aHunter4Ever

by Cynthia Clement

  “So you’re sticking to your story about not being from Earth?” Agent Kelly’s voice held disbelief.

  “I am from Cygnus.”

  The FBI agent laughed. “I get it. You’re trying for an insanity plea. It won’t work.”

  “I am sane. Why would I suggest otherwise?”

  “To get away with murder.” Agent Kelly grinned. “It’s brilliant. I’ve never heard of anyone who believes they’re an alien. Lots have said they’ve seen or heard aliens, though.”

  “I do not claim anything.” Partlan refused to be angered by her ridicule. Being defensive would not convince her of who he was. “I am telling you the truth.”

  “Why don’t you just announce it over the loudspeaker? That way everyone will hear and you can bring them to your defense in court.”

  “It is dangerous to let people know we are not from this planet.”

  “So all of your men are from outer space?”

  She covered her mouth with her hand, but Partlan sensed her amusement. It was better that she did not believe. The attraction he felt to her was not lessening. It was growing every second he spent with her, and if he ever hoped to complete the pair bond, she must understand that he was not the same as a human man. He had to be honest with Agent Kelly.

  “We crash landed on your planet almost one year ago.”

  “I thought Catal was Tarrin’s father.” Agent Kelly did not bother to hide her smirk. “That blows your story right there.”

  “Catal was stranded on the planet when he was a child.” Partlan twisted the handcuff again. “He and others from his craft survived by hiring out as mercenaries. Our leader, Ardal, agreed to complete their training as Hunters and they have since joined our unit.”

  Agent Kelly rolled her eyes. “How many of you are there?”

  “We number over one hundred.”

  “That’s a lot of aliens.” Her tone was condescending. “Don’t you think our government would have let us know about that many extraterrestrials living on our planet?”

  “When we first crashed, we were hunted down. Our leader and his mate were captured and escaped. Your government is aware of our existence.”

  “That’s pretty convenient.” Agent Kelly pushed up from her chair. “I’m not biting. You’ll have to do better than that to get out of the mess you’re in. As it stands, I could build a case against you for obstruction of justice, at the very least.”

  “I ensured justice was done.” Partlan did not hide his confusion. “Your laws make no sense.”

  She put her pen and pad into her pocket. “You are not law enforcement. Your interference caused people to die.” She leaned closer to him. “Nobody will buy the alien thing either, so I wouldn’t bother trying it on someone else.”

  “You are the only one I would tell.” Partlan cleared his throat. “It is important for honesty between us.”

  “Why is that?” Agent Kelly rapped a finger on his bedrail. “Are you hoping to plea bargain this down to a misdemeanour?”

  “Your words make no sense to me.” Partlan lowered his voice. “I have told you this truth because we are connected.”

  Agent Kelly’s eyes widened. “Are you trying to seduce me in the hope that I’ll drop the charges?”

  “I do not seduce women.” Partlan’s tone was cold.

  “Good.” Agent Kelly straightened her shoulders. “It won’t work. I swore off men years ago. The only thing that is important to me is the law.”

  She turned to leave, but a knock at the door stopped her. Partlan glanced over her shoulder and saw two men walk in and shut the door behind them. They were about five feet in height and both were wearing long black overcoats over black suits. Their eyes were shaded by dark sunglasses perched on tiny noses. Black fedora-like hats covered their heads.

  “Can I help you?” Agent Kelly turned to walk toward them.

  Partlan grabbed her hand. When she tried to twist away, he held firm. It was not the clothes they wore that upset him. It was the all too familiar features of pale, hairless skin and black eyes that peered through the sunglasses. Partlan’s nose twitched at the faint odor of plastic and salt.

  He forced his heartbeat to slow and twisted the handcuff with the full force of his muscles. It broke with a clatter that made Agent Kelly look back at him with a frown. He did not care. Now was not the time for secrecy. He had to get both of them away from these men. They were the scourge of the Cygnus galaxy; one that he had spent most of his military career fighting.

  They were not human.

  They were Albireons.

  Chapter 6

  “We have come to see the man the Walters called a hero.”

  “Partlan?” Agent Kelly frowned. “He’s my prisoner and visitors are forbidden. How did you get past the guard outside?”

  “No one there.” He sounded like a computer speaking.

  “Who are you guys?” She tried to move toward them, but Partlan held her arm.

  “It is wrong that they are here.” Partlan tugged on her arm. “We need to leave.”

  Confusion twisted her thinking. First, Partlan tries to tell her he’s an alien, and now these two weirdoes show up. She was the person in control here. She lifted her chin and glared at the intruders. Large hypnotic eyes focused on her. A wave of dizziness swept through her. She grasped the bedrail to keep herself from falling.

  “Do not look them in the eye,” Partlan commanded.

  She shook her head and broke contact.

  Nausea churned in her stomach.

  “Do you know them?” Her voice was a low whisper.

  “They are Albireons. They are not from this planet.”

  She turned to face Partlan. “You can’t be serious. They look strange enough to be aliens, but why would they come here?”

  “I told you I was not safe on Earth.” Partlan pulled the IV from his arm.

  “You must stay put.” The statement was in a monotone. “There are others coming.”

