Aron: A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Shifter Force)

by Maya Kane

  Danni nodded. “These past few days have been so weird that it doesn’t even faze me that I’m dating an alien.”

  Kate’s eyebrows quirked. “Dating? Tell me that’s a euphemism.”

  “Nah,” Danni said with a shrug. “At first I couldn’t understand how you could go there, but then when we spent so much time together on our mission, I couldn’t help but fall for him.”

  “Really? You were so freaked out when Kate confided her feelings for Redon. What changed?”

  Danni shrugged. “Last night we took a walk under the stars and it was just perfect.”

  “You haven’t…” Athena let the question die on her lips.

  “No,” Danni said, shaking her head as her nimble fingers worked to refasten the last catch. “I’m… well.” She stopped and smiled. “They’re so big. I was kind of afraid to even go there.”

  Athena stopped and stared at her, not sure what to say. “Aren’t you afraid if this mission goes wrong you’ll never get a chance to…?”

  Danni smiled her easy smile. “No. Because this mission isn’t going to go wrong. We’re going to kick those aliens’ asses and come back here. And then the commander is going to pardon us and we’re finally going to be able to kick back and drink hot chocolate.”

  “That’s what you’re looking forward to?” Athena said, grinning back at Kate.

  Danni flushed. “Well, I also figured I’d be able to find lube somewhere if we were allowed back on base.”

  To her surprise, Athena threw her head back and laughed properly for the first time in days. Danni’s optimism was contagious—her fears and misgivings were suddenly gone. “Come on. Let’s fix up the others and get this show on the road.”

  22

  Athena watched Kate, anxiously waiting for the signal that meant they were all ready to go. She could hear Danni beside her, shuffling to get comfortable in the harness. With the Dreon spacesuits on, their plane of vision was reduced. The heavy alien material seemed unnecessarily warm for the outdoor temperature at ground level, but they’d be the only things keeping the humans alive once they reached higher altitudes.

  Kate’s hand fell through the air and Athena’s pulse rate skyrocketed. She leaned forward and tapped Aron’s shoulder as hard as she could.

  The Drayon took off in sync, getting to their feet and leaping into the air. Athena clung on as tight as she could. The harness held her fast to his back, but the force of the Drayon takeoff was immense. It was like one of the rollercoasters she had loved as a teenager.

  Once they’d finished climbing through the air, the ride was as smooth as if they were in orbit. Athena looked around, transfixed. The sky behind them had turned orange with the sunset. Ahead of them, it was pitch dark. These weren’t the best conditions to fight in, but they had taken a gamble on the aliens not thriving in the darkness either.

  Athena sat back as much as the harness would allow and took stock. There were two machine guns strapped to her back as well as a pistol holstered to her belt along with as many Dreon grenades as she could carry. She wore a knife on each ankle, but access to them was restricted by her suit. It didn’t matter—she didn’t expect to get close enough to the enemies to be able to use them. And if she did? Well, she hoped to hell she wouldn’t have run out of ammo in the meantime.

  That was the thing about these bastards. None of them had actually seen one up close. They could be eight feet tall and built like machines or they might be small and weak; their physical imperfection masked by technology.

  Either way, they were about to find out.

  She leaned over and stroked the barrel of the huge rocket launcher that they’d strapped to the harness alongside her arm. Her mouth went dry just touching it. Because of the ferocious noise it apparently made, they hadn’t been able to do any test shoots, even in the desert. It had become a specter in her mind—if Aron was terrified by what it could do to her, she could only imagine the thing’s power. There was no doubt, though—she was going to use it when the time came.

  This time, the journey to the alien base seemed to take no time at all. Athena’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the ghostly outline of the coastline ahead. Her insides squirmed. The only time she had ever felt this apprehensive was right before an exam. Their time on Kanaven had been challenging at times but never frightening. Not like this. They had chased smugglers, not advanced civilizations with the technology to wipe out entire earth cities.

  Athena had studied the feeds over and over but it still hadn’t made sense to her. The base back in Utah had feeds set up that showed the moment when the world stopped. One minute everyone was okay, the next they had simply vanished. She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. Redon and Kate flew alongside them.

  She wanted to call out to them, but they’d agreed to stay silent on the approach.

  She closed her eyes. She knew what she needed to do.

  Fifteen huge ships.

  Five each.

  Time was of the essence.

  There were only three of them. Her, Kate and Danni. They’d run through the plan until she could picture it effortlessly. Three of them; five ships each. The other Drayon would target the smaller ships. Their weaponry was better suited to a rapid scattergun approach. The humans would need to get themselves as close to the center of the ship as possible and drop their grenades at the exact right moment. And repeat that four more times.

  All going well, the three humans would then circle back and assist the Drayon until the enemy was completely wiped out.

  Athena’s stomach churned. Soon it would be time. They had taken a different route this time, just in case there was another alien settlement out there. Thankfully, they hadn’t seen anything, though it did fill her with sorrow that they hadn’t seen a single light when there should have been millions down there.

