“I’m sorry I did not share this with you before.”
I shake my head, my eyes still closed. “You tried to. I didn’t listen.”
I take in several deep slow breaths, and open my eyes, relief flooding my body when I see Daezoth’s blue eyes staring back at me.
“So.” I push myself into a sitting position. “So. You are a scout. An alien scout.”
Daezoth nods, and opens his mouth, but I raise my hand and shake my head.
“Let me finish.”
His mouth closes.
“You are an alien scout, looking for new worlds to invade. And then you’ve found Earth.” I giggle, a little hysterically if I’m honest. “It’s pre-prepared for you, isn’t it? All the humans are gone. You just need to clear out the zombies and you’ve got an empty planet, ready to go. Buildings, infrastructure, the lot, just waiting for someone who knows how to manage it all to step into place.”
“That’s not what we do, Chayya.”
“No?” I glare at him. “Why else would you travel across the galaxy to someone else’s planet?”
“No. I said it before, but obviously that was a lot to take in all at once, so let me say it again. We travel across the universe to learn more about other peoples. My people are xenoanthropologists. We study other alien races, people who inhabit other planets. And we do that by taking the form of those people, and blending in; watching, listening, absorbing as much of the culture as we possibly can before we begin to take part in it, to ask questions, to form relationships.”
I shake my head. “And what about the bonding? You said it was forever.”
“It is.”
“Right. Forever while you’re on the planet, I suppose.”
Daezoth squeezes my hand, his gaze holding mine. It’s intense in the way he looks at me, and I feel a tingle travel the length of my body.
“No, Chayya. For Somtachians, a bonding is forever. We stay on your planet, for the rest of our lives. We never go home, we never see our parents again, or our siblings, or our friends. The information we send out is one way only. No information comes back.”
My heart cracks as I realise the implications of his words. “You never see your family again?”
He’s lost his family, just as I’ve lost mine. His might still be alive, but if he can’t see them they’re just as dead to him as mine are to me.
Daezoth shakes his head. “It’s why bonding is so important to us. It ensures a strong commitment, a space where a new family can be built on strong foundations. When I asked you to bond with me, Chayya, there was no intention from me to ever leave your side.”
“And what about now? We’re not on Earth now.”
Daezoth shrugs. “I have informed my next-in-command that we are bonded. He has no power to break a bond.” He brushes the hair from my eyes. “Whatever happens to us now, happens to us both.”
I clear my throat, almost too scared to ask the question.
“And what might happen to us now?”
Chapter 17
Daezoth opens his mouth to speak when the door behind him slides open, and a tall alien steps in.
Instantly Daezoth is on his feet, dipping his head towards the other alien.
“Sir, this is Chayya. Chayya, this is Commander Avoli.”
The Commander’s eyes sweep over me, and he frowns.
Commander? How am I supposed to address a Commander? I swallow, and tentatively get to my feet, offering him a half-curtsey.
“Commander.”
“Chayya.” He watches me a moment longer, and I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
“Daezoth has informed you of our circumstances?”
I nod, but Daezoth clears his throat. “I have not yet told Chayya our options, moving forward.”
Commander Avoli’s jaw clenches.
“Circumstances on your planet are not as we have experienced on other planets.” He holds his hands behind his back, and begins to pace the room. “I will not linger. Daezoth can answer any of your questions later. The facts of the current matter are that there are other scouts on the surface of your planet, and no way to communicate with them. While we have approximate locations, we are unable to pinpoint their exact position.” Avoli reaches one side of the room, and swings around to walk back the way he came. “You have two choices. You may remain onboard our ship until we have news of all of our scouts, upon which time we can return you to Somtach, where the two of you will live out the remainder of your days. Or you may return to Earth, and continue with whatever survival mechanisms you employed prior to escaping onto Daezoth’s ship.”
I stare at the Commander. “I can stay on this ship and go back to Somtach with Daezoth, or we return to Earth and continue our struggle to survive?”
The Commander stops his pacing and looks at me. “That is correct.”
“What about a third option? What about you destroying all the zombies, so we can attempt to have some semblance of a normal life back on Earth. So we can try and find other survivors, and band together to rebuild our lives?”
The Commander snorts. “We do not have the technology to destroy those zombies. We are a research vessel. We are not equipped with weapons.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “You expect me to believe there are a billion other planets and people out there, and there is no war between them, no violence?”
Avoli raises an eyebrow. “There are races who thrive on war. But we are hidden. We have the technology of a thousand races at our fingertips, and we hide from all of them. It gives us the freedom to move throughout the universe unhindered by the weight such weapons would add to our ship.”
“Hidden?” I can’t help but scoff at his words. “You know all there is to know about the many races out there, but none of those races know about you? How can you be so sure?”
Avoli’s lips press into a thin line as I speak. “If the war-mongering races knew of us, they would seek or our knowledge for their own benefit, but they do not. And if the peaceful races knew of us, they would reach out to make contact. They do not. The conclusion can only be that they do not know of us.”
