David had finally settled down in Newshire, a town in the south-east of England, shortly before his third encounter with Ruta. He had found a semi-permanent job in the form of working at a local comic book shop and the pay was decent enough that he could afford to rent out a cheap flat. It was not exactly luxury but it did its purpose well enough. Several months had passed since Dave's last visit to outer space. Autumn breezed by winter came and went and it was now half-way through spring. It was two o'clock in the morning and David was soundly sleeping on his single-bed that was barely large enough to accommodate his whole figure until his phone started obnoxiously buzzing which stirred him awake from his slumber. He groggily found his mobile on a bedside stand and answered.
"Hello...?" David answered the call with a mumble.
"David Pauling?" A monotonous, deep-voiced man on the other end asked.
"Yeah, that's me..." He yawned. "Who's this?"
"Does the name: 'Ruta Saturnyne Terileptus' mean anything to you?" David's attention finally kicked in upon the mention of the name of the attractive alien he had befriended.
"W-what do you know about Ruta?" Dave asked nervously, unsure if he should even be discussing this sort of thing with a stranger. "HOW do you know about Ruta?"
"Mr. Pauling, we would like you to confirm a few details for us." The caller avoided Dave's questions and began asking him various specifics including his current address, his past work experiences, his education history, etcetera. Any other person would have hung up by now but David was determined to find out what they knew of the doctor. Oddly enough, they were all things he had told Ruta just before the end of their latest session. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Pauling. Please hold." David complied and was half-expecting some music to start playing on the other end as he waited but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask.) there merely an eerie silence for a few tedious seconds before a familiar, feminine voice could be heard on the other end.
"Greetings, David?" She said down the phone in a way like she was not sure if he was receiving her. Dave recognised that sweet, soft voice from anywhere in the galaxy.
"Ruta!?" Dave was shocked to be talking to her at this time of the year and through his own phone.
"Oh, wow, my first time using an Earthling communication device! It's quite primitive but exciting nonetheless."
"Ruta, what the hell is going on!? Who was that man just now?"
"I'm sorry, David, I'm afraid I cannot answer that at the present time. Please pay attention to the news tomorrow morning. You should prepare yourself for quite a shock."
Somehow, David managed to fall back asleep after the incident. He was already shocked enough as it was, what else could happen? It was now ten o'clock on the Saturday morning. David laid long as there was not any work for him the entire weekend and roused awake on his own accord before recalling the situation last night. It was all too weird but at the same time felt too real to have been a dream. He thought it pretty silly at the time but decided to take a look at the news to bring closure to it and to humour himself a little. He switched on his television and flicked through until he got to the news channel and started to prepare some tea and toast while he watched.
"-and now we will go live to Downing Street with Linda Garland where Prime Minister Edgar Pierce and Ambassador Ruta Saturnyne Terileptus will be-"
If David's tea had been ready by that point, he would be spitting it over the screen. He must have been hearing things. It was the only rational explanation but as the footage continued to roll, an image came up that instantly burned itself into Dave's memory for the rest of his life. It was Ruta shaking hands with the prime minister! If his toast had been ready by that point, it would be falling from his mouth as his jaw dropped. The reporter's commentary was drowned out as Edgar Pierce's shit-eating grin was juxtaposed by Ruta's humble smile. She walked up to the microphone without any hesitation in her face as she began to speak.
"Natives of the planet Earth, I am deeply thankful that your people have given us the chance to peacefully co-exist amongst you. I sincerely hope that both of our civilisations will be able to learn and benefit much from each other."
David watched on, completely engrossed. If it had just been any regular, dull human political speech, he would have changed the channel in a heartbeat but seeing how this a major, if rather surreal, historical event for his species and not to mention Ruta's genuine enthusiasm when speaking made Dave cling onto each word she uttered and continued to watch until the end, minus flicking through the other channels to see similar events happening around the world. The USA's president, China's general secretary, Saudi Arabia's king, every major person in political power was accompanied by different members of the Delphini race of both sexes and varying flesh colours. He turned back just in time to catch the end of Ruta's speech.
