Invasion of the Alien Snatchers

by Fiona Roarke

  “Not really.” His eyes brightened. “You had a field medical class at the RMG training academy. Why don’t you take a look?” He glanced at her backpack. “Do you have an injury kit in there?”

  Elise nodded, but looked around. Even in the quiet near edge of town, the hustle and bustle of the area filled with tourists and costumed characters was too busy for any public display. “This isn’t an ideal place for checking out your wound.”

  “How far is it to the rendezvous?”

  “Too far.”

  He followed her gaze to the rundown Pinehurst Inn. “Does this mean we’re headed to a seedy motel to rent a room by the hour?” he asked. The words “seedy motel”—along with the rest of his question—sounded alien coming from him.

  “What do you know about motels, seedy or otherwise?”

  “I’ve done some research on Earth.” He flashed his killer grin. “I know some things.”

  “Good for you. And yes. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

  “We are? Excellent! Yet another new experience to add to my journey here.”

  Elise steered them toward the motel. “The Pinehurst Inn it is. Let’s go get a room for an hour.”

  “Is an hour long enough?” he asked.

  She looked into his eyes. “Depends on what you’re planning on doing, I guess.” Heat rose in her cheeks. Was she going to be forever hot-faced when he made what was likely a harmless and unintentional innuendo?

  “After you look at my leg, I thought we could…talk.”

  “Talk?” Did he mean kissing? Please mean kissing.

  “Yes. We can converse about any number of topics, but at the top of the list,” he paused a moment as if for maximum effect. Do you want to roll around on the bed, kissing ourselves silly, impregnate me with your child? My answer is yes to either or both. “I want to find the other two from the crash. Also, you should probably know that my brother was the prisoner on the flight.”

  “Draeken was the prisoner?” Isn’t this just a crappity-crap jamboree!

  Chapter Seven

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  Riker hated revealing that tidbit about Draeken. Not that he was embarrassed. He wasn’t.

  He was convinced Draeken had been pressed in some underhanded way to the fate he now faced. The purpose of escorting him personally had to do with ensuring the guards at XkR-9 knew Draeken’s brother was The Calderian and would not tolerate any “accidents” or “incidents” that put his brother’s life in jeopardy. It was the least he could do until he found a way to have the bogus charges reversed.

  “I’m sorry about your brother,” Elise said, seeming truly upset. “Wrong place, wrong time again?”

  Riker nodded. It was very public knowledge that his brother had more than a few run-ins with law enforcement in his colorful past.

  “And with some shady former friends involved to make it worse,” he said. “But I’m certain he didn’t do what they accused him of. He was set up somehow and I will figure it out.”

  “I believe you. And I hope he’s okay.”

  “Has anyone from your team mentioned finding him?”

  “No, not specifically. But a team member has a possible lead on one of the crash victims and is heading to check it out.”

  “Can you contact your team and see if Draeken’s been located yet?”

  “Yes. But let’s get into the motel room first, okay? We’ll need some privacy.”

  Riker nodded, staring intensely into her eyes, intrigued by the idea of being alone in a seedy motel room with her. She looked back with her own powerful stare, only slowly turning away, as if reluctant to break the spell.

  Begging the question of what she expected him to say when he asked about spending time alone with her in a seedy motel room. Was she interested in him? He hoped so. If the heat in her kiss was any indication, perhaps they were on the same page regarding a possible pending romance.

  They walked carefully to the motel, due to his impaired state. His leg felt worse by the time they stood at the counter in the questionable motel office. The minimum charge for the establishment was a four-hour rental.

  Elise handed over some Earth cash and received a key attached to a hefty piece of pink plastic the size of a book. He wondered if stolen or unreturned keys were such a big problem in the seedy motel business that they had to attach large, unwieldy keychains to make sure they came back. Interesting.

  They made their way to the room, number eight. He hobbled along with her help and was greatly relieved to get inside and flatten himself on the only bed in the room.

  Before she could do more than close the door behind her, the communicator on her belt buzzed. She put a hand on it.

  “If that’s your team, I’d appreciate you not telling them I’m injured. Also, I’d rather not explain the whole business about the Druids, being enthralled, unmanned and enslaved, okay?”

  She smiled, nodded and answered, “Hello? Yes. Hi, Stella.” As she spoke and listened, she conducted a quick but thorough search of the small room and what he assumed was attached sanitary facilities—though he suspected the word “sanitary” should be applied in only the loosest sense in this motel. “Yes. That’s good news. I also found Riker. He had been carried by persons unknown to a small log cabin in the woods. No. We’re fine. Just leaving a note of thanks and we’ll be headed to the rendezvous point.” She returned to his side and winked, possibly over the lie she’d told about where there were.

  “Oh?” she said, obviously surprised. “Yes. Of course, I understand. We’ll rendezvous with the retrieval team after nightfall.”

  Riker wondered at the change in plan.

  Lowering the device from her mouth, she asked, “Do you want to talk to Draeken? One of my teammates, Stella, found him.”

  “Yes. Please, I must speak to him.”

