Rocky: Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides (Intergalactic Dating Agency)

by Tasha Black

  “Yes, with Georgia,” Rocky explained.

  “Is that the redhead?” Earl asked.

  Rocky nodded.

  “Figures,” Earl said quietly.

  “But I think she’s not in love with me. She went out to dinner tonight with another man,” Rocky said sadly, realizing after he had spoken that perhaps he shouldn’t have shared this news.

  “What other guy?” Rayetta asked, a doubtful look on her face.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Rocky said. But he couldn’t seem to shake his gloom.

  “Oh you poor thing,” the other girl cried out.

  “What’s wrong?” asked a third waitress, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

  “He’s got a broken heart that’s what,” Rayetta said knowingly. “Tell us all about it. It’ll make you feel better.”

  “Oh, brother,” Earl said, rolling his eyes.

  “You ease off, Earl Road,” the second waitress said. “I’m Tina and this is Eleanor,” she told Rocky.

  “Hello,” Rocky said.

  “So tell us all about it,” Tina said, sliding into the booth next to Earl, and pulling Eleanor down with her.

  Rocky made room for Rayetta next to him.

  “Well, things were going well, I thought,” he began. “She let me kiss her and her hair is so soft, it’s like… clouds. And she smells like a garden after a summer storm.”

  “Ohh,” the women nodded as one.

  “But then she wanted to go to dinner with this man. Dr. Bhimani borrowed money from him against her land and he’s going to take her home away if she can’t pay him back by Halloween,” he continued. “I don’t understand it entirely, but I think he tricked her.”

  “Wait, is that why you opened up the park?” Earl asked.

  Rocky nodded.

  “But then he showed up last night and wandered around. I don’t know. Georgia thinks he’s up to something, so when he asked her to dinner she said yes. She said it’s just so she can figure out what he’s up to. But he’s always looking at her in this way. I can’t describe it, but it’s kind of like he wants to eat her.”

  “Wait,” Rayetta said. “Are you talking about Carlton Briggs?”

  “How did you know?” Rocky asked her, wondering if she had Bond’s gift of hearing thoughts. He didn’t think any humans were capable of such a feat.

  But she was shaking her head with a look on her face as if she had just taken a sip of the terrible beer drink.

  “That look you think you can’t describe,” Rayetta said. “You nailed it. He totally looks at women like he wants to eat them, myself included. It’s the creepiest thing ever.”

  “Wait, it’s Carlton Briggs?” Earl asked, suddenly sitting up straight and not looking so mysteriously sullen.

  “Yes,” Rocky said.

  “Carlton Briggs tricked Bhimani into borrowing money against her land?” Earl asked.

  “Yes,” Rocky said.

  “Well. Now that’s something,” Earl said thoughtfully.

  Rocky waited, as Earl rubbed his chin, obviously deep in thought.

  “Briggs is the one who drew my attention your way in the first place, if you want to know the truth,” Earl told him. “I mean Dr. Hawkins, he was the original head muckety-muck at the observatory. He started this whole business, with all his crazy alien talk.”

  Rocky forced an uneasy laugh as Earl continued.

  “He really screwed over my grandfather, and our family is none too fond of Rima’s, more by association, I guess, since her mom took over after Hawkins. But I never would have thought to come after her or her family if not for Briggs. Live and let live, that’s my motto.”

  It seemed a strange motto for someone who carried a gun, but Rocky didn’t think it was a good idea to mention that.

  “It was Briggs who cornered me,” Earl said. “Told me you all were worshipping Satan and planning to ruin the town all over again. He sent me to the observatory to see it for myself. And when I saw that weird ceremony, well… I apologize for flying off the handle like I did. I didn’t realize you all were… whatever religion you are. And it wasn’t me who took that potshot at you. That was all Sonny Whip. It was supposed to be a warning, but Whip never could shoot for shit, and he doesn’t have the sense the good lord gave a vending machine.”

  “That’s alright—” Rocky began.

  “Rocky,” a female voice cut through the din of the restaurant.

  “Rima?” he said, spotting her at the entrance.

  She was covered in sweat and looked terrified.

  “It’s Georgia,” Rima stammered breathlessly. “She texted me. She’s in trouble. I tried to call you. I rode my bike all the way here.”

  Rocky was up from the table in a heartbeat. He felt his own pockets for his phone. He must have left it in the car, or home. It didn’t matter now. Only one thing mattered.

  Georgia.

  “Hey, wait. You can’t drive that hunk of junk you came in with,” Earl said. “I’ve got my Harley out back. Let’s take it.”

  Rocky hadn’t planned on driving at all. His way of traveling would be much quicker, but he realized he couldn’t just take off with everyone watching.

  Rocky threw the station wagon’s keys to Rima and headed out the back door with Earl.

  He could hear the women talking anxiously, but his only thoughts were for Georgia.

  24

  Georgia

  Georgia pondered how the night had gone so wrong. One moment she’d been trying to sweet talk the man into telling her everything, the next…

  She stared blankly at the wall of his office.

  Projected onto the smooth drywall was grainy cell phone footage. It showed the sky, then the old wooden coaster at the park.

