“If you really are a doctor, help me deal with this,” she said. “Is it some sort of sudden onset dementia or something?”
“Don’t you dare drag him into our argument,” Nana said.
“Look, I think we all need to just calm down and take a moment to breathe.” Rin took in a deep breath, then let it out, lifting and lowering his arms like a conductor trying to rein in a wayward ensemble. When Lily and Nana just glared at him, he said, “Nobody wants to breathe?”
“We are breathing.” Nana and Lily shouted the words at the same time.
The cats let out a chorus of indignant “mrak” sounds, and Rin jumped again. He took a step closer to his car, staring at the glaring as if he’d never seen a cat before.
Great. Now Lily was going off the deep end, too.
“I know you’re not supposed to go around telling people you’re an alien,” Nana said. “But this is my granddaughter. She’s named after me. We’re close enough, we don’t keep secrets.”
“We’re not talking about secrets here,” Rin said. “We’re talking about—”
“Lizard people,” Nana said.
“Yes.” Rin nodded, then looked confused and suddenly shook his head. “I mean, no. Not lizard people.” He let out an exasperated sigh, then turned toward Lily. “I need to speak with my patient in private, if you don’t mind.”
“As a matter of fact, I do mind,” Lily said.
At that moment, one of the cats let out a huge yowl. Lily heard what sounded like a sneeze from the giant oak. She looked over just in time to see the orange cat fall from the top of the tree.
“Oh no,” Lily said.
She started running toward it, but stumbled and fell onto her face as something appeared out of thin air next to the falling cat. Spitting sand from her mouth, Lily craned her neck up to see a tiny figure hurtle through the air, curling itself into a ball around the orange tabby.
Green scales covered the creature’s skin, including its long tail. It had metallic silver stripes in regular intervals banding its body as well as running down its spine. Greenish-blue stripes that looked more natural streaked across its skin.
Cyan-blue.
“Oh my God,” Lily said.
The lizard person—lizard person—kept sneezing as it fell. It still managed to twist itself around into an upright position, holding onto the cat fiercely as it did. Orange coloration spread over its body, and its stripes turned white just before the pair hit the ground.
“Cyan!” Nana yelled.
Rin made it to the tree first, but only barely. He crouched down next to Cyan, and said, “Are you injured?”
“My exosuit protected me, but…” Cyan lifted the cat, holding it up with her little green hands under its armpits.
The cat was almost as tall as the lizard lady, stretched out like that. His body was lax, dangling from her grip, and he was purring so loud that Lily could hear it from several feet away.
“He’s fine, sweetie,” Nana said. “Don’t worry.”
Cyan let out a huge breath, bowing her head. Then she held the cat up higher, as if she was showing it off to Rin.
“This is Freddie,” Cyan said. She pulled the cat closer, hugging him against her chest and pressing her cheek against his. “He is my favorite.”
Lily felt something stirring in her chest. It burbled up and came out as a laugh that sounded hysterical even to her ears.
Everyone looked over at her, lying face down in the sand. When she pictured how she must look to them, it only made her laugh harder.
“Is she all right?” Cyan asked, cocking her head to the side as she stared at Lily.
Nana waved at Lily dismissively. “She’s fine.”
Lily didn’t feel fine. She didn’t feel real. None of this did.
“This has to be a dream,” Lily said. “Nana, a lizard lady, and a hot alien doctor. Yeah. This is a dream.”
“I better check on her,” Rin said.
He approached slowly, as if Lily was a wild animal he didn’t want to set off. He eyed her as warily as he’d eyed the cats. Maybe he really had never seen a cat before.
That thought brought on another bout of laughter. Rin paused, glancing over his shoulder at Nana and the lizard person.
“Go on,” Nana said. “She won’t bite.”
Rin’s spine stiffened, and when he looked back at Lily, his face was pale. That only made the laughing fit worse.
Blonde, blue-eyed, and tiny. Lily had never considered herself intimidating before.
