by Ashley West
To no avail.
The 3D projection was distorted beyond all recognition, and, after a moment, a news reporter popped back onto the screen to explain that they were having technical difficulties and would keep trying to repair the image reception. On her knees – ungodly close to the image on her device, Danielle just stared at the impeccably made up reporter.
When she regained her common sense, she changed the channel to see if another news station had more comprehensive coverage. Oddly, it seemed that every station was having the exact same technical difficulties. No one could get a clear image of what was going on off the Italian coast.
Completely disheartened, Danielle flipped through a few more channels before giving up her search. With a low sound of disappointment, she slunk back to the couch to collapse atop the blanket she’d brought in from her bedroom. She turned back to her original news channel where anchors were begging for their viewers’ patience.
Danielle snorted. She was sure this was the highest rated their programming would ever be, and here they were, unable to provide the information that everyone craved. Half the world must have their faces glued to the television, hanging on some hosts’ every word. If only for one moment, they had forgotten the suffering and strife – forgotten they were dying by the thousands – and come together to share one integral moment in their history.
Jordan would have loved it.
The young woman smiled faintly as she imagined how he would have reacted. Probably with wild speculation about where the aliens had come from – speculating about intergalactic peace and super heroes. He had always loved comic books.
She found her eyes, heavy from a long day, closing – and she promised she’d only rest for a moment as she waited for the news to regain the image they’d lost. Just a few minutes, and then she’d check back in…
The next thing she knew, Danielle was clawing her way blearily from the depths of a deep slumber, her entire body leaden and heavy. She’d crashed – and she’d crashed hard. She’d never have thought she’d been able to sleep with all of the excitement, but she had. The clock on her wrist told her that it was well past seven – time for her to be getting ready for work. The blonde fumbled slightly, not fully awake as she dragged herself into a sitting position. She was on the cusp of trying to drag herself to the bathroom when a loud pounding sounded from her entryway.
With a yawn that nearly dislocated her jaw, the young woman struggled to her feet and went for the door. She was sure she looked a mess, clad in her sweatpants and t-shirt, hair in absolute disarray, but whoever had the gall to come calling at seven thirty in the morning deserved everything they got and more.
When the loud knocking came again, she yanked the door open to glare at her visitor, only to be immediately jolted awake by the sight of military men on her doorstep. There were no less than three of them, all clad in black with the International Alliance Force insignia on their berets. The tallest of their number – an imposing, hugely muscular man with his head shaved hairless – glowered down at her.
“Danielle Bowery?”
“That‘s me.” Her voice came out raspy from fatigue. “What’s going on? Am I under arrest?”
A look passed between the three men that clearly indicated incredulity before the bald man looked back at her once more. “Have you not seen the news reports, Ms. Bowery? Not heard the address?”
The young woman felt her stomach flip flop in sudden nervousness. Now, more than ever, she regretted falling asleep. “No?” She tried tentatively, looking between the three hulking men in a vain attempt at searching for answers.
The leader merely scowled at her. “The Global Coalition Council has asked for all registered immunes to report for medical testing.”
What? What kind of medical testing? As an immune, Danielle had been subjected to enough testing for a lifetime, and every six months she was re-tested to make sure that the virus hadn’t developed any additional mutations that would be able to affect her. She’d just reported to the medical stations a week after her brother’s death.
So what was the meaning of this?
“May I ask why?” Her words were hesitant, though she didn’t quite know why. She had every right to know why she was being summoned from her home on a work day – it was just that those who had come to collect her were more than a little intimidating.
“To ensure your safety and health.” It was the only answer she got before the soldier stepped from her path, clearing a way into the hallway. “Please come with us, Ms. Bowery.”
The young woman gave him a disbelieving look. “I’m in my pajamas. Can’t I at least have a moment to get dressed?”
“The state mandates that this testing happen immediately. It will only be a few hours, and you will be excused from any commitments you might have. You can come as you are.”
Meaning that she most certainly would not be allowed to change. She read that loud and clear. Slowly, the young woman reached back into her apartment to grab her keys from the small table beside the door before locking the residence behind her. As she followed the military men from her apartment building, she remembered the fuzzy images of the extraterrestrial visitors from the night before.
The image had been lost, everywhere, all over the world, before humans could even make contact with them. But contact had been made, of that Danielle was sure. And she was beginning to suspect that her being snatched from her home at this hour had something to do with it. As she slid into the sleek black hover vehicle that had come for her, she only wondered what it could be – and what on earth all this extra medical testing could entail.
**
Three days.
Three days they had been on the minute, water-covered planet called Earth. It was a strange place, with a fraction of the gravity on his home planet, populated by people of extraordinarily small stature. They were, at least, humanoid – as he had been briefed- but they were a narrow minded and extremely suspicious race. When they had arrived, there had been a kind of planet-wide hysteria.
