by Stella Casey
My stomach grumbled.
After I ate something.
I went down to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. It seemed as though Alyssa had only bought groceries for last night’s meal. There was absolutely nothing in there. I opened the freezer and saw that there were four boxes of something called ice cream.
Hm. Might as well try it.
I opened the top and grabbed a spoon, taking a small taste.
Oh wow. That was really good.
I dug the spoon in and stuck a big gob of it in my mouth. Amazing.
I went into the living room and turned on the TV, trying to figure out the remote. When I got it to work, I flipped through a few channels before finally settling on an astronomy show. They were reporting on a newly discovered — well, for them — star cluster called Camargo 438.
Camargo 438 … Camargo 438 … why did that sound familiar?
I went to Alyssa’s computer and got online, then accessed Earth’s Dark Web, from which I could get to the galaxy’s internet, called the Network. I searched for Camargo 438 and found that it was mostly uninhabited, with no central government, since the stars in the cluster were newly formed. The planets and moons in the system were uncolonized, which meant that they were off the Galactic Police Force radar, because unclaimed star systems are outside their jurisdiction.
I thought about that for a second, filing the information away. That star cluster would be perfect if I needed to hide out. Then I remembered that in no time, I would be a free man, and I wouldn’t have to hide or report in or do any of the other things I had had to do as a parolee for the past fifty years.
The thought made me smile, and I clicked the TV to a new station. I spent a few minutes watching and then dozed off on the couch because, truth be told, we hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.
When I woke up, Alyssa had been gone about forty minutes. I ate another box of ice cream.
Then I started to worry.
Had Alyssa called when I was sleeping?
It seemed unlikely, because the phone was in the same room, and I was pretty sure it would have woken me up. So the next question was … why hadn’t she called?
It was possible that she had gotten busy. But I still thought she would have called and just let me know … well, something, anything, about what was happening.
She had promised she would. That made me wonder if there was some reason why she couldn’t call.
Shit. Was she okay?
I woke up the phone and frowned at the date. Sixteen days had passed since I had revealed myself to Alyssa.
I was supposed to contact my parole officer today. Voran’zi would be waiting. I had about fifteen hours to get to my spaceship and call her to check in. It was my last check-in. I couldn’t miss it.
And I had to check in from the spaceship, so that she wouldn’t know I was on a planet.
God, this mess had come at the worst time. I was such an idiot.
Just then, Alyssa’s cell phone rang. It startled me, and I almost dropped it. At the last second before I answered, I shapeshifted into Alyssa’s form.
“Hello?” I said in her voice.
“Alyssa? I need you to come get Zoe. They’ve called me in to work. It’s an emergency.”
“Okay,” I said with Alyssa’s voice. “There’s been a tiger escape at the zoo, and everything’s been crazy, but I’ll come pick her up as soon as I can.”
“Okay. Are you all right? You sound kind of weird.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay. Hurry up. I’ll start working here, but I need to get in to the office as soon as possible.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hit End and set the phone down. I knew Callie would take care of Zoe until Alyssa got there, so I put that thought out of my mind. Right now, I needed to find out what was happening to Alyssa.
She had promised to call. But she hadn’t. That meant that maybe she couldn’t.
In a heartbeat, I was out the back door. I closed my eyes and in a moment, I was an eagle shooting into the sky.
I need to get to the zoo.
I flew up and caught the wind currents, soaring and using almost no energy to fly all the way to the zoo. The wind was in my face, and usually flying is one of my favorite things to do. But I was so worried about Lyssa that I couldn’t enjoy it today.
When I got to the zoo, I swirled in lazy circles above the area, using the keen eyesight of my eagle form to see what I could spot from up here. There were people all over the place.
And … what looked to be agents in black suits.
Alyssa and I had watched a movie about those men. They were bad news for someone like me. And maybe for Alyssa, because she had been associating with me.
If I had a humanoid face, I would scowl.
Damn it. This was exactly what I had been worried about. Well, technically, I had been worried about the authorities from my planet causing the trouble, but whatever. Either way, I needed to get away from Alyssa before I ruined her life.
But first, I had to make sure she was okay.
Then I would go.
I made slow circles in the air, considering what would be the best form to find her in. I was kind of freaking out, and I needed to see her and make sure she was safe, and that there would be no fallout from her hanging out with me.
I would be more careful next time. Set up a life where I would have some interaction with humans, so that I wouldn’t get so desperate that I revealed myself to one of them. I knew Alyssa would keep my secret.
That zoo on the other side of the country seemed like a good place, and I had a plan to get in, which involved pretending to be someone looking to place a tiger that had been kept as a pet and mistreated. Then I would be the tiger when it was delivered.
Or something like that. I wasn’t sure of the logistics, but I would figure it out.
This whole mess had shown me that I needed to have friends, but I also needed to be careful about showing my true self. Even back home, my true self hadn’t been accepted because I was a Gil’nythian, a shapeshifter. So I didn’t see how I had thought that I might be welcomed by anyone on this primitive planet.