She pushed herself onto her knees and watched Nana go into the house. Cyan was right behind her, dragging along “Freddie”, who was still purring up a storm. As Lily finally regained some composure, Rin knelt in front of her, just like he had with Cyan earlier.
“Are you all right?” Rin asked.
“I don’t know.” Lily wiped at her cheeks and her hands came away wet. She wasn’t sure if the tears were from laughing or shock. “I think I’ve gone insane.”
Rin smiled at her. A subdued smile—not like the lightning-strike, sun-coming-out-from-behind-clouds smiles of earlier.
A sudden impulse seized her, and she reached out to rest her palm against his cheek. His skin was warm, with just a hint of stubble pricking against her hand.
“You’re real,” Lily said.
“I am.”
“And you’re an alien?”
He sighed, then nodded. “And you’re not supposed to know that.”
“I can imagine.” Suddenly aware of her hand resting on his cheek—and how close their faces were to each other’s—she pulled back, leaning away from him.
“Let me help you.” Rin stood, then offered his hand.
Lily stared at it for a moment, looking for any difference that would set him apart. Webbing between his fingers, stripes or spots or scales.
The only odd thing about his hand was how perfect it was.
Lily shook herself. This was no time to start mooning over some guy. Some hot doctor guy. Who was also an alien.
Oh my God. He’s an alien.
“I don’t bite, either,” Rin said. “In case that’s a…very disturbing reassurance that Earthlings need.”
She laughed again, but this time, it didn’t make her feel unhinged. She took his hand and let him help her to her feet.
Nana’s laughter echoed from the house, along with a chittering sound that must be Cyan. The new yoga buddy. Who was also a lizard lady. From the Vega system.
Vegan.
“I get it now.” Lily shook her head. “I still can’t believe this.”
But the evidence was right there. She was holding hands with it, staring into his eyes.
Nana hadn’t been delusional after all. Aliens were real.
Chapter Four
Rin tried to keep his focus on his mission, despite the myriad distractions all around him. The beautiful Earthling staring up at him wasn’t making it easy.
She had golden hair that was held up in a messy ponytail. Her skin was tanned from the sun and her eyes were a stunning blue. She wore a pale pink T-shirt with a V neck and cut-off denim shorts. Her legs were long, with curves that made her look soft and…
He cleared his throat and glanced at the house. “You know, I bet it’s cooler inside.”
“What?” She blinked a few times, then seemed to come to her senses. “Oh, right. Of course.”
She dropped his hand and stepped back, wiping her palms on the back of her shorts. Perspiration was beading on her chest. He watched a drop trickle down between her breasts.
Rin needed an objective. Something to harness his thoughts.
He remembered Cyan tucking a small satchel into the seat between them in the car before they left. She hadn’t been able to grab it earlier.
“Hold on a second.” He trotted to the still-open driver’s side door, then reached in and picked up the bag. A small cylinder fell from it. When he picked it up, it made a rattling sound.
He turned it over in his hands, walking
back toward Lily after kicking the door to the car shut. The cylinder had strange drawings on it that vaguely resembled the creature that Cyan had saved. “Freddie.”
“I wonder what this is,” he mumbled to himself, shaking the cylinder to make more of the rattling.
Lily was standing near the house, and when she heard the sound, she turned toward him, her eyes wide.
“Don’t shake that!” she yelled.
Rin froze. Why the hell shouldn’t he shake the cylinder? It couldn’t be some sort of bomb, could it? From Lily’s reaction, he wasn’t sure.
“Oh, crap,” Lily said.
He didn’t know what was upsetting her until the first of the creatures came shooting out of the house, making horrible yowling noises. It was followed by a dozen more. They bolted right for him.
Nana had told him that Lily wouldn’t bite, but what about these screaming beasts?
He turned and ran.
Only then did he realize that Cyan’s bag was filled with the cylinders.
The rattling noise intensified with his movement, but he didn’t dare slow down.
