Iona Portal by Robert David MacNeil

back to Piper.  “I’m involved in something, Ginny…”  Holmes used Ginny and Piper interchangeably, but tended toward Ginny when things were getting serious.  “I’ve wanted to tell you about it for months, but it’s not easy to talk about.  When I tell you, you’re going to think I’ve gone off the deep end.  In all honesty, I sometimes wonder if I have also.”
    “What is it?”  Piper asked, her tone softening.
    “A few months ago something very strange happened  … and since then I’ve had a number of unusual encounters.”
    “You’re not having sex with a patient?”
    “No, it’s nothing like that,” he assured her.  “It’s something… different … Something totally removed from what we normally think of as reality . ”
     Piper smiled broadly, “Holmes, are you trying to tell me you’ve got religion?”   
    “I wish it was that simple.” He answered uneasily. “No, this is … I’m trying to find the right words and I can’t think of any that don’t sound totally insane.  So, I’ll just say it…”
    Holmes took a deep breath, looked directly into her eyes, and said, “Ginny… I’m in contact with aliens!”
    Piper stiffened and stared at him angrily.  “Holmes, that’s NOT funny!  If this is your idea of a joke…”
    “If there was any better way of saying it…” he interrupted, fumbling for words. “…but it’s real , and it’s important .  And it affects you too.  And dammit, you need to know.  … and you do need to believe me.”
    “So, let me see if I’ve got this right…” she taunted, still assuming it was a joke.  “You’re being abducted nightly by little green men … and you want me to run away with you to the planet Vulcan.”
    “No, they aren’t aliens from another planet ,” he protested.  “They’re aliens from a different dimension.  And they’ve been visiting me almost every week.” 
     “Holmes… do you realize how crazy this sounds?”
    “Yes… I know it sounds crazy, but either someone’s pulling the most elaborate practical joke in history or I’m involved in something straight out of the X-Files.”
    “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “And you expect me to believe you?”
    “No, I don’t…  not yet.  But I think I can convince you.”
    Piper looked indignant, “I’m listening.”
    Holmes glanced down, checking his watch again, then began.  “Last December, while you were in Minnesota visiting your mom, I came to the lake house for the weekend to catch up on some reading.  That’s when I met them. 
    “They didn’t come to the door; they were just… here...   two of them, a male and a female.  Since then there have been several others. 
    “I was sitting here, laptop open, about eight o’clock at night, when I heard a noise and looked up.  The aliens were standing right there, in front of the window .  They looked fairly human, but with some obvious differences.
    “After a brief exchange, they explained their reason for coming.  They said our world is facing imminent disaster, and they need our help to mount a defense.”
    Piper’s patience was wearing thin.  “Why don’t these aliens contact the government … or the military?”   
    “That’s not how they operate,” Holmes shot back.  “And the military doesn’t have anything that would be useful against the kind of force they’re dealing with.  But we do. 
    “The aliens have been watching us, Piper.  They chose us— both of us—because we have special abilities they need.  They said if we work with them, we can save the human race from terrible devastation.”
    As Holmes spoke, warning flares were exploding in Piper’s mind.  His story sounded all too familiar.  In her practice, Piper was accustomed to hearing patients tell bizarre tales…  It’s a hazard of the profession for a clinical psychologist.
    Just last week a used-car salesman had confided—in all