Their leaders had come to meet them under armed guard which, while wise, would have been absolutely ineffective if, indeed, Kael had decided that he wanted to attack. Humans, as they called themselves, had some technological capabilities, but were far beyond the rest of the universe. Their weapons were laughable, and they had very little strength, having yet to master even the most rudimentary elements of genetic manipulations.
It would take more than their bullets to pierce his armor and the thick skin beneath.
Though it was obvious that they had been terrified at first, they had quickly seen reason when it came to preserving their quickly dwindling numbers. The leaders had tried all they could to wheedle and manipulate – to make it seem like they had the upper hand – something to offer them. But Kael and his people held all the cards – after ten years of reconnaissance, there was little they hadn’t seen, and their terms were set in stone.
They could not save those who weren’t immune to the disease. They were dying in numbers that made such a task impossible. What they were capable of was tinkering with the genetic code of immune humans to make them compatible with Garinians – an already diverse race. The children they would then produce with the Prince’s people would be immune to the virus ravaging the human race, with the ability to pass down that immunity to their children.
In fifty human years, they could begin to replenish their population – as long as they pledged the ten thousand immune individuals on planet Earth to the Garinian Empire.
They were asking no small thing, he knew. For the humans to surrender their healthy population to a race they knew nothing about – on good will alone – it put them in a difficult place. But the deal had been designed to provide them with no other recourse.
He, too, had needs. And repopulating his race was one of the most pressing. Already, in the one moon he’d been gone, the people on his home planet were becoming uneasy with the current state of things. A recent transmission from Kaia ur
ged him to complete his business with the humans as soon as he could and return home, where he was needed.
And so he put the utmost pressure on the rulers of the Earth. Apparently, they didn’t operate under a monarchy, but rather some sort of democratic electoral system. While they insisted that they couldn’t do anything without the people’s permission, the prince urged them to do what their people needed, not what they wanted.
And so, within three days, all immune humans from every corner of the globe had been rounded up for collection. They were delivered to a facility in Italy and prepared for transport. When some of them realized what was happening – that they were being taken away from friends and family that would no doubt be gone when they returned, they fought. Kael took measures of restraint, as was his prerogative.
The deal had been made, and could not be broken.
However, his most difficult task now lay directly in his path. All the humans had been rounded up, their leaders were in agreement as to what was to be done, and then, Kael had to be the one to take a leap of faith.
To show his people that a race could be conquered without a campaign – how much he believed in the method he now pursued, he would make one of the human women his wife.
It wasn’t a prospect he was looking forward to. Human women appeared weak and feeble. Humans didn’t allow their females the opportunity to be warriors like his people did. They were…strange, to him, and he had to contend with the idea that he could very well break whomever he chose if he wasn’t careful.
The day finally dawned when they would leave Earth – and on that day, a selection of twenty women were paraded before him. They were of all hues, with long hair and short, of an all manner of body types, and Earth’s leaders assured him that they were the most genetically superior that their race could offer.
And so, it came time for him to make his decision.
Flanked by his two most trusted guards, Kael marched down the line, assessing each woman he’d been presented with. A good half of their number were terrified of him, as well they should be. He towered over their demure statures and looked very different than any male they were used to. When one woman clean fainted away at the sight of him, the prince merely snorted. How on earth was he supposed to deal with this for the rest of his existence?
**
Danielle was beginning to get a clearer picture of what was going to happen to her. Of course, she’d been lied to. The “few hours” of medical testing was actually three full days of being poked and prodded to within an inch of her life in a government facility. After the first day, she became aware of the fact that all those immune to Ignacious were facing the same treatment –all over the globe.
They were moved on the second day, from the American supercontinent to Europe, and then more testing ensued. By the end of the second day, they were informed that they were going to be leaving Earth for an undisclosed period of time – and that they were to be given over to an alien race that they knew nothing about.
Most of them fought the revelation.
They hadn’t been consulted – they hadn’t been asked – merely told that their entire lives had been taken from them. Quite a few of the assembled immunes still had living family and fought tooth and nail to avoid being taken from them.
Danielle, however, remained placid and patient.
What other recourse did she have? She wasn’t going to be let go, and she had no wish to escape. Escape to where? It would be one thing if Jordan was still alive to care for, but now, she had no attachments to Earth; on the contrary – when she was informed that she was to be leaving it, her heart leapt.
Something new – an existence that might allow her a brief reprieve from a life that seemed the same day in and day out. Of course, she wasn’t too keen on being thrust into an alien society with no knowledge of how they operated, but she assumed she would be taught. Still, however, Danielle had no idea why their visitors had decided to save this portion of humanity. They must need something. What exactly that something was though wasn’t apparent.
At least, not until the third day. In the afternoon, Danielle was ushered into a large, steel paneled room with nineteen other women of various ages and creeds with no explanation whatsoever. She was worried, at first, that their group had been rejected and were meant to return to their homes – at least, that was until he entered.
