“Why do I get the feeling that something not too pleasant happened between you two?” Rix asks, pointing from me to Simon.
“I was an ass once upon a time,” Simon admits. “What I did was wrong, and I did apologize before.”
“Did you?” I growl.
“I did, but I’m man enough to say it again. I’m sorry.”
“What did he do?”
“Simon and his buddies got drunk one day, and they decided to play truth or dare. They always picked dare, so they had to do something. One of the dares was to kiss the next person who came into the bar. Didn’t matter how old or young, male or female. If a kid, well, I hope they would’ve modified it—”
“How many people bring kids into bars?” Simon protests.
“You’d be surprised. Besides, it served food. Kids eat food. Anyhow, I was the person. Simon came up to me, was about to kiss me, and… Do you want to tell him?” I ask.
Simon grimaces. “Not really my best moment.”
“No, not at all.” I roll my eyes. “He did kiss me, on the cheek, rushed back to his friends, and wouldn’t shut up about how I smelled.”
“In my defense, you did smell,” Simon says.
“Yeah, of flowers. I spent all day doing some weeding and gardening to earn money to have a drink, and the entire time I was there, everyone walked past me holding their noses.”
“Did she smell like flowers?” Rix asks.
“I can’t remember,” Simon says. “I just remember that she smelled. Should I have said anything? No. I didn’t think I was being that loud, and I did offer to pay for your drink.”
Ava smirks.
"Yeah, don't forget that bit." Simon turns toward Rix. "She asks all innocent, but she got back at me. I apologized to her, like I said, and I offered to pay for her drink, so what does she do? She gets that drink and then pours it over my head."
“It was the best drink I ever had,” I say sweetly.
Rix bursts out laughing. “So now you two can be friends, right? That was a while ago, and Simon would never do that again.
“I haven’t played truth or dare since, if that’s any consolation,” he says to me.
“I don’t see how that’s a consolation prize, but fine, we can be friends, if you can identify her.”
I point to the footage, and Simon takes one glance before nodding.
“Yep. That’s Rebecca, all right. Rebecca Baker.”
“You don’t happen to know where she lives, do you?” Rix asks.
“Sure, I can take you to her place.” Simon stares at the footage some more. “Why do you need her?”
“She stole something of mine.”
“Shit. If someone kisses and teases you, you pour beer on them. What do you do if someone steals from you?”
I grin. “Chop off their hand.”
Simon blinks a few times. “Buddy, you sure know how to pick ‘em.” He pats Rix’s shoulder. “I think I like her.”
“You had your chance. You blew it.” I wink at Simon.
He claps his hands over his heart. “Damn. Out of sight, out of mind, huh?”
“Something like that. Let’s go.”
Simon drives us over to Rebecca’s place. It’s a tiny little house, one story, almost a cottage. The military man takes the lead, and he knocks on the door.
“Simon,” Rebecca says with a wide smile. “Do you want to come in? It’s a bit hot, and I was just thinking about taking off my—oh.”
I step around Simon to grin at her. At the same time, Rix slides to Simon’s other side.
"The more, the merrier," she chirps. "We can have some mixed drinks and a big old orgy and—"
“You can give me back what you stole, and then I’ll be merry,” I tell her with a smile that’s even wider than the one she gave me.
“Oh, I don’t know what you—”
“Can it, Rebecca. We have you on film.”
“On film? Simon, there must be—”
“I saw the film,” Simon says. “Who do you think ID’d you?”
Rebecca glances at Rix. “But I—”
“Why did you do it?” Rix asks.
“I…” Her nostrils flare.
“Is it really because of jealousy?” I ask.
Her face colors.
"Oh my God. You thought stealing it would what? Get Rix to leave me? Or did you want to be found out? I don't understand—"
“You’re nothing but trash,” Rebecca says hotly. “You don’t have a house or a job or anything. No money, no family, no friends. How haven’t you died yet in a gutter? You don’t deserve him, and you don’t deserve—”
“You better shut your mouth,” Rix starts.
“Give us the device now,” Simon says calmly.
“Or else what?” Rebecca snaps.
“Or else we’ll take you out with the trash,” I say politely.
Rebecca’s jaw tightens, and she flounces inside. We follow, and she gives us a bit of a runaround, but within an hour, she’s arrested and taken away, and Rix is dragging my wagon back to my place.
All's well that ends well. Now that I have my device back, we can start to move forward with both the future of the device and our hearts.
Somehow, that doesn’t terrify me as much as I would’ve thought it would. Simon’s not the only one who has changed. I have too, and I think I like the person I’m becoming with Rix’s help.
19
Rix
As much as I want to have some time to celebrate with Ava, I can’t ignore it any longer. My chip has been chirping for hours, and it’s starting to cause me pain.
Finally, I break down and turn to Ava. We've been at the scrapyard for a half-hour, and she's been doing a few tests to ensure that the device still works. It does, by the way.
