“I’m not aware of any deals for resources from your planet,” Velia said. That was true, in part. No one had mentioned natural assets being extended to Earth. The technology, though... She thought of the nearly completed ship in Hangar 13 and swallowed.
She couldn’t share much information with Arga and the other enforcers, yet she should seem agreeable so they’d let her go home. Maybe if she stuck to generalities and voiced no specifics, that would suffice. “They’ve offered us some equipment. Weapons to deploy against our enemies and keep us safe. The portal was given to us to enable trade. Not for us to invade Risnar.”
Arga regarded her unhappily. “The arms you speak of would be utilized against your fellow humans. Not a different species bent on destroying your race’s existence.”
“To protect ourselves against those who would be aggressive. We have that right.” Velia lifted her chin at the quiet disapproval in his tone.
“The Monsuda have plans to colonize your Earth. What makes you think that they haven’t given the same to your enemies? That they aren’t playing both sides of your hostilities?”
“I told you, I don’t know about any of that.” Velia scowled. “My leaders aren’t foolish enough to accept false promises from giant bugs, as you’ve described them. There must have been assurances of some sort.”
“False assurances? Maybe the Monsuda showed your leaders some amazing technology to convince them to go along with whatever was wanted of them. To divert them from suspecting another plot might be in the works.”
General Thomas wouldn’t fall for such a ruse. He’d been not just her father’s commanding officer, but a friend. Andrew Thomas was a straightforward officer who put country first. He’d have demanded proof of the Monsuda’s good faith.
No doubt greed could have swayed a lesser man. Such instances happened in the world all the time, even in her government and military. But those instances were the exception, not the rule.
DIE is not the kind of weapon a species bent on destroying and enslaving us would hand over. That ship has no equal when it comes to firepower and defenses. We don’t know the half of what it can do. Why give us such a device if they plan to attack?
Except, they haven’t given us all the components to DIE...
“You say my leaders need proof from the Monsuda. Where is yours? How can you confirm what the Risnarish allege?”
Arga wasn’t affronted by her refusal to take him at his word. Instead, he tapped on the computer podium. He nodded to a screen displaying the scrolling Risnarish lines and dots that made up their written language. “Watch this. This is what happened to the Earth woman Jeannie, who lives in my home village of Hahz.”
A view of the enforcement dome’s interior replaced the letters. Velia blinked at the image of a slender blonde Earthling woman among unfamiliar Risnarish men and women. They crowded around a computer podium, upon which the large head of a creature sat with wires running from it to the podium. Most of the entity’s face was taken up by huge milky teardrop eyes.
Holy conspiracy theories. Roswell, anyone? Except those aliens had big black eyes. It’s one of the creatures Father said he saw.
She tried not to think too hard about the creature being decapitated. Except...there were those wires snaking from the back of its skull. A robot?
Drones. Jape mentioned drones.
The blonde, evidently Jeannie, asked, “The bottom line, is Earth going to be invaded by the Monsuda?”
A disembodied voice answered, “Earth is now the primary candidate for colonization. Preparations for full-scale invasion are under way.”
“Is there a timetable as to when the Monsuda will carry out their plan?”
“Final acquisition as agreed upon by all hives is on schedule for two years, seven months, and fifteen days. At that time, any humans older than the age of twelve and younger than five will be exterminated. Those left will be kept as slave subjects to the Monsuda.”
The video ended as Jeannie appeared to be falling to the floor, her face white. A Risnarish man grabbed for her then the screen returned to scrolling alien letters.
Velia’s head swam. The threat of invasion was hideous. That cold, unfeeling voice delivering the message made the idea worse.
And that awful head. That familiar and yet eerie head...
“The Grays.”
Arga blinked at her whisper. “Jeannie used that term to describe the drones.”
“I’ve heard about them for ages. Most believe they’re tall tales. I thought they were the aliens themselves, the Monsuda.”
