Flying in Spaceships with Aliens (Kilbus Lord Book 2)

by Erin Raegan

  He grimaced to her and nodded obediently, flapping his leathery wings and taking off into the air. Iris grumbled a curse and shut the window before stomping back to the chess board.

  “Shouldn’t we put out the fire?” I asked warily.

  She scowled. “No way. He’ll do it.”

  I shook my head, grinning. Guess we were going to finish our game while a fire blazed a few yards away.

  Just another day in this small Alaskan camp.

  I should have been used to it after the last ten-odd months here. The world might have gone to crap with millions dying—more still—but this little town had been virtually untouched.

  Though, it hadn’t been on the day Mike dragged us here. The only place he could think of to go in our panic. That day, the Vitat had been here. Tall white aliens, they had no eyes or ears. Their bulbous heads were completely identical to one anothers. The only noticeable feature was a wide split that opened up to show rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. Teeth they used to eat people.

  Unfortunately, I’d witnessed that too.

  Iris and I finished the game. She won. As usual. The girl might be a little hyper and she may have trouble focusing at times, but when she could manage to focus on a game, she was impossible to beat. Which sucked, considering all we had to do around here for entertainment was play games and kick around in the wilderness—which was dangerous. We were stuck here. Indefinitely.

  This little town was the only place we knew for sure we could defend. We’d thought about leaving. I’d thought about going home to see our town. To see how many of our friends had survived the invasion.

  But transportation was a problem. Planes had stopped working when the Dahk hit us with an EMP—electromagnetic pulse. Not to hurt us—they were our allies—but to keep us from killing ourselves. I hadn’t believed it when our alien friends told us our own government was trying to blow up our country. What could that have possibly accomplished? It may have killed a few Vitat, but it would have also killed us. It seemed far too stupid to even contemplate.

  For whatever reason the Dahk commander decided to intervene, I was immensely grateful. As was the entire world’s population, I was sure.

  So without a plane, we weren’t leaving Alaska. The aliens could take us, but Sal had declared there was no way he was getting on a spaceship. He blamed his fear of flying, but I suspected he didn’t want us to go home for other reasons.

  That we may go back and find everyone gone—maybe our entire town gone—terrified me.

  And then there were the more pressing concerns. Our world was dying. Not at all surprising after an alien race invaded with the intent to kill all of us. Even more expected after that alien race was attacked by the Dahk and others who sent the Vitat ship crashing into our planet.

  I hadn’t seen anything except for the vague flashing lights in the sky of the fire fight, but I could imagine the damage. An entire alien spaceship, likely the size of a small city or state, would cause a lot of damage when it hit.

  Our weather was completely unpredictable now. Alaska was still cold, but not nearly as cold as it should be at the end of winter. Then there were the earthquakes in the rest of the world, the lightning storms. Tornados and hurricanes. Natural disasters had taken on a mind of their own in a way we’d never seen before. One storm could wipe out an entire state, and they happened often from what little information we were getting from the Dahk. All information we got came from the Dahk.

  And according to them, we had to evacuate the planet. Our new alien friends were rounding everyone up to transfer us to somewhere else. That thought was frightening. It involved space travel. I’d never in my entire life thought I would be traveling into space, but we had to or we would die out here. Becoming extinct.

  We were now an endangered species.

  But it wasn’t just us. It was animals and plants. Some of our most treasured possessions. Art, science, books. Everything you could think of.

  Lahn and Kayd were here for that very reason. They’d been tasked with hunting down human survivors. It was only a few months ago that they stumbled upon us out here, hiding in underground shelters. Now they stayed to protect us from the remaining Vitat that had survived. We rarely saw them all the way out here though. The Vitat did not like the cold. After that initial attack that drove us here, the Dahk believed the Vitat couldn’t handle the cold climate for very long and so we didn’t see too many out here. But still, on rare occasion, a desperate fleeing Vitat would find itself here. It had been absolutely terrifying fighting them off before Lahn and Kayd, now they handled it for us.