It was a crazy thought.
And yet, Alyssa had welcomed me. Had accepted me. Had made me feel like I was finally home. Damn it, I had to stop thinking about her like that.
I was leaving. It wouldn’t do to get attached.
Unfortunately, it was probably too late for that. But I would just have to get over her. There was no way I was going to put her in danger. I had already gone down that path, and it led to hell.
Then I remembered that soon I would be free, and I wouldn’t need to find a new zoo. As soon as I made sure Alyssa was okay, I would go straight to my spaceship and call in.
I tried to focus.
What form to take to find her?
Human. That was the best right now.
No. Of course not. They would have things locked down. Only certain people would be allowed in.
Shit. Think, Lii’thoou. Come on. She might need you.
Okay, not human. Maybe a smaller bird?
I had no sooner thought it, than I was a sparrow and flying down towards the zoo. I started at the south end and made my way across to the north end, where the tiger enclosure was. I didn’t see her at all.
But I did see a lot of zoo personnel. And strangely enough, the agents in black were everywhere, blocking all the exits and stationed at either end of the building where Alyssa had examined me when we first met.
I still didn’t see Alyssa. She was conspicuously absent.
Where was she?
I needed a form that could get into the building. What form, what form, what…?
Landing, I closed my little birdie eyes. The next second, I buzzed in through one of the windows that was open a crack — being a fly would give me agility and the ability to get into places larger animals would not be allowed.
I flew from room to room
, narrowly missing getting swatted by an annoyed employee whom I accidentally dive-bombed. As I searched without finding her, I started to panic.
What if I was too late?
What if they had taken her away?
What if they hurt her?
I tried to stay calm. There was still the director’s office — or that’s what I thought the sign said; it was hard to read with so many eyes.
I had no idea why she might be in there. Shouldn’t she be out searching for the missing tiger? It didn’t matter. I had to check every room in the building, and this was the only one I hadn’t searched.
But the door was closed. I flew around, searching for a way in. There was none.
Damn it. Maybe there was a hole or a crack in the wall?
A crack.
Not in the wall. Under the door.
I flew down and landed in front of the door. Yep, the crack was big enough for a bug to crawl through.
I headed under, just as it was opened violently and something flew past — a person, I guessed. I was sucked along with the door, and when it reached the edge of its swing, the crack got smaller because of the unevenness of the floor.
In a second, I was pinned between the concrete and the bottom of the door, feeling as though my exoskeleton was going to be crushed at any moment. I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t get out.
I fluttered my wings, trying to get free, but I couldn’t. I was too freaked out to shift. People were coming and going, but I couldn’t tell if any of them were Alyssa.
Then the door shut again and I was swept along, rolling over and over until I landed in the middle of the floor on my back.
Fucking hell. I couldn’t catch a break today.
“Is that goddamned fly in here?” said the voice of the employee who had tried to kill me in the other room.
“Never mind that, Stevie. This tiger escape is way more than we thought. Government agents are here, and they want Alyssa. They think she knows more than she’s letting on.”
“Yeah?” the employee said, rolling a newspaper that she took off the director’s desk and stalking me. She took a swing, and I buzzed over a little bit so that she just missed me. I tried to fly, but I couldn’t get flipped over to get away from her and that deadly newspaper. She eyed me and held the fly swatter ready to take another strike.
“Stevie, focus. We need to start looking for a new vet immediately. I have a feeling she won’t be coming back.”
What? Why wouldn’t Alyssa be coming back?
For a moment, I stopped trying to get away, stunned by the thought that those agents might take her away from her life forever.
What did these people mean? What would happen to Alyssa? Were they planning on killing her? What would happen to Zoe if her mother didn’t return?
“Aha!” The woman whacked at me again, but with reflexes I didn’t know flies possessed, I buzzed enough to the right that she missed again.
That was close. I needed to get flipped over. I was beginning to think the fly idea hadn’t been a very smart one.
“Why wouldn’t she be coming back?” the woman called Stevie said, wondering the same thing as me.
“Because those are FBI out there. And they said to collect all her personal possessions and hand them over. She’s in big trouble.”
“Shouldn’t we help her?”
The woman shrugged. “I would love to, but this is way out of my league. There’s nothing I can do. She’s on her own.”
Alyssa was in big trouble?
Shit. And it was all my fault.
For a moment, I felt overwhelmed by despair. It was all happening again. I was failing the ones I cared about.
“Look — they’ve caught her at the south entrance. There’s no hope for her now.”
No!
I wouldn’t let history repeat itself. I would take care of her. I would save her. I would protect her until my very last breath.
With an effort of will, I buzzed my wings one last time, kicked my tiny fly feet, and flipped myself over.
The second I was right side up, I flew out the director’s window and headed for the south exit.
No one was going to hurt Alyssa.
Not on my watch.
Alyssa
The agents put their guns away and walked me back to the parking lot. Every employee I passed either gave me a worried look or a suspicious one. I supposed they all thought I was a drug dealer or something.