  Something small was on the coaster. It was moving.

  Georgia turned away.

  “No,” Briggs snapped. “Look, I want you to look and see what I see.”

  She brought her eyes back to the screen.

  There was Georgia, her hair whipping in the wind.

  And then Rocky stepped onto the roof.

  Even now, knowing what happened, she was terrified seeing Rocky up there. His eyes were fixed on her, heedless of the great height.

  “Now this is what I’d like to understand,” Briggs said, “this next part - is it a trick?”

  “Of-of course it’s a trick,” Georgia stammered.

  “But you didn’t know anyone was watching,” Briggs said.

  “We were practicing, for Halloween night at the fair,” she ventured.

  “Okay, I’ll bite. How did you do it?” he asked.

  “A magician never tells her secrets,” Georgia said lightly.

  “Georgia,” Briggs said softly. “Georgia, Georgia, Georgia… I’ve been a gentleman in every sense of the word tonight, truly I have. But this is where the train stops.”

  Georgia waited, holding her breath, and praying Rima had noticed the text she’d sent when Briggs got that crazy look in his eyes and said she needed to see something.

  On the screen, Rocky was taking her in his arms, and she had the idea that she might do anything in the world to feel his touch again. What was she doing here? How had she let her pride push her so far beyond reason?

  “You see,” Briggs continued, “I don’t think this was a hoax, I think it’s real. I’ve been thinking a lot about you and your weird friends. In my mind, it’s no coincidence that I see photographic evidence of a man who can fly in the same week that a god damned flying fucking saucer is spotted over the high school football game.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Georgia said, hoping he didn’t see the panic in her eyes. “That was just another stunt, to drum up business for the park.”

  “When I was a younger man, I would have said the same - ridiculous. But the longer I live, the more I realize that the world is a big place, and I haven’t seen it all yet. And, hey, the universe is a big place too.

  “Maybe the only reason for you to lie about who your friends
are, is that you don’t want the world to know. Telling the world would mean money, maybe even fame for yourself. Because of your, er, close relationship with the boy, there might even be room for a mention in the history books.

  “So the only reason not to divulge this interesting new information would be that you… have feelings for him.

  “Now you failed to sign my NDA, and you were right to be wary. Had you signed it, you would have given to me any proceeds you might be entitled to if you ever, say, wrote a book or a film about fucking an alien.

  “But no one tangles with me and doesn’t pay. I’m like Death,” he chuckled. “No, better, I’m the tax man, honey.”

  He paced intently, the clicking of the snakeskin boots reverberating around in her skull like a small gunshot with each step.

  “If you care about the boy,” he said, “then you’re likely trying to protect him from the government and their scientists: dissections, vivisections, you name it. They’ll slice the boy into more pieces than a Christmas ham.”

  Georgia couldn’t help wincing.

  Briggs smiled his Cheshire Cat smile.

  We’re all mad here.

  “So now I’m going to ask you to sign it again,” he said. “Only this time you’re going to give me much, much more.”

  Briggs slapped the NDA papers against his left palm as if he were spanking an errant child. Behind his glasses, his blue eyes flashed with excitement.

  “You’re going to sign, and I’ll get your money if this thing comes out. But if you want to keep it from coming out, you’ll have to find a way to convince me to stay quiet. Very, very sweetly.”

  Georgia took a slow breath. She wanted to be a police officer, here was her opportunity to talk a perp out of a crime. Or at least keep him talking long enough for help to arrive.

  “I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking me,” she said.

  “Jesus, why are the pretty ones always so stupid?” Briggs asked, seemingly not expecting an answer.

  Georgia remained calm and took in her surroundings in another light. There was precious little in the room she could use for self-defense: a crystal paperweight on Carlton’s desk, some books that appeared to be collecting dust on his shelves, an umbrella in a holder by the door, and the candles on the table.

  Carlton Briggs was a big man, lean but still muscular. Georgia pegged him for the type of guy whose daddy had made him take Tai Kwan Do since he was a nerdy eleven-year-old. He wouldn’t be skilled at it, even now, but he might land a lucky blow, and it would only take one since he was so much bigger.

  “Let me explain it to you, sugar plum,” he said softly, walking slowly around to the back of her chair, heels clicking maddeningly.

  Georgia’s skin crawled and she measured the distance from her right hand to the closest candle.

  Maybe six inches.

  They hadn’t been lit very long, but he must have bought cheap candles. There was a nice puddle of hot wax forming around the wick, enough to distract him if she could hit his crotch or his eye without turning around to aim.

  She tried to decide which target was best as she willed her mind to listen to his words, to see if there was another way out.

  “I’m going to call my contact at the local news and let them know all about this video and your friend’s abilities. Then the government is going to put him in a strait jacket and take him away. Or, you can amuse me in some other way, and I won’t turn him in. At least not tonight,” Briggs purred, sliding his hands through her hair and clutching at the nape of her neck.

  Georgia made as if to wiggle a little, and surreptitiously moved her hand until it was a millimeter from the candle.

  Briggs yanked on her hair.

  Then she felt his hardened dick poking the back of her neck through his pants.

  “Now do you understand, sweetheart?” he asked.

