Aphelion

by L. J. Higgins

  I peered down the scope of my weapon, pointing it towards the kitchen window of the brick house across from the park where Reece and I hid behind thick bushes. Only one light occupied the street, and lucky for us it was across the road. The sliver of moon created a dark hiding place in the park while we waited for the mysterious Mr. Barth.

  “I thought you were only scoping the place out tonight?” questioned Reece, looking over my weapon.

  “I am. But the scope will tell me if I’m looking at an alien or a human. I have to be sure it’s him. Always double or even triple check you’ve got the correct target.”

  “Didn’t they give you a photo or something?” he asked.

  “They did, but I have to confirm they’re an alien before I put a bullet in their head, or give someone else the go-ahead to. I’d never forgive myself if a human was killed because I didn’t make sure.”

  “So there are some things you question?”

  I ignored him and peered back towards the house. No-one was home.

  A cool breeze swept through the park, sending a chill through me.

  Reece hugged himself. “How long do we wait?

  “Until we spot the alien. The longest I’ve waited is two days.”

  He grimaced. “We could be here for two days?”

  “No. We have orders to head back if he doesn’t show within three hours.”

  “You blew off a date with Ricko just to track an alien that might not even turn up?”

  Was this guy kidding? “For one, I wouldn’t go on a date with Ricko. Two, even if I was to ever go on a date it wouldn’t be to the mess hall. And three, ‘just to track an alien’? That’s what we do, Reece. Track and eliminate. Period. Anyone would think you didn’t understand how much of a threat they are. I’d sit out here for a week if it meant taking it down.”

  Reece blew out a breath, visible in the sudden cold. “Of course I do. I was just wondering if you and Ricko were more than friends.”

  “Well, we aren’t. And if we were, it’d be none of your business anyway.”

  “So, you could be, but you’re not telling me?”

  I turned to glare at him just as a pair of headlights caught my attention. “Duck.”

  Aiming my weapon through the branches of the bush in front of me, I caught sight of a man behind the wheel of a cream-coloured sedan. As the vehicle continued down the street, the garage door of the house we were surveilling opened. Moments later, the car turned from the street to park inside. I tried to catch sight of him, but the garage door closed before I could get a good look.

  “Dammit,” I groaned.

  Lights illuminated in the windows of the home. To my delight, the man appeared by the kitchen sink at the front of the house, giving me the perfect opportunity to scan him. Blue. His silhouette radiated blue.

  “He’s our guy,” I whispered.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Look for yourself.” I checked the safety was on before handing him the gun.

  He lifted it to his eye and looked. “What now?”

  “Now we get as close as we can to check out the house. What’s the time?”

  He handed my weapon back, and I slung it over my shoulder.

  “Nine-thirty. Why?”

  The alien left the kitchen, switching off the light.

  “Make note of the time,” I instructed. We’ll see if coming home at this time is part of his regular routine. Let’s move in.”

  I scooted around the bush and took off over the asphalt in a low crouch, turning my head just enough to ensure Reece was following. Once across the road, I crept over the grass lawn towards a tall wooden fence. I glanced back, a finger pressed to my lips. He nodded in reply. Kneeling, I rested one hand in the other to make a foothold. Reece slipped his large boot into my hands and launched with the other, vaulting him up and over the fence. I took two steps back before bounding and reaching for the top of the fence palings. The wood bit at my palms, but I pulled myself over, landing on the other side with a soft thud.

  We crept along the brick wall of the house and positioned ourselves under the window where the television was the loudest. Rising just enough to peek through, I spotted Mr. Barth, coffee in hand, watching the news. I crouched back down and pointed up.

  Reece mouthed, ‘What now?’

  I pointed to my eyes then up to the window, urging him to peek through the screen. He needed to see where the alien sat in the evenings, where the furniture was positioned in the house. He needed to learn how to commit as many details to memory as he could so he could write a report for the hunter who would ultimately kill this alien.