They brought me to a van with no windows and I climbed in, hoping that if I cooperated, they would let me go after they realized I knew nothing. I didn’t know how I was going to convince them of that, since I am officially the worst liar ever. Even Lii had realized that the first time we spoke.
A fly buzzed around my head. Great. Now I was stuck in this hot, stinky van with a dirty old fly.
I looked around for something to kill it with. I needed to vent my frustration and fear — might as well kill a disgusting bug. There was nothing in here, of course; they wouldn’t want to provide anyone with anything that could be used as a weapon.
I dug in my pocket and found a report I had forgotten to file. I unfolded the paper and rolled it up. Then I swatted at the gross thing.
Missed.
Damn.
I focused and waited for my chance. Finally, it landed near me, and I brought the paper down hard. The fly dropped to the floor of the van, and I kicked its little carcass under the bench. Then I set the paper down and dusted off my hands.
There.
At least that was something that I hadn’t screwed up today.
14
Lii’thoou
I opened my eyes and found that I was seeing double, no triple, no… what was the word for when you saw eighteen of something? I tried to put my hand to my head and realized I had a hairy leg instead.
What the…?
Then it came back to me. I was a fly. And the last thing I remembered was …
Oh yeah. Alyssa trying to kill me in the back of that van. Thank goodness she hadn’t succeeded.
Those exoskeletons are much tougher than they look, and that paper hadn’t been heavy enough. If it had been a newspaper, I would be dead right now.
But at least she had given me one gift. After being stunned, I was calm enough to shift. I crawled out from under the bench, being careful to keep out of sight. Then I closed my eyes and pictured my usual human form.
There was a gasp from Alyssa. “Jesus Christ,” she said. “Where the hell did you come from?”
I got up, feeling a little tired and — not sore, exactly, but not totally on my game either. “You nearly killed me,” I said, sitting down next to her.
“What are you talking about?” She was totally bewildered.
“That fly?”
“Oh my God,” she said, putting her hand over her mouth.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m fine. But we need to get out of here. These guys mean business.”
She shook her head. “The director gave them all your stuff, Lyss,” I said, taking her hand trying to make her understand. “She doesn’t think you’re coming back to work.”
“What?” Her eyes got big and scared.
“We don’t have time for a discussion. We need to get out of here.”
“How? We’re in a moving vehicle.”
“Ah, yes,” I said. “But we have the advantage of having a shapeshifter on our side.”
I opened the back door of the van and looked out. We were going over some kind of covered bridge; very quaint, no doubt. Every few feet there was a beam, its shadow slicing the pavement.
I pulled the door in again, turning to Alyssa. “You’re a vet. What animal is strong enough to jump to one of those beams, carrying you, and be able to grab on to it?”
Alyssa’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline. “Seriously?”
“It’s that, or let them take you for questioning. And I think things will definitely be to their advantage if we end up wherever they’re taking you.”
/> “Fuck,” she said, then stared at the floor of the van as she thought.
“Well?” I said, knowing that soon the covered bridge would end, the beams would run out, and our chance would be gone.
“A gorilla,” she said. “An eastern lowland gorilla. They’re very strong, and have the grip necessary for that sort of feat.
“But you do realize that if you can’t hang on, we’ll probably fall to our deaths? They must be going a hundred miles an hour. It cannot be safe to go that fast on a covered bridge.”
“I know,” I said, with a shrug. “We don’t have to.”
She gave me a worried look and then stepped over to me, pressing her lips to mine and giving me a quick hug. “Let’s do it.”
“Hold on tight,” I said, closing my eyes and feeling my clothes tear. I opened them again, feeling the power in my body.
I moved to the back of the van, opened the door, and began tracking the beams.
Now…
Missed it.
Now…
Fuck. Missed it again.
Now…
I took a deep breath.
The next one…
Now!
I took a massive leap, never taking my eyes from the beam — not even for a millisecond. I knew that if I missed, we were going to be in a whole new world of hurt, if we weren’t dead. I grabbed for the beam, gripping it tightly.
I had done it! We were hanging from the beam. And the van was driving on without us, the back door flapping back and forth.
Then Alyssa’s weight began to drag on me, and I felt my fingers slipping. Everything went into slow motion.
Alyssa glanced up at my hand. “Lii, we’re falling.”
I didn’t have time to answer, because I needed to shift. Right now. I closed my eyes and focused.
Just before I finally lost my grip and we dropped to the ground, I felt my body change to my human form. I lost my hold on Alyssa as we fell, and she hit the ground and rolled away, smacking the wall of the covered bridge.
I landed without rolling and my leg crumpled under me. I groaned in pain.
“Lii,” Alyssa said from where she was getting to her feet, seemingly unharmed. “Are you hurt?”
I nodded, clenching my teeth from the agony.
“Can you lean on me? We need to get off the bridge,” she said, taking my arm and slinging it across her shoulders as she spoke. She was strong from heaving big animals around, and she supported my bad leg as I leaned heavily on her.