  But Kayd and Lahn were also working with other alien units in our area to round up the wildlife. They were being moved along with species all over the world. I knew some humans had already been transferred to the little planet some alien warlord had chosen for us, and I wasn’t looking forward to it being our turn.

  My whole life, I had wanted to travel. But not in space. And not with aliens.

  “Hungry?” Iris asked with a grin.

  I nodded and followed her out of the cabin Bet, Sal, and I used. We were all living in a small cluster of cabins just outside of town. Iris’s family owned them, and when we started to move out of the underground shelters nearby, her family had offered the cabins to anyone who needed them. Jeremy and Holden lived in the one beside ours. Noah, Mike, and Todd—the last remaining guard from the compound, the others had all ran as soon as we escaped the Vitat that day—were on the other side of us.

  There were a few other people in the cabins, including Iris, her brother, and their father. The Dahk and other aliens that sometimes came through stayed in the leftover cabins. It was rare, but we did get a few visitors. Mostly just aliens dropping off supplies while we waited on a very long list for transport.

  They’d also bought us two survivors they’d miraculously found. Landon and Paul were older men who had been living in the woods for quite some time. The only reason they’d managed to survive on their own for so long was the freaky weather.

  They didn’t talk much. Landon was older and sick, but Paul was scared of his own shadow. We could barely coax them out of their cabin most days. When the Vitat first made it our way all those months ago, Paul and Landon had lost their children and even a grandson. Iris’s father—Tibert, a sweet guy and basically our leader—had them both on suicide watch.

  Iris and I walked to the campground’s central cabin together. It was a large building with a galley-style kitchen, dining room, first-aid office, and game room. The campground was older and not much was up to date, but Iris’s brother, Wes, swore they used to get plenty of business before the alien apocalypse.

  Bets was inside with May, one of the women living here, and they were finishing up lunch.

  “Theo, Iris,” Bets called with a smile, “come settle a debate for us.”

  Iris skipped over to the counter and leaned in to smell the cooking meat. Food was scarce here. Lahn and Kayd had several supply drops sent our way, but they’d been coming less and less frequently. We were down to meat and the last of our canned goods. A few more weeks and we might be in trouble.

  All the more reason, Kayd claimed, we needed to leave. But we weren’t ready yet. I wasn’t sure if we ever would be.

  “What’s up?” I asked as Bets handed a container of potatoes across the counter.

  “May here thinks Holden’s been the one sneaking out at night. I told her our boy isn’t interested in that old plane of hers.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Holden wouldn’t leave. Jeremy’s glued to his side.”

  Bets smirked and turned to May. “See? Even Theo says so.”

  May huffed. “Who then?”

  Iris snickered.

  “It’s likely those aliens,” Bets muttered haughtily.

  A few aliens were staying in the area, but we hadn’t gone out of our way to interact with them. Lahn and Kayd were okay—they’d given us no other choice when they showed up. But we didn’t actively seek out alien friends. W
e couldn’t trust them.

  Plus, Noah forbade it.

  Someone had been sneaking away at night though. Lahn had said he’d caught someone slinking through the woods, but he hadn’t been willing to rat them out for some reason. It wasn’t a big deal that someone was leaving, but they were taking some of the last of our medical supplies.

  Personally, I had no problem with sharing. If someone needed medical care, we should give it to them. But Noah and Mike kept inventory of everything and they didn’t think we could afford to help others.

  It was an asinine position. We were all human. We should be helping each other. There were so little of us left.

  But it was odd that they were being so secretive. Why not just speak up if you needed something? Tibert wouldn’t turn anyone away.

  “Why would he even do that?” Bets pushed. “That brother of Iris’s is likely the culprit.” She turned to Iris, holding up her hands. “And good for him. Those aliens need help, living out there in tents.”

  May made an aggravated sound. “We need that medicine for ourselves. And that plane doesn’t even fly.”

