The Alexandria Project: Chapter 16: You Want Aliens With That?

Frank stepped out of the dark, moonless night of the Nevada desert and into the bright light of the bar, restaurant and motel that was the Little A’Le’Inn. Along one wall ran a counter with stools and the backsides of a couple of locals. Behind the counter he saw a waitress, cash register, and a modest assembly of liquor bottles that apparently constituted the bar. That took care of the predictable part of the room. And then there was the rest.

Despite the odd spelling, there couldn’t be much doubt over the meaning of the café’s name. Hung on pegboards, sitting on shelves, and hanging from the ceiling was an impressively random collection of just about anything you might (or might not) imagine might arguably have an alien theme.

Frank placed himself on a stool at the end of the counter and glanced at the densely packed array of memorabilia that covered the wall behind the counter – alien posters, alien postcards, alien pens and coffee cups, and dozens of busts of aliens of every shape, configuration and size. That said, most interpreters had reached consensus on two facts: aliens are green, and have large, black slanted eyes. Amid all the clutter was a small mirror, in which Frank noticed the eyes of the man sitting next to him. Those eyes were staring back at Frank intently over the brim of the man’s beer mug.

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