Alien Bride, page 22
part #2 of The Alien Series
“Who leads this colony?” a familiar voice calls out.
“Who are you?” Rennek demands.
“A refugee. I am seeking a safe haven. Can you offer it?”
The men break their line and allow the new arrival into the room. Kye comes to a halt directly across from me. Neither of us speak.
“This is unusual, but we have another order of business to attend to before we hear your situation,” Rennek says to Kye.
“That’s fine. I can wait,” Kye replies, with his eyes still locked on mine.
“Um… Awkward?” I hear the woman named Reagan say. She doesn’t try to lower her voice.
“Is something wrong?” Kate asks, noting the tension between myself and Kye.
“No, I said everyone is welcome. Including him. This is fine,” I say, breaking the gaze between us and plastering a smile on my face. I’ll be damned if Kye is going to bring the crazy out of me here, in front of my fellow humans. Nope, Alessandra Kennedy is not taking the bait today—or ever again for that matter.
“You guys know each other?” Clark asks, surprised.
“Alessandra was in the Ambassador’s care for some time prior to her journey here,” Madreed supplements. “Ambassador.” She nods to him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.” Kye makes no effort to reply.
“If you’re sure it’s okay…” Kate tells me.
“Of course. So, um, where do I start? Hi, I’m Alessandra and I was abducted by aliens.”
Chapter 39
Kye
Alessandra’s gaze is cold and unaffected. It throws me in a way I didn’t anticipate. What I had expected was a fight. I’d practiced for it in my head, over and over again on the journey here, working every angle to ensure I would be allowed to stay.
If they send me away now I’ll never win Alessandra’s heart.
I suddenly realize I’ve interrupted some type of inquiry being carried out and it seems my Alessandra is the focal point.
“It’s been a few months now,” Alessandra picks up. “The aliens who bought me originally purchased me as a gift, I guess. Me and four other women—”
“There are four other humans?” a human woman gasps. There are other humans in the room, I now notice, though not many.
“No, sorry. All the other women were different species. We were stripped naked and kept for weeks in glass cages by an alien race called Makaan. The walls were thick, so we couldn’t hear each other speak. We could see each other but were otherwise in complete silence for our entire captivity.”
“It was the most horrific psychological torture. I felt like I was losing myself a little bit more each day. You can’t imagine the things that went through my head in all that time, trying to fill in the blanks and make sense of what was going on. I questioned reality and thought that maybe I was going insane—or had gone insane. No one ever came in. No one told us what was happening or what was going to happen. Food was dropped from the ceiling every so often, and when I say food, I use that term very loosely. Finally, one day, they came for us. They took us from our cages—still naked—and put collars on us—” Everyone in the room gasps and I grind my teeth together, steeling myself to hear what I’ve been avoiding for so long.
“They… prepared us…” Alessandra chokes on her words and then clears her throat before she begins again. “They washed us and um… did other things, which led me to believe what was coming to us was going to be sexual in nature.”
The silence in the room is grave. One of the women approaches Alessandra and grabs onto her hand. She says nothing but just holds her hand. Alessandra smiles at her and wipes a tear from her eye. I lean forward and look down at their locked fingers, searching for spines or something resembling pheromone producers, but I see none. The gesture seems to be purely for comfort.
I think back to the times that Alessandra tried to speak to me of her time in captivity. I never listened and I certainly never comforted her.
“Anyway, we got lucky. The aliens they gave us to… Islerians”—she motions towards me—“treated us much better. They saw to it that we were actually fed and clothed. We weren’t abused in any way. It was just a few days ago that Madreed came and told me about this place and the situation with Earth, and here I am now.” She shrugs and forces a smile.
“I don’t know if this helps, but although I haven’t personally seen any other humans since my abduction, I came across some aliens who knew about humans… more of the Makaan race. The way they spoke about it, whatever humans they had come across… it’s bad for them.”
“That’s the best lead we’ve gotten so far,” one of the humans asserts, looking intently at a Nh’Rudi man.
“I have more details that Alessandra shared with me… names, locations… We can access them from my shuttle if you wish,” Madreed offers, and the human continues staring down the Nh’Rudi, asking some silent question. Finally, he nods in agreement and the three excuse themselves from the inquiry.
“That’s about it.” Alessandra shrugs and sniffles. “It feels so good to finally talk about it,” she says, and even though I know she is simply expressing her emotional state, the words sting me. It is yet another highlight of my many failures as a husband.
“You’re safe now, here with us,” the human holding Alessandra’s hand says. “We can offer you a room here—we have plenty of them,” she laughs. “We’ll put together some personal items, a bed and necessities, clothes if you need them—”
“I have her clothes,” I interrupt. Everyone’s eyes shift to me. “I brought you your things,” I say, hoping that my gesture brings Alessandra some small comfort.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she says and turns back to the other human.
