by Ashley West
She was Gilkashi, unless he was mistaken, with dark, smooth skin, and four slanted eyes that shone like red gems in the light. All four of her eyes watched him as he headed through the sliding doors, and Kain smirked to himself, wondering if part of his exploration could be getting to know her better.
Comman wanted them to have allies, after all, and if the Prince was going to dismiss him, then he didn't see why he shouldn't have a little fun.
Kain wandered for what felt like a long time, looking around at everything. People took notice of him, but only for a second, looking him over and then continuing on their way. Clearly he wasn't strange looking enough to cause that much of a stir, and he didn't mind that one bit.
When his stomach growled, he followed his nose to a little shop that was selling roasted meat wrapped in some kind of flat bread with a creamy sauce, and he used the money that Comman had given to all of his guard members for the trip to buy three of the sandwiches so he could devour them all.
The flavors exploded on his tongue, and he ate happily, sitting down on a bench nearby.
So it wasn't all bad. The food was good, at least, and he licked his fingers clean of grease and then looked around for a place to throw away his trash.
As he looked, he saw the creeping shadows of figures that didn't seem like they belonged on Earth. They could have been there for the meeting, but Comman had told him that those who didn't look like they could blend in on Earth had been given tiny machines that would alter the way they looked to humans, making sure no one had to be frightened of anything with more eyes than them or scales or tails.
These creatures were definitely not in disguise, and Kain had a bad feeling about it. They didn’t look like they were exploring, they looked like they were stalking something. Or someone.
Earth was supposed to be neutral ground, and this wasn’t his business to get involved in anyway, but Kain had never been one to just sit idly by and let things happen. His instincts never led him astray, so he got to his feet and walked casually in the direction the creatures had gone.
For a moment, he didn’t see or hear anything. It looked like he was turning down a side street with buildings on either side of it, shadowing it from the otherwise sunny day. Shadows stretched long and deep, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gloom.
The sound of footsteps echoed ahead of him, and he walked quickly in the same direction, sending a pulse of his power through to the ground to keep his own footsteps muffled.
Up ahead there was enough light from the gap between buildings for him to see a woman, walking and talking to something in her hand. It was pressed against her ear, and she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, which was unfortunate as the creatures were slinking along behind her and getting closer.
In the light, he could see that they were tall and hunched over with scales traveling in a line from their necks to the tip of their tails. There were talons on their feet that looked wickedly sharp, and though Kain had never seen one of these creatures before, he was willing to bet that those talons were dripping with venom.
There were four of them, all in a group, and Kain tilted his head, trying to see if he could figure out where they had come from. He was more than willing to bet that they weren’t from Earth. This planet didn’t seem like it would be home to things like this, all mottled orange skin and sharp teeth. And even if it was, they probably wouldn’t just be walking around in the middle of the day like this.
They were closing in on the woman, so Kain figured it was time to switch from observing to actually doing something of use. He picked up his pace, and called out to the woman. “Excuse me.”
She whipped her head around, catching sight of him and then the creatures. “What in the—?” She didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and she dropped the device that had been in her hand, eyes wide.
“Don’t move,” Kain said. “And don’t scream.” That was a last second addition, considering he was sure this woman had never seen anything like these creatures or what he was about to do before.
“Wha—”
He cut her off by lifting both hands, one palm up and towards her and the other palm down, parallel to the ground. The earth was under layers of other materials, and the initial connection to it was weak, but he got there eventually, feeling it strong and solid under his feet. It didn’t know him the way the ground on Jontira knew him, but that was alright.
His presence had given the creatures something else to focus on for the moment, and they stared at him while he convinced the ground to work with him. That was good. Better than them trying to go after the girl and ending up hurting her while he pulled stones out of the ground.
After a long moment, there was the sound of shifting rock and the asphalt cracked, showing brown earth and the stones beneath. They came flying up and formed themselves into the weapon he preferred, and Kain smiled as he hefted it. Not quite as dense as the ones he was used to, but it would do fine.
The woman was gaping at him, mouth open and eyes wide, and when she gave a little squeak of surprise, the creatures took notice of her again. They pulled in closer and started to circle her, jaws snapping and snarls ripping from their throats.
She opened her mouth as if she was going to scream, and Kain leapt into action.
Whatever these things were, they were fast, but stupid. It was easy work to bash one of their heads in and then whirl around to catch another with the flat of the hammer and send it crashing against one of the buildings. The woman tucked herself against another building, somewhat further ahead, watching the whole thing.
Kain lost track of her in the fight after a bit, though. It had been a while since he’d gotten to put his skills to the test, and while this was hardly what he would consider a fair fight, he was determined that he would win.
The one he’d sent flying got to its feet and joined the other two that were still alive and they advanced on him. One lunged, and Kain’s arm shot up automatically, the stones from the ground leaping up to cover him from fingers to elbow in a sort of rocky armor.
The creature’s teeth shattered as they closed around the stone, and it howled in pain before Kain brought his fist forward and punched it, cracking through its skull and leaving it broken on the ground.