“No, the drones are their devices. Unfeeling automatons, programmed for work and no more.” He tapped on the computer again. “Here is what the Monsuda have done to large amounts of Risnar. What they’ll do to Earth if they succeed in their colonization efforts.”
He displayed satellite imagery, astoundingly clear footage of the planet from space. Zooming in, the huge swaths of bare, lifeless soil and rock came into focus. Other massive patches showed withered, dying vegetation and the wasted creatures picking it clean. While the animals were alien and like nothing Velia had ever seen, she could tell they were starving. Underscoring the problem, bony carcasses littered the landscapes. She gaped in horror.
Arga stared at the video, his jaw tense. “We had no idea why this was happening until we discovered our enemy is stripping Risnar of its resources for their energy needs. These are not creators of good things, Velia. The Monsuda are destroyers. And they’re coming for your world.”
* * *
Jape entered the enforcement dome and stopped short. Arga and the rest of his men clustered around Velia, their expressions warm as they spoke to her. It wasn’t their attention that brought him to a halt, but the way the Earthling’s face beamed at them, as if lit from within by the All-Spirit.
Velia caught sight of him watching over Selduk’s shoulder. Her cheerful aspect faltered. It failed altogether a second later, replaced by concern.
And fear? Was that what Jape saw?
Guilt, an all-too-familiar companion these days, churned his guts. Jape didn’t want to be the reason Velia felt afraid. He wasn’t out to harm her. He could never do that to a woman. They were weaker, and Velia, with her unarmored skin, was particularly vulnerable.
He might not think highly of the Earthling, but he wasn’t a monster. He’d not hurt her, though she belonged to a hurtful species.
Keeping his movements slow and nonthreatening, he approached the group. Authoritative but controlled, he called to Arga, “Any news to report?”
“I’ve answered some of Velia’s questions when it comes to proving the Monsuda’s intent. She’s tough, though. She’s insisting on more evidence that her people are knowingly on the wrong side.” Arga smiled at Velia to soften the words.
She gave him a friendly gaze, lovelier than before. Once again, the friendliness disappeared when she looked at Jape. His stomachs tightened at her tension.
He drew near and asked, “Would you be willing to answer a few of my questions?”
Her brows rose at his polite, subdued tone, then her shoulders relaxed, and a note of hope shone in her eyes. “I can try.”
Jape took heart. Maybe he’d coax more out of her with kindness than a show of strength. “When were you first aware there were sentients beyond Earth?”
“As a child, I saw strange lights in the sky. Later, my father confirmed there were aliens when I was old enough to keep it to myself.”
“Your father knew about the Monsuda?”
“He knew a little about extraterrestrials. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and had seen the drones. It was a huge secret, though. I couldn’t talk about it with anyone but him.”
“He believed you were good at keeping secrets.” Jape maintained an easy bearing.
“I obeyed my father.” Velia’s jaw tightened, released. “Af
ter the sighting I’d had, he noted my fascination with spaceships and aliens.”
“Tell me more about your father and his experiences with beings from other worlds.”
“Right up front, understand that Father obeyed the rules in every aspect of his life. He was all about conforming and loyalty and doing what superiors ordered.” Her eyes shadowed. They cleared, and she continued. “He broke the rules on only one thing. He told me about the aliens that were working with the military. Those helping us develop fighter jets and other weapons.”
When she went silent, her gaze distant, Jape prodded, “The Monsuda?”
She shook herself to the present. “He never named them, and he didn’t describe the giant insects you say are your enemies. He talked about the Grays—the drones. He believed them to be living entities wearing some sort of spacesuits. He said maybe our air was poisonous to them.”
Jape snorted. “Drones need no air.”
“I’m just telling you the impressions he shared with me. Anyway, it was all top-secret stuff, and he had no personal contact with them. He spotted them with engineers and the brass—the big guys in charge. He swore me to secrecy about it. I’ve never spoken of it until now.”
