by Emma Castle
“We won’t be discussing protests or social media awareness campaigns tonight. We have Mitch Davis here. He wishes to speak with you about an anti-K rally to be held outside the Kansas City K Center. Mitch, you have the floor.”
A tall dark-haired man with hard brown eyes stood and faced the individuals seated in front of him.
“Since we want to keep this meeting short, I’ll be brief. I have over a hundred volunteers who will be planting bombs on the walls of the Kansas City Center. We have a K on the inside who is sympathetic to our cause.”
Mitch’s words sent a bolt of fear through Sef. One of his own people was betraying them? The situation was far more serious than he had realized. Humans acting on their own posed little physical threat, but with access to their technology? The potential for disaster was all too real.
Mitch continued speaking. “The K has given us technology that can make our approach to the Center’s walls invisible. We won’t get caught. But we can’t do it alone. We’ll need people like you to be a distraction, carry signs, attract attention by making a scene. You were already planning a protest there, but we need you to step it up a notch. Make it a public rally, keep the Ks’ focus on you so that we can do what we need to in order to bring down the walls of the Center. Then we will finally see what lies inside their fortresses and expose them to the world. We can make President Wells finally admit that the Ks are our enemies once we reveal them for what they really are.”
The room seemed tense. People shifted uncomfortably as Mitch talked, but a few people looked eager to help. Sef studied Liam and Mason closely, since they were the leaders of this particular cell. Neither of them looked comfortable with the plan.
“Can you guarantee no one will be hurt by these bombs?” Liam asked.
“They should be small enough to break apart the walls, but not big enough to create damage that could reach residences or places of work,” Mitch replied.
“But really, who cares if any Ks are in the way?” someone asked. Sef was sure he saw a smirk on Mitch’s face when the question was asked.
“We’ve all seen what the Krinar are capable of,” Liam reminded the men and women around him. “They can rip humans apart with their bare hands and can shake off gunshots like they’re wearing body armor. Truth is, I’m not worried about hurting the Ks, because I’m not sure we can.”
“Bullets are one thing—bombs are another,” said the man from before.
“That may be,” said Liam. “But humans are also going to be in the area, and we bleed a lot easier than they do. Bottom line, this shouldn’t be about killing. This is supposed to be about freedom. Exposing a K Center to the world is a good idea, but we don’t want the price to be the bloodshed of innocents, even if they are the enemy.” Liam looked at Mitch. “If you can promise we won’t be killing anyone, including Ks, then we’ll consider it.”
Mitch was quiet for a long moment, just long enough that Sef could detect he was about to lie. “Yes, no one will be hurt.”
“Good.” Liam and Mason shared a glance, and they relaxed a little more. “We’ll go over the details and have a vote. I don’t want anyone here crossing lines they aren’t comfortable with.”
“Do what you have to, but don’t take too long,” said Mitch. “We have a narrow window of opportunity to work with here. Security routines that can change up, passcodes that can be changed. Once everything is in place, we’ll need to move, with or without you.”
“We’ll meet here next week. Same time.” Liam looked to Mitch, who nodded.
“I should know more from my K contact how to construct the bombs needed to break down the walls,” Mitch added, a dark gleam in his eyes. This man was dangerous. Sef had seen that look before on a dozen worlds. Mitch was in it for the bloodshed, not because he believed in freedom. The cause was merely the justification for his baser instincts.
Sef continued to observe the meeting as the members went over more mundane matters and eventually dispersed into the night. Only Mason and Liam remained behind. Sef kept his focus on them and increased the volume. He recorded every word for evidence.
“Mason, I don’t know about him. That guy creeped me out.” Liam began to fold up the chairs and set them against one wall in the storeroom. “You remember Chris Hanson from high school?”
Mason nodded. “You thinking about his pit bull fighting ring?”
“Exactly. He told the judge he needed the money, but he enjoyed that shit way too much, you could tell.”
“Yeah, I know where you’re going. Fucker is creepy as hell, but we need him. Slogans, protests, and social media aren’t cutting it. He’s the only one I’ve met with a plan that might make a real difference. I don’t like the idea of blowing up anything any more than you do. Too much room for error. But exposing the inside of a K Center? That’s a game changer.”
Mason helped his brother finish putting away the chairs, and the easy way they worked together in the small space without having to vocalize made Sef’s heart twinge. Mason and Liam weren’t unlike him and Soren. Familial bonds could run infinitely deep.
“Let’s just look over the plan and have the vote,” said Liam. “I don’t want our friends going down with him if he turns out to be fucking batshit crazy. He could get us all killed ‘for the cause.’ I’d rather find a safer way to resist, but let’s face it, with their advanced technology and refusal to even talk to us, they’re not leaving us much choice.”
“Either we stand up or we get stepped on,” said Mason.
“Yeah, but remember, those who fight monsters…”
“…should take care not to become monsters.” Mason finished Liam’s sentence.
“Amen.” Liam’s solemn tone gave Sef hope that the man was speaking honestly. They weren’t out to hurt the Ks, only to resist them, but how far were he and Mason willing to go?
