“We?” she asked.
“There are others like me. We’re here because of them.”
“You’re not like them—the ones in the ships?” Her tone sounded stilted. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her damp jeans.
“No. Well, yes. In some ways.” He exhaled a long breath. “How can I explain this in a way you’ll understand?”
“Start at the beginning,” she suggested. Absentmindedly, she trailed her fingers through her wet hair.
“I’m not human.”
“What? What do you mean?” God, if he starts shedding his skin…
“I appear human, the others like me do as well, but we’re actually from another planet—”
“Wait a sec.” She gripped her hands together; that crazed laughter threatened to bubble up, and she had to force herself to get control. So he wasn’t a pod person, they’d established that. But this was worse. It took several deep breaths before she knew she could speak calmly. “Have you known this all along? Because you’re sure a damn convincing actor if you did.”
“No, I didn’t. Not until the invasion. It was like a switch turned on, awakening me, and suddenly I remembered everything. Remembered who I am.”
Josie looked at her hands and saw they were trembling. “And who is that?”
“We’re Acacians, from Planet Gannon. Those of us who are here, we’re what you would call Sentinels—guardians of Earth. Protectors of the human race.”
“Against what?”
“Extinction.”
She surged to her feet. This was all too much. “You mean those ships....they’re here to wipe us out—completely?” Deep down she’d feared exactly that. Yet, part of her had prayed she was wrong.
“Eventually, yes.” He didn’t bother to sugarcoat it.
“So that’s how you knew about the waves—the arrival, the electricity, the earthquakes. My God! How are they doing this? Why are they doing this?” I can’t believe I’ve been having sex with an alien!
“As advanced as you think Earth is, in comparison to them you’re nothing. Humans have no idea what they’re up against, and can’t possibly hope to compete. These invaders—I’m certain they’re Cadeyrns, from Planet Centeris—can cause earthquakes and manipulate the weather, but it’s just the beginning. They’re capable of much more. This is like a game to them. They’ll sit up there in the ships and wreak havoc until they tire of it. Then they’ll come down here and pick off whoever’s left.”
“Why Earth? What do they want?”
“Water, resources, whatever they can use. Planets like yours are few and far between. And Earth is an easy conquest.”
“They could ask for help. I’m sure humans would rather share all we have than have it taken from us.”
“They don’t ask. They take. Humans are merely an obstacle they need to eliminate. They’ve done it before.”
“But you said you’re here to help. You can stop this, right? Tell me you can stop them.”
He shrugged. “We’ll do what we can.”
“What you can? That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
He gave her a cold look, causing her to take a step back. “For approximately every two hundred and fifty thousand humans there is one of us. We’re scattered all over the planet. Judging by the number of ships out there, I’d say the invaders outnumber my kind at least six to one.”
“If your kind knew this day was coming, why aren’t there more of you? Are more coming?”
“I don’t know. Even if they could get here in time, they might be too late. And as to your other question...it’s no easy thing leaving your world behind to safeguard another. Those of us who are here are descendants from those who have walked the Earth alongside humans since the beginning. Originally, a large number of us volunteered to remain and keep humans and the Earth safe. I was born here. My father was an Acacian, as was his father and his father before him, and so on. Though they never knew their true identity, there was no need. We hoped we would be enough.”
Josie couldn’t believe they’d been here all along. “So what’s the plan? Is there one?”
“Their ships are superior to ours—these small crafts we have on Earth. We cannot engage them until they descend.”
“So we have to take whatever they dish out until they come down?” The frustration she felt was evident in her tone.
“Yes.”
* * * *
Josie slumped down in her seat. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Bane didn’t feel the need to give her reassurance, not when he couldn’t be certain of the outcome. His objective was to keep as many humans alive as possible. If total annihilation seemed imminent, then he was to take his mate and leave Earth. But he wasn’t about to relay that part of the plan unless it became necessary. Other Acacians had the same objective. They, too, would remain with their mate, secure a small town, and hope to save as many as possible. If their town fell, they would take their mate and leave.
The point that he’d failed to mention, in order to spare Josie some fear, was that the Cadeyrns would take more than food and resources. They’d take slaves as well, as many as they could fit aboard their ships. Men to mine the miniscule resources left deep beneath the surface of Centeris, and women to use in depraved sexual acts. Cadeyrn women, being the more dominant sex, only allowed mating when a child was to be conceived. Other than that, the men were forced to leave them alone. The men also outnumbered the women about a hundred to one, making copulation a far-reaching fantasy to the sexually frustrated males.
The knowledge of the enemy that Bane possessed was current down to minute details, downloaded into his head along with all pertinent information. Somehow or another, his brain must have connected to a collective knowledge bank, frequently updated by Gannon over the years. Bane wished he were able to tap into a collective mind and communicate with other Sentinels and those on Gannon, but he couldn’t. He could only hope that the awakening Sentinels would perhaps activate a warning alarm, alerting Acacians to the danger Earth faced.
