The Alien Who Fell to Earth

by Fiona Roarke

  “You aren’t supposed to know about that,” the sheriff said.

  She shrugged. “Don’t be silly, Hank. I know lots of things I’m not supposed to know. The town’s grapevine would wither and shrivel down to nothing without good information to share that no one is supposed to know.”

  “Still. This is different.”

  “Pshaw. Different, shmifferent. Wolves. Aliens. We’re all pretty much the same.” She looked at Bubba. “Can you do any tricks?”

  “Tricks?” Bubba asked.

  “He’s not a circus performer, Aunt Birdie.”

  “I’m not talking to you, Hank.”

  Bubba smiled at her, stared deeply into her eyes for a moment, and said, “How about this? You want me to shoot a death ray out of my eyes and destroy something in a flaming pyre, but the only trick I know is mind reading.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Ooh. Psychic aliens. That’s so great. Okay, Mr. Alien Psychic. This is a test. Can you read my mind now?” Her eyes squinted like she was thinking hard.

  Bubba cleared his throat. “Sorry. I’m not taking my clothes off.”

  Hank’s eyes went wide. “Aunt Birdie!” He looked at Bubba with the uncomfortable expression of a man not typically embarrassed.

  “Oh, relax. It’s for science,” Aunt Birdie said. “I just want to see if he looks like a human.”

  “No. You want good gossip for your grapevine. The answer is no.” Hank motioned Bubba and the two younger women to enter his office.

  Bubba paused by Birdie’s desk. “I hate to disappoint you, but I also don’t have any antenna anywhere on my person.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  “Don’t encourage her.”

  Bubba went into Hank’s office. There were three chairs in front of his desk.

  Before they sat, the sheriff introduced Astrid’s friend, Holli Williams. She made a point of taking the chair between Bubba and Astrid, making him like her already. He was glad Astrid had a friend willing to stick up for her. She deserved it.

  “How did you find me?” Astrid asked.

  “One of the Earthers invented a device that can track Alphas.”

  “That might come in handy here, too,” Sheriff Merrow said.

  Knowing Cam the way he did, Bubba suspected that request would be met with open hostility. “Probably for Alpha use only, but I’ll check on that for you.”

  Astrid bit her lip. “What happens now?”

  “I was supposed to track down, apprehend, subdue and haul you back to Alienn the moment I found you.”

  “That’s awfully harsh.” Holli crossed her arms and moved an inch closer to Astrid.

  “Well, I’d only planned to capture, shackle and transport.”

  “Shackle?” Holli asked. “That sounds barbaric.”

  “It’s just a small sticker placed on the inside wrist to help subdue Alphas.”

  “Still,” Holli said and moved nearer to Astrid.

  “I read the report you gave Sheriff Merrow. I do not think you are dangerous. I would like to transport you back to Alienn, Arkansas; however, I will not shackle you or in any way imprison you.”

  “Why?”

  “I believe your story.”

  “Just like that.”

  “There was a corroborating story from the pilot. There was a last-minute change to the flight manifest. The Calderian wanted to accompany the prisoner and one Jason Pepperdine was left behind. I understand you were about to meet him before you were abducted.”

  “That’s right.”

  Bubba stared at her beautiful golden hair and button nose, happy to see the real her and not the odd magical disguise she’d had on.

  “Also, I read your personal and public profile from Alpha-Prime. Seemed to me that someone who spent so much time and energy trying to live the kind of isolated life you did despite your unusual upbringing wouldn’t toss it all away for nothing.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. Thank you.”

  The communicator on his belt buzzed and he checked the screen.

  “Would you be willing to accompany me to a wedding tomorrow, Astrid?”

  “It’s not your wedding, is it?” She looked miserable for a moment.

  “No. The pilot from the crash and the security specialist sent after him are eloping before they leave tomorrow.”

  “What about an arranged marriage? Are you in one of those?” she asked, leaning past her friend to see his face.

  “Nope. What about you? Any arranged marriage in your future?”