“How was he close enough to notice them?”
“He was in charge of the group that flew the fighter jets designed by the Grays. He was amazed by the technology. Since I had a devotion to engineering, as well as alien theories, he told me to work toward getting in with the group developing these designs. It would make our country stronger. Safer.” She’d gone from contemplative to exalted. She shined.
Jape’s hearts sped up. He scowled, not liking his reaction to her. “You put yourself in a position so you could meet aliens. To learn the technology they use so you could harm your people?”
Velia’s joy stuttered, died out. Jape pretended he didn’t miss the entrancing glow.
In a hurt tone, she said, “We’re not Risnarish, with a united society that holds the same beliefs and goals. We have terrible people in our world, people who hurt and kill others for the sake of having power. My country is protecting ourselves and weaker nations from that kind of brutality.”
“You’re talking about weapons of aggression. What about other devices, such as containment barriers? The Monsuda have such a system that, until recently, kept enemies out of their borders. Did they give you capture fields that don’t require harming an enemy to disable them? Have they shared any peaceful creations with you? Defensive measures that don’t kill?”
Her features colored with anger again, though she wouldn’t meet Jape’s gaze. “The portal access isn’t aggressive, is it? That’s the biggest opportunity they’ve given us.”
“You can’t assume she’s an enemy, Jape.” Arga’s voice held a warning.
Jape remembered he’d planned to win Velia over in a gentler fashion. She responded better to that. He drew a deep breath and started again.
“You’re right. I come on too strong, I suppose. I’m a warrior first, Velia. My mission is to take on the Monsuda and wipe them out before they wipe us out. My diplomacy skills are not what they could be.”
She relaxed once more. Jape’s hearts beat a little faster when she answered his amicable attitude with her own. “And you’ve suffered losses. I guess that would make anyone suspicious of my peoples’s motives.”
Her empathy startled him. Was it real? Or a trap to disarm him, as he tried to charm her?
Tact was not his strong suit, no more than any claim to being charming. He maintained his pleasant attitude with effort. “I hope you can be patient with me. I’ll try not to be so overbearing.”
He continued to act friendly for a few more questions, probing for what she knew. She made it easy to be kind. When treated with care, she exuded friendliness.
There were a few instances when Jape thought Velia might be withholding information. He didn’t believe she was exactly lying...but her answers sounded evasive when it came to talking about the devices the Monsuda had offered the Earthlings.
It was nearing the end of the evening shift when she yawned.
“It’s late,” Arga said unnecessarily.
“Sorry. Is there somewhere I can bed down?” Velia glanced around the room. “I guess you have a cell for me?”
Arga glanced at Jape, and he winced. Jape scowled. He wasn’t inclined to claim friendship with Velia, but he couldn’t stick her in the bare containment area. In any case, he didn’t want to leave her with the others. They had proven susceptible to her winning smiles and the occasional laughter she’d been surprised into. Particularly Arga, who was all too ready to befriend another Earthling.
Jape came to an abrupt decision. With Velia responding to the kindness he’d belatedly extended, it was a sensible solution. “There is space in my dome. You may sleep in my bed.”
“Um. I—you want—I mean—” Velia stuttered, her eyes wide.
Jape wondered what he’d done wrong this time. “You do not have beds? How do you sleep?”
“Alone.” Spoken in a small voice, barely above a whisper.
“As do I. We do not have to share sleeping space. I have a couch I will use. Unless you prefer it over the bed?”
Her relief was palpable. “Oh, well, either is fine with me.”
Jape had no idea why she would have thought otherwise. Unless she believed he’d expected to share the bed. Unless she thought—
A jolt ran through his system. Sharp, absolute, he said, “Separate sleeping arrangements.”
“Yes. Good.”
Jape ignored the expressions of humor exchanged between his men. When Selduk turned his back to avoid his superior’s glare, Jape decided he would reward the young enforcer with barrier patrol. Dodging ecal scat will cool his amusement. As if I would want sex with an alien female such as her, no matter how enticing her appearance.
