take to get to his friend. Merko knew his laser gun was too powerful, but he also knew it would be difficult to fight all the soldiers. He needed a good strategy instead.

Once inside the base, he came across one of the men in white uniforms who oversaw his friend. He read his mind and knew he was on his way to the Alien Research Lab. That was the guy he should borrow the shape from now...

"Can I help you, Major? Are you pointing a gun at me?" he asked, astonished.

"Come with me and turn right. Don't try any tricks or I'll shoot you."

Then, Merko immobilized the scientist, left him unconscious in a room, disintegrated the uniform he was wearing and changed into the shape of the man in white overalls.

He knew he could take the form of any person he wanted and, as a last resort, he could also use a power few people had access to: telekinesis. That ability, though, always made him weak, and he made use of it in extreme situations alone.

He approached a room covered in glass, where four men with white clothing surrounded a table with a being lying down. He recognized Silion and knew he was in the right place. The moment they prepared to inject a substance into their friend, Merko broke into the room and, with precise blows, knocked down the four men, leaving them fainted.

"How are you?" Merko asked, distressed.

"Very weak and wounded. Go back alone," Silion said, with difficulty.

Meanwhile, in a nearby room, general Schwartz and his task force followed the scientists' work. Agents Ronald and Keith prepared the equipment to be used to analyze the specimen, when a very anxious officer got into the place.

"Sir, there's something wrong going on there. A man has released our specimen and is running away with him."

"Turn the siren on. It seems today is our lucky day. I think we'll kill two birds with one stone", Schwartz said with a cruel smile on his face.

Immediately, soldiers ran to the research room. All exits were blocked and deafening sirens sounded for the base.

Merko put Silion on his shoulders.

"Friend, my life cycle is depleting. Save yourself! Use the laser on me and teleport to the ship. They could not extract any information, you arrived on time. They took my transmutation goggles, but it doesn't matter now. Escape! Z8 has already prepared for takeoff."

The ship had been fixed by the robots under the command of computer Z8.

"My friend, I would die for you, and you know that! You saved me so many times... I can't abandon you!"

"There's no other solution, Captain. Either you run away or we both die. You just can't save me. At least save our ship and disintegrate me. Those men don't deserve to keep our bodies. Imagine how much technology they could learn from them. Don't let that happen. Just do what must be done, now!" His partner asked, grabbing Merko's arm.

As he had lost his bracelet, he took his friend's, which the scientists hadn't yet been able to remove. With watering eyes, Merko disintegrated his comrade. He was about to teleport, when he realized there was someone behind him ready to attack. It was sargent Ranger, and soon six other soldiers showed up.

Merko was surrounded. He decided to fight to avenge his friend's death.

"Where is your friend? Did he run away or hide?" The sergeant asked with sarcasm.

"I will never forgive you for that!" Merko replied, with fury.

Soon, the soldiers realized the extraterrestrials could transmute into humans. As Merko prepared for the attack, somebody hit him from behind and he was stunned. The fight was just beginning though and, good as he was at fighting, he gave mortal strikes and killed them one by one. He teleported to his opponents' back and put them down with ease.

More of them appeared and the E.T. had to make use of telekinesis, moving all objects he saw around against his opponents, at the same time as he aimed their own guns at themselves. Everyone froze for a few seconds when all guns aimed at their own heads.

At this point, General Schwartz emerged at the entrance, holding a grenade.

"Surrender, or I'll throw this grenade and we all die!"

"I never surrender, Schwartz! This is for Silion, that you have imprisoned!" Merko replied, reading the General's mind and discovering his name.

With the power of the mind, Merko unlocked the grenade. The general, terrified, thought: "My God! How does he know my name?"

"You're crazy! We'll all die!" The general shouted, desperate.

Then, everything flew inside the lab of the Army Base, and the explosion incited a series of other explosions. Only the agents Ronald and Keith managed to get out of there safely, since they were in the commander's room, which was isolated from the others and had armored walls. From their refuge, they watched the damage the E.T. had done in the military base. They saw everything go down, their companions dying, and there was nothing else they could do other than watch.

Before the explosion, Merko used the Silion's bracelet and teleported. He knew that, unlike the military, he was not stuck in that place and was in no danger. Silion was avenged. Merko prepared the ship to return to space. Accelerating at incredible speed, he left the Earth, Silion and Lorena, who had given him the greatest happiness of his life.

As the ship cut through space, Merko reflected on the mission. Silion, always willing to protect him, had saved his life countless times. And he couldn't save him. Sadness invaded him.

And Lorena... How could he feel attracted to a woman of the past? She was beautiful, affectionate... He couldn't stop thinking about her. If he could go back in time, he might stay on Earth, assuming the major's identity. On his planet, he had never found happiness with someone. Deep down in his heart, he knew he could be happy with Lorena. But living like an impostor did not please him, no matter how much she had captivated him.

"Z8, take us home safely. I need to rest. Just call me in an emergency", Merko ordered to the central computer of the ship.

"Yes, Commander."

Exhausted because of the telekinesis he had made use of and very emotional because of the partner he had lost; the captain was stuck in a kind of sadness that would be too hard for him to forget. There was one thing, though, that he was not aware of: his night with that woman from Earth would change his life forever.

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