Sef waited for the brothers to leave the storeroom, and then he sent Arus his report, stating that he might need a team the following week for the next meeting. Depending on how things went, he might have to raid the meeting there and then. Then he turned off his computer systems and headed to the roof to clear his head.
Once he was on the roof, he saw the chairs and the fire pit from his night with Harper, and he exhaled a slow, soft sigh of regret. He didn’t want to lose her, not like this. It wasn’t fair. She was his now, and he couldn’t let her go, yet he would have to, because she couldn’t possibly forgive him for what he had to do.
For the first time he truly understood how Soren must have felt when he’d faced losing his Bianca and why he had fought so hard to keep her.
We can’t stay away. Our pull to them is simply too strong.
Sef cast his head back to stare at the infinite expanse of space. Many called space cold and dark, but all he saw were endless beacons of hope. New stars being born in stellar nurseries, planets forming along accretion disks in a slow but beautiful ballet of creation, galaxies spinning around one another, all of it pieced together by the beautiful enigma of what the humans called dark matter. They were close to discovering the secrets dark matter held, endless sources of energy and the delicate balance its presence in the universe provided. The Krinar had finally untangled its mysteries only a few millennia ago and were just now in the last thousand years applying it to their technology.
What would the humans do once they harnessed those secrets? Would they become an enlightened species like the Krinar, or would they destroy themselves? Ultimately, that was why they were here, to ensure the latter didn’t happen. He knew without a doubt that if more men and women like Harper existed, then humanity could yet be saved.
And I want to do all I can to help them, he thought. An idea occurred to him, one that made his heart skip a beat. It was unlikely, perhaps even impossible…but it was the only way to save his little human female and possibly find a way to keep her.
Harper couldn’t sleep. She rolled over and found the bed empty. The clock on her nightstand flashed five thirty a.m.
&n
bsp; Seth was gone?
“Seth?” Only silence greeted her. She climbed out of bed and pulled on some yoga pants and her house slippers before she left her apartment. She knocked on Seth’s door, but no one answered. Her heart sank. Could he have left town already? Was it because she’d gotten too close?
“I’m such an idiot.” She never should have opened her heart like that, let alone jumped his bones. She should have known better.
“Harper?” Seth’s voice rumbled gently as he came down the stairs from the roof.
“Oh. I…” She blushed, glad the hallway was dim so he might not see it. “I woke up and you were gone, and I was afraid that…” Afraid that he didn’t want her. The sentiment was left unspoken, but he seemed to read it on her face.
“You were afraid that I just fucked you and left you?” She nodded mutely as he joined her outside his door. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in to nuzzle her cheek. “No chance. Come on, let’s go back to bed.” He helped her move back downstairs to her apartment.
“What were you doing up there?” she asked as she settled back in her bed. He stripped out of his clothes again so he could join her.
“Oh,” he chuckled. “I was restless and wanted to just watch the stars for a bit before the sun came up. There’s something about the night sky that soothes me.”
“Me too.”
He turned off the lights, and he climbed into bed with her. She clung to him as she let his body warm hers, trying not to admit to herself that she’d had a taste of what it would be like to lose him, even for just a moment. What would it feel like if he really left?
I’m insane. He’s still a stranger, really. I shouldn’t care that he might someday walk away. But I do. God help me, I do.
9
The week following that resistance meeting went by too fast for Sef. The blur of days had been fun as he’d helped Harper in the garage and then worked evenings at the bar. She and her brothers assumed he was desperate for money, but in truth he didn’t want to waste a second of his time with her. Yet he couldn’t ignore his mission to keep a close eye on Mason and Liam.
He couldn’t deny the magic he felt working on cars beside Harper. Primitive as they were, there was something to be admired about the rudimentary mechanics involved and how they had evolved to incorporate more electronics in newer models. She was more than proficient at fixing them, of course. He’d only studied enough to make a good impression. Sometimes she would talk while she worked, offering bits of trivia she knew about whatever they were working on or interesting facts about engines in general. He loved the sound of her voice and the way her face lit up as she was engaged in something she enjoyed.
Now it was Saturday morning. He had just one more uncomplicated day with her, and all he could do was drink in the sight of her as she worked on an oil change. A small smudge of grease covered her chin, but she didn’t seem to notice. Her muscled forearms gleamed with a sheen of sweat where she’d pushed her jumpsuit sleeves up. Sef was content to stand next to her, handing her tools as she worked and admiring the view of her animated face. Her long beautiful hair had been pulled back into a messy bun, and she wore a blue headband in the way human girls often did that made it look like a fashion statement. On her, it looked natural and adorable as hell.
“So I saw this one ship,” Harper said as she studied the oil stick from the car before reinserting it. She’d been opening up about her thoughts on Krinar technology all morning.
“Yeah?” He found her insights interesting and sometimes amusing. There was only so much she could guess correctly based on observation alone, after all. But still, it was fascinating to hear her perspective on his kind without her knowing he was a Krinar.
“I saw it for just a brief minute on TV. Their ambassador was getting out of it. It was a small craft, one he landed on the White House lawn when he and President Wells were meeting for some kind of negotiations. Wow… I could see the inside of it, and he was in this chair, but then it morphed into a flat plank the second he stepped out. Then the ship door closed and I couldn’t see anything else, but I want to know how they did it. What kind of technology do you think they’re using to manipulate matter into shapes that quickly? Mimetic polyalloys?”