“Don’t run!” Lily let out an exasperated sound.
More of the furred beasts appeared from the foliage surrounding them—from under the vehicles and from the back of the house. Climbing wasn’t an option for escape. He’d seen how agile Freddie was when climbing the tree.
“How many of these things are there?” he yelled, dodging a couple of brown and black striped creatures. They swiped at his legs as he passed, revealing curved, needle-sharp claws. “Holy shit! What are these?”
“Drop the cans and run,” Lily said.
“You just told me not to run!”
No matter what she said, Rin wasn’t about to stop. Not with these things chasing him.
“Drop the cans and then run!”
A gray-furred beast leapt on him, digging its claws into his leg and using them to climb up his body.
“Shit!” he yelled.
Pain stung its way along his nerves as he spun in circles, trying to dislodge it. Another latched onto him, joining the first in its climb, and adding to Rin’s agony.
If he tripped and fell, with so many of them in pursuit… They would eat him alive.
The thought was enough to keep him moving, even with the beasts attached to his leg. And his back. Damn, they could climb quickly! Their claws tore at his clothing, digging into his flesh.
“Rin, stop,” Lily yelled.
“There is no fucking way I’m stopping.”
One of her instructions finally registered, and he chucked the cylinder he was holding as far away as he could. Half a dozen of the razor-clawed things ran after it. A dozen more kept chasing him, no matter how hard he tried to dodge. Another leapt and managed to latch on to this cargo shorts, its claws scoring searing lines down his thigh and calf.
He wanted to kick them or swat them away, but Cyan… Shit, Cyan liked these things.
He couldn’t hurt them, even if they seemed determined to hurt him.
“Drop the bag,” Lily yelled.
Rin had forgotten he was holding it. He dropped it, then bolted away from the house. He wouldn’t lead these monsters toward the others.
Something appeared in his path. Something green. No, someone green. Cyan.
“Stop,” Cyan said.
He skidded to a halt, sand spraying up from his boots as his feet dug furrows into the ground. It was either that, or risk trampling Cyan.
The thing on his back jumped off as soon as he stopped. Cyan stepped forward and gently plucked off one of the wretched skeelbats still clinging to his legs, whispering soft words to it as she did. Someone else was detaching the last one. Lily.
“I’m so sorry,” Lily said. “They go crazy for those treats. Nana has them trained to come when she shakes the cans, but she normally has plates ready for them so they head right for the food. Most of them started out as feral strays with no one to care for them. They don’t have the best manners toward people.”
Rin was shaking from adrenaline and pain. He glanced down to see lines of red crisscrossing his legs. The wounds looked shallow for the most part, but there were dozens of them.
“What are those little monsters?” he said.
“They are not monsters.” Cyan snorted an indignant breath from her nostrils, setting the thing on the ground gently. “They are indigenous life forms who have evolved to be companion creatures.”
“In what fucked up world are these companion creatures?” Rin said.
“Companion creatures?” Lily said. “We just call them ‘pets’.”
“Why?” Rin looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Because we pet them?”
“These specific life forms are called ‘cats’.” Cyan ducked her head, and said, “And I am sorry they hurt you.”
How could he stay mad when she looked so upset?
He was still surrounded by those little hellspawn creatures. Cats. He should have brought a stasis field generator. Or a disintegration pistol.
The wounds they’d inflicted on him were starting to burn.
“They aren’t venomous, are they?” Rin asked.
Nana had reached them, and she let out a short laugh. “Venomous cats? Now that would be a thing to make you shudder.”
Lily glared at Nana, and said, “Cats aren’t venomous. But they do have a lot of bacteria in their mouths and on their claws. I don’t think any of them bit you, but we should wash out those scratches as soon as we can.”
‘We’?
His mind provided a tantalizing image of Lily’s hands on his legs, using the water and soap cleansing techniques popular on Earth. The thought sent a jolt through him, surprising in its intensity. His skin beaded into goosebumps and his dick actually twitched. He needed to rein himself in quickly.