  “Riker? Are you okay?” It was so good to hear his brother’s voice alive and well. Riker closed his eyes and released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d held in relief.

  “I’m fine.” Riker and Draeken went through their typical brotherly ritual whenever they hadn’t spoken in a while. There were few words, but the overall message was large.

  His brother laughed. “Oh and you’ll never guess who found me.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Stella Grey, remember her?”

  Whoa. Interesting. “I do remember her.”

  Draeken said finally, “Listen, Riker. I appreciate what you were willing to do for me on the trip to the gulag. But I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

  “I’ll always worry about you, Bro. I had intended to accompany you so that anyone involved in your care and feeding knew you had friends in the RMG. Since we won’t be meeting up, I need to talk to Stella and pass along a message.”

  Draeken’s voice became muted, and he imaged his brother handing the communicator back to Stella as he said, “Riker would like a few words with you.”

  “Hello?” Riker hadn’t heard Stella’s voice in a long time. She and his brother had been quite close before she transferred to Earth. Draeken had been rather despondent after she’d gone, but never wanted to discuss it, at least not with him.

  “What is the plan for Draeken?” Riker asked her.

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  Riker tamed the ferociousness he wanted to express and said in a quiet voice, “Please tell me. I got myself put on that ship as his guard to ensure the gulag staff knew he was my brother. Now it looks like he’s facing a ten-year sentence without someone to speak for him.”

  Stella’s sincerity came through the line loud and clear. “Listen. I understand, I truly do, and I’m not without personal feelings in this matter, as you well know. However, I’ve been specifically tasked with getting Draeken back to Alienn in time for another express spacecraft bound for the gulag. My mission is time sensitive and I can’t wait for you. I’m sorry. I promise to ensure he’s safely delivered.”

  “Will you also deliver a message to the g
uards taking him to the gulag?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mention my name. In fact, make sure they know who he is to me and that I personally request my brother be treated fairly while incarcerated.”

  “Yes. I’ll do my best to ensure that message is delivered.”

  “Thank you.”

  She closed the connection.

  Riker handed the communicator back to Elise, feeling only marginally better. He always tried to have an extra plan socked away in case a mission didn’t go according to script. He hoped his plan B—hurriedly arranged before getting himself assigned to guard detail for Draeken—came through.

  He would just have to trust he’d planned well enough to keep his brother safe, and focus on the moment. “So, I guess we aren’t in a big hurry to get to the rendezvous point now, right?”

  “Right,” she said, clipping her communicator back on her belt. “And our best bet is likely heading back out into the woods when the retrieval comes for the craft at the crash site.”

  “So nightfall, then, yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we aren’t in a rush anymore?”

  “Nope,” she said quietly and eyed the singular bed in the room.

  Maybe they’d end up using the entire four hours after all.

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  “Maybe I should remove the splint and take a closer look to see if they missed any debris in your wound.” Elise looked away as she pulled her injury kit from her pack, so likely missed the flash of disappointment that he was certain crossed his features as she ignored or missed his broad hint in favor of the practicality of seeing to the good of his health.

  He forcefully brightened his attitude. “Good idea. Something is definitely not right with my leg.” Now that they didn’t have to rush to the rendezvous to meet the others, did he want to try to talk Elise into spending the next four hours snuggling and kissing? Maybe he’d ask later, but first she needed to attend to his leg. It was truly killing him, which was a mystery in and of itself.

  She grabbed a woebegone chair that appeared to be barely holding together and seated herself next to the bed. She rolled up his torn pant leg and then loosened the knots on either end of the splint by simply cutting them off. “I’ll have to rewrap this anyway. It’d take me a year to get through those tight knots.”

  Elise continued to work as he stole glances at her serious expression, wanting to kiss her frown away and then possibly kiss her lips with determination until he got her to laugh or at least cheer up.

  When she tried to pull one side of the splint away, it held fast. He grimaced. When she tried using more force to yank it away, the pain increased tenfold. It was all he could do not to scream. He put his hands on hers and tried to remove it himself. That was when he realized what the Druids had done. No wonder his leg wasn’t healing.

  “Is that attached to your leg with a nail?” she asked, the horror in her tone mirroring his feelings on the matter.

  “Yep. Looks that way.”

  “That’s barbaric.”

  “I agree. And it needs to come out. You may have to use some leverage.”

  “Then I’m giving you a pain shot.”

  “No.”

  “Don’t be a macho man.”

  “A what? I don’t even know what a macho man is.”

  “Earther expression,” she said under her breath. She pulled a pain removal device from her injury kit and pressed the business end near all the spots where it looked like construction nails had been embedded in his leg. The relief was immediate. He hadn’t realized how tense his entire body had been until the tension abruptly left him. She straddled his injured leg on her knees and pulled the nail-laden splint from him with one clean yank.

  He felt no pain at all. She deposited the bloody bundle of fabric, wood and metal nails in the small trash can by the bed and efficiently disinfected and bandaged the wounds caused by the Druid’s nails with non-spiked bindings.

  Even as the fast-acting, but limited, pain medication wore off, his calf felt tremendously better.

