Enchanted by the Alien Explorer
The Kurians Book Four
Ashlyn Hawkes
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Other Books By Ashlyn Hawkes
About the Author
Special Author Note
1
Rix
“Hey, Dad,” I call as I enter his house. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s not here,” Dad calls from the back room. He emerges and stands in the doorway, wiping his hands on a rag. “What do you need?”
“I don’t need anything,” I say sourly. I eye the photo on the wall. It’s a picture of Mom and Dad, and it’s hanging crooked. I fix it and then face him. “Why do you think I need something?”
“When’s the last time you dropped by unannounced?”
“Two days ago.”
“Right. When you were hungry and didn’t have anything to barter for food.”
I scowl and turn my gaze back onto the picture. Dad’s skin looks a darker shade of blue than it normally is, and Mom’s hair looks black instead of its dyed dark blue color. Her eyes are a bright blue compared to Dad’s neon yellow. As a result, mine are a green color with a bare trace of Dad’s neon. Mom’s skin is peach, which makes my skin a rather light blue. I’m not nearly as tall as Dad, but I’m just as muscular as he is.
“You don’t deny it.” Dad chuckles. “Are you hungry again?”
“Can’t a son want to see his old man?”
“Sure, but you did ask about your mom as soon as you opened the door.”
“Can’t a son want to see his parents?” I amend.
“Sure, sure.” Dad shakes his head. “You just want to talk then? Make it fast.”
“Why? Are you going somewhere?”
Dad cocks his head to the side. “I do have a job, unlike you,” he teases.
“Yes, yes. The famous pilot Chrix who stole a woman from Earth.”
“I didn’t steal your mother. I picked her.”
“You basically abducted her,” I protest.
"It's not an abduction if it was willing," Dad stresses with a shrug. "Your mother didn't complain one bit. She enjoyed living on my ship for a time. It was some of the best weeks of my life. Just her and me and—"
“I really don’t need to know the details,” I say dryly, holding up my hands.
Dad smirks. “You come here, bringing up old memories… How can I not reminisce?”
“Oh, you can, on your own time or with Mom, not with me.”
Dad just shrugs. “Regardless, I have to do a run.”
“To Earth?”
“Yep.”
“To do what?” I ask. “Not to pick up women?”
Decades ago, the Grots came to Nore and destroyed the planet. While there, we fought back. Well, Dad and the Novans fought back, I should say. As a result, the Grots grew angry and killed all of the women. Every last one of them. The males all fled and went to space, surviving in their spaceships.
But they didn’t just survive. They came up with new technology, and they blasted the Grots out of orbit. The Grots were the ones annihilated, and because the Grots had been fighting Earth at the time, we saved the Earthlings as well.
Which meant the Earthlings were very grateful.
And their gratitude meant that they gave the Novans some of their women.
Now, the Novans live on Kuria, a planet that is about a full twenty-four-hour flight from Earth. Some of the Novans have impregnated Earthling women. Those babies, like me, are called Kurians.
Yes, only some of the Novans have impregnated the women from Earth. Why? Not for lack of trying, but biologically, the Novans discovered that for an Earthling woman to become pregnant with Novan ejaculate, the woman has to orgasm. The two also have to love each other.
There had been a bit of a cultural clash at first that caused some problems for the Novans. They had been used to fucking any woman they came across. Novans were all about fucking. They would fuck all the time, day and night, until they married. Then, they were completely devoted to their spouse.
But Earthling women aren’t as horny. They don’t want to spread their legs for every male they see, and the Novans didn’t understand that at first. They also didn’t understand the concepts of rape or divorce. The clash caused more than a few of the Novan breeders to never find an Earthling woman to love him, and eventually, Overlord Nestrol wiped out the breeders and gave them new positions. After that, the women were given more freedom, and they were much more apt to finding love on their own.
Not that I know anything about love. I've fucked a few of the Earthling women here, but they're all older now. We haven't had a new shipment of women from Earth for the longest time, and while there are Kurian women, I just haven't found the woman for me.
Yet. She’s out there, somewhere.
“Are you listening to me?” Dad asks.
“Sorry. What were you saying?”
Dad sighs and flings the towel onto his shoulder as he places his hands on his hips. “I said that the run to Earth is to bring machines down there. It’s not for women. Why? You bored of all the ones here?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I think I’m just bored in general. Life here is too…”
“Mundane?”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. I leave it shaved on the sides, but the top part grows long. “I haven’t been to Earth in ages.”
Dad wags a finger at me. "You weren't ever supposed to go with me on any of those trips," he warns.
“I never left the ship,” I protest.
“Never?” Dad asks dryly, lifting his eyebrows.
I shrug. “As far as you know.”
He shakes his head but laughs. “I can’t even be upset. If I were you, I would’ve done the same thing.”