“We’re trying to create a self-sustaining environment as much as possible here in Beacon,” another human says. “Of course you can take as much time as you need to acclimate, but when you’re ready…” she says tentatively.
“Oh, please don’t make me sit around on my ass. I’ve been cooped up on spaceships for too damn long. Some work will be cathartic,” Alessandra tells the woman.
“Awesome! What we have here is exciting stuff. It’s hard work but rewarding. There’s farming behind the temple here and we’re trying to figure out other ways to live off the land. Clark had a job working in water resources back on Earth, so she’s helping with the irrigation of the fields, but the rest of us are kind of lacking in the primitive lifestyles department.”
“Alessandra is an excellent musician,” I declare. Eyes shift to me again, but all expressions are cold. Perhaps I’ll just remain quiet until they are finished…
“Music? That’s exciting! Honestly, I get so many songs from Earth stuck in my head and then drive myself crazy because I can’t remember the lyrics! Right, Reagan? How many times have I asked you how that one Mariah Carey song goes?” Kate laughs.
“I can play music a little, yeah. But actually, I think there are other ways I can be of better use. Back on Earth I was an art professor at a university,” Alessandra informs the group. I let out an audible groan and go sit down. No one bothers to look at me this time. Alessandra was a professor at a university? Who is this woman and how am I only just now meeting her?
“Like painting?” a human asks.
“More like woodworking, printmaking, glass blowing, ceramics… I’ve taken a couple seminars on indigenous arts, so I can help you with those baskets outside. With a little help, I can build the mechanisms necessary for blowing glass—a furnace, an annealer. We can build a kiln. I know how to make rough paper from natural materials. But, if you want to paint, we can do that, too.” She smiles. I remember now her interest in the artwork on my ship. I assumed her curiosity in the arts was a casual one.
“Holy shit, are you like the primitive planet MacGyver? You can do all that?” one of the humans asks, her shock nearly equaling my own.
“It’s funny. When I was going to school everyone kept asking me what I was going to do with an art degree. Sure showed them,” she says, and the women all laugh.
“Well, I think you’re going to fit in great here, Ali,” a human tells Alessandra.
“She likes to be called Alessandra,” I interject again.
“Alessandra it is, then. Welcome, we’re lucky to have you,” the human tells her, and she’s right about that.
“Perhaps it is time we deal with this,” a man with wings suggests while frowning down at me.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I respond, getting to my feet.
“Like Alessandra, I am also here seeking asylum—”
“Seriously, Kye? What are you doing here? Is this some kind of a bad joke?” Alessandra inquires.
“Um, not to point out the obvious, but aren’t we only accepting applications from humans and Vendari?” one of the humans asks.
“I would not be so hasty as to turn away any serious refugees, regardless of species. It might affect your reputation as a trustworthy safe haven,” I offer. “But my story is a direct result of human interaction, therefore I think I should be considered eligible for asylum here on your lovely planet.”
“A result of human interaction?” Alessandra crosses her arms and scoffs.
“I’m no longer an Ambassador,” I state, but leave out the part about me quitting. Alessandra uncrosses her arms.
“I’m sorry, Kye, I know how much your job meant to you.”
“The Makaan from Ipoch has escaped,” I add, hoping to capitalize on her sympathy.
“Oh my god! Are you in any danger? Is he looking for revenge? Is Khalil safe?” She barrages me with questions… maybe I should have left that part out…
“Khalil is safe,” I assure her, “but without the protection of Isleria I don’t know that the same will be true for me.” Alessandra sighs heavily and rubs the bridge of her nose.
“Um… how about we clear the room?” one of the humans suggests. Everyone is quick to file out, leaving only me, Alessandra, one other human, and the winged man.
“So, what’s going on? Obviously, we don’t want to turn anyone away, but the comfort and sense of safety to humans is kind of a core value here. Does this guy threaten that?” the human asks Alessandra.
“No. No, he doesn’t,” Alessandra admits, begrudgingly.
“Does he threaten your comfort?” she asks again.
Alessandra looks at me for a long time. “You can let him stay if he has nowhere else to go. What he does doesn’t affect me.”
“Okay, I’ll take you downstairs and you can pick out a room. Rennek, can you work out the details with Kye here? And babe? Put him in a borough,” she says sternly before whisking my wife away. Rennek begins speaking to me, but I ignore him until my view of Alessandra is obstructed.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” I ask.
“I said, she does not seem to love you in return. Do you really think being here will change that?”
“I’ve got to hope, right?”
“I’ll show you to the boroughs,” he says, and we begin walking. “My Kate does not like you. If she thinks Alessandra does not want you here she will make you leave. You understand this?”
