by Ruby Winter
Did I love him? I felt like I did, but I was still too scared to admit it to myself. I couldn’t be in love with an alien, right?
Did he want me to stay on this planet with him? Forever?
I noticed the path underneath my feet changing, and I looked up to see the lively village. There were Revians all around staying busy, like making food, cleaning, or making clothes. Others were simply walking through the village.
No one even stopped to stare at me, which I thought was strange considering the circumstances.
Why weren’t they shocked, I mean a human was in their midst?
“Axon? Axon, why are…,” I called out to him and was about to ask a question when something caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks.
“What is it?” he asked.
But it was too late. I was looking at the answer.
Coming down the path toward me were five human women, all laughing and talking to each other. A few of them carried babies. Crossbred babies, part human, part Revian. They were all dressed in strange clothing that was obviously not from Earth. They nodded hello at me and kept walking, and I couldn’t move or speak.
Suddenly everything was moving in slow motion, as I felt my consciousness slipping. I willed myself not to faint, and flashed myself back awake. Then my eyes followed the women into the different cross sections of the village roads. There were human women everywhere. I was so confused.
“Jennifer…?” Axon said.
I looked at him with my mouth agape, still unable to bring myself to say anything. He knew what I saw.
“I will explain, I promise. Just come with me,” he said, grabbing my arm and walking me with him down a path.
“Humans…. those were humans…. there are humans here,” I kept murmuring.
“Yes, Shh. Come Please, I will tell you everything,” he said, his eyes pleading. He opened a door to a small circular building similar to a bungalow before pulling me inside and closing the door behind me.
“I am so sorry, Jennifer. I wanted to tell you. You were not supposed to be here and see this,” he stammered, struggling to explain. “I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone we have visited Earth before. It was important we kept it a secret,” he said.
“Why are there humans here? What is going on? Am I really on your planet or somewhere else?” I demanded.
“We are on Harpo, yes, and there are human females here too, so yes” he said, before closing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath. “There have been human females here for several decades now,” he followed.
My eyes widened at this revelation.
“What? Why? How?” I shouted.
“It is a very long and complicated story,” he said.
“Well, it’s not like I have anywhere else to go now, do I?” I snarled. I folded my arms across my chest and quirked an eyebrow at him. “I’m waiting.”
He sighed and began to tell his story.
“My people, the Revians are going extinct. Our females are barren and have been so for many years now. It has become critical, Jennifer. The Council a long time ago decided that the best thing we can do to keep our species alive was to breed with another species from another planet, and that was when we found humans,” he explained.
“So, these women are only here to create offspring for you?!” I shouted, outraged. “Are they prisoners? What the hell is going on here?” I asked, my anger starting to boil over.
“It’s not like that!” Axon exclaimed. “These women are in love with a warrior, and they have formed a union. They are treated well, just as well as on Earth. They have families here. It’s not what you think.” He explained.
“How did they get here?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“How did they get on this planet?” I clarified.
He was silent for a moment, and I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth.
“They were taken,” he said softly, confirming my suspicions. “We took them from Earth and brought them here.”
“Against their will,” I said. Like me.
“Yes, but--,”
“Go away,” I said, teeth clenched.
“Jennifer,” he cried, his eyes pleading.
“Get the hell out of here! I hate you!” I shouted at him.
He looked at me with a solemn look on his face and nodded. “I will bring you food and drink. Please make yourself comfortable. This will be your living quarters for now. You are safe here. The Council will--,”
“I don’t care! Just get away from me!” I yelled. I was so hurt by everything that I couldn’t stand to look at him any longer.
He had betrayed me.
He and Captain Weko tricked all of us on Earth.
I wondered if the Compiers truly were the enemy. What if it was the other way around? What if it was the Compiers who wanted to warn us about the Revians abducting females from Earth?
I had been intimate with a traitor, and he betrayed me and the entire human race.
Axon sighed and walked out the door, closing the door softly behind him.
I was so angry that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was so alone now, too, as I had allowed my desires to blind me. These Revians were dangerous. I gasped at the thought.
Had they taken me on purpose then? Was I part of a bigger plan to get more females off Earth?
They must have kidnapped me on purpose. It was Axon’s plan all along, to seduce me, and then take me for his damn breeding program!
But what if he was telling the truth? My heart whispered.
“Ugh,” I screamed, clutching at my throbbing head.
I really didn’t know what to believe anymore.
Chapter 8
Lt. Axon Voan
She had every right to be angry.
I left her at the guest living quarters where she could stay until the Council figured something out. I was hoping they would allow me to claim her as my wife, but after her outburst, I doubt she wanted anything to do with me now.
Before she seemed so thrilled and excited to be looking around my village. Her smile was brilliant, and her blue eyes twinkled with wonder. I had hoped she would decide to stay here with me.