  And there it was. The situation was officially escalated.

  Georgia had only one move.

  Her target at least was now clear. Briggs was clearly very excited with his position of power. He rocked his bulging cock against her intently. She had to count on his mind being on other things.

  Bracing herself for the scalding on her own skin, she grabbed the candle and thrust it over her shoulder, directly onto his ardently thrusting penis.

  “Aggghhh,” he screamed.

  She spun out of her chair and gave him her best upper cut as he bent to protect his groin. She could hear the satisfying crack as his jaw snapped shut.

  When he opened his mouth to scream again, deep, red blood coated his perfectly white teeth.

  Good. She hoped he’d severed his own tongue.

  Briggs roared and flung the candle aside.

  Georgia dashed to the umbrella stand.

  When she turned to face off with him again, the floor to ceiling drapes had begun to burn where the man had tossed the lit candle. The flames spread like a living thing, greedily devouring the fabric and lighting the room as if it were the afternoon sun.

  She was frozen in horror for a moment, then thought to run for her life.

  But…

  Briggs had noticed too. He moaned in fear. And ran away from the exit, closer to the burning walls.

  Fighting every instinct she had, Georgia gripped her hands more tightly on the umbrella and approached him.

  Briggs removed a painting from the interior wall of the office, less than a foot from where flames licked the bookshelves. It didn’t look like the type of painting worth risking your life over.

  Georgia waited another second, as the flames engulfed the wall.

  Bingo.

  Behind the painting was a wall safe. Briggs fumbled with it, panic clear in his trembling hands.

  The gathering smoke tickled Georgia’s lungs, but she held her ground, umbrella clutched at her shoulder like a baseball bat. She’d hit more than one home run in her life, and she was lining up Briggs to knock him out of the park.

  At last the door swung open, and he pulled out a huge binder, which he clutched to his chest protectively, as if it were a newborn baby.

  The paperwork - the original promissory note to the observatory.

  But, no, there was too much there to be just a mortgage on the observatory.

  It hit her with certainty that Carlton Briggs was not taking advantage of someone for the first time or even the second. He had made a habit of this behavior.

  There were probably dozens of lives in ruination over what was in that binder. Maybe hundreds…

  Georgia froze in place, eyes watering, torn between the doorway to safety, and the binder.

  The ceiling overhead began to crumble. The fire was spreading faster than she’d anticipated.

  Georgia took a deep breath, smoke searing her lungs, and took a step.

  Away from the door.

  25

  Rocky

  Rocky clung to Earl Road’s slim waist and at last understood the reason humans liked motorcycles.

  From all Rocky could previously piece together, they appeared to be inferior machines, useful only for their economy of fuel and somewhat more agile operation. Both of which paled in comparison to their vast inadequacy when it came to safety protocols.

  But now that he rode on the back of one, the wind against his face, the road flaring up to meet him on one side or the other as they hugged the curves, he instantly understood the delight. It was similar to the thrill of flight, but there was a connection. He, the other human, the machine, and the road were as one.

  It was much the way that Bond had explained his adventure riding on top of the male cow at the fair, but more exciting due to the speed, and the magical notion that the motorcycle was not actually alive, in spite of the way it rumbled eagerly between his thighs.

  If only Georgia weren’t in trouble, he would have enjoyed the new experience thoroughly.

  As it was, Rocky could only wish it would be over and they would arrive in time to help her.

  How could he have left her a
lone with a man he knew to be bad?

  Rocky realized he had left Georgia with Briggs because of the hot uncomfortable feeling that cramped his chest, making it hard to breathe.

  Jealousy.

  Like motorcycles, jealousy was a human experience that defied explanation and could only be felt first-hand.

  Rocky had not recognized it at first. He did not understand how envy could be described as green. Green was a cool and comfortable color, like a verdant meadow, full of life and promise. What he had felt was something boiling, horrible and completely un-green.

  Now his jealousy had left her in trouble. And if he didn’t reach her in time, he would have only himself to blame.

  He saw the smoke before they made it all the way into the little town. It rose in a gray column toward the heavens.

  Earl pulled the motorcycle up in front of the building and Rocky flung himself off and ran to the door.

  There were big red trucks and men in yellow rubber suits everywhere.

  “Sir, you can’t go in there,” one of them said.

  He looked up helplessly. One of the trucks had a ladder raised, and men with hoses sprayed water against the building.

  “Why don’t they spray the top?” he asked the man in front of him.

  “Ladder only goes up to the sixth floor,” the man said. “Go back to your vehicle, please.”

  The streets around the building were filling with cars and people.

  Rocky was beside himself. He had to get to Georgia. He even had a way to get to Georgia.

  He had been cautioned by his brothers not to use his gift in front of anyone.

  But desperate times called for desperate measures, or so the prophets of Earth seemed to indicate in their teachings.

  Yes, he would use his gift to take action now, and worry about the consequences later.

  A wrong action for a right reason.

  Georgia would understand. And even if she didn’t, even if his wrong action ruined everything between them, at least she would be safe.

  Rocky looked to the bright windows at the top of the building. Somehow he knew she was there.

  Without another thought, he sailed into the air to find her.