Karac: Kaldar Warriors #1, page 3
“I called and David said he would meet us at Nathan’s house, apparently the trailer is there. He was going to make sure Nathan was around.”
“Did you tell him the plan?” I asked.
“Not everything. I figured you’d want to talk to Nathan first.”
“Okay.” I said nervously. Dad backed out of the garage and we pulled onto the road. It was only five miles to Nathan’s, so I didn’t have much time to prepare my thoughts. How exactly do you ask a guy you hardly talk to if you can come live with him, in hiding? Shaking my head, I was so not looking forward to this conversation.
Soon we were pulling into Nathan’s driveway and both David and Nathan were standing by the front door of the house. Dad pulled up and rolled down his window. “Thanks for letting us use the trailer on such short notice.”
“No problem. Crazy stuff on the news, huh?” David asked as his eyes slipped to me. David was pretty friendly and didn’t have any issue with speaking his mind. Nathan on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He had bulked up in the past few years and looked really good. He had a boyish-neighbor-next-door, kind of look and was a sweet guy. I looked at him to see he was studying me but when he saw me looking at him he quickly looked down. Oh, this was going to be fun.
“Hey, Nathan?”
He looked up sharply before answering, “Yeah?”
“Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute while Dad and David hook up the trailer?” Wow, I was surprised I got all that out without stumbling.
“Um…sure.” God he looked so nervous. What was he nervous about? I was the one who was asking to live with him! I smiled at Dad and hopped out of the truck.
“Where are you going, Ashley?” James asked from the back seat.
“I just need to talk to Nathan for a minute while you help David and Grandpa hook up the trailer.”
“Oh, ok. Then you’re going home with us?”
“Yes, I’ll be right back.”
“K.” James looked content with that answer. I smiled inwardly. He had been my shadow for years. I don’t know what I did to deserve such devotion but I loved him to death.
“I’ll meet you over there.” David said to Dad. Dad nodded and drove down to the shed where the trailer was parked with David trailing behind. This left Nathan and me with a truck width distance between us.
I looked at him and nervously said, “Hi.” That got me a small grin from him.
“Hi.” He was waiting for me to continue.
“So you heard about the Kaldarhns, right?” I put my hands in my back jeans pocket so I didn’t fiddle with them.
“Yeah, crazy to think we aren’t the only ones anymore.” I watched as he shoved his hands in his front pockets. Internally, I grinned at how nervous we both were.
“Yeah, who knew that would happen in our lifetime.” I paused, not sure how to come out and ask the question.
“What do you need the trailer for?” Nathan asked. He glanced to where our dads were hooking it up with James looking out the window, before his gaze returned to me.
“Oh, I’m moving out of my apartment.”
“To where?” He asked with raised eyebrows.
“Well I’m moving all my stuff home. To Mom and Dad’s.”
“Oh.” He paused a beat before asking, “So when are you going to register?” I didn’t have to ask what for.
“I’m not.” I stated bluntly. That got a startled look from him.
“What?”
“I’m not registering.” I folded my arms across my chest in defiance.
“But, don’t you have to?” He asked with a raised brow.
“Not if they can’t find me.” I watched his face as realization dawned on him.
“You’re going to hide.” He breathed. If he was shocked by that news, I could just imagine how others would feel if I told them. Which I couldn’t. Had to stick to the plan and all.
“Seemed like the better option than running off with one of them.” I gestured to the sky. He smirked at my response before it slowly slid off his face.
“You can’t hide at your parents. That’s the first place they will look. If they come looking.”
“I know, family and close friends are out. That is the obvious choice.” I nodded in agreement.
“So what are you going to do?” He asked curiously.
“Well I had an idea, not sure how well received it’s going to be, but I have to ask.” I looked at him trying to get the words out. He watched me for a minute before his eyes widened.
“You want to stay here?” Disbelief was evident in his voice. That didn’t sound good.
“Well, it was an idea. It would be close but not obvious. We only talk like, two times a year, have never hung out before, and I don’t have any records of calling you. If you don’t think it will work, that’s fine I’ll think of something else. I just thought you would be the obvious choice, but if you’re not comfortable-“
“Ashley, stop.” Nathan held up a hand and my rambling cut off. “It’s fine. Really. This house is big enough and I don’t have that many people come out here so there wouldn’t be anyone to see you and give you away.” Crap, I didn’t even think of that.
“I don’t want to mess with your social life.” I said lightly, he scoffed and grinned.
“Social life? Yeah, right. I like the peace and quiet and only go out once in a while.”
“Then won’t I be messing with your ‘peace and quiet’?” I teased.
“It’s not like you’re going to be throwing any parties. Right?” He asked with a quirk of his lip.
I chuckled. “Nope, no parties.”
“Then it’s settled. You’ll stay here.” He glanced at our Dads down by the shed before turning back to me. “Do you want help moving your stuff?”
“Oh! Well, no I think we’ll be ok. Besides, we have to keep up the pretense of only speaking to each other twice a year.” I grinned at him.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But you know if you move in here, you’re going to have to talk to me more than twice a year.”