“Ava, I have a call to take.”
She smiles even if she doesn’t turn away from the centuricmobile in the air. “Okay. Go ahead. I’ll be fine.”
I leave her to it and step away. “Hello.”
“You’re an ovian bastard, you know that, Rix? How dare you hang up on me and then not—”
“Overlord Nestrol, I had to deal with a situation—”
“You are going to be ovian killed—”
“The situation required my attention at the time,” I continue calmly.
“What ovian situation could have possibly—”
“The device had been stolen.”
That finally captures his attention.
“It’s been recovered, with my help,” I add.
“If you think this ovian absolves you—”
“Sir, I did what you asked.”
"So, we have a deal then?"
“I understand how much this means to you, and I know I infuriated you.”
“I’m beyond livid, so if you’re trying to tell me that you ovian fucked this up—”
“I just don’t understand why I have to be the middle man. Ava is her own person, and if you want to talk to her, then you should talk to her directly. She would respect that more.”
“You’re too worried about your ovian cock, aren’t you?” The overlord snorts. “You’re just like all of the others.”
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment, but thank you.”
“It’s not,” he says darkly, “but I suppose that maybe you do have a point. I can talk to Ava myself. It would be a lot easier if she had a chip—”
“We can return to the ship,” I offer. “How does that sound?”
The overlord harrumphs. “You love her, don’t’ you?”
“I want to be with Ava for Ava, and I don’t want there to be anything murky about it. I don’t want her to think that it’s just about getting the device for the Kurians.”
“For the Novans and Kurians,” the overlord corrects, “and if you care for her but think that she might not realize that, that’s on you and is your fault.”
My jaw drops. He has a point, the bastard.
“But I already said I would talk to her, did
n’t I? You won’t be the middle man. Don’t you or your cock worry.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“We can talk tomorrow at noon your time,” the overlord instructs.
And he hangs up.
Shaking my head, I walk over to Ava. “The overlord would like a meeting with you tomorrow at noon.”
“That doesn’t work for me,” she says.
“It doesn’t? Why not?”
"Because I have a meeting than with the general."
“About what?”
“The levitation device.”
“I thought you hated the general,” I blurt out.
“I don’t hate him. I misjudged and wrongly accused him, and honestly, he handled that better than I would’ve if the roles would’ve been reversed.” She lowers the centuricmobile to the ground. It lands a little too hard, but only a little. “I suppose the meeting could happen with the both of them at the same time.
“A huge conference meeting,” I muse, rubbing the back of my neck. “That might be for the best.”
And that’s exactly what happens. The general, Ava, and I are all on the ship a little before noon. At the stroke of twelve, the overlord calls.
The overlord greets Ava and then grimaces. “General, why are you here?”
“Oh,” Ava jumps in, “the general requested a meeting at this time before you did. I thought it might be fine to have the meeting together, considering I wish to discuss with you both about the levitation device.”
“Is that so?” the overlord asks.
“I must say that I do not understand why you came to the Novans about it,” the general says.
“Oh? Considering that you seemed so disinterested at first,” Ava says innocently.
“If he’s disinterested, I cannot be more interested,” the overlord states. “We have been having some issues with the water on Kuria, and my scientists have a theory that if we have water on the surface instead of merely underground and in the mesas, that the planet will be much more fertile. But, there’s no way to control where the water will go, so having the houses above ground, maybe on the mesas at first and then even above the land entirely… to have levitating houses and centuricmobiles… it would be an improvement for the planet and for us all.”
“There’s much good that levitation can do here on Earth too, of course,” the general states. “Whatever you want, ask, and it’s yours.”
“Is that so?” Ava asks.
“I can double whatever he offers,” the overlord says.
“I’m not talking about merely money,” the general says. “Not that you have currency, Overlord Nestrol.”
I cover my mouth to hide my grin. The two men are both natural leaders, which, naturally, means they’re butting heads.
“There is much and more to be had than just currency. There’s power and—”
“It’s not power I want,” Ava says. “It’s control.”
“Control of what?” the general asks.
The overlord stares at her critically through his hologram.
“I want to be able to oversee both facilities.”
“Which facilities?” the overlord states.
"If both planets are to have levitation devices, then I'm going to need workshops on both planets. I'm going to have to train workers on how to create more devices. I already have ideas for levitations towers based on the towers that power and spread the internet, General. I might even be able to just adapt a part of the towers so they can be used for both purposes. The levitation won't draw away from the internet at all. You don't have to worry about that. On Kuria, though, the towers would have to be built in their entirety, but that's just a simple matter, especially since the planet is much smaller than Earth. It won't need as many towers."
“You’ll want to supervise both workshops,” the general states.
“You’ll need means to get back and forth with ease,” the overlord states with a smirk. “Let me guess. You want Rix here to be your personal pilot.”
“Yes, actually.” Ava grins at me.
“Like father, like son,” Overlord Nestrol mutters.