  She scoffed. “No one in my family trusted me not to turn any prospective husband in to the authorities. I was never set up to be married.”

  “Good.”

  “What?”

  “What I meant to say was, that’s good for me.” He stared at her and a sweet blush came up in her cheeks.

  “Holli,” Sheriff Merrow said. “Let me give you a tour of the sheriff’s office.”

  “We’ll be right out there,” Astrid’s friend said to Bubba in a warning tone.

  Once they were alone, Astrid asked, “I need to know something before we go to the elopement.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Your first name. Or should I just call you Thorne?”

  He smiled. “Call me Bubba.”

  “Bubba? Really? That’s your name.”

  “It’s what I answer to.”

  “Will you ever tell me your real first name?”

  “Possibly.” He couldn’t take his gaze from her face.

  “What if we trade?” She moved closer, sliding into Holli’s abandoned chair.

  “Trade?” Bubba could barely focus. Her leg touched his and he almost forgot what they were talking about. “What should we trade?”

  “You tell me your real name and I’ll give you a kiss.”

  Bubba never told people his real name, but he wanted to kiss her more than he wanted to take his next breath. “Deal.”

  Her arms slid round his neck, she lifted to her knees in the seat beside him and pressed her perfect luscious lips to his in what had to be the most amazingly sensuous kiss he’d ever experienced.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  “Bubba.”

  She laughed. It was a delightful sound. “That’s not your real name.”

  “No. But I’ll need more than a kiss to reveal it.”

  “You made a deal.”

  Bubba pushed out a long sigh. “Bartholomew Angus Thorne.”

  “Bubba it is,” she said and kissed him once more.

  Epilogue

  <^> <^> <^>

  Alpha-Prime – Sandspur Basin, three months later

  The town was small and out-of-the-way enough to boast just one fueling center, one household supply depot, a tiny medical center operated by a droid med tech and a single multi-passenger transport stop, yet managed to draw enough clientele from the surrounding area to pay the overhead and then some for three taverns. Sand slithered down the largely deserted main street in streamers kicked up by the wind as dusk fell. The air would cool a few thankful degrees once the sun set, but that would only draw out the insects, both of the pest variety and the criminal. Sandspur Basin was also out-of-the-way enough to make some fugitives think they were off the grid and out of reach.

  They were wrong.

  Bubba watched with amusement as Holden brushed a bit of sand off of his face. It was a futile effort, but an old habit when visiting places so far away from civilization and the protected spheres in the cities. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be here very long. He’d rather be spending his time with Astrid, but this mission was important, too.

  Riker, Draeken and Holden all walked alongside him for their shared task today. They all agreed that he could lead as he was the one who’d found their prey.

  Even so, they all had equal justice to deliver.

  Bubba walked confidently to the main entrance of the seediest of the three taverns. Harsh music and even harsher laughter seeped through the faulty force field seal intended
to keep the sand out and the noise in. As the rest of the town went to sleep, the night was just getting started for the boringly but aptly named, Sandspur Tavern’s patrons.

  “You’re sure he’s here?”

  Bubba looked over his shoulder at his three companions, and quirked a brow at The Calderian, who’d asked the question. Riker Phoenix snorted a laugh. “Right. Look who I’m asking. Forget I said anything.”

  “How many times have you said he’s the best?” his brother, Draeken, asked.

  Riker punched his brother in the shoulder hard enough to make the younger man wince and rub it while the fourth member of their party rolled his eyes.

  “Gentlemen, please,” Holden Grigori said. “We’re here to take care of some business. A little decorum, please?”

  When all three looked at him, he grinned. “Didn’t think I knew the word ‘decorum,’ did you?”

  Bubba shook his head and stepped through the entryway into the tavern, the three other men on his heels. It was amusing the way silence fell over the room almost instantly. The recorded music continued to play discordantly through hidden speakers. He eyed the filthy state of the long bar, and the dirty glasses accumulated on tables and thought how offended the owner of Howlers back in Nocturne Falls would be to see it. Howlers was a very fun place, for sure, but Bridget made certain it was also immaculate.

