He passed the device to Penny through the bars of the cage and she frowned as she saw the film was of the city skyline, the cathedral rising in the center.
It was undamaged, the ragged hole she'd seen when they had not landed there yet. But there was something in the sky, falling fast, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. It arced towards the surface like a meteor and, as Penny watched, smashed through the cathedral roof.
"I don't understand," she said, frowning and offering him the panel back, "That wasn't us. We couldn't have done that."
He didn't take the panel, pushing it back to her.
"Please, continue watching."
She frowned, but did so, staring at the screen as the footage changed, moving inside the cathedral, still full of smoke and weird insect cries. The dais where the infant Queen had sat during Penny's trial was at center of a maelstrom of twisted, burning debris.
A vast corpse, unrecognizable to Penny's eyes, twitched and spasmed in its death throes, burned and shattered into a thousand pieces. And then the camera panned over a charred panel still bearing recognizable lettering.
"The Hermes," Penny covered her mouth in horror, tears welling in her eyes as she realized what that wreckage was, "My god, it's the Hermes."
"Bodies were recovered," Tau elaborated as the video continued to crawl over the debris, the scattered technology and belongings, the shattered cryo pods, "Their apparent biology is a match for your species. This is proof that the attack was Human."
"But it wasn't!" Penny sobbed, horror and despair overwhelming her at the thought of the Hermes crew scattered over that disaster area, "It wasn't an attack! They were our sister ship. We lost them during the journey here. A navigational error. We never thought they could have made it here before us!"
"But then why did they attack?"
"They didn't!" Penny put her face in her hands, shaking as she tried to comprehend how this could have happened, "They drifted off course. They must have passed something with weird gravity, or just encountered less gravitational bodies than us. Somehow they ended up ahead of us. Ended up in this solar system way ahead of schedule, before their cryo pods were even programmed to wake them up. With no one awake to correct the course, the ship just kept flying towards the source of the broadcasts..."
"You are certain," Tau pressed, "Certain this other group of humans may not have acted intentionally? Because of the human way of dividing and fighting each other?"
"We were on the same mission," Penny tried to explain, "We were the same group. It was a mistake. A horrible mistake that killed five of our people. Oh, god. Ambassador Nesmith, and Captain Gaugin and..."
She'd struggled accepting the loss of the Hermes before, now she was going through it all over again, but this time with undeniable proof of their death sitting in front of her.
"But could they have changed their minds?" Tau insisted, "Decided we were a threat?"
"Why do you want it to have been an attack so badly?" Penny shouted at him, hurt and confused by his fixation on this, "It was a horrible accident, isn't that enough?"
"It is not," Tau replied, his expression grim, "Because the regency will not believe it. They will not accept that the death of the queen was accidental. They will call you a liar, and they will execute you and go to war with earth."
"But we can prove it," Penny scrubbed at her eyes, pushing the panel at him through the bars, "Look, there in wreckage, do you see that blocky shape? That's the ship's computer. It's made to survive these kinds of crashes and back up all the ship's records so that if there's an accident we can figure out what happened. If we recover that computer and look at the files on it, it will show if the crew was awake or still in cryo sleep, what the flight path was- We can prove it was accidental."
Tau didn't look like he thought it would make a difference, but he took the panel anyway and nodded.
"I will look for this computer," he said, "I will try. But I do not think it will be enough. The regency wants blood."
Penny hung her head, already discouraged and hurting, haunted by images of the dead Hermes crew. Tau put a hand through the bars to touch her cheek.
"I will find a way for you to survive, Penny Allyn," he said, wiping away her tears, "I will not let them execute you or your team."
"Thank you, Tau," Penny clung to his hand, trembling as tears continued to overwhelm her, and leaned against the bars of the cage.
Slowly, he slid his other arm through the cage bars to put it around her shoulders, holding her as much as he could. It was a cold comfort, but Penny appreciated the gesture, lingering in that embrace as long as she could.
Chapter Nine
Eventually he had to let go, and Penny didn't try to hold him back, though part of her wanted to. He left to search for the ship's onboard computer, leaving Penny alone with knowledge of what happened to the Hermes, and what would happen to her own crew because of it.
She kept remembering the last time she'd spoken to Ambassador Nesmith, how excited he'd been about this opportunity. He'd encouraged and mentored her even when she'd been nervous enough to consider backing out of the journey entirely. She wouldn't say he'd been like a father to her, her relationship with her father wasn't that good, but he had been an important and supportive figure in her life.
It had been bad enough thinking he had just vanished into the void of space. Knowing it had ended like this was almost worse. He had probably never even woken up, never seen the planet that would be his deathbed. She wished she could show him even the little glimpses of this place she'd seen. If he could have seen the alien Cathedral before he died, that abstract Notre Dame, so much like what they knew and yet so distant, she knew he would have gone to his grave fulfilled.