“Yes, I understand,” I reply.
“If Alessandra does not want you here, I will make you leave,” he says.
“I understand,” I tell him.
“Until that time, you will have work to do here.”
“You sound sure it will come to that,” I notice.
“If I were sure, I would have made you leave already.” The giant of a man, with midnight eyes and a massive wingspan, smiles mischievously at me, “I am like you. A romantic!” He slaps my back hard in an encouraging gesture and I lurch forward. “I will be watching you though. Do not disturb the humans, not any of them. If Alessandra wishes to share your company, she will seek you out. Not the reverse. Underst—”
“I understand,” I say. When we get to the bottom of the steps I try to head in the same direction Alessandra was taken, but the winged man leads me the opposite way. I’m surprised when he walks out of the gated ruins and begins to lead me to the rear of the structure. Soon after I see the fields stretching out into the distance. Then I’m led even farther still.
“I am Rennek, by the way. You met my wife, Kate. I am sure you will meet all the others in time.”
“Kye Amara,” I tell him. “Married to a human, huh? How did you manage that?”
“Patience,” he says, eyeing me pointedly. “Human mating rituals are unique, it takes them time to allow themselves to recognize love for what it is.”
“What helped your wife finally see it?” I ask, and Rennek laughs at the memory.
“Grave injury,” he tells me with a smile. “I was hurt in battle and my Kate had to care for me. I think that it helped clear away her fears and reservations,” he explains. “When she thought she might lose me she finally realized she did not wish to be without me.”
As Rennek and I talk, I find that I keep looking back to the place where Alessandra was welcomed with open arms. If I’m being honest, however unrealistic, I hope to see her following me, racing to stop me so that we may fight. But no one comes.
We travel farther from the ruins and past the fields. I’m surprised when we come to a stop at the tree line. I look around, confused. Rennek motions downward. Then I see something like a cave at the base of the tree, the entrance to which is made from the gnarled root systems twisting up out of the ground.
“The boroughs,” Rennek tells me. “We’ve found evidence that these ancient hollows beneath the trees were once used as dwellings by the people who built this place. They are humble accommodations, but perhaps perfect for your situation.”
“My situation?”
“Seems as if you have something to atone for.” Rennek shrugs. “Perhaps begin with a little humility.” He retrieves a light from his belt and clicks it on. Tucking his wings close to his body, he leads the way into the “borough.” I take a deep breath and follow him.
There is a short space like a hall before the cave beneath the tree opens up. I instantly feel the coolness of the earth against my skin and it is a welcome relief from the heat. It is even hotter on this planet than on Ipoch.
Rennek shines the light around the space so that I may see it better. There is a large open space in the center and a few small alcoves along the walls.
“We can put a door up so you will not have to worry about predators or scavengers,” Rennek says conversationally, and I cringe. “There is a bathing room with facilities that you may utilize, and a community meal is prepared each night. You are welcome to join us for it. We will provide you with a cot as well, until you make your own bed. Once you do, we can give you a mattress and bedding. If you stay that long, that is.”
“What can I do to help the colony?” I ask, still frowning at the “room” I have been assigned.
“We will require your help farming,” he says.
“Of course you will,” I laugh. It appears Alessandra will get her farmer after all.
“Work begins at first light,” he tells me as we step out of the borough. “Come, I will help you with your things.”
Chapter 40
Alessandra
All the rooms seem to be practically identical, so I choose one close to the group. The women help me set it up by giving me cooking pots, blankets, toiletries, and all sorts of other everyday essentials. The Vendari men offer their assistance by carrying in the heavier items.
It appears Beacon is a community that humans and Vendari share. Kate explains a little of the Vendari’s history with me. Apparently, there is a whole shipload of them that has been missing for something like 30 years. Their story sounds like a sad one and I know the guys looked a little scary to me at first, in a demon satyr kind of way, but after hearing about them and interacting with them, my reservations have dissipated. I actually find it comforting to know that the place is protected by a bunch of badass-looking aliens like them.
Kellen and Bossan carry in a roughly made bed, but it’s decent sized and looks comfortable enough. I find myself excited to have something that’s truly mine—no strings attached. The guys also bring in a cabinet for me to hang my clothes in, a small mirror, and a counter-height table. I’m loaded up with a stack of bins, some empty to store my things in, and some filled with fruit. For lighting, they have installed a battery-powered lamp that hangs near the door, but they also provide me with a stack of candles.
A woman named April brings in a bouquet of tropical-looking flowers that she picked herself and places them in a large cylinder filled with water. The space is beginning to take shape already, and when I look around the room I can see myself really having a home here. They help me set up my fire pit and assure me that even though it’s hot and muggy now, it gets cold as soon as the sun goes down.