He looked over at Josie and saw her eyes close. Everything about her screamed exhaustion. Despite the journey they’d endured, he felt far from exhausted. Exhilarated was more like it. Purpose pumped through his veins.
Earth was under attack, but he was not overly distressed about it. Not when it meant freedom from his inferior self. Though he now knew his true identity, there were still underlying traces of the man he’d thought himself to be.
That man had been the one to reassure Josie he was still the same person she knew and loved. Reliving the memory about Markley had been a trial, yet also a necessity considering the circumstance. The Sentinel in him had allowed it, if only to avoid having a hysterical female on his hands. A flicker of that man had also emerged when Josie fell at the lake. For the briefest of seconds, he’d let down his guard and felt emotions that should have remained buried. Sentiment he acquainted with weakness, and it had no place in the here and now. In order to carry out his mission he must hold a tight rein. He was resolved to do so no matter the cost.
* * * *
From the window Josie noticed their descent. Clouds in the sky had cleared enough to allow the moon to cast a dim glow over the ground below. To her surprise they seemed to be aiming toward another small lake. “Are we landing?”
“Yes.”
She shivered, recalling how the ship had emerged from the bottom of a lake. “You’re not putting it down in the water are you?” Markley will freak.
“No, in the forest. We’ll be staying close by.”
This surprised her. “We are?”
“There’s a cabin. It belonged to my dad. My grandfather owned the land originally.”
“Really? Have you ever been there?” She hadn’t recalled him mentioning it.
Bane actually smiled. “I’d forgotten about it. Now that things have come back to me, I remember my dad taking me there a couple of times when I was young. Just him and me, he said it was tradition. His dad took him ca
mping on the land and always talked about building a cabin there. My dad did more than talk about it, he actually built the cabin.”
“What about your mom? Did she ever go there with you?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think she knew anything about it. My grandmother either. Makes sense considering they’re human.”
That was interesting. “So you’re actually half-human.”
He frowned as though the thought just occurred to him. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“It’s strange how your dad and grandfather didn’t know they were aliens, yet they had a secret cabin waiting in the wings just in case,” Josie said. Another thought struck her. She knew Bane was an only child, but what about others like him? “Are all of you who are born to an Acacian father an only child and a son? No daughters?”
“Always sons. And yes, no siblings.”
“Interesting. So you need human females to reproduce?”
“The Sentinels do as way of necessity since there are no Acacian females on Earth.”
“So, do all Acacians look like humans? Or just the Sentinels?”
He seemed to ponder her question for a moment as though he was mentally searching for the answer. “From all outward appearance, we resemble humans. Physically, there are no discerning differences. It’s our superior brains that are different.”
Josie ignored the barb. “It’s so weird that humans have said for years that aliens exist among us. They’re always described as having a big head, giant eyes, and frail little bodies.” Which Bane obviously had none of. “Like, look at the aliens you write about. I don’t remember you ever having them resemble humans.” It was strange, now that she thought about it, how he used to write about aliens. All the time she’d known him he’d been fascinated by them, as though, deep down, they’d shared some strange connection.
“There are aliens that look like that,” he informed her. “Not many though, and the ones that do are mostly interested in studying humans. They don’t pose a threat.”
She thought for a moment. “So, why do Acacians care about humans? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you do, but why? Or is it just the Earth you want to protect?”
He exhaled loudly as though he was getting bored with all her questions. “It’s a long story. The short version is, thousands of years ago an Acacian ship crash-landed on Earth. Two men were aboard. Both were hurt, but the small village they landed near took the men in and cared for them. One of the Acacians fell in love with a village girl. When help finally came from Gannon, he decided to remain on Earth. The other man who’d been in the crash left, but vowed he’d return to Earth one day. He was best friends with the one who decided to stay. He did return, with several men who decided they’d like to live on this strange, new planet.”
He paused for a moment.
“The men on Gannon outnumber the women. It’s the same on several planets. Don’t ask me why, it just is. Anyway, the chance for a new life presented itself. In return for humans’ hospitality, we helped them to advance. Back then, Earth was even less prepared for a hostile alien attack than it is now. Over the years, several more Acacian men arrived, spreading out all over the planet, vowing to keep Earth and the men and women who live here, safe. Over the years, as generations of Acacian and human offspring lived and died, the memories and stories of the arrival of the Acacians was forgotten. The knowledge of who we were was buried deep in our minds, only to be awakened when the time came. Now is that time.”
Josie was fascinated. But before she could ponder more on the subject Bane swooped the craft low to the ground toward a small clearing in a thick forest. The ship hovered over the ground but did not set down.
He got to his feet. “Put Markley in his crate and we’ll go.”
She did as he instructed and when he saw the cat was secure he shouldered the bags and palmed a small, pulsing circle beside the hatch. The doorway swished up, and he jumped the couple of feet to the ground. He turned and put up his hand for Markley. Josie handed him the carrier and jumped to the forest floor that was slick with wet leaves. The hatch swished closed behind her.