  “That is what I was afraid of.” Partlan pushed his covers off. “Where are my clothes?”

  It took Grace a second to realize that Partlan was out of bed. She went to stop him, but he stepped past her and opened the small closet door beside the bed. He found the jeans and black, military-style boots that he had been wearing when he was brought into the hospital. He put the clothes on and then rummaged for a shirt, but that had been cut off his body and thrown away. He ripped the bottom of his hospital gown off and tucked it into his pants.

  “We need to leave.”

  One of the strangers reached a hand out for her. Partlan struck it away and pushed her behind him. She found herself staring at his back. This was crazy. She was the trained agent and she wasn’t going to allow anyone to take Partlan. She still needed him to answer her questions.

  “You cannot run.” The strange mechanical voice stated. “The others will be here in short time.”

  “We are leaving.”

  Partlan picked one of the men up by the neck and shook him. His hat and sunglasses fell off. They had no eyebrows or eyelashes.

  The man had a slit for a mouth, and used makeup to create the illusion of lips. When he spoke, his mouth didn’t move. She forced back her panic. There was a logical explanation for who these guys were and it wasn’t that they were from another planet. She stretched a hand out to stop Partlan, but he ignored it. He threw the man to the ground and reach for his partner.

  “Stop this.” Her words caught in her throat. That’s when she remembered her gun. She reached under her jacket and pulled it out from her holster and took off the safety. She held the gun close to her body and took a step back.

  “Put him down.” She used her most authoritative tone.

  Partlan let go.

  The man dropped with a loud thud. She pointed her gun at the intruders on the floor. “Now I want the two of you to back up against the far wall.”

  One man reached an arm out at her. Her gun started to wobble in her hand. She brought her other hand up
to hold it tighter, but the pistol’s vibrations were so strong that her teeth were rattling in her mouth. Partlan reached over and clasped her hands together. The shaking movement settled down.

  “Your powers are not enough.” Partlan’s voice was a hiss. “You should not be on this planet.”

  “We know what you are capable of, Hunter.” One of the men dressed in black stood. “We have sent for reinforcements.”

  Partlan took the gun from her and pushed it into his waistband. There was a numbing tingle in her hands and she shook them in an effort to restore sensation. It was as if there had been an invisible power source directed at her gun. That was impossible. She was current on all the latest weapons and she hadn’t read of any that could cause an object to shake.

  Partlan reached for her arm. “We need to leave.”

  Grace pulled away. “Let me call headquarters. I’ll have these men arrested for interfering with a federal case.”

  “You stay.” The intruders were both standing now.

  “No.” Partlan pushed the bedside tray at the men. It crashed into them. While they were trying to get out from under it, Partlan pulled her close and ran out of the room. He grabbed a chair from the hallway and wedged it under the door handle. One of the nurses yelled at him to stop, but they ran past her before she could get reinforcements. There was a cleaning cart in the hallway and Partlan grabbed a broom from it. Grace assumed that he was going to use it as a weapon.

  “What did they do with the guard?”

  Partlan darted toward the stairs. He glanced up at the camera on the wall and used the broom handle to angle it higher down the hall. Then, he pushed her through the door to the emergency escape. They ran down the three flights of stairs. At each level, he pushed the door open a few inches and used the broom handle to reposition the camera.

  Grace waited for him. It was crazy to be running, but without knowing what had happened to her security officer, she didn’t want to take any chances. They didn’t stop on the ground floor, but continued down to the basement level. Before stepping through the door, he pushed the camera so that it was turned in the opposite direction. They inched along the grey cement walls until they reached a door marked mechanical room. Partlan tried the handle, but it was locked.

  He rested his head against the door. “Do you have any instruments to unlock this?”

  “I’m not breaking the law.” Grace crossed her arms over her chest.

  Partlan’s breath was coming in gasps. “It is either us or them. If Albireons can walk openly on this planet, then they already have control. We need to get back to my unit. That is our only hope of safety.”

  “Why are you so worried about those men? Between the two of us, we could have wrestled them to the ground and handcuffed them.”

  “You saw their powers.” Partlan turned away from the door and looked at her. “They were able to force you to do what you did not desire.”

  A shiver ran through Grace. She’d become dizzy when she’d looked at them, but that could happen to anyone. The incident with the gun wasn’t as easily explained. Her hand had shook uncontrollably. Then, there was their appearance. They hadn’t looked like any human she’d ever seen before.

  “What do you know about them?” She wasn’t ready to believe they were aliens, but Partlan’s answers might give her a clue as to why they were chasing them.

  “I was taken prisoner by Albireons during the Kepler Insurrections.” Partlan’s voice was barely a whisper. “I’ve been trained to withstand torture and pain, but what they did was worse.”

  “How can anything be worse?” Grace’s spoke in a hushed tone.

  “They invade your mind and then they assault your body.” Partlan gazed down at her. “There is no escaping their insidious tentacles of exploration. That’s how they conquer. They understand how a race thinks and they replicate their genome.”

  “Are you suggesting this is why they are on Earth?”

  “Probably.” Partlan’s voice held a faint tremor. “It is imperative that we escape them. I cannot ensure your safety otherwise.”