“You don’t have an issue with that, do you, Nestrol?”
I cough. Did she just call him by his first name? Without his title first?
But the overlord doesn't seem displeased at all. "I don't have an issue with that, but there is one slight issue. There have been two ships that have been put out of commission. A Kurian by the name of Darra has taken it upon herself to sabotage us. It seems that she was jealous of the Kurian males who have been going to Earth as of late and finding love on your planet instead of here on Kuria with any of the Kurians."
“She was jealous so she sabotaged the ships.” Ava’s jaw drops, and she rolls her eyes. “That’s been going around here, too. The levitation device was stolen by a woman jealous of the attention Rix pays me. Why can’t women build each other up and try to help one another?”
The overlord snorts. “My wife and a lot of the women here, especially the ones married to Novans, all do that. They are a close-knit community. I have a feeling you and my wife would get along well despite her being older than you are.”
“I would love to meet her one day.”
“Yes. When you come to Kuria, it can’t always be about work.”
“Of course not.” Ava shifts toward the general. “Will it be possible to have access to a facility here? Will I be able to teach men and women—”
“Both Earthlings and Kurians,” the overlord supplies.
The general clears his throat. “What if we could have the training done on one planet at first and then those from the other planet be flown back here? It would help to save time. During the training, the workshops can be built on both planets.”
“That sounds good.” Ava looks to the overlord.
“You can train here, if that is amendable.”
The general nods.
“There is one more thing, Nestrol. I will need to modify plasma morphers for the devices.”
“I am willing to donate as many as is necessary for this,” the overlord says, “so long as the Earthlings will give us the specifications for their towers if it proves that they are able to help transmit the levitation frequency.”
“More tests need to be run before the training can begin,” Ava warns.
“How soon do you think this can be up and running?” the overlord asks.
“A few weeks. A month at the most.”
“Take two,” the overlord suggests. “We want to do this right and have as many bugs worked out first. And if you have more time versus less, you might have some time for celebrations.”
I cough to hide a laugh. The overlord winks at me.
It takes a few more minutes, but the deal has been made. Everything is lining up perfectly.
All that remains now is for Ava to learn just how much I ovian care about her.
20
Ava
To say I'm thrilled is an understatement. I held out on making a deal with the overlord specifically because I wanted to make a difference on Kuria and on Earth.
After the meeting, the general sends Rix and I off to a fancy restaurant, just the two of us, as a thank you. Rix looks so handsome in the candlelight, and we clink our wine glasses.
"Maybe once everything is up and running with the levitation devices, I'll be able to make a full lab for my experiments and inventions. I have so many ideas, Rix! The possibilities seem limitless."
“You’re going to revolutionize not one but two planets.”
I grin shyly. “I hope so. I, um, have a question for you.”
“You can ask me anything.”
“Would you want to be the first one to be inside a levitating centuricmobile? Or a centuricar? I’ve gotten better at the landings, but I really want you to be the first one, and I understand if you don’t want to. If you’re nervous, I totally get it. I really just want… I want everything to be perfect and smooth, and both the military here and your overlord h
ave promised me everything I need including housing, food, anything and everything, so we’ll have what we need for anything and everything, and—”
“Ava?”
“Yes?”
“You can take a breath.”
I laugh nervously.
“We can take things slowly. We don’t have to rush things.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah, of course. I get it. I just…” I swallow hard.
“I am more than willing to be your test dummy.”
I giggle. “You can wear protective gear if you want to.”
“I trust you.”
The way he says that makes me avert my gaze. "So, if you want to take things slowly, you mean with us."
“Well, I mean, we’ve only dated a few times, and you basically asked me to move in with you. I mean, first, you rope me into being your personal pilot. Now, I just agreed to be your test dummy. It seems to me that you’re trying to turn me into a sex slave.”
“Rix!” I glance around, but thankfully, no one is paying us any attention for once.
He chuckles. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t turn that down.”
“No. No! You aren’t a sex slave. I just think that an inventor, you know, needs a partner. An explorer would be the perfect accomplice, don’t you think?”
He sits back as if considering this and slowly nods. “Yes. Yes, I do think so.”
“Do we need a label then?”
“You mean boyfriend/girlfriend? Then yes.”
“Okay. Yes.” My heart pounds, and I chug the rest of my wine. “I… I want to know what you think about the future.”
“Okay. Sure.”
“Go ahead.” I wave to him.
He eyes me, and a slow smile curls his lips. “I can see us flying around to Earth, from Earth, to Kuria, from Kuria, making trips to other planets just to see what we can see. I can see us spending our days and our nights together, and I can see us sharing a house on Earth and one on Kuria, and I can see us married eventually when you’re ready. I know you probably aren’t ready for that, that you haven’t been in a real relationship before, and I don’t want to push you too quickly. We can wait until you’re ready. I won’t dare do anything you don’t want to do.”
Enchanted by the Alien Explorer Page 12
