Nocc growled. Spitting on the floor he threw a heated glare at Vrateus, then stormed out, shoving everyone out of his way.
Vrateus added another mental note to his already longer-than-his-tail list: to watch Nocc more closely.
Wyck shuffled from foot to foot, uncertainly. “Take care of the female” obviously didn’t make much sense to him in terms of specifics.
“Put her in Svetlana’s old room. Bring her meals. Make sure no one touches her.” Vrateus rubbed his face. No matter what, every new arrival was his responsibility. He was the captain, after all. He needed to make sure, though, that Wyck understood it differently, in this case. “She is fully under your protection. Do you understand? Her life and wellbeing are your responsibility.”
Wyck threw a glare toward the female who sat quietly, a calculating expression on her face.
“Captain...” The errock shifted closer, turning his back to the rest of the crew and lowering his voice. “I don’t want her.”
“What?” Vrateus felt his eyebrows shoot up to his fur line. These must be the most shocking words he’d ever heard from a male on the Dark Anomaly. “Why did you just fight for her, then?”
Wyck rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly unsure about his own motives.
“I found Nocc between her legs. She shrieked and fought... He looked like he would kill her.”
“So, you stopped him?”
“He was so much bigger than her. It didn’t seem fair...” the errock mumbled. His voice trailed off, as if Wyck realized he wasn’t making much sense, not enough to continue.
The little he’d said, however, only reinforced Vrateus’s conviction to keep the new woman in Wyck’s care.
“Keep her safe,” he ordered. “If you want someone else to bring her to the mess hall instead of you, let me know by tomorrow night. You don’t need to touch her yourself, but you do have to keep her well and alive. Understood?”
Wyck made a half-nod, half-shrug in reply. That would have to do.
“What about the second female?” the errock asked unexpectedly.
“What second female?” Vrateus replied sharply. Wyck better not be talking about Svetlana again.
“When I got here, there were two females, at first.”
“Two?”
Wyck turned around, scratching his bald head in confusion. “Where did she go?”
“Xoqaek and Gahot. Have you seen another female here? Besides this one?”
Both stared at him with their mouths agape.
“Um... No, Captain.”
“Just this one here.”
Vrateus took a closer look at the bodies on the floor. There were actually four in total. All four appeared to be male. However, since they all wore the same pale-blue bodysuits as their female, it might be difficult to determine their gender right away.
“Could you have mistaken one of them for a female?” he asked Wyck. “This one seems to be as slim as she is.” He pointed at one body with the toe of his boot. “Or this one. He has a rather soft, feminine face.”
“Maybe...” Wyck frowned, uncertainly.
The female chose this moment to finally speak to Vrateus.
“You’re the leader here,” she stated, her voice shaky but firm enough considering the circumstances.
“Was there another human female on the ship?” Vrateus asked her. “Where did she go?”
She blinked.
“Another? No. Just me. I’m the only one left alive,” she said, quickly. “Listen, I’m appealing to you as the leader—”
“No.” Vrateus cut her off, shaking his head. “Wyck is in charge of you. Tell him anything you need.” He turned on his heel, already assessing the amount of work that had to be done on this ship before he could call it a night. “Wyck, take her out of here, the rest of you...” he faced the males filling in the space. “You all will have to help me remove the equipment tonight.”
“Captain!” the female snapped sharply, demanding attention.
“Listen.” Wyck spoke to her directly. “What’s your name?”
“I’m not talking to you,” she bit off.
It looked like Wyck had his work cut out for him. This might be the most challenging task Vrateus had ever assigned to the young errock.
Well, they all had their share of work to do around here.
THE END
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EXPERIMENT
CHAPTER 1
“Isabella Bruno.” The man in a dark suit wasn’t asking. Staring at me from the other side of the front entrance as I held the door open, he stated my name confidently, as if he already knew it was me.
“How can I help you?” I asked cautiously, glancing at the two others behind him. The large, black vehicles parked at the curb in front of our house did not put my mind at ease either.
“Michael Trevin.” He offered me his hand. “May we come in?”
“Trevin?” I stared at him in shock, ignoring his hand. “The Michael Trevin?” I asked, dumbfounded, even as I had already recognized the face of one of the three North American representatives in the coalition of Earth Governments. “You’re here? In Deer Rock?”
The fact that someone so high up in the government personally visited our small town—far up North on the territory that used to be Canada before the three countries of the continent had been merged into one—should be a huge event.
Had his visit been made public? How had I missed the news? And why was he at my house?
“Can we come in?” he asked more persistently, moving forward, which forced me to step back.
“Um, sure,” I mumbled, as if my permission meant anything at that point—all three had entered our small hallway.
I smoothed my hair quickly and brushed my palms down my t-shirt, feeling painfully underdressed in my pajama pants. It was mid-morning on a weekday, but I had an evening shift at the store today and hadn’t changed yet. Luckily, I had at least put a bra on.
“Who is it, Bella?” Mom came out of the kitchen, bouncing Lily, one of my sister’s twins, on her hip. “Mister Trevin . . .” She stared at the representative, her eyes opened wide, her mouth agape. “In my house?”
