“You’re going to love these shoes,” one of the women crowding me cooed.
The light flashed off the row of the diamonds encrusting the straps of the silver sandals she put on my freshly pedicured feet. Each of the stones was much bigger than I’d ever seen in my life, bigger than the ones Johnny showed me in a magazine when he told me he wanted to be able to afford one for me some day. Although he knew I would have married him yesterday, with a ring from a piece of electric wire, had he proposed.
A sharp pain pierced my heart again at the thought of Johnny’s betrayal. Ours was the only wedding I had ever fantasized about. In my dreams there were no diamonds, no silk or fancy hotels. Just our families getting together, lots of yummy food made by my mom and aunts, and our happily-ever-after that would never happen now.
“Give it a twirl!” The woman at my feet glanced up at me. “Take these gorgeous heels for a test drive.” She giggled excitedly.
And I twirled, mechanically following her command and sending the skirts of my dress flying in a swirl of lace and silk around my legs.
Swaying on the four-inch heels at the end of the full turn, I braced myself on the rolling cart holding the tray of gleaming manicure tools. My gaze felt on a long, sharp nail file, and I swiped it quickly while no one was looking.
A minute later, I pretended to adjust my skirt. Turning away from everyone, I stabbed the nail file through one of the gauzy underskirts, hiding it in the folds of my dress.
Despite what Barbara Adan said about searching for a diplomatic resolution to my situation, it made me feel better having a sharp object in my possession.
Champagne obviously still muted my terror, but for that moment I felt I might make it through the day without losing consciousness or my mind, even as the uncertainty of what was to come afterwards still weighed heavily on me.
Chapter 3
DRAPED IN SILK AND lace, my hair weighted down by beaded pins and several layers of hairspray, and with a thick veil over my face, I finally emerged from the hotel room shortly after the sunset.
The two rows of Coalition Security Squad marking my way to the limo and then from it to the entrance of a grand church didn’t deter mobs of reporters with cameras and microphones pointed my way.
“Will you tell us your name?”
“Is it true that privacy concerns are the sole reason for keeping your identity secret?”
“Do you work for the coalition?”
“Did you really fall in love with the Kealan during one of his official visits?”
“Do you find the Greys sexy?”
“Do you think it’s morally acceptable to sleep with the enemy?”
The questions hurled at me sharpened the reality of my impending doom, with some hitting me like rocks of judgment from the crowd.
Trevin and Barbara flanked me at the entrance to the church.
“Breathe,” Barbara whispered, taking one of my elbows as Trevin took the hold of the other.
With smiles practiced to perfection, they walked down the aisle, tugging me along.
Anxiety was rapidly growing into all-consuming panic once again, urging me to scream, run, fight someone, everyone . . .
‘Fuck them all.’ Trevin’s words came to mind, along with the tone of defeat and helplessness they had been said with.
I swept the church with my gaze. Row upon row of high-profile guests, none of whom I had ever met in person. The Coalition Forces in full uniform lined the perimeter, laser guns in their hands. They were clearly ensuring the safety of the proceedings, but they were also my guards, making sure I’d be handed over to the Kealans one way or another.
With the cathedral packed to capacity, I would never make it more than two steps in any direction before being stopped, tackled to the floor, and packed into the alien ship, which must be waiting for me outside by now.
There was no way to run.
Trapped, I felt acutely what everyone had been telling me all day—I had no choice.
Through the white haze of the veil over my face, I spotted a person dressed in the formal uniform of the coalition at the altar, the one who must have been chosen to conduct the ceremony. Reluctantly, I slid my gaze to the large, dark figure towering to the right of him.
My groom.
My heart seemed to skid to a complete stop, and my steps halted as my knees went weak.
“Deep breath, Isabella,” Barbara urged me as she and Trevin nudged me to move ahead, towards the figure draped in black.
He stood with his back to me. His cloak was made of some sort of material that seemed to have absorbed all light completely, making him look like a black hole against the lustrous interior of the church.
Up close, he appeared even bigger than I expected. Taller. The black cloak clung to his wide shoulders.
Further to the right, I noticed four more of them standing silently, side by side, hoods obscuring their faces, leaving but slivers of pale chins visible.
A shiver ran down my spine when Trevin and Barbara positioned me next to the figure in black and then left my side. I was literally being given away to him now.
The official started the ceremony. Barely listening to the words he said, I still noticed that the speech had been shortened. He didn’t invite anyone to voice their objections to the union. The most essential part of the whole ceremony, where the couple say their ‘I do’s,’ had also been cut.
Like me, the Kealan remained silent through the whole ceremony, letting the official read his part.
At the words ‘with this ring’, the motionless black figure at my side stirred, the folds of his cloak shifted and a hand emerged from their depths, holding a slim wedding band of gold.
I stared at his hand. In the bright light of the church, it appeared absolutely white, like that of a marble statue.
With his other hand he found mine. I’d expected the contact to be cold, but his skin felt warm, his hold firm.
