Edited By Nick Piombino - Goodreads

There was no reason for secrecy, only his keen sense of not
wishing to delve. “Our families were friends. I was older. I am
older. Still.
“And?:
“There was an instant recognition. No preliminaries.
Whatever I was faced with in that time, there he was, and not at all
interested in becoming one of a flock”
“A unique friendship?”
“You could say that.”
“Your feelings were returned?”
“That is a question I could not entirely explore, considering
the circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
“I felt responsible. To help him see what was before him.”
“As to what lies beneath the veneer.”
“In a way. ”
“You had him written out and now you have once again
interfered on his behalf?”
“I went to my mentor and encouraged him .”
“And therefore he may be better equipped than any to pick
up where we have, shall we say muddled?”
“Yes, he is uncontaminated by our view.”
“You mean our superficial false lookout,” Zurg said pointing
to the distant lake.
“My thoughts exactly. And I will call upon you to help me
preserve his unusual vantage. We all will need to see as he sees.”
“And is the arrangement complete?”
“It soon will be. If Gray agrees.”
“Then what do you fear?”
Buzz paused, knowing it would be difficult for Zurg to see.
He answered calmly, as if in antidote to all he felt, “What I fear is —
my success.”
Zurg
He came from the back, the outer portion of what would seem to be
outer space to those who had seen him arrive, alien to the sun, with
pasty skin and yards and yards of secondhand trench coat. Black
sunglasses and hair stiff with gel. But he soon learned to wear a
white t-shirt as well as anyone, to find more fashionable sunglasses at
the drugstore and to choose the right hairdresser. All he had to do
16