In the meantime, I had other responsibilities to take care of. I was expected to report to the Council with the Captain to tell them what happened on Earth, and so I left to give her some space to think.
Maybe I should’ve told her earlier, but when? Besides, I didn’t know she was going to wind up on my planet to find out the truth. I wanted to tell her on the ship, but she had been through so much already. Maybe that was my mistake.
As I made it to the Council building, I issued my statement of accounts regarding the mission. They then rescheduled me to meet with the Council alongside Captain Weko first thing in the morning, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Captain Weko was already meeting with them right now.
I wondered how the battle on Earth was going, and I wished I could have stayed to help them fight. As we left, the humans had rolled in a great army, and I had high hopes they would send the Compiers back.
“Did you mate with her?” I heard someone ask from behind me. I turned around to face the Captain, who was eyeing me critically, and I sighed.
“I did not intend for it to happen, but it did,” I replied.
“I should have known,” he said, cursing under his breath. “I should not have ordered you to protect her in her home. That was my mistake. Apparently, you were not able to resist her charms,” he drawled.
“No, I was not.”
“What you did was forbidden,” he said. “You could have jeopardized the entire mission with your personal lust. What if you had exposed the humans to our mating with their females?” The Captain said.
“I understand the danger, and I admit I was not thinking clearly,” I said, bowing my head.
“No, I believe you did know, but you just did not care
,” he spat. “You put your lustful desires for this female above the mission!” he scolded.
“Perhaps you are right,” I said, giving in to this fight. He wanted to be right, as always.
“If it were up to me, you would be properly punished,” he said, scoffing. “I will see you tomorrow.”
Captain Weko was not a sinister Captain, but he took any type of problem on a mission very seriously. It was why he was a Captain. His job was to make sure every mission under him went as cleanly as possible, but after that, I may never get a mission with him again. On the other hand, Jennifer was worth risking my rank and status for.
Later that evening I took a tray of food and drink to Jennifer, who was sitting at the table with her arms crossed. I set the tray in front of her and waited for her to look at me. She kept her focus out of the window though, still pissed at me, and I sighed.
“Did you take a walk around the village?” I asked, attempting to make conversation with her. “You are free to do so. You are not a prisoner here. Just don’t wander off into the woods at night. It is dangerous,” I explained.
She said nothing and had no reaction.
“I brought this for you,” I tried again, gesturing towards the food. “It’s quite safe for humans to eat. They’ve been eating it for decades now, and most say it is very delicious and satisfying,” I said.
Still nothing.
“My living quarters is just down the path. If you walk out the door and go to the right, I am the eighth home on the left. If you need anything at all, you can come to me, or ask someone to fetch me. We all know each other here in the village, and everyone would be kind enough to assist you,” I explained.
All my attempts were shot down, so I walked towards the door and opened it, pausing for just a second, waiting to see if she was going to call me over, but she didn’t. I spent the rest of the night wondering if she would ever speak to me again.
***
The next morning, I brought her breakfast. She was still giving me the silent treatment, but I was glad to see she had at least eaten the food from last night.
After visiting her, I made my way to the Council. There I waited as they talked amongst themselves, all of them seated in a row on an ascending platform before finally addressing me.
“Lt. Axon Voan,” said their representative. “First things first, we would like to thank you and commend you for your service on the mission to Earth. You and Captain Weko were able to carry out your mission successfully, and without any human hostility. You left on good terms, and we would like to give you a great honor for it,” they congratulated me.
“Thank you, Council. It was an honor to go on this mission for the sake of the Revians and humans,” I nodded to them.
“We also have news we think you would want to know. We learned that the humans have successfully pushed back the Compiers’ army out of Earth,” one of the members said. “Although the humans won this round, it does not mean there won’t be any further attacks. It did, however, prove to the Compiers that humans are not to be taken lightly. They fought well,” another member said.
My eyes widened. When we left, I was afraid the Compiers might annihilate them, but perhaps humans gained the upper hand over time.
“I am pleased to hear that,” I told them, bowing my head low. Jennifer was going to be pleased to hear this, as well, as I knew she had been fretting over the fate of her home.
“Now, about the matter of the human female you brought here—,”
“Yes, allow me to apologize. It happened by mistake,” I said. “I was assigned to protect her, and I was with her in her living quarters when the attack happened. The Captain picked me up from her place, and I took her with me aboard the ship during the chaos. It was the only way to make sure she was safe at the time, and I thought the Captain knew she was with me. A few moments later he sent us into hyperspeed in order to get out there quickly, and before I could verify with him that she was board.” I explained.