"Oh! One more thing I would like to mention before I leave." Ruta stated on the podium. "This is just a personal statement but I would like to acknowledge the first human I ever met who was responsible for catalysing this chain of events and made realise just how little I knew about this planet and was essential in convincing the Delta Delphini government in even considering direct contact with Earth. I will not mention his name for privacy reasons however, if by any chance he is watching this, I want to tell him...thank you...for everything he has done for me." Ruta finished. This was followed by a round of applause which in turn was followed by many curious mutterings from the crowd before the camera cut back towards the reporter. Sentimental Dave had to hold back his tears of happiness. He was touched by Ruta's sincerity. On public television, no less! Of course, assuming that was him she was talking about...
For that entire day, the planet gabbled on about nothing but the Double D's. Just going down to the local super market to get his weekly provisions, David overheard people discussing topics ranging from it being a hoax to the physical appearance of the other-worldly race to speculating when they are going to begin their invasion. He decided to stay away from the internet as much as he could as he expected there to be many conspiracy theorist or xenophobic postings on all the forms within the few short hours the information was made public. Roughly at around nine at night, there was a sharp rapping on Dave's door. He took a break from preparing a snack to answer it, wondering who it may have been. He opened up and standing on the opposite side, dressed in a tight rubber one-piece uniform and accompanied by two large men in black, was none other than Ruta herself.
"Oh, David!" She exclaimed and threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him into a sloppy kiss on her blue lips before he had time to even say 'hello', his eyes bugging out from surprise before pulling himself off his extraterrestrial acquaintance.
"R-Ruta!" He stammered, shocked to see the alien at his door. "What are you doing here?" Though before he could get an answer, one of the men in black coughed to get both their attention.
"I take it that you can confirm this is David Pauling, Dr. Terileptus?" He spoke in a flat monotone, not unlike what David had heard on the phone last night.
"Indeed I can, gentlemen!" Ruta cooed. "That will be all, thank you."
"Uh...you do realise we are suppose to stay with you at all times until Project: 'Ekecheiria' is prepared?" The second man said.
"In that case, could you please stay outside until I have finished my business with this man in private?" Ruta requested.
"I suppose that would be fine..." The bodyguard mumbled as he and his friend stood on either side of the entrance. David silently shut the door as politely as he could, given the awkward circumstances.
"Ruta, What's happening? What business?" David questioned Ruta who was busy being fascinated by the artwork of his heavy metal posters blue-tacked to the wall before returning her attention back to the human.
"That was just a...slight hyperbole." She began. "I couldn't wait to see you again...so I requested I was to be taken here as soon as possible under the pretence that I had urgent matters to attend with you."
"So basically...you lied." David cracked a smile.
"W-well, in any case, I'm here now." Ruta stammered with a slight blue blush on her cheeks from being found out. "Besides, there is a legitimate reason for me to be in this sector of the country...but I am getting ahead of myself. We have much catching up to do!"
And so, for the next couple of hours, Dave and Ruta just chatted away sitting on his mattress about all the things that had happened to them in the roughly nine months they had seen each other last. Of course, the grey-skinned alien would jabber on forever about various scientific jargon beyond the limits of an averagely educated human being but somehow Ruta made it all sound so compelling and intriguing as she brought up quantum tunnelling and microsattelites so casually and naturally like she was telling a fairy tail. Maybe it was just the melodic sound of her soft voice he liked listening to but regardless of the reason, he certainly felt quite a bit more brainier once she had finished.
Dave did not have a lot to add to the conversation. Scientific fields were definitely not his forte in life. He instead started off telling her about his slow, mundane three-quarters of a year spent in Newshire though Ruta seemed engaged enough, fascinated by any sort of Earther behaviour, no matter how ordinary it may have been for a human. Somehow or another, the talk turned to focus on David's shelves, filled with crap of the popular culture. Various disorganised DVDs and books strewn about in no particular order, stacked both horizontally and vertically while David briefly went over the contents of anything that caught Ruta's eye.
"And what about these?" The curious scientist asked as she pulled a comic and flicked through the colourful pages.
"That's Victory Woman." David began to explain which soon became a short rambling of his favourite comic book character. "She's a superhero who was sent to Earth as a toddler from the planet Xenon and she gets powers because of the different composition of gases in Earth's air." It was odd explaining such a famous character like Victory Woman, and even a little silly when he spoke the premise out loud.
"Intriguing...a combination of art and text to create a visually-orientated story..." Ruta admired the poppy images. "I think this definitely warrants further investigation..."