Watching him slide the ring on my finger almost choked me with the finality of it all.
“I don’t want this,” I whispered, repeating the same phrase I had said to everyone that day, without anyone listening.
“The choice is neither yours nor mine,” came from the inside of the hood.
I snapped my gaze up. All I could see in the shadows of the hood, though, was the strong chin, unnaturally pale, just like the hand.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the official announced brightly.
The Kealan turned to the exit, my hand still in his. The other four joined us on our way out.
Organ music started to play. It was replaced by some symphony from a classical quintet when we stepped outside.
People threw white rose petals over us.
I believed I spotted a flock of white doves being released, too.
Someone with a michrophone rushed up to us, but the cloaked figures shielded us from both sides. The guards from the Coalition Forces shoved the reporters away quickly.
My head swam. My vision blurred by the veil over my face.
The only thing that felt real was the warm, firm contact of his hand holding mine. And I followed its guidance down the wide, seemingly endless stairs out of the church.
Then my attention was fully absorbed by the dark disk-shaped craft descending from the sky to the plaza in front of us. It hovered about a metre or two over the ground as a side of it literally seemed to melt. The solid material of the hull liquefied and dripped down, creating an opening and forming stairs that extended to the cobblestones at our feet.
One of the dark figures at my side ascended the stairs then someone nudged me from behind, prompting me to follow. Only then I realized that no one was holding my hand anymore, and I had no way of telling which one of the cloaked shapes around me I had just married.
Without sparing so much as a glance at the people outside—there was no one I knew or would miss, anyway—I gathered my skirts and focused my attention on navigating the smooth metal steps without tripping in my heels.
Chapter 4
“WELCOME,” ONE OF THE aliens greeted as we all took our seats that lined the walls of the circular interior of their craft. As soon as I sat down, a flexible strap extended from the side of the seat and stretched across my lap, keeping me in place, as if I wasn’t trapped already.
Somehow, I understood what he said, although I was certain the words were not spoken in English or Italian, the two languages I knew.
I realized that the only sentence my now-husband had said to me at the altar was also spoken in the same language. Although, I couldn’t immediately confirm if this was him talking to me now.
“I am Professor Iar Ricread,” the alien across from me introduced himself.
Raising a pale hand, he slid his hood back, exposing his face.
I hurriedly swept the annoying veil off my head, ripping the whole thing out of my hair-do—the comb, tiara, and all.
With the tulle gone, I could see clearly again.
I didn’t even make an attempt not to stare, taking in every sharp feature of his pale face. In the soft yellow lighting inside the aircraft, his skin had a warm glow, making it appear less gleaming white and more alive.
His eyes were the most striking. Huge, the shape of wide almonds, they took up almost one third of his face. Completely black, they had no visible pupils or irises, no eyelids either. Every time he moved his head, though, I noticed a hexagonal web of iridescent lights glimmer through their black surface.
“I am glad to have you with us,” he said, not hiding from my scrutiny.
I sensed a slight movement of the craft and assumed we were now airborne.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, my voice husky. With the tension crushing me all day, my patience stretched thin, I had no time for pleasantries.
“To your new home,” Professor Ricread replied evenly and added, “We skipped the wedding feast. You must be hungry.”
The floor in the middle of the cabin rose between us, forming a circular table with a round container sliding up in front of me and a smaller one that seemed to have water inside it.
My throat parched, I opened the water container quickly and drank most of its contents greedily, trying not to spill most of it as my hands shook uncontrollably.
The alien at my right, still completely out of sight behind his hood, opened the lid of the other container revealing a green salad, and silently handed me a narrow, dark-grey utensil.
“Eat, please.” Ricread gestured at the food in front of me. “There will be no time for dinner when we arrive.”
“Why?” I took the fork-like utensil but couldn’t even attempt to eat. With my throat tight as it was, I doubted I could swallow any food, and with the way my hands shook, I didn’t think I could even spear a leaf. “What do you want with me?”
“Only what all humans traditionally do after a wedding. I would like you to consummate your marriage tonight.”
His words seized me with shock. The fork fell out of my weakened fingers and hit the table with a loud clank. I should have guessed their intentions—the wedding, the waxing, the ‘biological criteria’ I must have met during my last medical exam . . .
“Are you . . . my husband?” I blinked, swallowing hard.
“No. I represent the interests of all the Kealan race in this matter. Your marriage and its outcome hold importance for all of us.”
The other aliens present had made no attempt to either talk to me or even lift the hoods off their faces, remaining silent and motionless like statues.
“How?”
He leaned back a little, the hood framing his angular face not allowing me to see whether or not he had any hair. Unlike the thin, narrow chins and sunken cheeks of the grey aliens in popular culture, though, Ricread had a well-defined, strong jawline and high cheekbones, making the shape of his face closer in appearance to that of humans.
“We have some time before we arrive at our station at Antarctica. I may as well share some of our background with you since you are a citizen of Keala, now.”