A great commotion rose in the room, and Danielle’s attention was drawn to its far side, through which a collection of beings she had only speculated upon entered with absolutely no announcement. As many of the women began to panic, others only stared at the aliens as they entered, struck absolutely dumb. For her part, Danielle was too busy absorbing every detail of what she saw to react adversely.
Alien.
It was a word every human with a curiosity for life beyond their planet had contemplated for thousands of years – and now, here they were – three of them – in the flesh.
The indistinct images she’d seen on the television hadn’t exaggerated – the beings were close to seven feet tall each, and all males. They were well sculpted creatures, with physiques that most human men would die for: broad chests, narrow waists and long muscular legs, all emphasized by the skin-tight, gleaming body suits they wore.
Over those suits seemed to be a complex interlocking system of what looked like armor. While what they wore beneath that armor was black, the armor itself was gold in color – a breast plate along with shoulder guards, molded to each individual’s body snugly. Additionally, there was a series of gold plating that ran down the front and back of each leg, each section perfectly in place.
Though the aliens were humanoid, there were characteristics that were immediately distinguishable. Their skin was pale – like the color of milk – and their facial structures were very prominent, with high cheekbones, jutting chins and high brows. Unlike humans, however, they weren’t limited to a few eye or hair colors. One of their number had vividly crimson eyes and hair a deep violet color, drawn into a tight knot atop his head. Another’s eyes were a shade of burnished gold, his hair a deep, platinum blonde that brushed his shoulder plate.
And then…there was their leader.
He could be nothing else.
In addition to the armor the other two wore, a long black and gold cape hung from this male’s shoulders, billowing behind him as he walked in a precise clip. His eyes were an entrancing blue-green hue…then they were yellow, then an astonishing hue of violet…to her shock, Danielle realized that his gaze changed with each moment that passed. His hair was one long, navy colored braid that hung straight down his back, his presence intense and commanding. Like his brethren, he hosted ears that came to a point at their peaks, and he had the same ethereal, intangible beauty – but this man was harder.
More powerful.
Despite the fullness of his mouth, his lips were pulled into a tight, unyielding line, and every movement he made spoke of the strength and authority proclaimed by a thin band of gold that encircled his forehead.
He was magnificent – in every sense of the word. And even as she felt she should be absolutely terrified of him, Danielle felt herself drawn to his immense figure and the obedience he commanded with every errant glance of his multi-hued eyes.
He was advancing down the row of women, pausing every so often to assess one. More often than not, they cowered beneath his gaze. One or two fainted, and others tried to show a brave face, only to end up trembling as he stared down at them, unblinking.
What the hell was going on? If this was the leader of the race that had come to visit them, what was he doing here, with this small group of women? As he drew closer and closer to her, Danielle found herself growing progressively more nervous. What was he looking for? What did he want?
On her left side, directly in the prince’s path, was a dark-haired girl that appeared to be a few years younger than herself. Her eyes and skin spoke of Indian or middle-eastern heritage, and despite being extremely pretty, she seemed on the edge of
bolting. Danielle glanced over at her when the girl’s antsy movements started to become more agitated. She had something clutched in her right hand – something that glinted beneath the fluorescent lights.
Danielle looked from her to the towering figure moving ever closer to them and in an instant, she understood what the younger woman meant to do. Her heart leapt into her throat. Was she absolutely out of her mind? Danielle was fully aware that there were a large number of immunes who were less than enthusiastic about being plucked from their lives and spirited away into the great beyond, but if this girl was planning on attacking a man she knew nothing about, she had to be pretty desperate.
“Don’t.” She whispered softly, barely audible. A pair of large, frightened brown eyes jerked to her and Danielle shook her head incrementally. “Don’t do it.”
The aliens drew ever closer to their positions in line. Soon, they would be upon them. The hand with the metal implement in it began to shake, and Danielle’s eyes widened. Whether through some language barrier, or sheer force of fury, the girl wasn’t going to listen to her. Her gaze was locked on the approaching trio – and there was murder in her eyes.
The foreign leader paused for a moment to take in a trembling red-head who looked like she was on the verge of a scream – and the girl beside Danielle leapt into action.
With a wild cry, she lunged for him – but Danielle was right behind her. Who knew what these people would do to the younger woman for attempting to hurt them? Who knew what the human government would do to her? She’d obviously lost all rational thought in an attempt to destroy something she feared.
Danielle’s hand closed over hers as she struck at the alien ruler, and she immediately winced as its sharp tip punctured her palm. Luckily, she had close to a good fifty pounds on the girl, who couldn’t have been a day over twenty one. When she threw that weight into her lunge, it knocked the younger woman off balance. She stumbled, and Danielle swung her around so that the both of them were flung into a heap on the hard stone floor.