I grin, my cheeks hurting. “I used to stay awake the entire flight to Earth and then opt for deep sleep on the way back to Kuria. Earth always seemed like such a wonderful place. It’s filled with possibilities—”
“Kuria has just as many possibilities waiting for you here,” Dad muses. “Why are you going on and on about Earth? You know I’ve been back a lot lately. If you’ve wanted to come with, I would’ve let you.”
“It’s not… I don’t know. For a while, I tried to stay here, to ignore Earth.”
"I notice," Dad says. He goes to cross his arms, but they're too muscular, so he allows his arms to dangle by his side. "Why was that?"
I wrinkle my nose in frustration. “The others,” I mumble.
“Who?”
“My friends.”
“What did they say?”
“We got into a fight once, and it was because they thought I wasn’t being a good friend.”
“Why? Because you went with me on trips to Earth?”
“Because I wouldn’t let them come with us,” I explain. “I didn’t want to share Earth with them, so I… I picked them over Earth. I stayed away. I’ve always thought I would become a pilot like you—”
“Is that still what you want?” Dad interrupts. “Is that why you haven’t bothered to pick a job yet?”
I bite my bottom lip. “I know the Kurians are lucky that the overlord isn’t forcing us to go in
to certain professions, that he’s allowing us to come to him with our wants, but…”
“What do you want?” Dad asks gently.
“I’ve been thinking a lot, and that’s why I asked if Mom’s here. I wanted to talk to you both.” I blow out a breath.
“She’s out visiting with a few of her friends,” Dad says. “I already said goodbye to her.”
“She’s not coming with you to Earth?” I ask, surprised. She normally always tags along with him.
“Not this time. She’s been feeling a little under the weather lately. Not that she’s sick! But she just wants to be around friends for the time being.”
I say nothing.
Dad eyes me curiously. “Will talking to your friends help any? I don’t think many of them have chosen careers yet, the lazy bums.” He laughs, but I just scowl. “Sorry. Just trying to get you to lighten up. What did you want to talk to your mom and me about?”
“I actually wanted to see about going to Earth.”
“For a visit like when you were a kid?” he asks.
I nod even though that’s not precisely what I mean.
Dad rubs his chin. “I suppose it won’t matter too much if you’re the one who brings the machines to Earth. They’re all loaded into the ship already. All you would have to do is fly out there. The flight path is already programmed in and everything. The ship could technically fly itself there, but then no one would be able to fly it back.”
“I can do it,” I say eagerly.
“We should maybe talk to Overlord Nestrol about it first, though,” Dad muses, but then he shakes his head. “I’ll handle the overlord. You better pack up anything you want to bring with you because you need to leave within an hour.”
“Thank you, Dad!”
Not even a half-hour later, I'm off, piloting the ship. Yes, I could let the ship automatically fly over, but it's been years since I sat in this chair. When I was little, my dad would let me sit on his lap and let me pilot for a bit. He taught me all of the controls, and I still can recall all of them.
Everything goes perfectly smoothly. I even napped for a few hours, and I’m bright-eyed and curious as I land.
Whistling to myself, I pop open the cargo hold door. Men in uniform wait in two straight lines, and they march on board without saying a word and take the boxes off.
Dumbfounded, I watch their efficiency, and a tall man with gray eyebrows and a nearly shaved head eyes me.
“You aren’t Chrix.”
“No, sir,” I say respectfully. Dad told me to be as respectful as possible. As if I planned on coming to Earth and disrespecting everyone I meet. I’m not a fool, and I won’t do anything that will jeopardize relations between Earthling and Novans and Kurians.
“You look a bit like him,” the man continues.
“I’m his son. Rix.”
“Ah. Rix. That explains it. I’m General Spencer Moore, and I am getting far too old for this. Your father doesn’t seem to age very fast, now, does he?”
“It does seem like Novans age slower than Earthlings, yes,” I agree.
The general grunts. “And you live longer too. Not far if you ask me. Forgive me for rambling. You’re free to stretch your legs, walk around the compound a bit. Grab a bite to eat. Whatever you like.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He grins. “I like you,” he says. “You have a good attitude. I can see why your father entrusted you with this mission.”
“It’s hardly a mission, sir.”
“Just a delivery, I know, but everything you do can be considered a mission. Maybe some of the missions will have a reward at the end.” He grunts. “I want my reward to be retirement, but my missus thinks I’ll kick the bucket if I do, and she might be right. I’ve been in the military for so long that I don’t know what I’ll do with myself if I get out, but I’m sure I’m boring you. Do you want a tour or—”
“I’ll be fine to look around, sir. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Rix.”
And the general walks away.
With a grin, I step off the ship and glance around. Which way to leave the camp? I don’t want to see a military spot. I want to see Earth itself and all the planet has to offer. I want to explore new horizons. Oh, and I want to see if the grass is as green as I remember. Kuria is a red stony planet, and it’s rather ugly and boring in my opinion. Yes, it’s far past time I start exploring.
