by Maia Starr
“Why don’t you take this, then, and I’ll make you something to eat.”
I offered the camera to her, excited to see her face light up the way it had the night before. But she grabbed it without even looking at it and went into the common room, where she flopped herself into a seat and dropped the camera onto the floor.
For some reason, I was immediately filled with rage.
“What is wrong with you?” I growled, tearing into the living room and lifting the camera from the floor and stuffing it back in my bag. “Why are you acting this way?”
“What way?” Alex protested, her voice unattractively high-pitched.
“You’re acting like…like…”
I grasped for the words to describe how she was making me feel, but came up short. What was the point of trying to communicate with a human anyway? Maybe everybody else was right, and they were just lesser beings.
“Whatever,” Alexa grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.
I was half-tempted to slam the camera down to the ground and let it fall to shatters. But I had to control my temper.
“Get out of my sight,” I said coolly.
“What?”
“You heard what I said. Get out of here before you regret it.”
Alexa’s eyes grew wide, and she shot off the couch and into her bedroom. The door hissed shut behind her, and I sighed, clenching my fists tightly. What the hell was going on with that female? Whatever it was, I hoped she would get over it soon.
***
“You’re home!”
I whipped around with my fists drawn, ready to attack the next person who snuck up on me.
“Easy,” Temal said, a bemused grin on her face. “I’m just here to clean up a bit and make your stupid female something to eat.”
“She said you haven’t been coming around,” I said, raising an eyebrow at her. “I think not eating for a while makes her act strange.
“I don’t think that’s what makes her act strange,” Temal said mysteriously, brushing past me and walking into the kitchen.
“Maybe you’ve been right all along,” I sighed, leaning against the table. “What if humans really are just too inferior to try to get along with? I’m sorry for snapping at you before.”
Temal smiled. “It’s nothing. Thank you for not firing me.”
“Well I still might if you keep neglecting to feed my human when I’m gone,” I said sternly. “She’s acting really strange. Almost like a different person.”
“Actually…”
Temal trailed off and grew silent.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but I’ve seen something kind of strange. You know, you wanted me to feed your human. Not somebody else’s.”
“What? What are you talking about?” I asked, now sufficiently confused.
“That girl in there? That’s not the Alexa I met before. It’s a different Alexa.”
Now I was convinced that Temal was either messing with me or that she was just going insane.
“What are you talking about?” I exclaimed. “Stop trying to joke with me. You know it’s inappropriate.”
“I’m serious! There are two of them! And they look exactly the same.”
“I don’t understand…”
“I didn’t think so. I looked it up. It’s a phenomenon that happens mostly to humans. Their bodies are so inefficient, I swear. They—”
I glared sternly at Temal and she cleared her throat. “Anyway, they’re twins. I saw one of them take off to Zod’s house. So of course I followed her. I didn’t want to find out she was interested in Zod, of all people. That would dishonor you. But she was there talking to the twin. The twin I guess was distressed about Zod, so the other one took her place. So you have the other one right now.”
I slunk down into the chair beside the table, anger once again curdling in my breast. What was going on? What did all of this mean?
“I didn’t know whether you would be back home yet or taking care of paperwork and things like that at the palace, but I thought I would come back and check. It’s honestly bizarre. The female Zod has looks just like yours. And I’m not just saying that because I’m being racist. There’s something weird going on here.”
I was silent for a moment, summoning the image of Zod’s human. She had looked a lot like Alexa. But I thought that it was tactless for me to say so.
“Alexa!” I called finally. There was no movement, and so I shouted it again. “Alexa!”
I heard the bedroom door hiss open, and soon Alexa was standing in front of me.
“What?” she asked glumly, fixing a dark glare on me.
“Are you a twin?”
Somehow, the color of her skin turned chalky white, and I raised a brow at her menacingly. “Answer my question.”
“Well, I knew you would end up finding out eventually,” Alexa said with a shrill laugh. “Yeah. My twin is here too. Weird, huh?”
“Did the two of you switch places?”
“Umm…”
“Alexa!” I growled, my hearts palpitating quickly in anger.
“All right! Stop yelling, jeez. And my name’s not Alexa. It’s Samantha. All right? So just…stop calling me that.”
My eyes widened as I did everything in my power to control my temper. I could feel the delight rolling off of Temal, who was watching the whole spectacle in the background. As annoying as it was, it felt like she was the only person I could trust now.
“So that wasn’t you last night?” I exclaimed.
“Last night?” Sam said, raising an eyebrow suggestively at me. Another wave of fury washed over me, and I started toward her with my hands balled into fists.
“She’s just a human,” Temal said, gripping my shoulder tightly. “Let it go.”
I seethed at Samantha, but I knew Temal was right. There would be no good in harming the human. What I needed to do was talk to Alexa. Now.
***
“Commander?” Zod asked, rubbing his head. He must have been nearly as hungover as I was, though I hadn’t seen him at the bar. Rumor had it he had disappeared early to speak privately with Supreme Leader Aloitus and hadn’t been seen for most of the duration of the event. Though he did apparently leave with an extra pile of money.
“Zod, I need to speak to you.”