Drawing in a lungful of air, I nodded silently.
“We are a strong, intelligent, and beautiful race,” he said with pride that bordered on arrogance. “For the past many decades, however, our numbers have decreased, due to a drastic drop in the fertility rates.”
“You’re going to breed me?” The idea sounded as appalling as it was terrifying.
“Right now, I am sharing the tragic situation of my people with you.” The indignant rebuke in his voice failed to offend or embarrass me—concern about my fate had taken over all my other emotions. “Our birth rate has been at zero for years,” he continued. “With the last live birth registered a decade ago, we have not achieved a successful pregnancy between two Kealans since. I’ve dedicated myself to searching for a way to reverse the situation and prevent the extinction threatening us. By now, Kealan females have a considerably smaller egg reserve compared to humans. The quality of the remaining ones has also been compromised—”
“So, you want to use my eggs instead?” I interrupted him, fighting a new surge of panic at the thought of the many ways that could be accomplished—from bloody and gory to painful and cruel.
“It is definitely a part of it.”
“Through . . . surgery?” My hand went to my stomach.
“I’m afraid surgical methods wouldn’t help us. What humans call ‘in-vitro fertilization’ is no longer a possibility for us. The sperm of Kealan males has weakened to the point that it is unable to survive outside of their bodies, no matter how hard we try to replicate the environment for it by matching the temperature and other physical parameters.”
“Hence the need for the consummation . . .” I exhaled as a chilly feeling of dread tightened around me.
“Exactly.” I couldn’t read his facial expression, his eyes remained completely unchanged—unblinking, but the trace of satisfaction in his voice was unmistakable. “I’m glad you understand.”
“Not entirely. Why me? There are billions of people on Earth.”
“We had identified you as one of the potential subjects about a year ago, however, we narrowed it down last week. You are the only one.”
“Well,” I huffed nervously, sarcasm slipping in my voice. “Maybe you shouldn’t have exterminated a whole bunch of people nine years ago? What if there were other matches among those you killed in places all over the Earth when you first invaded us?”
“There were none.” His tone remained even, unremorseful about the destruction they had caused. “Our Group tested the population of those areas excessively during the preliminary studies conducted on Earth long ago. I reviewed the results before our coming here. None of the humans tested then or after turned out to be a good match to the male subject of this experiment.”
“Who is he?” I glanced around the circle of black cloaks. None of the aliens inside them had rushed to claim the honour.
“He is the last known Kealan male capable of producing viable sperm with proven results.”
“How romantic,” I deadpanned.
“We can’t afford romance, Isabella,” he retorted coolly. “Our race is facing extinction.”
“Professor . . . Ricread,” I struggled to accurately reproduce the sounds of his name. “We are entirely different species. Everyone knows that it is impossible to breed dogs with horses.”
“But it is very possible to breed horses with donkeys, isn’t it?” He tilted his head in a rather human way, gazing at me with those huge, unblinking eyes that made my skin crawl with unease. “Mules, I believe, you call their offspring.”
“Mules aren’t capable of reproducing.” I remembered seeing some information on that in one of the many books I had read during those late-night quiet shifts at the store. “Also, breeding horses and donkeys works because they share the same ancestor, I believe.”
Ricread nodded with what seemed like approval. “We have determined that humans and Kealans have just enough genome similarity for us to make the interbreed
ing between you and our male subject possible—with some intervention on our part, of course. The reason for the similarity does stem from the fact that humans and Kealans share a common ancestor.”
“How is that possible?”
“We are not indigenous to Keala. Evidence has been found that our ancestors were abducted from Earth, with the first abductions possibly happening hundreds of thousands of years ago.”
“By whom?”
“Another alien race who had mastered interstellar travel way before Earthlings even discovered fire. We believe we were a part of their own experiment when they brought early humans to Keala and gave them just enough to survive, choosing to observe our development from a distance. Just the way the early humans on Earth had been watched by them, too.”
“Where are they now? Still watching?” All of this felt surreal, and I half-expected to wake up any moment.
“We have reason to believe their entire civilization disappeared as a result of some global tragedy that took place fairly recently, possibly less than two to three thousand years ago. We have firm evidence of their presence on Earth during the time of the ancient Egyptians.”
“You do? What evidence is that? The pyramids?”
“It doesn’t matter at this point, Isabella, does it? What’s important is that Kealans share a large portion of DNA with humans. The physical differences between our species are attributed to evolution in different environments and to the small traces of the DNA of that extinct alien race spliced into ours during the early stages of our development.”
“So, you are aliens who came from Earth?”
“Yes, technically, we are. And I have determined that interbreeding between our species will be possible. We only have one male subject and, so far, only identified you as his possible match. I was hoping for a few more when we came here, but I’ll work with what I have.”
“I don’t think two people are enough to continue the species,” I argued, in desperation. “I don’t know any specific research on this, but isn’t there inbreeding to be concerned about?”
Experiment Page 3