2
Ava
The hot sun beats down on me, and I groan and rub the back of my neck. If only I could just get this thing up and working… It’s not as if I haven’t pored a gazillion hours into the thing already.
Okay, fine. Not a gazillion, but it sure feels that way. Being an inventor is more frustrating than it's worth. Actually, being an inventor isn't worth jack shit if none of your inventions actually work.
That's not precisely true. Some of my inventions have worked, but ever since the Grots came to Earth and blew up most of the factories, the government has a monopoly on the rebuilt factories. Basically, that means the military can build whatever it wants to, but the rest of us ordinary inventors have no means to mass produce any of our inventions.
Not that I know of any other inventors.
But I do have a few inventions I would love to have go huge. The first is a seed gun. You input what seed you want, drop in a little bit of soil, and the gun will best determine the exact conditions the seed needs to grow, will plant the seed as far down or as close to the surface as is ideal and provide the seed with any extra nutrients that the soil lacks. It's a marvel, if I do say so myself, and getting the coding down, all of the knowledge about the soils and all of the different seeds! It would be a huge boon for farmers if I could just get the seed gun into their hands.
After all, we all need food to survive, and farmers have only had success with crops recently. The Grots came over three decades ago, but the aftereffects of the war are still reflected yet in the soil here on Earth. For the longest time, seeds wouldn’t grow. Livestock hardly thrived. Food was so very scarce.
That’s not the case anymore, thank goodness, but that isn’t due to my seed gun. Nope. The government found a way to plant and grow synthetic food, and that’s helping the livestock.
It’s just not helping me in the way I want to be helped.
And right now, this device is actively fighting me. I swear it is.
Stupid convertor. If I solder here, it might—
Sparks fly, and I mutter a curse. I’m growing so utterly frustrated that I want to build a fire and throw this chunk of metal straight into the flames.
I don't, of course, because that would negate all of my research and efforts. Trial and error sucks, though.
A throat clears behind me.
With a glower, I turn to look to see who the fool is who decided to mess with me. I’ve been harassed and hassled all my life, and I’m not about to take any crap today. I am so not in the mood.
He looks dark from all the shadows the sun is casting on him, but as I squint to try to make out his features, he steps forward enough that I can see him.
Not dark.
Blue.
An alien.
I stiffen. I’ve heard stories about the Novans, about how they’re sex-crazed, that they need to be tamed so that they can impregnate a woman from Earth. I didn’t think any of them lived here, so what the hell is he doing here near my camp?
I say camp, but I don't even have a canopy. I used to, but a storm tore a huge hole in it just last week. I have a needle but no thread to patch it back up. I suppose I could take some thread from one of the shirts that I use to wipe my hands when they're covered in grease. Anything to beat this heat.
The alien tilts his head to the side. “You seem frustrated,” he remarks in a clear, deep voice.
“What’s it to you?” I snap. “Buzz off, alien. I’m not going to treat you any different than I would a man from Earth just because you aren’t from around here. Women here don’t want to be approached by
anyone.”
“Is that so?” he asks, a faint smile curling his lips. “I’ll have to remember that.”
Ignoring him, hoping he'll go away, I return to my work. If I can just get the convertor to work! And for longer than three seconds, but it keeps sparking. I'm afraid it's going to be fried soon, and I don't have another one. Does it need a coolant? But how can I deliver that without messing with the gases? All of my calculations have been precise so far, the weights all calibrated, but if I can't get the convertor to transform the gas, the device won't work as intended.
All my life, I’ve been a scavenger. I’ve survived. The last time I trusted anyone, I got burned, and that will never happen again.
But there’s only so much you can scavenge when it comes to these kinds of pieces, and it’s not like I can just go out and swipe another convertor considering I built it from scratch. It’s not as simple as making another one either. I might have borrowed a few pieces of alien tech to make this one in the first place.
Which means I’m not using electricity or anything like that. No, the aliens use plasma, plasma capacitors to be more specific, to power all of their technology. It’s more advanced, but I figured it out easily enough. Replicating it is another matter, though. They use different alloys, metals that aren’t native to Earth. Still, I can combine elements with Earth-based technology.
Or at least, that’s what I’m trying to do.
Trying. Failing. Same thing today.
Wearily, I wipe my arm across my forehead. I’m sweating.
And that alien is still standing there.
I stand up but don’t dare walk over toward him. He’s huge, built like a tank, his muscles are so huge that he practically has his own zip code. Not that we use zip codes anymore. The United States is more or less one giant state now, has been for the last twenty years. There are plenty of people who still use the state distinctions, but I doubt the next generation will.
Enchanted by the Alien Explorer Page 1