  Fear shone in his eyes as he stared at me. I reached out and squeezed his shoulder in support. I could be hard on the rookie, but hunting aliens forced you to push through many fear thresholds. I’d had Ricko to help me do that in my first months at Skywatchers, so maybe I could do the same for Reece.

  Stretching his legs, Reece raised himself up slowly, glancing back at me. I gave him a reassuring nod, crossing my fingers and hoping he wouldn’t be seen. He stared through the window for only a moment before ducking back down.

  I gave him a thumbs-up, which he returned. We scooted around the back of the house where a small tin shed sat in the corner. Gardens lined the fences. Three houses framed the yard and light from a back window spread across the lawn. We crept under the sill, and I pointed to myself and then to Reece. He volunteered to have a peek and rose once again to look through the screen.

  “Can I help you?”

  The voice sent fear racing through my limbs and I reached for my weapon. Beside us stood Mr. Barth.

  “We must have the wrong house,” said Reece, hands raised.

  “Nope. Pretty sure you’re Skywatcher scum.”

  A snarl ripped from my lips. “Watch who you’re calling scum, you murderous piece of…”

  “We were just leaving,” Reece cut me off.

  “You’re not going anywhere. If I let you leave, they’ll come back for me. I don’t want to go into hiding.” He stepped forward, pointing the barrel of a gun at my chest. “Why do you keep hunting us?”

  Reece urged me to rise to my full height, hands raised, ready to grab my weapon if the opportunity arose. I’d never spoken to an alien before. I didn’t even know they knew we existed. Protocol was to only kill if ordered to, and to make sure it was clean and quiet. Facing an alien dead-on. I had to disable him and take him out. It was the only way.

  Reece stepped forward, drawing Mr. Barth’s attention. The second he took his eyes off me, I leapt at him. Reece called out as I wrapped my arms around the alien’s waist and forced him to the ground. Pulling an auto-injector from my belt with my free hand, I swung my arm to press it into his neck, but he used the motion to flip me onto my back. I struggled to move, but he had pinned my arms with his knees. Once again, the gun was pointed straight at my chest.

  “You twitch a muscle, and she dies,” Mr. Barth growled.

  Reece, frozen in indecision, simply nodded.

  “You don’t know, do you?” he addressed me again. “What you’ve been told couldn’t be further from the truth. I wish I could tell you, but it’d be pointless, wouldn’t it? They’ve brainwashed you to the point you wouldn’t believe a word I say. I’m sorry I have to do this.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hesitation disappear from Reece’s face, and he lunged at Mr. Barth. The gun fired, and pain tore through my left bicep. Reece grabbed my good arm and dragged me towards the front gate, the alien’s gun slung over his shoulder.

  “Is he dead?” I asked as Reece ripped open the gate and barrelled through, dragging me behind him until we were safe in the darkness of the park across the street.

  Heart racing, I peered through the branches, watching as each light turned off in the house. Mr. Barth was going into lock down. Reece hadn’t taken him out.

  I spun around, staring down at Reece. “You didn’t kill him?”

  “You told me those weren’t our orders
. We were just supposed to watch him. That’s all,” he spluttered.

  “How on earth did he know we were there? We didn’t make a sound!”

  “Maybe he saw me? I’m not sure.”

  “They know about Skywatchers. Maybe they have cameras or alarms installed. The Commander needs to know we aren’t hunting in secret anymore.”

  “All right,” he said. “We’ll head back and let the Commander know everything. I’ll tell him it was my fault.”

  I scanned the area again, but we were quite alone. “What did the alien mean when it said I’ve been brainwashed?”

  He shook his head, his chest still heaving. “No idea. Your arm. Is it okay?”

  It stung, but the bullet had only grazed it. Blood trickled down my bicep, making it look much worse than it was.

  “It’s fine. It just needs a bandage.”

  I distracted my racing thoughts by concentrating on the small medikit I’d pulled from my belt. I pulled out gauze and a bandage, pressed the gauze to my wound, and tried to sit the end of the bandage on top, but it kept falling off.