“Mrs Bruno.” He shook her hand energetically. “Where would be the best place for us to have a quick talk?” Without waiting for an answer, he shoved past her and into our kitchen. His escort followed.
“Um . . . About what?” Mom hurried after them. “Would you like anything? Tea? Water?”
“We don’t have much time.” Trevin pulled a chair from the table and sat down. “Secretary Carter. Agent Miller.” He gestured at the two men accompanying him as they took seats at the table too.
“What is it all about?” Mom moved her gaze from one man to another. Both her and I remained standing.
“We are here to collect Isabella Bruno,” Miller blurted out, earning a stern glare from Trevin.
“Me?” I stepped into the kitchen from the entrance where I had been standing.
Surely this was some kind of misunderstanding.
“What did she do?” Mom sent me a questioning stare.
“Before I explain,” Trevin raised a hand in a calming gesture, “allow me to remind you that although our coalition is the main human governing body on the planet, it has been under the jurisdiction of the planet Keala for the past nine years. The extraterrestrials have left us to administer our population, but the Kealan laws take precedence over ours.”
The aliens had come to Earth suddenly one day. Several giant flying saucers had hovered over a few major cities, and it didn’t take long for them to make it clear they did not come in peace.
All military attempts by the coalition to attack the spaceships resulted in the immediate annihilation of our aircraft and missiles.
Then they attacked us. Entire populations of several towns and small cities around the world were eradicated within minutes when bright ray
s of light had descended from the ships. All structures, machines, and animals were left intact. However, the people in those places were turned to dust in seconds—white ash all that remained.
Human capitulation came right after the aliens threatened to annihilate the entire population of Earth in the same fashion if we didn’t surrender.
As Trevin pointed out, the Kealans left the coalition in charge of Earth’s administration, not getting involved much in our politics or our way of life. They built two facilities, one on each of Earth’s poles, and implemented mandatory annual medical evaluations for all humans aged eighteen to sixty.
Other than that, it was easy to forget with time that Earth had been conquered at all.
“Please take a seat, Isabella.” Trevin’s stare carried a power I found myself unable to disobey. I sat at the table across from him, folding my hands over the large red strawberries printed on the plastic tablecloth. “About a week ago, the coalition received a request from the Kealans. They demanded you be handed over to them.”
“Me?” I repeated, stunned, a fog of confusion and denial settled over my brain. “There must be some mistake . . .”
“No mistake. They want you,” Miller bit off.
Trevin leaned in, resting his hands on the table. “We were able to negotiate some time to discuss the situation last week. However, this morning, their request was made urgent—” A sudden thought appeared to flash through his mind. “When was your last medical examination?”
“Yesterday,” I replied, clutching my hands tight. “What do they want with me?”
The exams were done by the local doctor, for free and with no known health consequences observed. Alien robot-drones delivered the test kits and collected the data obtained. After nine years, the global medical exams had become the norm. By now, hardly anyone questioned it, begrudgingly accepting having to go see the doctor once a year as something that had to be done—kind of like renewing one’s driver’s licence, or filing taxes.
“You had one done yesterday?” Trevin exchanged a knowing look with the other men at the table. “That may explain the urgency.”
“How?” Even more perplexed, I moved my gaze from one face to another. “What do they want?” I asked again, since no one had answered me the first time.
“Well.” Trevin leaned against the back of his chair, stretching his neck and obviously stalling his answer.
“Your current physical state may be of some importance to them,” Carter joined in.
“What do you mean? When will I be able to come home?”
Carter glanced at Trevin. Something in the expressions of the two sent a chill of trepidation down my spine.
“I will come back, won’t I?” I insisted, louder.
“The extraterrestrials offered you Kealan citizenship. Through marriage.” Trevin shifted in his chair, making it squeak. “To that extent, they also agreed to honour our traditions and have a proper wedding ceremony—”
“What wedding?” both Mom and I said at once.
Rolling his eyes to the ceiling, Miller leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yours,” he explained, with a dramatic sigh of exasperation. “The aliens want one of them to marry you.”
“Which is a good thing when you think about it,” Carter rushed in. “It could be presented as a gesture of good will—”
“Presented to whom?” I jumped from my seat. All of it stopped making any sense whatsoever. “What are you all talking about? I’m not going anywhere. I’m perfectly fine where I am. Why would the aliens want me anyway? I’ve never met them and don’t want to.”
I’d watched the news broadcast of the few official visits of the Kealans with the coalition. The images of their tall figures, draped in black cloaks, hoods drawn low over their faces, left an unpleasant impression on me, bringing the Grim Reaper to mind.
“And . . . a wedding? Really?” I wrung my hands, pacing in front of the table, as if moving could help me wrap my mind around all of this.
“Miss Bruno . . .” Carter jumped out of his seat, too.