  Iris and I rolled our eyes. I doubted anyone was giving the aliens medicine. They didn’t seem interested in anything we had to offer.

  Bets scoffed and looked away. “What are you two up to?”

  “Nothin’, just bored.” Iris hopped a little on her feet. “And we’re hungry.”

  “You’re always hungry,” Bets said with a grin.

  Iris grinned back. “And you’re always feeding me.”

  “Noah said we need to ration,” May grumbled.

  All three of us ignored her. It was true we needed to be careful with what we had left, but Iris and her brother did the majority of the hunting. What little we did have was thanks to them. Lahn and Kayd were hopeless at sneaking up on the wildlife. Not that they weren’t the perfect predators, they totally were—dangerous, deadly, and terrifying—but they had a big old soft spot for Earth animals. That, and they didn’t see the point. They would have loaded us up on a ship to feed us if they had their way.

  But for all their faults, they never pushed us. Kayd said they weren’t going to make us leave until they felt we were in too much danger to stay. A day that loomed closer and closer.

  Visitors

  Theo

  “We have incoming,” Kayd rumbled from the doorway.

  I looked up. Lahn stood at his side, but while Kayd was facing us, Lahn was looking out of the cabin door and into the storm.

  “In this?” Tibert asked, sounding shocked. “It’s comin’ down hard.”

  Kayd shrugged and turned back to the door.

  “Human?” Iris’s uncle, Bret, asked with a low tone.

  Kayd looked back over his shoulder and slowly shook his head.

  Everyone moved fast then. Iris’s brother ran to the gun cabinet and handed out rifles to those who weren’t already carrying. Noah and Mike, already armed, walked to the windows and looked out.

  Bets sighed heavily. “If it were them white ones, you think Kayd would still be standin’ there?”

  I snorted. Kayd and Lahn would have been on top of any Vitat in the area before we were even aware of the threat.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Noah rumbled. “No one’s welcome.” He looked at me. “Theo, you and the girls get in the back.”

  Iris snorted. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.” She cocked the gun her brother had handed her and walked to Kayd.

  Noah glared at me and I sighed, standing. It was easier to just listen than start the inevitable argument that would carry on for hours. I walked with Bets to the back of the cabin, where there weren’t any windows.

  Everyone was tense and silent for a few long minutes.

  Lahn took a short step outside and into the pouring rain. “Kilbus.”

  I sucked in a breath and felt Noah’s eyes on me. Kilbus. That was what Kil was. At least, we assumed. He had never clarified any of that before he left.

  I had that hazy memory though. That memory from a year ago. Late at night in my bed, when he put down his shields and showed me what he truly looked like for the first time.

  He looked just like them. The Kilbus. I knew that now that I’d seen them here and there, coming and going and dropping off supplies. I’d never spoken to one though. I stayed far away. Noah made sure of that.

  They rarely traveled alone. The Kilbus seemed to be one species. Oily skin and a fan of gold jewelry—just like Killian. But they also hung around with so many other alien species so very much not like them.

  The Kilbus were different from the Dahk in that way. With the Dahk, you knew you were getting purple giants with leathery wings, all of them resembling each other but still having their own personal features. The Kilbus were a mash-up of over a dozen different species. Hairy ones, slimy ones, mechanical ones, insectoid-looking aliens. The Kilbus were a plethora of species. It was unsettling. And none of them were friendly. Not like Lahn and Kayd.

  We’d never had to directly interact with the Kilbus because our Dahk protectors knew they unsettled us, but from what little information we were given, the Kilbus leader was in charge of our transfer to our new planet—our survival. The Dahk were involved, but not as greatly as the Kilbus. Lahn and Kayd got their orders from their commander, but he was light years away on his own planet so it was all second hand. Their immediate contact chain led directly to the Kilbus leader. Whoever that was.

  That the Kilbus were coming here now, and in this bad of a storm, could not be good. There should have been earlier contact, warning of their arrival.