  “Here, let me.” Reece leant forward to take the bandage from me.

  I held his gaze for a moment, torn between letting him help and wanting to do it myself. This mission was supposed to be about bonding. I supposed near-death experiences did that. “Thanks.”

  He took the bandage and wrapped it around my bicep. The garage door across the road opened. We could only watch as Barth’s car peeled out, tires squealing, and took off down the street.

  “I can’t believe that happened. He was so quiet. I didn’t even hear him sneak up beside us. I’m sorry, Reece. I should’ve been keeping watch. I let us down and nearly got us killed. Guess I’m the useless one now.” I sagged back as he secured the bandage and pulled my sleeve over it.

  “You’re not useless,” His statement made me feel strangely reassured. “We had no way of knowing he’d detected us. And guns are illegal, so where’d he get one?”

  “I don’t think aliens are too worried about breaking our laws,” I replied. “But why would he need a gun in the first place? From the stories I’ve heard, aliens don’t need a gun to take out a human. I was surprised at how easily I overpowered him.”

  “Maybe there are things we don’t know about them. As good as our intel is, I’m sure there are pieces missing. Like what happens to the bodies?”

  “He said he wished he could show us the truth… What do you think he meant?”

  Reece didn’t take his eyes from the bandage. “Like I said. Maybe there are things we don’t know about them.”

  He finished wrapping my arm. I hated to admit it, but it felt better. “Thank you,” I said.

  “No problem. Hope it’s tight enough.”

  “Not just for the bandage. For saving my ass in there. If you hadn’t tackled him and taken his gun, things could’ve ended much worse. I was wrong. You’re not useless. I’m sorry I was such a bitch.”

  He laughed. The unexpected sound threw me. “You’re not a bitch. You’re surviving. Isn’t it what we’re all doing? You’ve learned to put up walls so you don’t have to go through the pain of losing someone again. It makes sense. That’s your defence mechanism. Mine is that I smile and laugh my way through every situation so the seriousness of all this doesn’t crush me.”

  My throat tightened as though I might cry. How could this boy who’d known me for such a short time understand me so well?

  He swept a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I shrunk back, annoyed I’d let myself become vulnerable.

  I drew in a deep breath, composing myself. “I’m fine. Probably just the shock of nearly being taken out by an alien.”

  “Ky, there’s something I need to tell you,” he said, in a serious tone I’d never heard from him.

  The way he looked at me, the softness in his eyes… In that moment, I felt as though he understood me, like he knew what it was like to be completely alone and lost. I’d spent so long lost in my anger and grief, I couldn’t remember the girl I was before the aliens invaded.

  “Ky?”

  I don’t know what came over me. It could’ve been the near-death experience or having someone see the side of me I’d kept bury for years despite how hard I tried to stay hidden. I reached out and placed my hand on his neck, pulling his face to mine pressing my lips to his. Tears ran over my cheeks as he relaxed and kissed me back, his hand reaching up to rest softly on my damp cheek.

  I’d only ever kissed one boy before. My long-time crush Brock Walker had kissed me at a Christmas Eve party on the same night the aliens invaded. The night I lost my brother.

  I pulled away, shocked at my impulsive action, embarrassment heating my cheeks. Ricko and the Commander were getting to me. I didn’t even know this boy.

  “Ky, I…” he stammered.

  “We better get back to the base. Ricko and the Commander will want to know what happened.” I rose to my feet too quickly, my head growing light for a moment.

  “Are you okay?” asked Reece, rising beside me and taking my hand in his.

  I pulled my fingers from his grip. “I’m fine. And Reece?”

  “Yes, Ky?”

  “If you breathe a word of what happened tonight, I’ll kill you in your sleep … got it?”

  That annoying smirk returned. “Yes, Ky.”

  Chapter Seven

  “How did it know you were there?” Commander Kane paced back and forth behind his large desk, rubbing his moustache.

  Reece and I sat across from where he paced, and I kept my gaze locked on the Commander.