“This is just stupid!” Skipping down the stairs, my sister, Mary, barged into the room, her son Luca under her arm. “His diaper is changed.” She handed Luca to my mom, who put him on her other hip, opposite to his twin. “Honestly, guys.” Hands propped on the tabletop, Mary stared down Trevin and his escort. Less than two years younger than me, she had always been the more assertive and outspoken one. “Just listen to you! An alien wedding? What the hell are you talking about? Is this some kind of a joke for reality TV or something?”
“It will be televised,” Carter announced, brightly. “The preparations for the event have been in full swing since the initial demand was received.”
“Even before I was notified?” I muttered, wishing I could just wake up and stop this nightmare.
“And who are you?” Mary threw at Carter sarcastically, one corner of her mouth lifting up. “The wedding planner?”
“Ma’am.” Miller rose from the table and moved on my sister. “It’s imperative we deliver Isabella Bruno—”
“What do you mean by deliver?” Mary scoffed. “Bella is a free woman, she has rights—”
“Exactly,” Mom stepped in, balancing the twins on each hip. “You can’t just come in here and take her—"
“You’re forgetting that none of us are free, miss.” Trevin got up, shoving the chair back with a screeching noise, his jaw muscles flexed. “Not since the capitulation to the Kealans nine years ago.”
“We have orders to take your sister.” Miller crossed his arms over his chest. “Your permission is not required.”
“I don’t want to go.” Dread slithered up my spine, cold and sticky. “My home is here. My job. I have a life . . . I—”
“Isabella.” Trevin took a step my way.
“No.” I glared at him.
“She is not going anywhere,” Mary insisted stubbornly.
“This is all definitely way too fast.” Moving her gaze across the room, Mom appeared completely lost. “Why all this rush? Who is this man . . . um, this alien, who wants to marry her? Why? Does he like her? They’ve never met . . .”
“Like?” Miller grimaced. “What does that have to do with anything?”
The front door opened with a knock.
“Bell? Are you home?” I heard the familiar voice of Johnny, my boyfriend of four years.
Mom bounced on her heels to calm the twins who started fussing. “What I’m saying is that this is not a proper way to ask someone to marry you,” she argued with Miller.
Trevin pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re missing the point, ma’am. We are not the ones who make demands here.”
“Who is getting married?” Johnny walked in, tossing back his shoulder-length blond hair, some of which perpetually hung over his face.
“The freaking aliens are planning a wedding with Bella!” Mary blurted out, gesturing at Miller and Trevin, as if they were the aliens in question.
“Mary . . .” I exhaled, feeling like my knees were about to give out, a pounding headache threatened to set in.
Johnny moved a confused glance from her to Miller then finally to me. “Is that true?”
“We don’t have much time.” Trevin ignored him. “The flight to Capital City will take at least two hours. With the ceremony scheduled for tonight, the team will have to start getting you ready soon.”
Ready . . .
Ready for what? The wedding?
Tonight?
My heart skipped at the realization that all of this was real after all. Fear settled heavily in my chest, threatening to turn into panic.
“How will you ever get anyone ready to marry some alien dude?” Mary yelled at the three. “No matter how much time you have. Who the hell is he anyway?”
“We have not been given the groom’s identity,” Trevin replied coolly.
“Mary is right, though.” Mom shook her head. “This is insane.”
“Your family
will be well compensated, of course,” Carter started.
“This is not about money!” Mary snapped.
“Her dad is in the hospital,” my mom muttered softly, shifting her pleading gaze from one of the men to another. “At the very least, you need to let her say goodbye . . . Why this rush?” she groaned.
“Johnny . . .” I grabbed my boyfriend by the arm and shoved him into the hallway, desperate to get away from it all, to shut the noise out, to get some time to do something . . . Anything.
“Is it true what they’re saying, Bell?” Johnny asked as I dragged him around the corner and out of everyone’s sight. “Are those SUV’s outside theirs? And is that Michael Trevin, for real?”
“Miss Bruno!” Miller’s voice thundered behind me.
“A minute, please. Give me one freaking minute!” I yelled back. “Johnny.” I whispered quickly, panic vibrating through me. “This can’t be happening . . .”
“Do they really want you to marry an alien?”
“Apparently, it’s the aliens who want this. Johnny.” Gripping his shoulders, I gave him a shake. “Please, help me. Let’s run.”
There was no way I was going to return to that kitchen where they all waited for me.
Until this morning, I’d been a regular small-town girl, working in a convenience store since I graduated high school eight years ago. With my oldest brother in and out of jail for the past several years and my father in and out of hospitals with his ailing heart and lungs, I had been helping my mom with my four younger brothers who were still in grade school and more recently, with Mary’s ten-month-old twins.
My plans for the future had mostly included marrying Johnny—whenever he saved up enough money to buy me a ring and asked me to be his wife—and eventually starting a family.
It was not a glorious life, but it was my life, and I was content, living right here in Deer Rock, where I knew everybody and everyone knew me from the day I was born.
This whole thing now felt surreal and terrifying.
“Get me out of here, please,” I whispered, not sure myself how that could be accomplished or where I could run to. I just needed to be far away from here. “I’m not going with them. I need to hide.”
Gravity (Dark Anomaly Book 1) Page 21
