Not By Accident

Conspiracy theories ran rampant about the magic potion eliminating all disease.

“The Aliens did it.” A wide-eyed Marcy Evans had heard it on her favorite Bob Shapero talk show, so it had to be true. She’d been the first of her friends to wear tinfoil under her hat. No way were Aliens going to control her mind. She was an independent thinker.

“I don’t know,” her friend Ceilia Brown peered through the blinds. The girls were at their weekly Canasta card game and it was her turn to host her house. “I heard it was magic that some wicked scientist found out how to pull from another dimension. That’s why you have to pass a test before they let you in on the discovery.”

“The secret test is whether you have enough big bucks to afford a potion that cures all diseases.” Henrietta Silverton rolled her eyes. “I got that bit of news from my husband. He actually went in to see if he qualified.”

“No way. Tom did that?” To Marcy’s way of thinking that was traitorous behavior. “Who does he think he is?" She knew Henrietta and Tom were having marriage problems. She kept her own husband, Ralph, under control, even if it meant having to do the dirty every Saturday morning.

Ceilia folded her cards. “I’m out. I can’t concentrate. The news said there are riots in the streets at the potion centers. The president has had to call out the national guard.”

“I saw that.” Marcy didn’t want the center of attention to be taken away from her. “Some guardsmen are Aliens in disguise, here to take over the world. The centers are just their starting point.” She felt an inward smile as each of her friends froze their attention on her. “During each test, they take over the subject's mind. You’d better watch Tom. Is he doing anything suspicious lately?”

Fresh gossip from the original source was in high demand for all the girls. Henrietta took the bait. “I’ve been afraid his late nights out were to see a another woman. I confronted him. He made me promise not to tell anyone so I’m holding you all to silence on this. Zip your lips.” Henrietta looked fiercely at Ceilia. That woman said whatever thought that she had.

“Cross my heart,” breathed Marcy, picking up the attention again. “Go on, dear. We are all ears.”

“He’s meeting secretly with men like him who don’t like the way the government is handling this. They’re going to do something about it.” She didn’t add that her husband wanted her to form a supporting women’s team.

“It’s about time someone did something to get to the bottom of this foolishness. I thought the government making kids drink fluoridated water that gives them Autism was bad.” Ceilia stared at her clenched fists and forced herself to relax.

Joyce had been silent all this time, amazed at how gossip and conspiracy theories had so much adrenaline rush to them. Thinking them real was a hard habit to break. It made people blind to what was really going on. She’d been having an affair with Tom since the New Year’s Eve party this past year.

“I think we should join Tom’s group with a female affiliate just to keep tabs on them. Men are so impulsive, you know. They might get hurt.” Joyce didn’t talk much in the group, but when she did, everyone listened. The threat that the girls might get hurt was implied enough to strike fear.

Joyce was pleased with the response. She could report back to the Alien Overlords that things were going smoothly. Their decision to release the potion to one of the world’s top scientists had been wise. Having multiple conspiracy theories fighting each other kept the populous divided.

“Alrighty, then. Henrietta, you can tell Tom we're in. Of course we’ll let him think he’s in charge while we, like women usually do, work to really get things done behind the scenes.” So what if Joyce was a turncoat working for the Aliens. A person had to do what they had to do to keep the upper hand. She was being groomed as an overseer when the Aliens took over. People didn’t know what was good for them. She was actually doing her friends a favor.

“Bye all.”

The Alien task force had arrived on Earth with just enough time to stop mankind from destroying the planet. Joyce made a mental note to ask the Overlords to put the potion in the public drinking water. They’d need as many human cattle as possible to feed their own alien population back home. She'd made them promise to weed out only criminals and addicts.

It was time for the Aliens to kick in phase two. The testing phase was over. They knew the potion worked on people. That conspiracy theory about fluoride drinking water causing Autism was an inspiration.

Why was Ceilia looking at her oddly? It sent a cold shiver down Joyce’s spine. Any disruption in Joyce’s activities undermined the fragile trust the Overlord had in her. One misstep would ruin everything. If humans took control of the potion, chaos would rain.

“We need to talk,” Celia painfully gripped Joyce’s arm. That didn’t bother Joyce as much as the gun point gouging into her back. How much did Ceilia know? What did Ceilia want to do about it? A feeling of desperation and loss of control flooded Joyce’s veins.

Tom had embezzled enough money from his company for them to ‘pass the test’ and get the potion. The two of them marked the cash to follow the money trail. They now had access to the wealth funding the Alien’s plan.

“You are going to be our double agent, sweetheart,” Joyce informed Celia. It was one more notch in turning the Alien’s plan upside down. Greed shown in Ceilia’s eyes as Joyce revealed how easily a new disease could be created that would infect the Aliens and leave humans safely behind.