  Draeken was the only one of them who wasn’t a Royal Magistrate Guard, but it didn’t make much difference when they were all wearing civilian clothes anyway. The patrons didn’t need to be told trouble had just walked in.

  Bubba slowly scanned the room until his eyes landed on a table with five men. Only one stiffened in recognition as he stared at the newcomers. Bubba smiled and raised his voice to the room. “Now would be a good time to call it a night, if you want to leave without any injuries. Otherwise, you can take your chances when the mayhem starts.” In fact, he hoped for a quiet take down. There would maybe be a chase, but not if he got his way.

  The other patrons took the broad hint. Bubba ignored the hurried exodus out the front entrance and stalked toward their quarry. At first, it seemed his quarry’s tablemates would hold their ground. A narrow-eyed stare took care of that, and they deserted the table and the tavern as fast as their legs would carry them. That just left one man.

  He sprang up, but Holden was fast. He shoved the man down so hard, the chair rocked under him.

  Riker stepped forward. “Where do you think you’re going, Jason Pepperdine?”

  “S-sir,” he stuttered.

  “Oh now you call me sir? You didn’t respect me enough to keep from jeopardizing my brother’s life when you were assigned to guard him en route to gulag XkR-9. Why start now? We can dispense with the ‘sir.’ Guardsman Phoenix will do.”

  Seeing Pepperdine in person made Bubba, for the first time in his career, wish he was the kind of guardsman who didn’t mind a little face stomping. Pepperdine looked soft around the edges, but big and beefy compared to Astrid. Bubba could barely stand the thought of the disgraced guardsman putting hands on Astrid, terrifying her and putting her life in danger by hiring an Alpha mercenary to round her up for him.

  “Sir, please. You’ve got to listen to me. I didn’t have a choice—”

  “There’s always a choice, Pepperdine. Always. And you made yours when you kidnapped an innocent woman, drugged her and hid her on a ship bound for a gulag. If Holden Grigori wasn’t a top-flight pilot, your choice would have killed two guardsmen, my brother and a woman who has more respect for the law than you ever will.”

  Holden, who’d won the toss, said, “Jason Pepperdine, you’re under arrest for discreditable conduct, smuggling, collusion with criminal elements, intimidation, sabotage of an RMG ship, attempted murder times four—”

  Without warning, Pepperdine shoved Holden away from him, upended the table in front of Bubba, Riker and Draeken, and sprinted for the back of the tavern, and presumably the exit in the kitchen. Bubba growled and tossed the table away like it weighed nothing. He started after Pepperdine, but Draeken’s laugh gave him pause.

  Bubba stared at his friend’s brother. Draeken had always had a bizarre sense of humor, but laughing now seemed entirely inappropriate as far as Bubba was concerned. Pepperdine was getting away.

  “Oh, let him go,” Draeken said. “It’s obviously time for Plan B.”

  Bubba was glad to see Riker and Holden were no more amused than he was. “Plan B?” Bubba asked, watching his quarry escape. He had the same feeling in the pit of his stomach as when he’d had to tell Cam Grey that his awesome Alpha tracking prototype device had worked amazingly well. Until it had accidentally flown from his hands and the car tire ran over it. He was grateful Cam had understood without any violence.

  Holden glared and said, “Are you kidding me? The last thing we need is for that vile little crust-fish to find another bolt hole. I refuse to go back and tell Victoria we let him get away.”

  “Come on,” Draeken said with a smirk. “You don’t really think the women are waiting for us back in the city, do you? That’s why I approved Plan B.”

  “Explain, Plan B, Draeken,” Bubba said.

  “I knew Stella wouldn’t just sit back meekly waiting for the big strong males to take care of things.”

  Riker looked briefly pole-axed before a slow smile spread across his lips. “Little brother, you do have a good point. Elise would never sit back. I was surprised when she didn’t pull her weapon and just join us. I guess she preferred your Plan B, too.”

  “So I told them where we were going. They probably beat us here.”