“No need,” he said. “Cyan can use the med-tech functions in her exosuit to heal the wounds and disinfect them.”
“I…can not,” Cyan said.
It took him a moment to process what she’d said, he was so surprised. “Why not?”
Cyan started wringing her hands again as she explained. “The sensors in my exosuit will create an entry for the life forms that created the wounds, along with an analysis of the extent of the injuries.”
“Why is that a problem?” Lily blinked a few times, as if she was still adjusting to the fact that she was speaking to a sentient who was obviously so alien from her experience.
“Cats are companion creatures,” Cyan said. “They are rarely found far from human habitations.”
Rin understood her predicament at once, and why she’d been so hesitant to approach him for help. Cyan had made contact with an Earthling without clearance.
Even as someone who could pass as human, Rin was under orders to keep contact with Earthlings to a minimum. Cyan was obviously an intelligent alien life form. Contact with Earthlings was absolutely forbidden.
Apparently, his fellow Sadirian soldiers weren’t the only ones being affected by the Earth’s occupants. He still couldn’t believe that so many on the team had actually fallen in love with Earthlings and formed pair-bonds. Rin had interacted with several Earthlings, but none of them had affected him strongly.
He glanced over at Lily. Well, not until today.
He brought himself back to the problem at hand. Helping his friend.
“We can tell them I ran into town to get provisions and encountered them,” Rin said.
Cyan shook her head. “The symptoms I am having began with my first exposure to cats. I am afraid that my exosuit will correlate the biological contaminants in my system with those found in your injuries. My activities here will be discovered.”
“What’s so bad about you hanging out with a bunch of cats?” Lily asked.
“I… I am not supposed to be here.” Cyan’s spines flattened against her head and all down her back. She bowed her head, and said, “If my activities are discovered, you will all receive mind-wipe
s and I will be forbidden from returning. I may even be restricted to the Life Ship. I will never see Lillian or her glaring again. They will forget that I even existed.”
“Glaring?” Rin asked. Why would Cyan want to see someone glare at her?
“It’s another name for a group of cats,” Lily said.
“O…kay,” he said. “And who is Lillian?”
“That’s me,” Nana said. “Everybody but Cyan just calls me ‘Nana’, though.”
“Does anything or anyone on this planet have a single, straightforward name?” Rin asked.
“I’m just Lily.” Lily half-shrugged and smiled at him. Her cheeks turned pink and she looked away.
“What’s a mind-wipe?” Nana asked, bringing him back to task.
“They will erase your memories of me.” Cyan’s voice was higher than he’d ever heard it. “It will be as though we never met.”
“To hell with that,” Nana said.
Lily put her hands on her hips and glared at Rin. “No one is erasing our memories.”
“It’s not up to me,” Rin said.
Cyan covered her face and started making a hiss-hiss-hiccup noise. He was pretty sure she was crying.
“Cyan…” He shook his head, not knowing what to say.
“Are you compatible with humans?” Lily asked.
Rin and Nana turned to stare at her.
“I mean…you look human.” The blush in Lily’s cheeks deepened. “Is your body human-like?”
“Earthlings and Sadirians are closely related.” He didn’t want to go into the whole “Earth is a lost colony” thing. Lily was dealing with enough as it was.
“Okay, I’m still not sure this isn’t all just some sort of intense, late-night pizza related dream,” Lily said. “But why don’t you just heal normally? I’ve been scratched up way worse than that.”
Cyan dropped her hands to her sides and shook her head. “No, I could not ask that of my friend. He was injured trying to help me, and I am repaying him with selfishness.”
“It’s not selfishness.” Rin spoke more harshly than he’d intended. He softened his voice as he said, “I get it, Cyan. I really do.”
“But your injuries—” she said.
Nana cut in. “They’re nothing. A couple of days, and he’ll be right as rain.”
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