Rain continued to fall in a slight drizzle. She was relieved to see that, although several trees had been knocked down, the ground no longer shook with tremors. Bane pulled one of the devices he’d gotten from the ship out of his jacket pocket. He gripped the hand-sized instrument in both his palms and twisted the top and bottom parts in opposite directions until a click sounded, causing it to light up like a beacon.
“Let’s go,” he said, striding into the thickness of the forest, taking for granted she would follow along.
She sighed and did just that. It’d been an incredibly long and exhausting day—few days actually—and she couldn’t wait for it to be over. She hoped the cabin he led them to would be comfortable and safe. Although, how safe could they expect to be and for how long?
“By tomorrow the Cadeyrns may begin their descent,” Bane warned. “They have a weapon especially made for ground use. It can incinerate almost a dozen people at a time. The device is genius. There’ll be no bodies rotting in the streets, causing sickness or contaminating food or water supplies.”
She didn’t know to respond. He seemed to bear no sentiment about the devastation of humanity—strange considering he’d so recently believed himself to be one of them. The thought of the world’s population being annihilated was terrifying. Billions of men, women, children, entire cities and communities, destroyed. How would they ever recover from something so terrible? Were they even meant to recover, or was this the end?
“The Cadeyrns’ ships are over all the major cities. That’s where they’ll concentrate their attacks. The smaller towns are not of consequence to them—yet. Their main goal is to eliminate as much of the population as possible in the shortest amount of time. We’ll do whatever we can to prevent total annihilation.”
Josie shivered, thinking how very close they’d been to the heart of the chaos. Despite Bane’s cold and calculating ways he’d actually saved her life. She ached inside for the eventual loss of the others, but didn’t know of any way to prevent it.
Soon the forest began to thin and the dark shape of a structure emerged ahead. “There it is,” Bane announced.
Markley meowed several times as though sensing comfort and freedom from his confines. They came up before the cabin, and Josie thought it looked cozy. It sat on the point of a small lake, isolated by miles of thick forest. No light from candles, flashlights, or any other source was visible around the shore, so she surmised this was the only structure here.
As though reading her mind Bane said, “It sits on a hundred acres. Most of the land around the lake, which is named Bentley, is Crown land. It’s owned by the government.”
He climbed the three steps to the deck and set the bags down. Reaching up atop a light fixture beside the door, he withdrew a key. He propped the screen door open with his knee. After he unlocked the wooden door he swung it inward and shone his light inside. Josie came up beside him. From the warm, stale air that rushed out she figured it’d been closed up for a long time. Bane grabbed the bags and entered the cabin. She followed him in and shut the door.
“Wait here,” he said setting down the bags again.
Josie put Markley’s carrier on the floor and stood in the kitchen. Bane grabbed a set of keys and went back out the door, leaving her in the dark. Following the glow of his light with her eyes, she watched him walk over to the wooden shed attached to the cabin and open the door. Moments later the light in the kitchen came on. She was surprised. It didn’t appear to be powered by propane and she couldn’t hear the telltale sound of a generator. Bane soon came back inside and began switching on more lights.
“How’d you get the power on?” she asked, hoping that maybe the electricity had miraculously come back on and he had simply thrown the power switch.
“Alien power supply out in the shed. Once it’s on, it’s on. No electricity, gas, diesel, or propane needed.”
“Cool. Can I let Markley out now?” When he nodded she opened the carrier and fished the cat’s bowls out of one of the bags. She filled a bowl with his dry food and took the other to the sink in the kitchen. “Is this water safe to drink?” She turned on the faucet and waited while the pipes groaned to life and water sputtered out in a drizzle from the tap.
“Yeah, it’s from a deep well. It should be fine. Let it run for a while, it’s full of air bubbles. I’ll turn on the taps in the bathroom and let them run too.”
Josie waited a bit and then filled up the water bowl before shutting off the tap. She set the bowl down beside Markley, who was munching away on his food, tail swishing rapidly back and forth. “I’m glad there’s indoor plumbing,” she said as Bane reentered the living room.
Now that the cabin was lit up she could see everything more clearly. The kitchen was small. A counter acted as a divider between it and the living room. Four doors led off the living room, which was a good size. She figured two were bedrooms, one a bathroom, and the last being another access to outside. A stone fireplace nestled in the corner. The furniture consisted of two comfy chairs and a couch, all appearing to be from the seventies. The walls were paneled, and the carpet was shag. There was peel-and-stick tile on the floor in the kitchen. Despite having felt like she’d stepped back in time, Josie found the cabin comfortable and neat besides needing a good airing out and dusting.
Markley finished up his food while Josie turned off the taps in the bathroom and went around opening up all the windows, letting in the cool night air. Bane took their bags into the largest bedroom, which had a long dresser and a cedar chest at the base of the queen-sized bed. The smaller bedroom had a dresser and bunk beds. Both rooms had serviceable deep green carpet and dark green curtains covering two windows.
“Does that door lead outside?” she asked.
Bane went over and pulled the door open and gestured for her to come see. “Watch that the cat doesn’t get out,” he said, opening up a screen door that led to a large deck facing the tip of the point.
In His Alien Hands Page 14