  “I have no idea,” I said. “We followed protocol, we didn’t make a noise.”

  “He could’ve spotted me when I was looking through the window,” offered Reece.

  I ignored him. “The rookie was quiet. Maybe the target had a security camera?”

  “The techs would’ve told you if there were cameras,” said the Commander. “They still shouldn’t know we even exist.” He muttered the second part to himself.

  “Commander, there’s more…” I said, fidgeting in my seat. “It’s something the alien said before Reece saved my ass.”

  “You spoke to it?” He spun to face me, eyes wide. “What on earth did it say?”

  “It said something about us being brainwashed and not knowing the truth. What do you think he meant?”

  Commander Kane leant forward, hands on the desk, his eyes boring into mine. “Never, and I mean never trust a word that comes out of alien scum’s mouth. It was either trying to make you doubt Skywatchers and what you’ve been tasked to do, or they’re planning something.” He straightened up, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I’m not going to lie. This isn’t good. We’ve always operated under anonymity. If they know who we are, there must be a leak.”

  “A leak?” The words sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Someone in our organization must be feeding the aliens information. I can’t think of any other plausible explanation.”

  “You mean someone at Skywatchers? One of the recruits?” Confusion laced my words. Could a trained recruit really betray us like that?

  The Commander’s face hardened. This was an eventuality he’d obviously never had to contend with before. “Possibly. I don’t know. But you both need to keep this quiet until I have time to consider what to do. I’ve already said too much.”

  “What about the other hunters? Shouldn’t they be informed? This might compromise any further missions.”

  He shook his head. “It’ll create panic and fear. We don’t need hunters going out on missions afraid they might be ambushed. It stays between the three of us and Agent Rickson until I say otherwise. That’s an order.” He spoke the last three words with an air of finality.

  “Yes Commander,” said Reece, shooting me a worried glance.

  “Yes Commander,” I echoed.

  The door swung open. Ricko stood in the doorway. “Is everything okay?” he asked, short of breath. “Olivia said you called for me an
d that it was urgent.”

  “Reece. Ky. You’re both dismissed. Remember… not one word to anyone. If this gets out, I’ll know where it came from.”

  We both said, “Yes, sir,” in unison, before rising from our chairs. The loud scrape of timber legs on concrete floor reverberated through the room.

  As we departed, I caught sight of Ricko’s confused expression, which made my stomach twist. Reece closed the door behind us, leaving us alone in the hallway.

  “Do you really think the alien was trying to trick us?” asked Reece in a hushed tone.

  I swallowed down the lump that’d formed in my throat. “It wouldn’t surprise me. We know they’re cunning and manipulative.”

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I pushed down the confusion and fear. “I don’t need you checking up on me either, okay?”

  His jaw tightened. “Shouldn’t we talk about what happened?”

  “Oh, Jeez. Were you a goldfish in a past life? Because I’m pretty sure I told you not to say anything.”

  “I just thought…”

  “Well, you thought wrong. This doesn’t change anything, rookie. You’re my recruit and I’m training you. That’s it.”

  Before he could respond. I strode down the hallway, towards the elevator and away from him. It was that stupid alien’s fault that I’d let my guard down. I should’ve been more prepared. Now Reece thought I was weak, and he looked at me differently. Like he was sorry for me.

  Back in my room, I threw myself onto my bed and yelled into my pillow until all my frustration left my body. I pulled open my bedside drawer and pulled out the little jewellery box with the pendant from my brother inside. I clenched it in my fist, letting all the emotion of the night out as I cried myself to sleep.

  I didn’t head down for breakfast or report for training the next morning. The thought of seeing Reece kept me locked in my room. Why couldn’t he disappear back to wherever he came from?

  I didn’t know why I’d done it. Why I’d kissed him. I hadn’t looked at him as more than a pain in my ass since he’d been assigned to me. But the way he saw me, really saw me with those sapphire blue eyes. I was losing my mind. Ricko and Commander Kane had gotten into my head.