“I wasn’t trying to,” Claire said a little stiffly.
“Right.”
“Can we discuss important stuff?”
“That isn’t important?”
Claire wavered. Truthfully, she didn’t see that the discussion the two of them had been having was going to change a damned thing. She sighed. “It is. I’ve tried really hard to convince myself that it’s just not that important, but when a man makes a woman feel like he makes me feel …. Well, it’s hard to behave like you have any sense at all.”
“Tell me about it,” Maddie said dryly.
Claire looked at her sister in surprise. She’s always thought Maddie’s husband was sweet—absentminded as hell—but a good man, but she couldn’t picture him as being a hot lover. “Is that how Robert makes you feel?”
Maddie looked stunned for a moment. She sighed. “I love Robert. But no. That’s not the way Robert makes me feel. He makes me feel … safe, comfortable, companionable, affectionate. He’s really a wonderful man. But he doesn’t excite me. He never did. I just … I knew he would make a good husband, a good match for me. I chose with my head. The love I feel for him grew out of my respect and affection for him.”
Claire frowned, deeply uncomfortable, and yet she so rarely had any opportunity to discuss such things with another woman. “You think that’s the way a woman should look at marriage?”
Maddie shrugged. “I’m saying that’s the way I looked at it. Everyone is different. You have to decide what’s going to be best for you.”
Claire swallowed with an effort. “I’m having a really, really hard time with that, actually.”
Maddie studied her for a long moment, seemed to debate with herself, and finally took the plunge. “Honestly? I can’t see you with either one of them if you’re talking about that dipshit that landed us here!”
Anger flickered through Claire. “Which dipshit are you referring to?” she asked tightly.
Maddie considered it. “Actually both, I guess.”
“It was not Dante’s fault! Well, it wasn’t Nick’s fault, either! Dante thought we’d be safe in the fortress! He’s been in stasis a very long time and I guess he just hasn’t caught up with where we are technologically. As for Nick—he’s a soldier, Maddie! He has to follow orders!”
“So … if they told him to shoot his mother ….?”
“They wouldn’t give him that kind of order!”
“No, they just sent him to collect his girlfriend and her sister and cart them off to Gitmo?”
Claire chewed her lip. “I find it highly unlikely they know anything about our relationship,” she responded finally.
Maddie made a rude sound. “Don’t you fucking believe that for a second! They know absolutely everything about you and me both! They probably know who I lost my virginity to! And shit I don’t even know myself! They are just that damned nosey! And manipulative. They can’t use what they don’t know, right?”
“Well, it doesn’t follow that Nick knew! Why would he even guess that we were at the center of this huge military operation?”
“I suppose you have a point. I still think you should keep looking. I mean one of your guys is an alien! And this Nick guy—well, I’m thinking he’s an adrenaline junky or he wouldn’t still be a S.E.A.L. He would’ve gotten out by now and made something of himself in the civilian market. Plus, he strikes me as a lady’s man and, trust me, you do not want to spend your life wondering what bimbo is his flavor of the week!
“I’ll concede that they’re both hot—well, I barely got a glimpse of the alien, but I’ll take your word for it—but I don’t think either of them are serious about ‘for keeps’ and you shouldn’t be either! Have fun but look for somebody more … practical and reliable.”
“Boring?”
Maddie glared at her but then shrugged. “Yeah.”
Claire gave her a look. “Great advice, Sis! If we ever see daylight again, I’ll give that some serious thought.”
“You sure don’t have a lot of faith in your men,” Madelyn said dryly.
Chapter Three
“I’ve been giving some thought—ok a lot of thought—to that discussion we had about aliens ….”
Claire lifted a brow at her sister. She was still a little pissed off that Maddie was dismissing both Dante and Nick as ‘keeper’ material. It wasn’t as if her sister actually knew either one of them! How could she judge when she didn’t know them?
Ok so there was the little matter that they were sitting in a freaking jail cell on a ship bound for the most notorious prison in the world—and had been for days, but Claire was afraid they had no one to blame for that but themselves. If they’d just kept their mouths shut about what they’d discovered instead of ‘sharing’ over an open network via cell phone with people that worked for the government ….
She didn’t actually respond to Maddie’s opening. Although her calculations—based on the number of meals they’d been given—suggested they had been locked up at least three days, she didn’t truly know exactly how long the two of them had been cooped up in the tiny cell aboard the ship bound for hell. But it had been more than enough time to pretty thoroughly re-acquaint herself with the sister she’d seen so rarely since the two of them had reached adulthood.
She figured Maddie didn’t actually need encouragement to expound on the subject she’d brought up.
And she was right.
“Under the circumstances, I think I’m going to have to revise my first impression and concede that yours is probably the right answer. I mean, what are the chances we had rocket scientists way back when we were swinging from trees? And I am just absolutely, positively certain that I didn’t date that place wrong.
“Actually it wouldn’t even be reasonable to think mankind was responsible for that map room if it was half as old as I believe it is—the city, maybe, but not the device we found or the map of the universe—which didn’t look at all like a mere representation of the night sky.”