“The Captain has given us the exact same statement, and we believe you made an honest mistake, but now we have to deal with this matter. We understand she was a very important human on Earth?” the council asked.
“Yes, she is one of the people who facilitated our meetings with their leader,” I confirmed.
“Because of this, we think that, in time, she should be allowed to return to Earth if she wishes,” the Council said. “We want to keep the relations good with them. However, there is a major problem,” one of the members said gravely.
“She knows our secret,” I muttered, and they nodded.
“Yes. It is something we will need to discuss further, as well as evaluate her for ourselves that she can be trusted,” they said.
“I know Jennifer Rose well, and I believe she can be trusted. She has a good heart and superior intellect. They are why she was so valuable to the humans,” I explained, knowing that if the Council trusted her, they would more likely approve of sending her back to Earth. The selfish part of me wanted to tell them the opposite, but I couldn’t betray her like that.
“Speaking of how well you know her,” they said mildly. “Have you mated with this female?” they asked.
“Yes, I have,” I confirmed, nodding. There was no point in hiding it. “I have mated with her, and I am in love with her,” I said swallowing hard.
The Council members looked at each other, murmuring with each other quietly before addressing me again.
“Is it possible she feels the same way about you?” they asked.
“I—,” if they had asked me before, I would have answered yes, that she did care about me the same way, but now… “I am not sure anymore. I have betrayed her trust by not telling her that there were humans here already, and because of it, she very well may hate me now,” I explained to them.
I saw one of the Council members trying to cover up the smile on his face. “Give it some time, Lieutenant,” they advised. “If she loves you in return, then you have our permission to claim her as your wife. Perhaps she is already carrying your child. Has she been tested?” they inquired.
In all of the chaos surrounding us lately, I hadn’t even thought of that.
“No, she has not. I do not know if she carries my child, but if she would willingly accept me, then, of course, I would claim her. I do believe she wants to get out of here soon though to be fair.” I said.
“Let us give this some time. We will reconvene about this matter in thirty days, and then decide if returning her to Earth is the best choice. You are dismissed.”
I quickly left the Council chamber after thanking them, and walking as fast as I could towards her living quarters. Why didn’t I think about it? She could be pregnant this entire time!
I smiled widely at the thought, but realized I didn’t know how she would feel about it. I mean being pregnant with my child might only make her loathe me even more.
As I entered her living quarters and looked around, she was nowhere to be seen, so I left and walked around the community to find her. Sure enough, I saw her sitting with a few other human females, laughing and talking, and she seemed to be in a good mood.
“Jennifer, may I speak with you?” I asked politely. The other females giggled as they looked at me.
“I suppose,” she muttered, standing up and letting me guide her to an isolated path outside the community areas.
“I have news from Earth,” I said, and her eyes lit up.
“What is it?” she asked excitedly.
“I just had a meeting with the Council, and they informed me your human race pushed the Compiers out of Earth. For now, they have won,” I said.
“Oh, thank God. I was so worried.”
“Is that all?” she asked, and I shook my head.
“No. the Council also told me something else,” I took a deep breath before continuing. “The Council is taking thirty days to make a decision about your return to Earth. They said they would consider it if you would t
ake an oath to promise not to tell anyone on Earth about the human females here,” I continued.
“If they can trust you with that secret, then you would be able to come with us on our next visit to Earth, and you would then be returned. I also told them you were a human of the highest integrity, and that they could be certain you would keep such an oath,” I said.
“You told them that?” she asked, surprised.
“If getting back to Earth is what you want, Jennifer, then I will do my best to get you there… even if it is against what my heart wants,” I told her honestly.
She gulped at that.
“T-Thank you,” she said, her voice shaking.
“You are welcome. And I am sorry to have interrupted your afternoon. It is nice to you are exploring the village, though. I hope in the short time you are here that you’ll be able to find this place as wonderful as I do,” I said, giving her a quick nod and then walking away.
It was terribly hard for me to say all of those things, but I kept reiterating in my mind that it was the right thing to do. I just couldn’t selfishly put my own needs and desires before hers, no matter how much I wanted to. After all, I loved my planet dearly, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, so I sure as hell was not going to rob her of the opportunity to go back to her home.
As for the pregnancy, I couldn’t bring it up. I was too scared. Plus I didn’t know if I could handle the disappointment on her face, so I said nothing.
It would have to wait.
Chapter 9
Jennifer Rose
The longer I sat inside the bungalow, the more I started to understand Axon’s actions, and I was starting to feel guilty about it.
Had he told me they abducted humans to mate with, there was no guarantee I wouldn’t have told the President about it. And if I did, they would have no doubt seen Axon and the Captain as a threat. Then the Compiers would’ve attacked and we would have been left defenseless.
It just hurt that someone I had been so intimate with had kept all of that information from me.