  Bubba rolled his shoulders and calmed his raging anger. Draeken had a point. The women were just as involved. He should have invited them along, but he’d been so anxious to get his hands on Pepperdine. To make him pay for what he’d done.

  Holden nodded. “Victoria did have a satisfied gleam in her eye when we left. And not for the usual reason.” He smiled, and added, “I’m not going to lie. I was shocked that she didn’t want to join us. I guess she also preferred Plan B.”

  Draeken shrugged. “And yes, I know he’s nasty and as vicious as a poot-snake in a sticker forest and he definitely deserves some justice, but the truth is if it wasn’t for him, I likely wouldn’t have Stella.” He pointed at his brother, Holden and Bubba in turn. “And you most certainly wouldn’t have Elise, you wouldn’t have Victoria and you wouldn’t be married blissfully to Astrid. Besides, it’s not like he’s going to get away.”

  Bubba grunted. “Well, when you put it that way…”

  <^> <^> <^>

  Jason Pepperdine burst through the back entrance like all the demons in the universe were after him. He gaped at Astrid, who smiled and threw some kind of powdery substance in his face.

  He sneezed violently, once, before Stella whipped her telescoping staff to full extension, jammed it between his ankles and pulled them from under him with a seemingly negligent flip.

  He hit the cracked ground hard enough to send up a plume of dust and sneezed again, which was an interesting feat, considering Victoria heard the air explosively leave his lungs. Whatever air remained inside him was taken care of when she and Elise pinned him with their knees. Victoria caught the thumb of his left hand and twisted it up and back until his arm was immobilized in the air behind him, while Elise did the same to his right.

  Stella crouched down and looked at his reddened face. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

  Pepperdine gasped and wheezed.

  “What did you throw in his face?” Elise asked Astrid.

  “Oh, it’s something my friend Holli gave me before we left Nocturne Falls. She said it worked like pepper spray, whatever that is. She assured me it was strong enough to stop a bear.” She tilted her head and looked at their prisoner. “You know, I think he kind of looks like a bear. I saw some pictures.”

  “I can see the bear resemblance,” Stella said, nodding.

  “We should see if your friend would be willing to shar
e her formula with Cam Grey,” Elise said. “I bet he would think something like that was very interesting. He could probably turn it into a device strong enough to stop a whole herd of bears.”

  Stella stood and minimized her telescoping staff until it was baton sized and hooked easily to the utility belt slung low on her hips. Then she took something from a compartment on the belt, reached over and slapped a shackle on Pepperdine’s wrist.

  Victoria felt him go limp under her. At Stella’s nod, she and Elise released him. His arms stayed extended.

  “Put your arms down and get to your feet,” Stella said briskly.

  Pepperdine, eyes streaming and unable to hold back the occasional sneeze, obeyed like an automaton.

  “Now march yourself back into that tavern.”

  The women followed Pepperdine inside as he performed the kind of march Victoria thought would have been perfectly respectable on any Royal Magistrate Guard parade ground.

  They went through the kitchen and into the main tavern, to see Holden, Bubba, Riker and Draeken seated at a table. As soon as they spotted Pepperdine and the women, they raised glasses of brew in the air in salute and cheered.

  “What’d I tell you?” she heard Draeken say smugly. “Plan B is always the best one.”

  “Stop, and await further instructions,” Stella told Pepperdine. He froze.

  Victoria felt the glow of love as she looked at Holden. She thought the small scar on his temple gave him a rakish look. “Comfortable?” she asked.

  “Almost.” He gave her a sly smile and patted one thigh in invitation. “Why don’t you come over here and see?”

  She didn’t hesitate to sit on his knee. Looping her arms around his neck, she tenderly kissed his temple, then his lips.

  Draeken and Stella kissed once and then started slow dancing to the music playing as if they were already alone. Astrid and Bubba kissed and simply stared at each other like all newlyweds do. Riker and Elise kissed once, sat down at the table and then kissed again and continued kissing as if they, too were the only ones here.