  Kayd and Lahn’s tense demeanor didn’t help matters. They weren’t fans of the Kilbus. Not at all. There seemed to be bad blood there.

  Noah, Todd, and Mike stood with Iris’s brother, spread out across the cabin, monitoring the windows. My skin prickled and my bones ached from the tension running throughout my body.

  “Greetings,” Lahn rumbled from the doorway.

  There was another rumble, then two shadows blocked the moon light leaking in from around Lahn and Kayd. Lahn switched to his alien language, and I watched Noah closely. He was the only one who had received the language implant. Not for our lack of trying did we not get one though. Noah had forbade it—as he seemed to do with everything since the day he let the government bust down my bedroom door and take me away from everything I’d ever known.

  It was another short-sighted decision of his. How could we possibly be expected to travel and work with alien races if we didn’t understand what they were saying? Lahn and Kayd had learned our language, but not all aliens were so willing to do so.

  I thought about Kil then. He’d known our language. I didn’t know how, but from day one, he’d understood us. I suspected Leo had never spoken because he hadn’t known English, and Oren rarely spoke. Another dead giveaway that they were different from us. How did we not see it? Had Killian truly been able to infect our every thought? It was a chilling possibility.

  Lahn and Kayd spoke for a time before the shadows disappeared, then Lahn was moving his bulk back into the room toward us.

  “What do they want?” Tibert asked tightly.

  “Calm, human,” Kayd told us carefully. “They crashed in the storm. They’ll be staying with us for a short time until a transport can come to help with the wreckage.”

  “How short of a time?” Noah asked tightly.

  “Mere Earth hours,” Kayd said just as tightly.

  The two didn’t get along. Then again, no one got along with Noah.

  Mike nodded and moved back from the door. “It’s too rough out there to refuse them.”

  Todd glared at Noah and Mike. He was easily spooked. Terrified of everything that moved. Most days Noah kept his gone from him. The guy was that unstable.

  We moved back to our positions throughout the room. Iris and I were by the fire with Bets. Jeremy and Holden played a game at the table with the older men. Noah remained staring out the window, tension bleeding from him.

  I
avoided Noah’s eyes. He was watching me too closely.

  “Theo,” he called roughly.

  I sighed and stood again, walking to Noah. If I didn’t go, he would get angry and pull me up from my chair himself. “What?”

  “I don’t want you around them,” he said low. “I’m taking you back to your cabin.”

  I bit my cheek, glaring at the floor. He always did this. As often as he could.

  I was not to go near the aliens. Lahn and Kayd excluded.

  I was not to communicate with the aliens. Lahn and Kayd excluded.

  I was not to let them see me at all.

  Lahn and Kayd had been lucky. Before Noah had been aware that the Kilbus aliens resembled Oren on the government’s security footage from all that time ago, he didn’t see the danger of accepting help from the Dahk. We had to work with the aliens otherwise we would have been long dead.

  But now that he knew the Kilbus were here along with Dahk—Kilbus that could be Oren or Leo or Killian— Noah controlled my every move. I was to be kept far away from any chance of Killian finding me. I didn’t know if it was fear that drove him, or if he just needed to control every situation and possible outcome, but he couldn’t keep doing this.

  Killian hadn’t come then, he wouldn’t now.

  “You know we’re eventually going to have to leave here with the Kilbus,” I said. “We’ll see them and them me. I’ll even have to speak to them.”

  Noah glared out of the window. “I’m working on that.”

  “It’s not him,” I said quietly. “You know that, right?”

  “Do you?” Noah shot back.

  I looked away, biting back a sharp retort. He threw Killian in my face every chance he could. “He would have come a long time ago, if he was going to. He didn’t. And he won’t.”

  “I’m not taking any chances.”

  I sighed. “He wouldn’t hurt me if he did.”

  Killian had already hurt me enough. I wouldn’t allow it to happen again. Not that it would. He hadn’t come. And he wouldn’t.

  If I told myself that enough, maybe I would stop wanting him to.