I snort. How naive. What if the war-mongering races are simply biding their time? But I feel like I’m already crossing the line with what I’ve said, so I don’t intend to say anything more.
The Commander gives a curt nod and excuses himself from the room.
I look at Daezoth. “So we can return to your home, and live what you consider a normal life. Or we can return to mine, and spend our days running from zombies.” I shake my head. “How do I make that decision?”
“Don’t.” Daezoth, reaches out to take my hand. “Not yet. Stay with me on the ship for a while. Let me teach you about my culture, and my ways. Let us enjoy some time together, where we do not need to be on alert at all times. Then, when the time comes, if you choose to return to your planet I will join you, and if you wish to come to mine then we will go there, and I will do my very best to help you to settle in, to make sure you feel as at home on my planet as you once did on yours.”
“I have some questions.”
Daezoth nods and sits on the bed next to me.
“When you said you’d been travelling, you meant through space?”
He nods again.
“And so when you said you hadn’t communicated with your family, you meant for a really long time. Not just the twelve months I envisaged, since all our technology died.”
He sighs. “It has been approximately twelve earth years since I have had any communication with my family, and thirteen since I last laid eyes on them.” He looks down at our entwined hands. “My sisters were younger than me, and they did not really understand the life I had chosen. They thought I would be back for the solar festival.” He shrugs. “I did not understand the life I had chosen. My parents were poor and struggling to survive, and a Somtachian Scout’s family is paid an annual wage for every year that the scout is on a mission. It would have provided for my parents for the r
est of their lives, and for my sisters for most of theirs if I had lived a good life, and sent back many reports and knowledge. But nothing is as was expected on your planet. There is no knowledge to send back.”
“So if we go to your planet, you and your family will be poor again? How will you survive?”
Daezoth offers me a weak smile.
“If we go to Earth, my family will still be paid. They may be paid a greater rate because of the strange times the Earth is passing through, though I’ll only be able to report periodically, by coming out past the Earth’s atmosphere. But if we go back to Somtach, then you will be paid, for your knowledge, and your accounts of the Earth as it was, and of the transition period it has gone through. Such knowledge is highly prized by many, there will be enough to support my family as well as ourselves.”
“Right. So what does that mean? What will my life involve if we return to your planet?”
“We will live in the city, and you will be studied and interviewed by many doctors and scientists. You may be asked to give classes on life on Earth, and teach your language.”
“You know I’m not actually qualified to do any of those things.”
Daezoth shrugs. “You will be taught.”
“Is that what happens to alien women who are taken back to Somtach?”
Daezoth’s gaze catches mine. “Alien women have never made it back to Somtach, there has never been a situation that has required a Somtachian Scout to reveal himself.”
I frown. “I don’t understand.”
“All I have said are theories about what your life might be like. I do not know how you will be received by my people, though we are familiar enough with many many different species from all around the universe. You will most likely be held in the highest regard. The first alien to return to Somtach. We will be famous.”
I close my eyes. I’ve never wanted to be famous. There’s so much information it’s spilling over in my brain, and I’m not sure I can process it all.
“It’s too much for the moment, isn’t it?” Daezoth asks.
I sigh, and nod, allowing Daezoth to pull me to my feet.
“Come. Let me show you the ship, and introduce you to the others aboard. I have heard there is another human female. Perhaps she is someone you can form a friendship with?”
Chapter 18
Daezoth leads me back out along a corridor that looks like the one on his ship, to the hangar. We follow the back wall along until we come to another door, opening to another corridor that runs parallel to the first.
Again, this corridor looks just like the one in his ship, though longer, and with more doors. Daezoth points out the door to our room as we walk past, but really they all look the same to me so I have no way of telling which or which.
Daezoth must see my expression, because he laughs.
“We are the eleventh door on the left, if you are coming from the shared room.” He points to the door at the very end of the corridor.
“The eleventh door. Right.”
Daezoth frowns. “No, on the left, not on the right.”
I’m so tired it takes me a moment to understand what he means, and I close my eyes. “I meant ‘right’, as in, ‘okay’, or ‘correct’. Not as in the direction.”
“Ah.” Daezoth nods.
We continue on, and when we get to the end, Daezoth’s hesitates.
“The other scouts. They will be in their true form.”
I glance at him, gazing into those brilliant blue eyes. “Do you want to be in your true form?”
“On ship it is normal for us to be in our own form. However this is not a normal situation. I will do whatever makes you comfortable.”
I want to tell him to stay human, to keep the form that so attracted me to him in the first place, but a lump lodges in my throat.
My gaze drops to the ground. “Take your own form.”
His shoulders relax, and soon the jean covered legs and sneakered feet turn into red uniform and smooth gold skin. I force myself to lift my gaze, to look over Daezoth in his own form, with his red uniform that moulds to his contours.
His body is still hot. But his eyes are a solid black that just makes me think of all those horror movies about demons, and I can’t hold his gaze.
“Shall we go?” I gesture to the door, and he presses his hand against it so it slides open.
The room beyond is large and brightly lit.
