*****
“So Jones was holding onto that hate for all these years because of her father?” Melissa asked. The captain sighed.
“Yeah. Her old man was on a mission to Eclabar, Rosanna’s first off planet mission. She was credited for stopping a war, and that made her career. Unfortunately, her assistant was doing things he should not have and it was he that had precipitated the hostilities. Rosanna covered it up and it kept Josiah Jones-Stark out of jail, but he lost his career over it. He apparently told his teenage daughter stories and when she got a chance to get on ambassadorial duty she took it. Hoping for a chance at revenge. The whole separatist thing was her way of getting recruits. That all those people, ours and theirs, died over that nonsense is such a waste,” he said sadly.
Melissa knew her friend was feeling guilty that one of his people was behind the whole thing. She poured him some of the Ilona wine.
“It is not your fault Lancer. Everyone acknowledges that. You could not have known. Rosanna did not recognize her and she knew Jones’s father. If you want to worry about something, worry about me! I am out of a job and have no reason to stay on Ilona. What the hell am I going to do? You at least get to stay,” she told him with an intentionally whiney tone to her voice. He smiled slightly and cocked his head at her.
“You don’t have to go anywhere Mac. You have friends here and I am certain finding you something to do will not be hard. Or you could be a lady of leisure. You have several gentlemen who would love to keep you home with them,” he teased her and she blushed slightly.
“He is right you know,” Fonte said coming out to the porch with Cardel. They were followed by Lenah and Daria carrying food.
“I wouldn’t worry about it Melissa. I am still of the opinion that you will be made the next ambassador,” Cardel said. The captain chuckled. He knew as well as she did that would never happen. Not with the way their government worked. They all began eating and she insisted Lenah and Daria join them. Staff members or not, they deserved to have some fun too. She leaned against Cardel as they stood around with plates in their hands, discussing the fallout from two days past.
“So Ambassador Rosanna has taken ship back to the Home Office with Jones, and admitted to all wrong doings recent and past. I expect her career is over. So when do you think they will send another one?” Fonte asked the captain.
“I am told that decision is already made although not who it is. I have been given the opportunity to stay on planet here and continue with guarding the embassy personnel. I discussed it with my people and we all decided to stay. Otherwise our friends died for nothing,” he said and Fonte nodded and patted his shoulder.
Melissa knew Lancer would do well on Ilona. She was trying to enjoy the festivities but her future was still uncertain. Sure, she thought she could stay, in fact she very much wanted to. She just could not fathom being unemployed. She never had been and she only knew how to do one thing. It was the only training she had. She saw Liaison Mistally enter and waved to her. She strode over and stood next to Lancer. Melissa she smiled at the way he looked at her. The woman was good looking to be sure. Bright yellow hair with purple eyes dressed in a purple top that barely restrained her breasts and shorts that covered the same amount of her rear and hips. Her muscular body was tan and she was as tall as the human soldier. Melissa was feeling very native dressed in clothes similar to Mistally’s. She had decided why the hell not. She did have a short skirt over her red shorts, but thought she looked pretty good and her boyfriends seemed to like it too.
“So have I missed anything?” Mistally asked.
“We were discussing how the best bet for Melissa is as the new ambassador. She does not think it will happen. I think the king will want to make that happen,” Lenah said.
“And you would be correct dear Lenah,” said the voice of the king as he walked onto the porch. Melissa froze in shock.
“Unfortunately the Earth Federation Council is not going to do it. It will be thirty days or so before they send another one. They assure me it will happen and our trade people are already in contact with Earth’s. I have another offer for you Melissa. I would imagine you have been worried about your future,” he said with a smile. Everyone got very quiet and it took a moment before she could find her voice.
“Your Majesty?” was all she could come out with.
“I have decided and been advised that I will need another advisor. We are considering several new alliances and embassies and I will need some input from many people. I would like you to be one of them,” he said with a bow. She remembered making a joke to Lancer about being an advisor to the king. She saw him smirk and knew he remembered it.
“An advisor Your Grace?” she asked.
“Indeed. I will need you to also, between now and when your new Earth ambassador arrives, to becoming fully acquainted with Ilona culture to help them have an easier time adjusting. Also, if you would be so inclined, I will need you to go over several files of information on other worlds and customs. It is so you can advise me and mine on good ways to deal with them. I realize it is not the post you are used to,” he gestured around at the villa, “but it is not an uncomfortable place to call home,” he finished. She stood in surprise. Live here in the villa? Advise the king? Stay on Ilona! With the boys! She felt a smile come over her face and her body relax. Cardel chuckled softly and she elbowed him which caused everyone to laugh.
“I would be honored Your Grace. I will do my best to serve your needs,” the king nodded as Lenah handed him a drink.
“That is how Ilona takes care of each other,” he said and raised his glass.
THE END
Bonus Story 48 of 50
Son of the Dragon King
It had been a year. She was certainly over him.
She stared blankly at the blinking computer screen in front of her, unable to concentrate on anything as thoughts of her ex-boyfriend Brian flooded her mind.