“Same goes for you, you know.”
“Yeah, I guess we’ll figure that out.” I got my first real smile from him. He really was cute when he smiled.
“Roommates then?” I stuck out my hand for him to shake with a smile.
“Probably housemates more than roommates, but yeah,” Nathan said with a slight smirk and shook my hand. I couldn’t help the blush that spread across my face. I took my hand back and nodded in the direction of the truck.
“Shall we?” I asked.
“After you.” We walked side by side the short distance to the trailer. It looked like it was already hooked up and ready to go. David and Dad must have just been talking while they waited for us. Dad looked expectantly at me as we approached.
“Nathan’s ok with it.” I said.
“Ok with what?” David asked looking between Nathan and me.
“She’s going to hide out in my house when the 30 days are up. That way she’s still close to family but not running and being in danger.” I was a little surprised by Nathan’s explanation because it wasn’t exactly what we discussed but he did have a point.
“Just live with you?” David questioned. Um…what? I looked at Nathan in confusion.
“Just live with me.” Nathan restated, not meeting my eyes, while staring down his dad. That comment wasn’t something I was going to let pass though.
“What else would I be doing?” I asked, looking between Nathan and David.
“I’ll tell you later.” Nathan responded softly to me. It didn’t seem like I would get an answer now, and truthfully, I figured that was one small thing I didn’t have to worry about on top of everything else.
“Okay, well, thanks again for the trailer.” I said as I moved toward the passenger side door. Before I made it more than a couple steps, Nathan’s voice stopped me.
“Are you going to bring your stuff here or…” Nathan looked at me expectantly. I hadn’t really thought of that either. My forethought skills needed some serious work.
“I think it’d be better if she brings all her things home first.” Dad said. “Make it look like she was moving back home. We can bring things over a little at a time over the next month that way.”
“Do I need any furniture or anything?” I looked at Nathan.
“Uh, well,” he didn’t meet my eyes as he floundered for the words. “I have a spare bed and dresser you can use. But I don’t have a dining table…I haven’t got around to buying that yet.” He actually blushed. Nathan had been living on his own for over three years. No table meant that he didn’t really cook for anyone or ate his meals elsewhere.
“That’s fine, I have one we can use.”
“I also don’t have much for pots and pans, plates, or…night stand if you need them…” He wouldn’t meet my eyes. Before I could stop myself, my sarcasm came out.
“You do have running water, right?” I smiled to lighten my teasing.
“Yes, running water is a go.” He was blushing but managed a smile in return.
“Ok well, I have most of those things if you don’t mind me invading your house with all of it.”
“No, not at all.” He grinned at me sheepishly. I was trying to keep the shock off my face as much as possible.
“Ok then.” I looked to Dad who was trying to keep a smirk from his face. “Ready to go?”
“After you.” We waved to both David and Nathan as they watched us pull away. James was playing happily with his toy cars in the back seat. I looked at Dad to see him still trying to smother a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I questioned, although, I had a pretty good idea what he was laughing at.
“You should have seen your face.” At this point he started laughing in earnest.
“What’s so funny, Grandpa?” James asked from the backseat.
“Ashley was just surprised was all,” Dad said still chuckling.
“Well, seriously, how has he functioned the past three years without that stuff?”
“He’s a guy, Ashley. And we knew he didn’t spend his money on just anything.”
“Yeah, but pots and pans? And plates? Those are kind of essential, don’t you think?” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Not to a guy that probably uses paper plates or eats at his mom’s house every day.”
“Jesus, I’m going to starve to death!” I huffed in exasperation and closed my eyes.
“Hardly. Your mom and I will make sure you have enough food.”
“I can’t expect you to feed me.” I stated firmly as I looked back at him.
“Oh, and how are you going to pay for it? You’re not going to have a job, remember?”
“I’ll think of something.” I grumbled, looking out the passenger side window.
Dad left our argument at that as we pulled back into his yard. I was going to need my strength and wits in order to get everything done that I needed to in the next 30 days. I sighed. 30 days…and counting.
*******************************************
D-Day had arrived. 30 days was up the previous night as I watched the digital clock in my nightstand turn to midnight. No phone anymore to check the time. No phone to call my family, text my friends, check my emails, play my games. I sighed. This was going to be hard. I spent the past few weeks tying up loose ends. In a way, I felt like I had some terminal illness and I was saying goodbye to everyone. Because, let’s face it, I was. I was officially in isolation. Self-imposed, yes, but still isolation. We checked everything off that god-awful list that we could think of that needed to be done. If I didn’t have my family I’m not sure I could have pulled it off.
Sometimes I think about all the other women that are striking out on their own because they don’t feel the registration is within the government’s right to impose. I’d have to agree with them. So far I haven’t heard any news on what magnificent technology or medical information we were supposed to receive from the Kaldarhns. Has cancer been cured? No. Has teleporting been invented? No. So what did all those women who voluntarily signed up have to look forward to? A month of wooing from the warriors of Kaldar. Sounded all fine and dandy if you forgot the part about them taking you from your home, forever.