  When she finished and moved closer to the side of the bed, he said, “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” He watched her mouth say the words. The sound of the word “pleasure” coming through her lips was all it took for him to grab her close and kiss her in true appreciation.

  Whatever had been in her hands dropped to the floor in a flutter of leftover bandages and first aid tools. She wound her arms around his neck and joined him on the bed, carefully avoiding jarring his injured leg as she straddled him.

  He held tight to her lovely body, tightening his already firm embrace. He never wanted to let her go, never wanted to stop kissing her.

  They kissed for quite a while, not speaking or stopping, just a seemingly purposeful kissing spree that neither of them could stop in the moment or deny they enjoyed. Now that he knew Draeken would be as okay as possible without his original plan in place—and it was basically up to him and Elise to get to Alienn on their own—it seemed completely reasonable to want to spend the remaining three and a half hours in this seedy motel room, as long as he was wound around Elise kissing her for all he was worth.

  Riker looped a free arm around her waist, massaging her lower back with his fingertips before exploring her body with his palm, not wanting to stop this exciting interlude. Between her sighs of pleasure and her thoroughly devastatingly soul-singing kisses, Riker didn’t care if they ever left the motel.

  A sudden and urgent ring finally broke them apart.

  “My communicator,” she said dazedly. The reach for her waistband seemed automatic, but the device wasn’t there. Becoming more alert by the moment, she extracted herself from his arms and visually searched the immediate area. He spied it on the floor beside the bed and pointed it out. She retrieved it, but frowned, clearly puzzled. “Wait. This isn’t what’s ringing.”

  Another jarring sound broke the silence and they both stared at the human device on the nightstand.

  Elise seemed to know what to do. She picked up the handset and said, “Hello?”

  She stared at him as she spoke into the device. “Yes.” He put his hands behind his head and settled in to wait. He wanted her to end her call so they could go back to kissing. He wondered who besides the manager who’d taken their money knew they were here. And also, how dare whoever it was interrupt their minimum four hours in this room? They should ask for a partial refund. He smiled at the idea of putting that plan into motion. The whimsical thoughts weren’t like him. He was obviously giddy with delight from Elise’s kisses.

  “Thanks,” she said and hung up. “Can you walk? We need to leave.”

  “I can try.” Riker sat up on the bed, moving to the edge. He stood and tested his weight on his bad leg, walking a step or two unaided. It was some relief to discover his usual quick healing had returned. He barely felt the pain, either from the old wounds or the new ones inflicted by the removal of the Druids’ nails. His leg was healing. He wouldn’t need her help walking anymore. A shame. “Almost as good as new. Why do we need to leave?”

  “That was the motel manager. He said a tall blonde with blue-streaked hair wearing a purple hooded robe was just in the office asking about us. She was trying to find out what room we were in.”

  “How did she track us here?”

  Elise shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Did the manager give us up?”

  “No. He wanted more money. He told me there’d be a surcharge if more than two people were going to be in the room.”

  “What a greedy little crust-fish!” A crust-fish was a small and very disagreeable water animal with big claws, sharp little teeth and spines all over its back. There wasn’t as much water on Alpha-Prime as there was on Earth. All the aquatic inhabitants, especially salt-water creatures, seemed evolutionarily angry about the overall lack of liquid.

  Elise laughed. “I haven’t thought about that phrase in a long while.”

  Did it make her nostalgic? D
id it make her want to come back to Alpha-Prime with him?

  They heard something unpleasantly familiar outside the door, a chorus of voices singing over and over again, “As it was foretold.” The cheap construction of the building made it sound like the singers were practically in the room with them.

  Time to go.

  Chapter Eight

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  Elise gathered her things quickly and directed Riker out the back door she’d noted during her brief security check of the room. Apparently all the rooms had doors that conveniently led to a pool deck area.

  “Is this the community trash dump for the motel?” Riker asked.

  “No. I believe it’s the swimming pool.”

  They swiftly walked toward a gate at the corner of the open area. At least the hinges didn’t squeak too loudly from disuse. They headed back toward town.

  Now that Riker had the use of his leg again, he practically sprinted. She understood. Law enforcement types like them didn’t ever want to be thought of as injured or lesser. Once brought down by damage or illness, they always pushed harder to recover in the shortest amount of time.

  Riker scooped his arm around her waist to propel her faster down the sidewalk toward the greater downtown Nocturne Falls area. If anyone else had done it, she would have been annoyed.

  “I forgot to ask,” he said all of a sudden. “What about Holden?”

  “Who?”

  “The pilot.”

  “Oh. Right. Victoria—that’s our other team member—had a lead on him. That’s all I know.”

  “So he’s alive.”

  “Yes. But I don’t know his condition or anything.”

  “That’s okay. I’m just glad he survived. He saved us.”

  “Did he? How?”

  “He did some sort of reverse thruster move right before we crashed so we didn’t smack the surface like a falling star or plow an endlessly long, deep hole in the ground.” Elise had pictured exactly that scene during the entire trip from Alienn to Nocturne Falls. She’d been grateful upon the team’s arrival that there were no mangled bodies to find in the wreckage. Apparently, she had Holden to thank for that.