Today would have been their 3rd anniversary. They would have planned something special, like spending the night at the beach and having a candlelit dinner by the shore. She should have been walking barefoot in the sand, happy and contented as she held hands with the man she loved.
Suddenly, she shook her head vigorously in frustration and annoyance, her shoulder-length brown hair flying in all directions.
Shut up, Jen. You’re way over him! He’s a thing of the past.
She felt stupid imagining such things. He was long gone, and in fact she had just gone a full month without checking his social media accounts or and looking at their old photos… or at least, digging them up. She’d actually buried those in her backyard.
But throughout the past week, she’d been dreading this day – the day which would have officially marked three years together. She knew the power of this day alone would be enough to drive her back to misery. She should have been more prepared. All she’d planned was to bury herself in her work, but she found she could not do that because her mind kept drifting.
“Earth to Jen Smith!” somebody called from behind her, making her whip around in surprise. It was her good friend Melissa, a lab assistant like her at the Barrington Research Center.
“Hey, Mel,” she said, forcing a smile. The sadness in her hazelnut eyes, though, gave her away.
Melissa gave her a disapproving look. “What were you thinking about just now?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Jen immediately raised her hands in apparent surrender. “Guilty as charged,” she muttered. Then sighing, she said, “Sorry I couldn’t help it.”
Melissa’s expression turned to one of concern and sympathy. “I know it’s hard not to think about him, but you’ve got to keep yourself distracted with other things. That jerk doesn’t deserve any more of your attention or thoughts! He treated you like garbage, Jen. Or do you want me to remind you again of the sordid details?”
“Mel!” Jen protested. “Of course not.” Then sitting up straight and squaring her shoulders, she smiled again
and smoothed her shiny brown hair, showing off her small beautiful face. “Okay, let’s go. What did you have in mind?”
“Well…” Mel started. “For one, we can go check out that dragon shifter skeleton fragment that they recently uncovered up in Alaska…”
Jen stood up at once, her face filled with shock and awe. “Oh my gosh! They didn’t!”
“They did,” her friend confirmed. “The DNA matches the previous one they found in the same area. But this recent bone actually makes up part of the wings!”
“Wow,” Jen breathed. “So they’ve brought it in here?”
“Yes,” Mel answered, lowering her voice. “Bernard just called me to let me know.”
Jen laughed. “Pays to date the head archaeologist huh?”
Mel laughed too, but her bright blue eyes were twinkling. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and strutted out the door of the office. “Come on, Jen!”
Jen followed her out into the pristine white hallway. As they walked together, they discussed the recent discoveries over the last year involving dragon shifters. The existence of these half-human half-dragon creatures had been established and proven some years ago. But they were believed to have become extinct around 12000 years ago. However, the newest unearthed remains were unbelievably dated in the 1800s!
“This is really exciting,” Mel said, talking animatedly. “I mean, what’s going to be next? Are we going to find bones that are just ten years old?”
Jen’s eyes widened. “Would that mean that there are still some dragons lurking in our midst?”
Mel grinned. “Yeah, that would be awesome.”
“Or scary…” Jen whispered, picturing a monstrous dragon hiding in an alley and suddenly attacking people. She shuddered.
She was so lost in her thoughts that when they rounded the corner, she almost crashed into someone else. Looking up, she found herself staring into the intense gray eyes of one of the lab managers. She immediately blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry!”
The slightly older man standing in front of her looked harsh for a moment. But upon seeing her face, his features relaxed. “Hello, Jen,” he greeted, the sides of his eyes crinkling a bit. He ran a hand through his dark hair, which fell to just below his ears. He didn’t even seem to notice Melissa.
“Uh, hello, Jack,” Jen said hesitantly.
“How are you?” he asked. “Where are you headed?”
Melissa was quick to answer. “Just meeting a friend. We’re on break.”
Jen didn’t say anything. She wasn’t really used to lying, especially to a manager! He hadn’t always been her manager. They’d started in the company about the same time, but over the years, he’d kept moving up the ladder and was now a highly respected authority.
“Have a good day,” Jack simply said with a smile. His eyes lingered a bit more on Jen before moving off.
“That was close,” Jen said, breathing a sigh of relief. They weren’t really prohibited from going to the storage area but they were supposed to fill in a form and ask for permission, from one of the superiors.
“Not a big deal,” Mel said with a wave of her hand. Then in a more eager tone, she said, “You know what’s a big deal, though?”
“What?”
“The fact that Jack Roberts is obviously into you!” Mel gushed. “He’s really cute, although too serious for me. But for you… Well, someone that responsible and manly and a little more mature is probably what you need.”
“You’re imagining things, Mel,” Jen pointed out. “He’s not into me. No way.”
“No, listen. You ought to talk to him more instead of avoiding him so much. You’ve been too caught up thinking about Brian even after that stupid jerk was long gone, and that’s why you’ve been missing out on the real goodies!”
Jen actually laughed. “Goodies?”
“Yeah,” Mel said. “Just start flirting again, Jen. Have some fun! Go out and enjoy life!”
Jen was silent for a while. Mel actually had a point. It might be a good way to heal her broken heart.