Claire studied her sister thoughtfully. “Not if you assume that everybody is wrong about when we evolved into modern man. If they were and we evolved millennia earlier, then it wouldn’t be all that unreasonable. Look how much we advanced technologically in the last few hundred years. There’s every evidence that Earth has had several mass extinctions—all caused by major natural disasters. Maybe mankind advanced a lot further a lot faster than we’ve been able to determine from the little evidence we have left after so many years have passed—especially since there were global disasters that caused massive damage? Maybe there were rocket scientists thousands of years ago but a major extinction event wiped out the evidence? Or most of it. And that event threw us back to square one. Maybe that happened more than once?
It certainly could have if humans had been around. And what are the chances anything would have survived tens of thousands of years? I’ve just seen two cities that existed way before they should have … going by current beliefs.”
Maddie frowned thoughtfully. “Well, I like the sound of it, but what about the human remains that have been found and dated? And that doesn’t take into account the fact that aliens don’t want us to find evidence of advanced knowledge and technology from thousands of years ago. If it was our history, why would they care? It must be technology they left here. Maybe they colonized the Earth? But a major disaster—extinction event—forced them to abandon the colonies they’d built. So now they’ve come back and they’re trying to find the stuff they abandoned to keep humans from benefiting from their discoveries? Or maybe just trying to make sure if anything survived it doesn’t fall into our hands because we’re supposed to advance without outside interferences or something like that?”
“Not that I disagree, but what have you seen that leads you to believe the aliens are trying to prevent us from discovering they were here before?”
Maddie gaped at her. “Jeeze! The earthquake/tsunami thing? You don’t think it’s too much of a coincidence that that cave in buried that an
cient city y’all found underground in Florida and there was also a major cave in here?”
Claire shook her head. “Like I said—I’m not arguing with you. I just wanted to know if it looked that way to you, too, or if you were just agreeing with me. Fact is, Dante took me to the fortress because the gods had ordered Galen to kill me. Actually, they put out a hit on me. Any of the angels that run across me are supposed to rub me out.”
Maddie sprang off the bunk and gaped at Claire. “And you didn’t think I needed to know this?”
Discomfort wafted through Claire. “I guess I should have told you, but it isn’t like either of us can do anything about it. I don’t think they’d bother you even if they found me. It’s me they’re after—not that I can figure out exactly why they’ve decided I’m a threat that needs to be neutralized, but I don’t think Dante was just saying that because he wanted me to stay in the fortress until he got back.”
Which was a pity because, for one thing, it would have been comforting to think he’d made it up and she didn’t have to worry about running in to another berserk angel with mayhem in mind for her.
But it would also have been reassuring to think Dante wanted to keep her close and safe because she meant more to him than a handy receptacle for his lust.
Anger flashed across Madelyn’s face. “You think that’s why I’m upset? I’m worried about my own ass?”
Claire reddened. “I didn’t say that or mean it!”
Maddie looked somewhat mollified but studied her suspiciously. “That’s what it sounded like to me.”
Claire sighed. “Sorry! Just saying there isn’t anything we could do about it … and I didn’t bring it up because I figured we have enough to worry about as it is. Dante was going to take you to the fortress because he thought that was the only place that was really safe right now. And when he left, it was to see what he could discover about that crazed angel that tried to hack me and him to pieces and … well I guess I figured it must be some kind of misunderstanding and he could get it worked out … somehow.
“I mean, it doesn’t even make sense! Why me?”
“I think he miscalculated,” Madelyn said dryly and then frowned thoughtfully.
That was hard to argue with. “Well he isn’t a god! A deity! He made the best judgment call he could. Clearly, we have technology he hadn’t counted on us having.”
Ignoring the comment, Madelyn paced the cell for a few minutes and finally settled on the bunk beside Claire again. “Maybe they’ve targeted you because they didn’t get you when they got the others in the sinkhole? There must have been alien technology in that place in Florida. We know that’s what the issue was at the city we found, which suggests that was the case both times.”
And also suggested that Madelyn and her entire crew could be targets if that was the case because they had discovered a lot more than was discovered in the ancient city in Florida.
The question was, she supposed, how much did the gods know? How ‘all seeing’ were they? Did they rely entirely on reports from the angels? Or did they have a way of tracking things themselves? Like spy cameras mounted on tiny drones? Or maybe even satellites revolving around the Earth that could pick up whispers?
But did they need anything like that when people put their entire lives in digital format these days and broadcast it everywhere?
It flickered through her mind to wonder why the gods, the overlords as Dante sometimes referred to them, didn’t just keep an eye on humans themselves. If they were so great and wonderful why couldn’t they just do it themselves?
But then again maybe it was an ego thing? Maybe they thought they were too good to mingle with humans?
Or maybe whoever had sent them didn’t entirely trust them and it was sort of a check-balance system—the angels and the gods?
Or maybe the gods just couldn’t tolerate the conditions on Earth without a spacesuit? And that was too awkward and uncomfortable for them to manage ‘hands on’ with humans?