  She reached forward and planted her gloved hands against Aron’s strong back. In his Drayon form, he wouldn’t even feel her touch. But that didn’t matter. She closed her eyes and committed him to her memory. She remembered his touch; his voice. The look on his face when he had seen her naked for the first time.

  She had to face the possibility that this might not go the way they hoped, as unpalatable as it was. She glanced to one side. Kate was hunched over Redon. Athena couldn’t see her friend’s face, but she knew Kate was probably going through the same mental exercise as she was.

  Taking stock.

  Remembering.

  Hoping.

  Athena sighed and tried to swallow her misgivings. What kind of life would they have if they didn’t attack? She couldn’t even imagine it. They’d spend the rest of their lives hiding away; scavenging for whatever scraps they could find while they wondered frantically whether today was the day the enemy might become aware of their existence.

  No, that was no life.

  Athena swallowed. They were flying over DC now. So close to Baltimore. She hadn’t been home for several years and she felt a pang of loss—it would never be home again.

  Focus.

  This was it. This was the signal to get ready. In a few short minutes, they’d be in place. Athena started counting. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. She had further to go than the others. They couldn’t afford to leave the third alien outpost to last, even though it was further away.

  Athena looked around. Kate, Danni and the rest of the Drayon had peeled away from them now.

  It was just Athena and Aron, flanked by Eren.

  Athena swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment, willing herself not to cry and fog up her visor.

  At least the end will be quick if it happens, she told herself. But that did nothing to calm her. The thought of never seeing Aron again was too painful to bear.

  23

  Nine Mississippi.

  Ten Mississippi.

  Even though she was focusing all of her attention on keeping an accurate count, random other thoughts kept trying to clog Athena’s mind.

  Like Mississippi. Where had that
come from? They had used it in training drills to accurately keep time if they didn’t have access to electronics.

  Eleven Mississippi.

  But it was so weird. So childish. She remembered their tactics instructor telling them it may have sounded silly, but it was a useful way to keep count if there was no other way.

  Aron. I might never see him again.

  No, she thought, shaking her head. Focus.

  Twelve Mississippi.

  Almost time. Nearly there.

  She glanced down at him. It was true. She might never see her Aron in his Dreon form. She’d remember him like this—that was if she had the capacity to remember anything at all.

  Where do they go? The vaporized? Are they still alive somewhere?

  Athena swallowed. Thirteen Mississippi.

  It was time.

  They exited the cover of the trees and found themselves in the furthest alien enclave. If she hadn’t been so nervous, Athena might have felt proud of how accurate her plan was. She glanced behind her as they approached the first ominously humming ship. There was no sign of Danni and Kate. It was too dark to see now. The only light they had was occasional peeks of moonlight and the strange glow that the alien ships emitted.

  It was too late to have second thoughts or wonder if they’d made it.

  Fourteen.

  Athena reached inside her outer jacket and pulled out the first grenade. She watched as the huge hole got bigger, dim light seeping out of it like some weird lighting display.

  Go! she told herself.

  She pulled the pin and dropped the grenade into the hole, tapping Aron’s shoulder as she did so.

  First down. Four to go.

  This was it. This was good. They had almost reached the second ship. Athena reached for the next grenade. Time was so critical that there wasn’t even time for her to think about the consequences of failure.

  Pull.

  Throw.

  Tap.

  They flew away from the second ship and Athena risked looking around just in time to see the first ship explode. In the distance, she saw two similar explosions at a fraction of a second’s delay. Athena’s heart surged with hope. If they kept the timing tight...

  She glanced at the ground. She couldn’t see the smaller ships—it was too dark. The only light came from Eren’s weapons. She didn’t have time to watch and see whether they were hitting the targets or not. It was time for the next.

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a grenade just as an explosion lit up the sky behind them. Athena turned and saw to her horror that a bright blue beam was shooting into the sky.

  “Kate,” she gasped. “Danni.”

  Her pulse pounded. She felt all the warmth seep from her face. Had they been hit?

  “Fuck,” she muttered, realizing they were right beside the hole. She pulled the pin and flung the grenade down, watching in horror as it fell short, bounced off the side of the ship and fell to the ground. Behind her, the second ship exploded in a ball of fire. Athena looked around with tears in her eyes.

  She’d screwed up. Big time. There was no choice but to continue. They were already halfway to the next ship. By the time she communicated with Aron that the third strike had failed, they’d have wasted too much valuable time. They had no choice but to keep going.

  Athena tried to clear her mind, but it was hard not to think about her friends. They’d been together through thick and thin. After losing all of their crewmates on the Pelagon, the last thing she could handle was more loss. More devastation at the hands of these invisible alien enemies.

  Athena’s heart surged with rage. How dare they do this? How dare they come to her planet and destroy the people she loved?

  Athena was ready when they reached the fourth ship. She pulled the pin and leaned over the side to make absolutely sure her grenade hit the target this time. She’d die if she had to—those fuckers were going down.