  “I can take care of myself.” Grace’s tone was hard-edged. “Whether I believe what you say about those men or not, you’re my prisoner. I won’t let them take you.”

  She started rooting through her pockets. “Do you know how insane you sound? You’re still recovering from major surgery. Running around is not doing you any good. I’m FBI and perfectly capable of handling this situation.”

  “You do not understand the menace of the Albireons. They are the locust of the universe. They swarm and take over planets at will.”

  Grace shook her head. “Does it look like someone has taken over this planet?”

  “They do not attack with weapons.”

  Grace patted her hair and pulled out a couple of bobby pins. “So they sneak up on us and steal our minds and bodies. That sounds like a movie I once saw.”

  Partlan took the pins and twisted them open before inserting them in the lock. He worked the mechanism for a few seconds and turned the knob when a faint click sounded. The door opened. He pushed her in and locked the door behind them.

  “There is no sneaking with them. They come bearing gifts and then attack when least expected. By then, it is too late because they have already broken through the planet’s defenses.”

  “First the movies and now Greek mythology.” Grace straightened her shoulders. “I need to contact my office. They’ll send somebody to help.”

  Partlan stopped and looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. “I will contact my unit. They have to be made aware. We need to continue moving.”

  Grace pulled out her phone and dialed the office. It was only then that she realized what Partlan had said. If he contacted his fellow mercenaries on her cell phone, then she’d have a way to track them down.

  “You can use my phone.”

  Partlan took her arm and moved through the labyrinth of rusty equipment and pipes. “I have already sent my message.”

  She stopped moving, but Partlan urged her to continue walking.

  How had he contacted them?

  She started to ask when the line was picked up at the other end. It was Bakker.

  “This is Kelly. I’m at the hospital.” She struggled for breath as Partlan kept her moving at a fast pace. “Two strange men showed up here and the guard I had posted outside Partlan’s room is missing.”

  Bakker cleared his throat. “There have been some developments with the case. Apparently our friend’s arrest has caught the attention of an agency that’s way above our pay grade.”

  Partlan pulled her in close to him as they approached a junction in the maze of hallways. Her heart stuttered to a stop and then started to pound at a frantic rate. She looked up at him for a second and was lost in his dark eyes. Her breath caught in her throat and she forced herself to look away. This man was her responsibility. She would do her job and bring him to headquarters no matter how he made her feel.

  “Have our orders changed?”

  “We’re supposed to hand him over.”

  “We have jurisdiction.” Grace wanted to stamp her foot. “We captured him.”

  “I know.” Bakker lowered his voice. “I don’t trust these guys. They’re probably monitoring your call right now. They’re very secretive. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were Black Ops.”

  “Are they still there?”

  “They took off the minute your call came in.”

  “They’re tracking me.” Grace almost threw the phone away, but then her training kicked in. “I’ll give them something to find. I’m bringing the prisoner in, but not to hand him over. There’s something strange going on here and I mean to get to the bottom of it.”

  “Good luck.”

  Grace cut the call.

  She glanced at the tunnels on either side of them. There was no end in sight. Dirt and grime lined the dingy, concrete block walls and the smell of oil and gasoline permeated every surface. They were on a small walk
way that led from the door to this junction, but there was no indication as to what direction would be the quickest one to safety.

  “How long do these pipes and tunnels go for?”

  Partlan shrugged as he edged around the corner. “They will lead to the outside eventually.”

  “Can you get us out of the hospital?” Grace started to dial another number on her phone.

  Partlan took the right branch. “That was my plan.”

  “I don’t know who you angered, but there is more than one agency looking for you. They have a lock on my phone.” Grace waited until her call was answered by a recording, then she tucked the phone up behind the brace of one of the large pipes that led down the opposite tunnel.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m leaving them a trail to follow.” Grace brushed her hands on the back of her pants.

  “What happens when the call ends?”

  “It won’t be answered.” Grace grinned. “I called the FBI information number. It’s one of those automated answering lines. It will be at least an hour before that call is disconnected or an operator answers.”

  Partlan nodded. “We have no time to waste. The security cameras already know we took the stairs. When they don’t find us coming out of the building, they will know we detoured.”

  “And the GPS in my cell will lead them here.”

  There was the loud banging behind them. Someone was trying to get into the mechanical room’s locked door. There was no time to waste. Grace ran beside Partlan. The corridor they were in seemed to go on forever. All of her years of running and physical training were no match against Partlan. The man was a machine.

  She sagged against a wall. “I need to take a breath.”

  Partlan nodded. “I will see what is ahead. Stay here.”

  “You’re not going to try and escape?”

  “I give you my word, I will come back. I cannot leave you, especially in a dangerous situation.”

  Grace slid down the wall and sat with her knees against her chest. It took several minutes before her breathing steadied and then she leaned her head against the damp basement wall. It was insane to continue running, but she wanted to take Partlan into headquarters herself. Those strange men back in his room had scared her. She shuddered when she remembered the effect their eyes had on her. There was no way she was going to hand Partlan over to them. It was her responsibility to keep him safe and she intended to do her job.