Claire chewed her lip. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure you’re right. When we got to the fortress the first thing I did was get lost trying to find my way back out again. I found this … well it seemed to be a laboratory. Not sure exactly what it was they were doing, but there were human/hybrid experiments in there that strongly suggested genetic experimentation—unless it was freaks they’d captured for study—which I’m not inclined to believe. There was this huge walled area under the water that the fortress looked down on and—call me weird and crazy—but it popped in my mind that it was the ‘Garden of Eden’—the place from the bible story.
“I mean, being a non-believer I was always inclined to just dismiss the bible altogether, but what if the stories were like so many things we’ve found written about from the past? Based on something that actually happened? Maybe embellished either deliberately or accidentally? Maybe not entirely factual because it was passed on verbally before it was finally written down, but with a basis in fact?
“The fact being that Adam and Eve did come from the Garden of Eden because the gods were experimenting with genetics here?”
Maddie stared at her rather glassy eyed. But just about the time Claire had decided Maddie thought she was a kook, Maddie leapt up from the bunk. “That’s it! That’s what we weren’t supposed to know! They’d established a colony here–on Earth, I mean, but also specifically in this place—and they were performing genetic experiments on the primates—trying to breed something less animal and more intelligent and controllable? For labor, you know? I was going to say that I’d mentioned already we were in the area where it’s believed the Garden was and that that might have influenced you to think it was the Garden. But it fits! This is the area described in the Bible—where the rivers meet. And it could be that the Adam and Eve story came from genetic experiments—the first modern man and woman were bred there at that facility? They weren’t the first, but they were the first of their kind? Maybe it’s against their laws to do that—play around with the genetics of an intelligent species—and they don’t want it uncovered? Maybe that’s entirely what all this is about? Or mostly. They came here and did all sorts of things that were against the law wherever they were from and if we discover it they’ll be exposed and punished? Or could be?”
Claire frowned, thinking that over. “Well, if you assume there would be a harsh punishment, I suppose that would be enough. Humans are likely to kill to cover their asses if they think they might get jail time. I don’t see that it would be ridiculous to consider the aliens might have that in common with humans even if they were a lot different—and I’m sure they are.
“I mean—even other animals here on Earth have been known to commit murder and that’s just about the only thing we have in common with those animals—on any level.” She shrugged. “I can see that—if we’re right about the circumstances. It doesn’t make me feel any better ….”
“Yes! That’s sounds entirely reasonable! Well, not reasonable, but logical. You would’ve thought that they would’ve come back long since and gathered up all the evidence, but then again that might explain the random sightings!” Madelyn added excitedly. “The Earth changed drastically since they were here and they’re having a hard time finding the stuff they left?”
Claire felt her heart sink. “The problem with that is that it has been so long that the Earth has actually changed. Not just that we’ve modified the appearance with all of our construction, but with all the volcanic activity and earthquakes and even meteor strikes the Earth has shifted and remolded itself. I hadn’t thought about that. How could it be such an intense situation if these aliens are descendents of the ones that did it?”
Maddie looked disconcerted for a moment. Then she brightened. “You’re thinking in terms of humans! Didn’t you say the first time you saw that alien boyfriend of yours he was in the cave that had been revealed when the sinkhole opened up? Ancient city? He must have been from that place!”
Claire gaped at her. “My god, Maddie! He couldn’t have been d
own there all that time! It must have been thousands of years old!”
“Just because we can’t do something like that it doesn’t follow that they wouldn’t be able to! Anyway, time is relative. If they have the capability of traveling through space quickly—and clearly they’ve had that for thousands of years—then they have the capability of time travel because that’s what you’re doing when you cross space!”
Before Claire could respond to that, a commotion in the room beyond their jail cell caught their attention. Curious, they both moved to the door to peer out of the tiny window near the top.
It was so tiny, in fact, that they bumped heads when they both tried to look out of it at once.
All Claire saw before she moved away to rub her throbbing head was a lot of smoke and men running around in what appeared to be panic mode, tripping, falling, and slamming into the walls as if they’d been flung there.
“Uh oh!” Maddie exclaimed, rushing away from the window faster than she’d approached it and grabbing Claire by both shoulders. “I think it’s pirates!”
Claire gaped at her with a mixture of horror and disbelief. “On a military ship?” she exclaimed.
Maddie clamped a hand over her mouth, looked around wildly, and finally began tugging at Claire.
It only took Claire a moment to realize what Madelyn had in mind. She was doubtful hiding under the bunk would do them any good if Maddie was right and that it was pirates in the other room, but it wasn’t as if they had a lot of places to choose from to take cover. She scrambled under the bunk with Maddie and tugged at the blanket on the bed until it was draped over the side and offered some concealment.
She was still tugging on it when the door abruptly banged open, making her jerk so hard in reaction that she snatched the cover off the bunk. She stared owl eyed at the man in the doorway for a split second before he pulled his mask off.
She sucked in a sharp breath of disbelief. “Nick?”
Exiles Page 4