Closest to us is a table, with another alien scout, and the human woman, Kiranda. They’re deep in conversation when we enter, foreheads pressed together, eyes locked.
I feel a surge of revulsion at the thought she really is attracted to her alien in this form.
The alien glances up first, his eyes widening when he sees me, though he returns his focus to Daezoth pretty quickly.
“Daezoth.”
“Vukre.”
Vukre nods. “It is good to see you again.”
“And you. Especially after we said our last goodbyes.”
I think of Daezoth’s comments about travelling with companions, and not knowing where they were or what had happened to them, and I realise this is one of the companions he was travelling with, that when they parted ways they never expected to meet again.
Daezoth turns to put an arm around me, and it takes everything in my power to stop my body from shuddering at his touch.
“This is Chayya.”
Vukre turns his gaze back to me and nods. “It is nice to meet you, Chayya.” He glances at Kiranda. “And of course you have met Kiranda, but Daezoth, you have not.”
I swallow and nod, as Daezoth greets Kiranda.
“Will you join us?” Kiranda holds my gaze as she gestures to the chair opposite.
Daezoth looks to me, and I really wish he’d just decide. My stomach is churning and my chest is constricted, and all I want to do is go back to my normal life, except my normal life doesn’t exist anymore, and so far I haven’t seen any sort of ‘normal’ that I’d like to become my life. I cough to clear my throat. “Uh, sure.”
Kiranda’s smile widens, and Vukre stands.
“I shall retrieve hot drinks for us. Would you help, Daezoth?”
Daezoth nods, and in moments the aliens have disappeared out another door, and I sink into the chair opposite Kiranda, and close my eyes.
“Bit much to take in, hey?”
I shake my head, and open my eyes. “First zombies, then aliens, and then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, shape-shifting aliens. Daezoth hinted about aliens but I didn’t want to believe him, and he looked so human of course I didn’t expect he was actually an alien, and then—”
I hiccup, and rub at my cheeks, wiping at tears I didn’t even realise were there. Kiranda moves around the table to rub my back.
“It’s okay. Let it out. We’re all in this shit together.”
I sniff. “You don’t seem so shocked.”
She laughs. “I’ve had a while to get used to it.” She catches my gaze, her eyes kind, and I feel myself relaxing, at least a little.
“When I first saw Vukre, he was also in zombie form, and I shot him.”
My mouth drops open. “You what? Did you have a gun?”
She shakes her head. “Just a bow and arrow. But I’d had plenty of practise, and my aim was good. Lucky for him he’d unnerved me by catching my gaze and then walking purposely towards me, so I got him in the shoulder, instead of in the head.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out in one huge woosh. “I’d hate to think what might’ve happened otherwise.”
“You think you would’ve killed him?”
“I don’t know how thick a Somtachian skull is.” Kiranda smirks. “But I’m pretty certain my arrow would’ve pierced it.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.”
“So, you got him in the shoulder. Then what?”
“The shock of it caused him to return to his own form, and then he was too injured to do much, so I helped him back to my compound and cleaned his wound.”
“You helped him?” I dry my face on the sleeve of my tunic. “Even though he was clearly an alien?”
She shrugs. “He wasn’t a zombie, and he spoke English, sort of. I was so desperate for company. And I didn’t want to kill a creature if there was no reason to kill it, you know? I’d killed enough zombies over the previous few months.” Kiranda’s face contorted into a grimace. “And I’ve lost a lot of loved ones to them, too. Seemed wrong to kill Vukre just because I didn’t know what he was.”
I nod. “Fair enough.”
“And then—” She sighs. “Well, then he just turned out to be sweet and caring, and I was so lonely I fell head over heels for him, though I did try to deny it at first. After all, he’s clearly not human.” She glances towards the door Vukre and Daezoth went through, her gaze soft with affection. “But then I realised he’s a person. Just as much a person as I am. And really, that’s close enough.”
As she finishes the aliens come back through the door, a mug in each hand. Vukre gives one to Kiranda, and Daezoth gives one to me.
“I hope you enjoy the flavour.”
I sniff at it hesitantly. It has a sweet scent, so I lift it and take a sip. It’s a bit like honey and cinnamon, and creamy in its own way, too, and I nod.
“It’s good.”
He smiles, his dark eyes shining. “I’m glad.”
I turn my gaze back to my drink and suppress another shudder. How can Kiranda gaze so lovingly into those pitch black eyes?
Chapter 19
We talk well into the afternoon, Vukre and Kiranda sharing their stories, and Daezoth and I sharing mine.
Kiranda had it made, a small community gathering together, everyone with a skill to share to really survive a zombie apocalypse, and they still failed. What hope does that give me, if I go back?
She had a safe place, fresh food growing in the garden, with solar power and hot showers for goodness sake. And yet she still wants to go to Somtach, to settle there with Vukre.
My heart sinks as I contemplate the thought of never seeing Earth again.
Not the bush, not the animals—no more wallabies, or platypuses. Nothing familiar.
Taken by an Alien Shifter: A sci-fi alien romance (Scouts of Somtach Book 2) Page 7