I forced my way into Zod’s house, and spotted Alexa immediately. Her eyes widened, and she did her best to hide her face, but not before I saw a deep purple bruise forming on her cheek. What had Zod done to her?
“What about?”
As angry as I was at the humans, would it really do any good to bring Zod into this? If even I felt betrayed enough to raise my hand to a female, what would a man like Zod do with the information?
“I…I was thinking about what we should do the next time we go to Kalron.”
“Kalron? Commander, leave the strategizing to the men whose job it is to maintain order,” Zod said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “I am not feeling up to discussing work. We have the day off, remember? Why don’t you go enjoy yourself for once instead of being such a tight ass all the time?”
I searched my mind for a response that didn’t involve turning Zod into a living pretzel, and once I finally had it, I smiled patiently at him.
“Of course. Good day to you, Captain. Thank you for your time.”
I bowed deeply, and glared at Alexa. She caught my eye, her eyes frantic, and I whipped around, turning my back on her icily. I left Zod’s home feeling worse than I had before I had seen Alexa. What was I going to do?
***
“Thanks,” Samantha said, stuffing her mouth full of food and grimacing as she swallowed. “It’s been way too long since I’ve eaten something. Why don’t they make the labels of your food stuff a little more human-friendly?”
“Why don’t you make an attempt to learn to speak and read Thressl’n, now that you’re stuck living here?” I retorted darkly. It took all I had not to unleash my temper
on this human, especially knowing what kinds of tricks she was capable of pulling.
Samantha shrugged and continued eating.
“I need you to switch back with Alexa,” I said as she chewed. “As soon as you possibly can.”
“But why? I don’t like Zod. He has bad breath. And he’s cranky all the time.”
“Because I need to talk to her, and if Zod finds out about this, all of us are going to be in serious trouble. Do you understand? The Supreme Leader is close to this man, and if we piss him off, it’s going to be my head. And who knows what will happen to you and your sister if things get out of hand? He’s already hit her since the last time I’ve seen her.”
“What? He hit her?” Samantha seemed genuinely shocked. “He never hit me before!”
“That…is shocking,” I grumbled, clenching my fist under the table.
“Well if he’s gonna go and hurt my sister like that, then I guess I’ll switch back. He’s always been sweet to me. It’s a little gross, really, but I’m used to him.”
“Will you be able to switch with her without being detected?”
“Sure,” Samantha exclaimed cheerfully. “We already did it once, remember?”
I sighed. “Need I remind you that you were, in fact, detected? Which is why we are having this conversation right now. That makes sense to you, right?”
Samantha glowered and nodded, taking another bite of the food she allegedly hated.
“Great. I will arrange the switch this time. I will find out when Zod is working and escort you to his home. You are not to tell him anything about the switches or your twin. When we arrive at his home, we will act like it is a social call. But when I leave, I will be leaving with your sister. She has a lot of explaining to do.”
Samantha eyed me curiously, but mercifully said nothing else. If this was going to go right, she would have to keep her mouth shut.
Chapter 7
Alexa Thomas (Investigative Journalist)
“Sam! What are you doing here?”
“Surprise,” Sam said with a nervous laugh. My eyes widened when Chaz’z guided her roughly inside of Zod’s abode.
“I knew it,” I sighed, squeezing my eyes closed. Ever since Chaz’z had been to Zod’s home the week before, I had been worried that he found out our secret. But I thought that he would come for me sooner, or make a scene with Zod. “You told him.”
“Well, one of you had to!” Chaz’z exclaimed. “What would have happened if Zod found out first? Do either of you have any idea what kind of trouble you could get into? He has the Supreme Leader on his side! All of us could be killed for this!”
I glowered at the floor. It wasn’t bad enough that I had been assigned to the worst man ever to exist in any stage of the universe’s life; I also had to have this happen.
“I’m sorry. I tried to tell you the night that—”
“I don’t want to hear any of your lies, Alexa. If that’s even your real name!”
“It is,” Samantha said cheerfully, glancing up from staring at her fingernails. “Her middle name is Anne.”
“Shut up!” I exclaimed to my twin. “You think Gayle is much better?!”
Sam stuck her tongue out at me, and I glowered, ready to strangle her with my bare hands. Living with Zod again had brought me to a level I never wanted to be in.
“There is only one way the two of you can make up for this without me turning you in to the Supreme Leader myself,” Chaz’z said, his eyes flashing at me. I felt a chill as he stared hard at me. He was much more angry with me than he was with Samantha, and I didn’t have to try very hard to see why.
“What do you want me to do?” I whispered, unable to meet his eye any longer. There was no use in trying to explain.
“This,” Chaz’z said, throwing something hard at me. I grimaced when it hit my shoulder and picked it up. It was the camera. “I need you to use this while you’re here.”
“What? I thought you said she was leaving with you!” Samantha whined. “I thought I’d get to stay with Zod. You’ve been such a cranky ass lately.”
“Well, I had a change of heart. I was thinking over the past week, and this is the only way that I will succeed. If you do not do your part in helping me uncover the scandal, then you are useless to me. Is that clear?”