Apparently the Kaldarhns were a warrior race. Which would explain the sword handles sticking out above the backs of Karac’s bodyguards. A week ago the smug aliens finally realized that they should probably share more information about their race since only about an eighth of the world’s female population in the desired age range were registered. I had to laugh when that news came out. Apparently I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with the way things were headed.
So, to encourage more naive women to register, they put out a biography on their race that summarized their home world and their history. It was an interesting read, I mean, it was history of an alien race, who wouldn’t read it? I was still unmoved to register. The bio they gave was pretty basic anyways. It gave the name of their planet, something about how 27 planets were all under one form of government, females were adored and lavished with anything they could want, the males protected the females with their life, yada yada yada. It was hard to get used to their word choice. Where we said women, they said females. Men were warriors or males. It was still unclear how much power the Kaldarhns actually wielded. They had swords for Christ’s sake. But they could also travel through space. Kind of a warped reality in my opinion. I don’t think I was the only one who, after reading the bio, still didn’t register. No new number had been released, but I hadn’t heard of any women flocking to the stations to register.
We erased my connection to the world in stages, to try to alleviate any red flags that might make the Kaldarhns or our own law enforcement take notice, sooner rather than later. No word was given on how they were monitoring us, or even if they were. We took precautions anyways.
That representative of theirs, Karac, had appeared many times on TV, answering questions, glaring at reporters, and overall being a huge pain in Earth’s ass. I don’t know why or how he expected total compliance from us women. I mean, were their women that intimidated that they did everything they were told? Well, wakeup call from Earth. We do not bow to anyone.
There was a small part of me that admired Karac each time he came on the screen. Small, hardly worth mentioning. But who could blame me? The man, or warrior, was like strawberries dipped in chocolate. Absolutely divine to look at and mouthwatering to try a taste. I still wasn’t sure if he was a warrior. He always wore those flowing clothes and no weapons like the two bodyguards flanking him everywhere. But I could still tell he was built just like the rest of them. Oh well, it’s not like I was ever going to find out. I made sure I was so far removed from everything there would be no way he or any of his warrior cronies could find me.
I had talked to some of my single friends over the past couple weeks. Surprisingly, there were a few that were all over registering. I think they just wanted a closer look at the alien muscle regardless of the consequences. A few others were being standoffish on their plans, which I was too, so I could safely assume they had some plan in place like I did. The last I talked to them I wished them good luck and that I would be in touch in 13 years. It was a standing joke among us.
My job wasn’t too hard to give up. The Monday after the announcement, I gave my two weeks’ notice and took quite a few vacation days coming my way. I had enough to plan and get ready for that the transition from full employment to jobless didn’t really faze me. I finished my “job” from home so that we could carry on the pretense of me going to Anne’s to stay. I had a plan anyway on how to support myself. I always thought writing books would be fun, so I made the decision to spend my time in Nathan’s house writing stories. Some stories could be about the exact situation I found myself in, but when you’re the author, you always know how the story ends. I’d have control over the fate of my characters. Unlike my life, which seemed to be spiraling out of control lately.
My family was the hardest to say goodbye to. Yeah, I’d still see them occasionally, but we couldn’t make it obvious that Nathan was chummy with my family. Because if the Kaldarhns ever did come looking, the neighbor down the road would be a hot spot for sure.
I was now at Nathan’s house, because I wanted to be there when D-day hit. Just in case there was some freaky fast alien way of identifying me as a non-registered. I wasn’t taking the chance. My parents drove me down to Nathan’s around ten last night. It was pretty hard. Emotional on my Mom’s part, again. Just think what it would have been like if I had decided to run. I probably would have given Mom a heart attack.
Nathan stood a few feet away as I gave Mom and Dad one last hug. I smiled, hiding how much I was breaking inside. Neither of my parents said a word as I turned to Nathan. Everything had already been said. Nathan was looking at me with concern in his eyes. I think, even though we tried to minimize how much interaction we had in the past weeks, he was getting better at reading me. Not something I was entirely comfortable with but couldn’t be helped either.
As I came up beside him he placed a reassuring hand at my back as we made our way into the house. I didn’t turn to wave as my parents drove out of the driveway. We stopped in the dining room, which now had a table by the way, and I looked around. This was going to be where I lived for the foreseeable future. I wondered how long I could keep my “everything’s going to be fine” act up. I gave Nathan a weak smile, told him goodnight, and went up to my room. He slept in the finished basement so we had plenty of space between us. At first I thought it was funny. He said he never went upstairs so I could have the whole space to myself.
After last night, tossing and turning, I came to realize it was hard to sleep when I felt so alone in my new home. The sun was shining now with the new morning, betraying the cloudy mood inside me. Suck it up Ashley, time to make the most of it. Sighing, I got up and started my new life as a fugitive.
Chapter 3: D-Day in Space