The other two were more wary now, clearly, but it was too late for that.
Kain was a blur of motion as he moved between them, killing one and then the other with the hammer before he let it melt back to the ground with a series of loud thuds. Only then did he turn to try and find the human woman, chest heaving.
She looked terrified where she had pressed herself to the stone of the building, and Kain sighed. So much for blending in, but he was willing to bet she’d prefer his kind of extraterrestrial to the creatures he’d just rescued her from. He stooped down and picked up the device that she’d dropped and then stepped closer to her, holding it out like a peace offering.
“It’s alright,” he said, in the language that the Prince had assured all of them they would need to use here. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Her face morphed from fear to indignation. “Well excuse me for being concerned,” she snapped.
Kain was taken aback, mostly because he’d expected gratitude, not attitude, but he could deal with it. She’d had a fright, after all.
“You’re right to be concerned,” he allowed. “Those things would have had you for their afternoon meal.”
“What are they?” she asked, eyes straying down to the broken bodies. “What are you for that matter?”
He smiled, hoping it would put her at ease. “I’m a friend,” he tried.
She snorted. “You’re no friend of mine, buddy. None of my friends can do that rock thing.”
“Really? It’s quite common where I’m from.”
“Which is?”
His smile widened. “A place called Jontira. A planet called Jontira.” Honestly, he didn’t really know what he was doing or why he was doing it. Revealing hi
s home planet to a random human had not been on the agenda, but then, neither had saving said human from creatures he couldn’t identify. He was making a lot of this up as he went.
“You’re an alien,” she said, taking a step back and nearly tripping over the lid of a nearby trash receptacle.
“If that’s what you want to call it, yes,” Kain said. “And I did just save your life.”
For some reason she found this funny, and she started laughing. “Are you lecturing me on my manners or something?” she asked, one hand on her hips. “Thank you for saving me, then. You’re right, I would have been food for...what are these things?”
There, Kain had to sigh and shake his head. “I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure,” she exclaimed. “Don’t they come from the same place you do?”
He stared at her for a long moment. “You’re kidding, yes? There are more planets out there with life on them than can be numbered. These things could have come from any of them. Do you know every species that exists in your world?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Then why would I know of ones from planets I’ve never been to?”
“Alright, you’ve made your point. So you don’t know what they are or where they come from, can you at least tell me what they’re doing here? What you’re doing here for that matter? Are we under attack? Is this the alien invasion my cousin Hamilton always knew was going to happen?”
It was a bit hard to follow as she was talking fast and barely pausing for breath between sentences, but Kain shook his head again. “No,” he said.
“To which question.”
“Most of them? I can’t tell you what they’re doing here, and as far as I know this planet isn’t under attack. I don’t know anything about your cousin Hamilton. I’m here on a peace mission. Of sorts.”
“Of sorts.”
“My Prince said to come with him, so here I am,” Kain said, lifting his hands in the universal gesture for ‘what can you do?’.
She cracked a smile at that. “So you’re not here to destroy us?”
“No. Nothing of the sort. We’re not here to do anything to you, honestly,” Kain said. “The Earth is just a convenient meeting place.”
“And these things are what, tagalongs?” She asked, pointing at one of the dead creatures with her toe.
“That’s the million credit question, isn’t it?” Kain murmured.
The woman looked around and then heaved a sigh before taking her device out of his hand. “Well. This has been...very strange, and I’m not at all convinced it’s not a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep and too much coffee. Thank you again for making sure I didn’t get eaten, and I’ll be going now.” She turned to hurry away, and Kain sighed before something else occurred to him.
“Wait,” he said. “Are you going to tell people about this?”
“About this?” she asked, turning to face him again. “Who would believe me? And anyway, what if I am? Is there a reason you don’t want people to know?”
The suspicion was back in her face, and Kain sighed again. He was doing that a lot lately. “Yes,” he said. “Because people aren’t supposed to know that we’re here. Not for any sinister reason,” he said before she could start throwing around accusations again. “We’re trying to blend in.”
She looked around at the cracks in the ground, the dead creatures, and the large stones that were scattered from his weapon. “Good job so far,” she said, nodding.
Kain glared. So much for gratitude. “Just don’t tell anyone, alright?” he said.
“Fine,” she said, waving over her shoulder as she continued on. “Secret’s safe with me. And whoever has to clean this mess up.”
He watched her until she was out of sight and then slumped over with a groan. Humans were exhausting, but the woman had a point. Someone was going to find this mess unless he dealt with it, and while part of him sort of wished he’d just continued to mind his own business, it was a very small part, and he knew he’d done the right thing.
He kept telling himself that as he used his power to fix the huge cracks in the ground and bury the bodies of the creatures after he’d taken a few pictures of them with his tablet. Then, deciding he definitely deserved it, he bought another two of the flatbread sandwich things before making his way back to the Marriott.
“Did you have a good time?”