Finally, they reached the storage area at the basement, where Bernard ushered them in. He looked handsome in a pair of slacks and his usual knitted vest over crisp white long sleeves. He dressed a little formally in the office, but his goofy, adventurous nature was what had attracted Mel to him.
They followed him into a cooler, darker, and bigger steel room that had a ceiling that was probably about two stories high.
Jen gazed at the oddly shaped bone structure in the center of the room. It was about the size of a small car. She circled it slowly, seemingly mesmerized as her imagination ran wild with images of colossal modern-day monsters.
“We’re guessing that’s about one-fourth of one wing,” Bernard told them as he and Melissa joined Jen near the bone. “I still have to run some tests and try to fit it with the older dragon shifter DNA we have on record.”
“It’s quite bigger than most, I think,” Jen murmured.
“Yes, it is,” Bernard agreed. “It’s a rare breed, probably.”
“What if this indicates that they’ve been evolving over the years and have not really gone extinct as we originally thought?” Jen wondered.
Bernard thought hard. “That’s a possibility,” he said, nodding.
“Jen’s really fascinated with dragons, you know,” Melissa told him. “She has been doing a lot of research about it.”
“Planning to return to graduate studies, Jen?” Bernard inquired. “I think you’d be able to nail it without any problem.”
“Yeah, Jen,” Melissa urged, linking her arm with Bernard. “Now that your jerk of a boyfriend… I mean, ex-boyfriend… is out of the picture, there should be no major distraction anymore. You can go back to school and land that promotion you’ve been vying for.”
Jen nodded pensively. They were right. It was about time she refocused. Her depression from that break-up had sent her spiraling downward. She had to get up now, not later, not sooner. It’s time to work on my own dreams, she told herself silently with conviction. Then for the first time that day, she smiled genuinely, hope filling her heart.
*****
It was Saturday night. Jen couldn’t believe she was actually clad in a tiny black dress that clung to her body like second skin, partying at the most famous club in the metro. Her brown tresses had been tied up in a sexy, messy bun by none other than the person who’d dragged her there— Melissa.
“You look really gorgeous, Jen,” Mel told her with twinkling eyes and a grin on her lips.
“You’re just admiring your work,” Jen said, trying to be heard over the loud thumping music in the club. She still grinned back, though, knowing that she really did look like a magazine cover model in her smoky makeup, stylish hairstyle, and sexy but elegant garb. However, she didn’t feel that comfortable with what she was wearing because it just didn’t feel like her.
“Well, aside from my awesome work on you, I am pretty certain you’re going to meet someone today,” Mel said with confidence.
“Yeah, you do look amazing,” Bernard quipped. He had an arm around Mel’s bare shoulders. The two of them had been acting so intimately with one another the entire evening that Jen would have felt totally out of place, if not for their other colleagues.
“Thanks,” Jen muttered, turning around so she would not have to see them kiss another time. At least they were surrounded with people she knew. It was actually a company party to celebrate their recent discoveries in Alaska, and also to acknowledge the newly promoted staff.
Suddenly, another lab assistant grabbed her and took her to the dance floor. “Let’s dance, Jen!” the blonde girl called Elise said.
Jen smiled and joined her and some others, trying to loosen up and have some fun. After all, she should be enjoying her freedom rather than sulking at home.
As she danced to the music, she accidentally bumped into someone behind her. When she turned around, her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
His hair wa
s a little longer and he’d grown a moustache. But she would never, ever forget those dark, mysterious eyes and that lazy smile that used to make her heart beat so fast. Brian.
At that instant, her whole world seemed to stop. The deafening music faded to the background and the rest of the club swirled around her.
“Hi, Jen,” Brian said. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Jen forced herself to say hi back. But just as she was about to say something more, a curly woman with false eyelashes came forward and carted Brian away.
She blinked back tears. Her night of freedom had just been shattered by reality. Seeing her ex-boyfriend after a year, together with the new love of his life, felt like a bomb had exploded into her heart. Quickly she hurried back to the bar to look for Mel and find comfort. Her friend was nowhere to be found. But there was someone else there looking at her with concern and curiosity.
She almost did not recognize the tall, well-built man wearing a light denim button-down and a pair of casual khakis. He held out a shot glass to her. “Drink?” he offered, his gray eyes shimmering in the dimness.
Jen didn’t even think or care. She took it and finished the shot with one gulp. The sharp bitterness seemed to set her throat on fire. What the hell!
When she looked up, her eyes seemed to refocus. Now she had a clearer vision of who it was in front of her. “Jack!” she hissed, wide-eyed. “What was that?!”
He simply smiled at her. “Nothing you can’t handle, especially since you look like somebody just stole all of your money.”
“Talk about stealing all of my life…” Jen muttered, shaking her head and sitting down on the bar stool beside him.
Jack chuckled. “Sounds serious. Want to talk about it?”
“No!” Jen said a little louder than she’d intended. “I want to forget about it.”
“Then I suggest you have another drink,” Jack said, signaling for another one from the bartender and pushing it toward Jen.
Pregnant to an Alien King Box Set Page 181