He could have told her that it involved a complex matter manipulation field integrated into a pliable conductive material. The best analogy he could make was being able to sculpt ice and then return it back to the same block of unchipped ice. Even if she could understand the science behind it, they were carefully guarded Krinar secrets.
“What would you do if you ever met a K?” he asked.
“Like for real? Like in person?” she asked, using her arm to try to wipe a fresh grease smudge off the tip of her nose.
He grabbed a nearby clean cloth and leaned forward to wipe it for her. “Yes, in real life. I mean, you seem to think they’re…what did you call them? Bossy?”
Her gaze turned distant, so much that it seemed she was suddenly a thousand light years away from him. Then she gave her head a small shake and grinned. “I dunno. I’d probably shake his hand and say, ‘Hey, pal, want to share a cheeseburger?’” She burst into a fit of giggles that had him laughing too.
“You’d want to create an international incident?” he teased. He could picture her doing exactly that, and all he could think of was her saying that to Soren and the look of horror that would be on his twin’s face. He’d almost pay to see that happen.
“But seriously,” she said, her face thoughtful again. “I don’t know what I’d say. I guess I’d ask them, Why us? Why shove us aside just so they can live here? Surely there are a bunch of other planets they could take instead, right? Hell, you’d think they’d have terraforming tech and could just make their own.”
Sef leaned against the car’s side as she finished capping the oil. She removed the metal stand and lowered the hood so it clicked shut.
“Even if they did, terraforming takes time,” Sef said cautiously. “I heard the Ks were searching for hundreds of thousands of years for planets, that they sent out the seeds of evolution to a number of places, waiting to see which planets would take Krina’s genetic material the best. Rumor is this planet was one of the best.”
“Ah, ripe for the harvest, huh? And we get the shaft.” It was hard to miss the edge of her tone.
“Well, I dunno. If they wanted to get rid of us and move in, would any of us be left?” he asked. “You’ve seen what they can do, so I’d say the fact that they’re mostly leaving us alone is a good sign. I guess that they really do want to share the planet with us. They like us…or so I’ve heard.”
Harper wrinkled her nose. “Like us? How many towns like this have you come across in your travels, Seth? Towns clinging to life or they’re already dead but don’t know it yet? If they like us, they sure have a funny way of showing it.”
Sef wished he could find a way to help her understand his people without giving away too much. “Think about how you would do it. Let’s say you know you need a new planet to live on, and you have to take over one with a sapient species on it like us. How would you go about it while keeping panic and death to a minimum? The Ks took decisive control. Only a few of the more idiotic dictators and socialist leaders refused to cooperate, because those assholes don’t care about the people in their countries. For them it’s about keeping power for themselves. They didn’t want to cooperate, and it cost them.”
“I remember.” Harper shuddered. Sef knew she would. Those unfortunate countries and their massive loss of life in the Great Panic that followed still haunted him. But his people hadn’t been able to stop the violence that the humans had inflicted, mostly upon themselves.
“I guess it could have been way worse,” she admitted. “With the Ks, I mean. They worked hard to make sure things went as smoothly as possible. They haven’t taken over our government, at least so far as we know.”
Sef shook his head. “Now you sound like a conspiracy theorist. The Ks don’t need to control t
he government. If they wanted control of something, they’d just take it.”
She huffed. “See, there you go again, reminding me why I don’t like them.”
He came up to her, gently trapping her from behind against the car she’d just finished working on. “You seem to like it when I take what I want,” he reminded her in a low whisper, then nibbled her ear. Harper moaned and leaned back against him. Sef was glad Ruby, Jeff and Alan had all gone out for lunch and wouldn’t be back for another forty minutes. They had the garage all to themselves.
“But you’re not like a K. You’re not…bossy.” She struggled to try to speak as he cupped her breasts, kneading them and finding her nipples through her jumpsuit. Then he unzipped the suit so he could slide his hands inside to get to her thin tank top and bra.
“I’m not bossy?” he asked, nipping her shoulder as he started to peel her suit off her shoulders to free her arms.
“Well…maybe a little, but in a good way.” She closed her eyes briefly.
“What’s the bad way?” he asked, curious to know exactly what she meant.
“No, you’re not…not like what I hear goes on at those Krinar X-clubs.”
“Do you know what the X stands for?” he asked as he ground his pelvis against her, knowing she could fee his erection.
“What?” she murmured.
“Xenophile. Xeno-clubs are for K-obsessed humans.” He waited, letting that sink in. “And you know what those Ks do there in these clubs to sweet little women like you?” He cupped one of her breasts, teasing it out of her bra as he pushed her tank top up and over her body.
“What?” she asked breathlessly and wriggled her ass, teasing him in a way that sent him spiraling into a wild, savage need to fuck her.
“Those big bad Ks take girls like you into rooms where the furniture floats off the ground. Then they pin them down and fuck them for hours.” He managed to remove her bra, and her full bare breasts filled his hands.