Jape readied to leave for the night, ignoring the awakening pulse in his groin that said otherwise.
* * *
As they flew from the dome, Jape did his utmost to ignore the Earthling on his lap. Her warmth sank into him, and his body enjoyed the situation more than he wanted to admit. Exactly what he’d worried would happen.
We should have walked to my dome. It wasn’t a great distance, but with a hive once teeming with Monsuda and their drones near Cas, Jape had always taken the dartwing home. Even with the hive cleansed of their enemies, he continued the habit. Trouble could come at any time, and nowadays, he thought it might arrive in the form of Velia’s people.
The ride was still uncomfortable. It didn’t sit well with him, but he couldn’t deny his sexual interest in the woman.
Just don’t let her figure it out. Her laughing at me would top off an already terrible night in humiliating fashion.
A flash on his indicators diverted Jape from his uneasiness. The dartwing’s readout informed him of another dartwing flying behind him, coming up fast. He checked to make sure his warning beacon was operating, alerting craft in the vicinity of his presence. It was, and he relaxed.
Until the other vessel’s beacon disappeared from his display. The abruptness told Jape the operator had turned theirs off. Even in the case of sudden engine failure, the failsafe beacons remained in operation, operating off their own batteries.
What the hell?
If Velia hadn’t been in the craft with him, Jape would have gone after the offender. Flying without a beacon, especially after dark, was dangerous. He’d have to call it in so one of his men could try to track down whoever was operating their vehicle in an unsafe manner.
He settled his dartwing on the front lawn of his home and shut the engine off. As he helped Velia out of the cockpit, he listened, his ears swiveling and cupping for any telltale sound of the other vessel.
There. Not far off, in fact, near enough it should be coming into view. Jape wrenched himself out of the
confines and scanned the sky.
Cadi had set, leaving star-scattered blackness overhead. A dark shadow drifted into view, slowing until it hovered just close enough for Jape to make out the outlines of a nonemergency-rated dartwing.
Hanging motionless now. As if its occupant was watching him. Spying.
“Friend of yours?” Velia’s voice was low, as if instinct had told her something was off about the situation.
Smart woman. Excellent intuition.
The dartwing’s engine’s note changed, shifting into flight again. The craft swooped around, heading back the way it had come.
“Probably nothing,” Jape said, as much to himself as to Velia. “Someone caught sight of you and was curious. But that warning beacon being turned off is a serious infraction. Hold on a second while I call it in.”
His explanation made sense. Yet Jape’s twin hearts thundered in his ears, and his mane stood out from his neck. His instincts shouted their pursuer had not been merely nosy. He swore he could smell malice in the sweetly perfumed air of the grass plains.
Chapter Eight
Velia had no idea what to expect from Jape’s home when she stepped inside. Cadi had set, leaving the outside too dark to discern much detail. Her impression of his domicile from the outside was only that it appeared to be a smaller version of the enforcement dome.
Glowing stones gave her a path to follow, with Jape plodding behind. When they reached the illuminated arch of the dome’s entrance, he said, “Open.”
Wondering what she would find in the den of the sometimes grim, sometimes grouchy, sometimes friendly Jape—probably the most confusing creature in any universe—Velia stepped inside the lit interior.
Her attention was drawn to the wooden beam next to the door. She gasped at the gorgeously carved and painted post. It was at least eight feet high, sculpted with the faces of fabulous creatures, around which twined vines and leaves and flowers.
Though the animal features were fantastical to her, they were so finely shaped, so lifelike, that she expected them to yip or growl or low or purr...whatever alien animals did on Risnar. She was astounded that the luxurious flowing hair surrounding a beast’s head didn’t stir in the currents of air, that the gleaming eyes of another didn’t blink.
Worlds Collide Page 6