Kain kept himself from shooting the Prince a dirty look as he let himself into the room. Comman was sprawled on his bed with his tablet in one hand, fingers of the other hand flying across the screen. He was clearly absorbed in whatever he was doing, so Kain just went into the bathroom and waited to send the pictures to the Prince’s tablet from his own.
“Kain? Did something…” He trailed off, and Kain waited. “What are these?”
Kain took care of his ablutions and stepped out of the bathroom. “I was hoping you’d know,” he said.
Comman shook his head, eyes still on the screen. “No, I’ve never seen these things before. Where did you find them?” He looked up, dark eyes concerned.
“Stalking a human woman down a side street,” Kain replied. “They would have ripped her apart if I hadn’t been there.”
“Great hills,” Comman said. “Where did they come from?”
“I don’t know,” Kain replied. “But unless the Earth has a problem with these things, which judging from how shocked the woman I saved seemed to be, they don’t, it’s a bit of a coincidence that they just happened to be here now.”
The Prince’s eyebrows rose. “I know what you’re implying, Kain,” Comman said. “But this is a peaceful mission. Everyone here is dedicated to the fostering of alliances.”
“Sure,” Kain said. “I’m sure that’s true. Maybe they were just someone’s pets that got loose, and we’ll owe them an apology. But keep your eyes open, Your Highness. This could be much bigger than it seems.”
Chapter Four: In the After
Sometimes Silvia wished she had more friends. Not that there was anything wrong with considering your ex-boyfriend to be one of your (if not your only) best friends, but sometimes when things like this happened, she wished she had someone else to call. Someone less excitable, although she couldn’t deny that having him come rushing over with a big bag of Chinese take-out was a pretty nice way to end the mess of the day.
Of course, as soon as she’d gotten home from...whatever that had been, she called Bobby. Her phone screen was cracked all to heck, and she’d actually been talking to him when the alien had called out to her, making her drop it.
“Oh my god,” Bobby had said as soon as he’d picked up. “What happened to you?”
“Who said something happened?” Sil had hedged.
She could hear the eye roll in Bobby’s tone. “Because you were in the middle of ranting about something I did, and you never cut off mid rant. I heard someone shout and then you were just gone.”
Trust him to have been paying attention to all the details.
Silvia had sighed and let the story spill out of her, as she was so used to doing. Bobby was her best friend, even now that they weren’t together anymore, and when something happened to her, he was still the first person she wanted to tell.
He’d told her that he’d be over in an hour.
He’d shown up in forty-five minutes with a sack that smelled like food and was stained with grease, and Silvia hadn’t been able to complain, even as she wondered if this was weird.
Bobby had even let her get through all of her dumplings and crab rangoons and about a quarter of her sesame chicken before he’d demanded an explanation.
Silvia just sighed. “I don’t know what else you want from me,” she said. “I told you what happened.”
“You told me that you met an alien,” Bobby said. “And I’m pretty sure you were just messing with me.”
“Five, to be exact,” she corrected. “And I was definitely not messing with you. Look, I can’t explain it, okay? I don’t know
where they came from or what they wanted. All I know is that there were four...lizard...things stalking me and then this guy who could pull rocks from under the pavement showed up, made a hammer out of the rocks and killed them. I know what it sounds like—”
“Like you were drinking instead of job hunting, again,” Bobby muttered.
“But it’s what happened,” Silvia finished, irritation clear on her face. “Have I ever been prone to drunken hallucinations before? And anyway, I have a job.”
Bobby rolled his eyes. “There’s a first time for everything, Sil, and your blog doesn’t count as a job.”
“It pays the bills,” she said.
“I pay the bills,” he countered.
“Because you own the building,” Silvia snapped, and she hated having this fight with him. It was impossible for her to win it, based purely on the fact that he had more money than she did and owned most of the things in her life.
“Silvia.”
“Bobby, don’t,” she said. And here they went again. She knew where he was going to go next. It was always the argument he pulled out, and she could recite it word for word. Silvia, I love you...
“Silvia, I love you,” he said. “And I know you know that. You wanted to break up, so we did, and I know you want to find yourself, and I am all for that. I want that for you. I want you to be happy, but I also want you. And you could have all the time and space you need to find yourself if you married me. You’d be taken care of. Supported. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”
“Except for the fact that no one would see me as my own person and I’d be nothing more than Mrs. Robert Henderson for the rest of my life?”
He sighed. “You know we have different opinions about how bad that is.”
“Of course we do, Bobby!” Silvia hissed. “Because you’re Robert Henderson. You’re not being erased. It’s never you who has to deal with the indignity of this kind of thing. It would always be me. Forever.”
“So you don’t love me?”
She picked up one of the throw pillows from the couch and screamed into it. Honestly, it was like arguing with a child sometimes. He only heard what he wanted to hear, and no matter how many times she tried to explain to him why she didn’t want to marry him, he always took it as a personal offence. He always made it out to be because she didn’t love him enough to put her pride aside or something stupid like that.