His words stung more than anything I had ever endured before, and I squeezed my eyes closed as hot tears involuntarily fell to the floor.
“Do not manipulate me with your human emotions, female,” Chaz’z said, grabbing Sam’s arm and leading her toward the door. “This is your life at stake. You had best think twice before crossing a man like me again. I am Commander of the Fleet. You have no clue what I am capable of.”
I held the camera tightly, unable to speak. Before Chaz’z disappeared out the door, he turned his cold eyes on me one last time.
“I will be back soon for your progress. Do not disappoint me.”
“Okay,” I whispered weakly.
Sam cast me an unhappy look, and I shook my head in defeat. There was no way to fix things now. What had we done?
***
A few hours later, Zod returned to the house, and furrowed his brow.
“Was somebody here?” he asked suddenly.
“A commander and his female stopped by, but they left when they saw you weren’t here,” I said.
“I see,” Zod said. “Must have been Wyl’es. He’s been anxious to get to work on our next strategy. Was it the same guy who dropped in before?”
“Yes,” I said. In fact, Chaz’z was the only visitor I had ever seen to Zod’s home, other than his elderly housekeeper, of course. It was kind of sad in a way.
“He’s just going to have to get off his high horse and talk to the strategists themselves. I don’t know why he thinks it’s so important to talk to me about it.”
“I’m sure it’s because you are the most powerful of all of them,” I said smoothly. Stroking the ego was a great way to get Zod to open up about his exploits. Perhaps I would be able to get information out of him that way.
“Yes,” Zod agreed, smirking. “I’m excited about the progress we are making. Of course, the Vellreq may get in the way of our plans, but that is no matter.”
“Are the Vellreq those ugly guys that tell us what the weather is going to be like?” I asked, thankful for my dead-on Samantha impression.
Zod cackled. “Yes, dear.”
“What plans do they want to get in the way of? Can I help?”
“Oh, I’m afraid you would just get in the way,” Zod said, waving his hand dismissively at the thought of getting Sam involved. At least he had some common sense. “Besides, it’s far too dangerous. We’re competing for the resources on Kalron, the place I told you about, remember? Where I’m a celebrated war hero.”
“Of course,” I said, smiling brightly at him. “You kick those Kalron asses!”
Zod beamed at me. “Well, I do what I can to liberate inferior races of resources they cannot manage themselves. It is quite a unique skill.”
“How do you do that?” I asked coming closer to him, staring in what I hoped looked like an expression of wonder and excitement.
“Well, while the mooks are out fighting their little battles, I go to the planet and do some delegation.”
“Dele…what?”
Zod chortled and patted my leg fondly.
“I talk to the people of the planet. We try to do things in a civil matter. They are all so terrified of the guns and violence that they would say and do just about anything we ask them to if it means that the war will come to an end. The Vellreq know a lot about using fear to control others. That’s how they got their hands on your little planet.”
“Yeah, things we don’t understand are pretty scary,” I agreed.
“Indeed,” Zod said kindly. “And the Vellreq have been trying to colonize the Kalron long enough that they are just sick and tired of war. And it works out great for the Thressl’n, because they blame the Vellreq for the disasters a
nd the people being killed. They trust us, not them. And the Vellreq understand this. They said if we colonize the planet and split the resources with them, we can maintain our rule there just as the Vellreq are doing on Earth. Isn’t that fantastic?!”
My stomach dropped. They were working with the Vellreq so that they could take over a planet of innocent people and use their planet for their own gain. Chaz’z wasn’t going to like this. But it was just spoken, there was no evidence I could photograph. I didn’t even have a way to record Zod’s voice. How was I going to get the information out to the Thressl’n masses?
“What’s the matter?” Zod asked, his voice suddenly hard. Apparently, I wasn’t basking in his joy enough.
“I just…I don’t really understand what you’re talking about,” I said, laughing airily. The anger in Zod’s face melted away, and soon he was laughing once again, petting my leg before he stood up.
“That’s all right, human. There is no need for you to understand. You will be safe so long as you are mine.”
He bowed courteously at me, the first time I had ever seen him bow to a lowly human before, before disappearing down the hall and into his chambers.
***
I woke up late that evening with a start, torn from a horrible dream that involved the wrath of Chaz’z. I had been begging him for forgiveness, and suddenly he had turned into Zod and was striking me until I was cowering in the corner. I was trembling when I awoke, and quietly slipped out of the huge bed I shared with Zod.
Right from the very beginning, Zod had insisted I sleep in the bed with him, but it seemed that he had little to no interest or understanding in sex and hadn’t tried anything unseemly with me. It was bizarre, as if the only way he got himself off was through violence. Or, perhaps, he was getting to like Sam enough to respect her boundaries.
Whatever the case, he was surprisingly courteous with me in that regard. He seemed simply to like having the company of a woman who adored him and praised him at every turn.
I had never felt more terrible in my life. My chest contracted in pain every time I thought of Chaz’z or remembered the intimate moments we had shared. I couldn’t blame him for being so angry. After all, I had betrayed him. I had lied. I could have told him the truth from the get-go, but I hadn’t. And then, when it counted the most, I had failed.