  24

  Once she’d hit the fifth ship, hope surged through Athena when Aron cycled around and made straight for the third ship. The fourth exploded as they passed it—Athena could feel the heat of it on her back. The sky was bright now, lit up by flaming alien ships.

  For the first time since this all began, Athena was hopeful that they had a chance. Eren flew around them in circles, shooting at unseen targets on the ground. Plus she could see other Drayon weapons flashing in the distance. Something told her that was the work of more than one person. She didn’t dare think about whether Danni and Kate were still alive, but one of them couldn’t have done that much damage alone.

  Athena sucked in a breath as they got closer to the third ship. There was a small fire at the base from where the misaimed grenade had exploded, but other than that it seemed fine. It still hummed unnaturally, unlike all the other ships which had grown silent as the grenades exploded. Athena reached into her pocket and pulled out a grenade.

  A bright blue beam shot out without warning. It was barely ten feet away from them. Athena jolted with fright. There was no noise; no heat.

  Athena righted herself. Aron was still flying. She tapped his back frantically, knowing they needed to get back there now. It must have taken the ship some time to recharge—she knew that—otherwise they would have fired their beam before, but that didn’t make her feel any calmer.

  She wanted to destroy them. All of them.

  She pulled the pin, expecting to be blasted back by the beam again. But nothing happened as she dropped the grenade in the vast empty hole and tensed.

  They flew on. Eren fell into line beside them. Athena counted in her mind. She felt unsettled and put it down to the fact that she hadn’t yet achieved her goal.

  The last ship exploded behind her, but her tension didn’t give way to relief. Something was bugging her.

  It didn’t go away when she saw Kate and Danni up ahead either. Athena waved and pointed forward to the hill that sheltered the valley they had predesignated as their meeting spot. They hadn’t wanted to risk taking radios just in case there was a way for the enemy to track them.

  They hadn’t needed to. Just like Aron had said, running through the plan over and over and over had lodged it in the minds of the Drayon. Athena’s maps had been detailed enough to allow them to synchronize their attack without them having to regroup to run over the details.

  “We did it!” Kate screamed, jumping out of her harness and pulling it off so that Redon could transform back to his Dreon form.

  Athena forced a smile and ran to her side. She told herself she was exhausted—that was the only explanation. She should have been whooping and jumping for joy along with the rest of them, not acting as glum as she was.

  “Woohoo, talk about a rush,” Danni said breathlessly behind her.

  Athena allowed herself to be swept into a bear hug by her crewmate. “I know, amazing right?”

  Danni just hugged her tighter.

  “What’s wrong?” Kate said when she reached their side.

  “Nothing,” Athena said halfheartedly. “Nothing. We’ve just kicked their asses.”

  Kate shook her head. “No, I can tell something’s bugging you. Spill it. What’s wrong? Didn’t you hit all your targets?”

  Athena exhaled through her teeth and wondered if that was what she was sour about. It seemed a petty thing to get hung up on given the circumstances. “I did eventually. One of them was badly aimed.” Then she remembered. Guilt flooded through her—what right did she have to be so dour when they had all survived. “I saw the beam. Were you hurt?”

  Kate shook her head. “That was Danni. She got out of the way just in time.”

  Athena exhaled sharply. The adrenaline was leaving her body, making her feel weak and shaky. “Thank goodness for that. If anything had happened to you guys, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  Kate pulled her into a hug and Athena felt her worries melt away.

  Aron, Redon and the other Dreon were just as pumped as the humans. “We got them all,” Aron said, sound
ing uncertain.

  Athena nodded, knowing his memory would be patchy for several minutes after he changed form. “We sure did. You were great out there. I missed and you carried on and made sure we got it on the way out.”

  “We got them all?” he said, fixing her with his eyes.

  “Yes,” she said, grinning and telling herself to smile. It wasn’t every day you defeated an army of aliens who had attacked earth. “We did it. Well,” she said, looking around for the others. “On my side it was Eren who did most of the work. Apart from the beam going off, there wasn’t even a hint of a counter attack. They must have been kept busy by the Drayon.” She glanced over at the huge rocket launcher, relieved she hadn’t had to use it.

  Aron muttered something in the Dreon language.

  Kate was nodding. “There weren’t any signs of life out of the large ships,” Kate said. “It was just like last time. They hummed like crazy and the lights shut off when we hit, but they didn’t aim at us.”

  “Those smaller ships must be the defenses,” Athena said, shaking her head. They were damn lucky, she knew, that they hadn’t been hit by defensive fire.

  She turned to face Aron. “Please let Eren and the others know how grateful we are. If it wasn’t for them keeping the enemy occupied, they might have shot us out of the skies before we had a chance to get all of the ships.”

  He stared back at her, an uneasy expression on his face. Athena had never seen him look so grave before.

  “What is it?” she asked, trying not to panic.

  He shook his head. “They say there was no counter attack. They shot up the ships but there wasn’t one burst of return fire. They thought it was down to us destroying the big ships so quickly.”

  25

  “Oh,” Athena said, looking around at the others.