The thought of his mission left unfinished ate at her. And now, there was likelihood she would not finish her mission either. Never return to earth with news of this other people, so strange and incredible. The way things were going, the first confirmation Earth received that it was not the only bastion of intelligent life in the universe would be a declaration of war.
She was not that tired, but there was little she wanted to do after learning such a thing except sleep. She curled up amid the pillows of her prison to dream away the lingering, useless hours between now and the next time Tau came for her.
It was near the appointed rest hour before he came back, shaking his head when she asked about the computer.
"Not yet," he said, "But there is hope."
"There's only four days left before the execution," Penny pointed out, her expression drawn and tired despite how long she'd slept, "Hope isn't worth much if it comes too late."
"Four days will be enough," Tau promised, and he sounded so certain that Penny did her best to believe him.
"Tau?" she asked as they sat eating, both of them near the bars of her cage, "Did they choose you to talk with me because you're a mutant?"
Tau didn't answer at first, uncomfortable with the question. But after a moment, he nodded.
"The winged males thought speaking to you was beneath them. They do not think you were worthy of their words. So they ordered me to do it, as I am also beneath them, but uniquely capable of speech."
She reached for his hand through the bars and, to her surprise, he took it.
"You're not beneath them," she said, quiet but fierce with sincerity, "Not to me. You deserve better than their disdain and dirty work."
"I don't regret it," he replied, squeezing her hand, "If they did not see me this way, I would not have been able to meet you. You were the first person to ever ask for my name."
Penny's eyes widened in confusion and he explained.
"Names are precious here. The drones and workers do not have them. The Queen has one, known only to her, which she signs to her secret sacred writings when she sends them into the void, because they are too holy to be read by any living being, and her shells have their mundane names for sake of historical record.
The winged males have them. It's custom to
choose one yourself when you reach third instar. And it is held in reserve and told only to your closest friends and lovers. When I reached my third instar, I knew the life that was relegated to me and that a name was not my right. I chose one anyway, knowing the others would be scandalized to know I had one, and thinking I would never share it with another."
"But you told it to me," Penny said with a smile.
"Propriety would have told me to wait," Tau shrugged, "But no one had ever asked before. I was excited. I am glad I told it to you."
"I'm glad too." Penny rested her head against the bars, a glow of happiness in her chest and her hand still holding his. The lack of a fourth finger didn't make it any stranger to hold.
"So you have lovers?" she asked after a minute, raising an eyebrow, "Or is the translator misbehaving?"
"The winged males indulge in romance," Tau confirmed, "Their lovemaking is only fatal when performed with the Queen. And we see pairs and small bonded groups form among the workers and drones as well that may, ah, stimulate each other, if conditions are right."
"What about you?" Penny asked, knowing it was a bit risqué but curious anyway, "Can you...?"
He looked away and she saw that shade of embarrassment on his face for the first time.
"I can," he answered, "I have been sterilized, as a drone, to prevent my taking part in any nuptial flight, but I am intact. But I have never. I am disgusting in the eyes of the winged males. None would have me. And to be with a worker or drone when my voice can command them... It would be wrong."
Penny nodded, understanding.
"I don't know if it means much," Penny said, "I don't know how humans look to you. But by my standards, you're far from disgusting. You're quite attractive actually. Not like those waifish, bug eyed creeps in the cathedral."
Tau laughed, and she saw he was still embarrassed.
"Their eyes are the same as mine, you know," he said, "The larger lenses are a kind of jewelry. Larger eyes that look like the Queen's are in fashion right now."
"I still prefer you," Penny smiled, amused by his avoidance, "I think a lot of humans would."
He was still holding her hand, and he ran his thumb over the back of her fingers gently.
"To answer your question," he said, "I think humans are quite beautiful. You especially."
Penny felt her heart skip a beat and she looked away, blushing, wondering why it affected her so much to hear him say that. She opened her mouth, not sure what she was about to ask, when the chime sounded and the lights dimmed. Tau's hand slipped from hers.
"Good night, Penny Allyn," he said as he moved to his bed.
"Good night, Aiten Tau," she replied, and saw him smile before he put out the light entirely.
Penny laid in the pillows of her cage for a long while, thoughts a jumble. There were only four more of this planet's days before she would be executed. So why was her heart racing for an entirely different reason?
Chapter Ten
Life in the cage was surreal in a way. She saw everything. She watched Tau wake and dress and eat in the morning and everything he did at night as well, from cleaning his armor to playing with one of the strange, colorful sliding puzzles that seemed to be a primary form of entertainment here.
He gave her one along with the books he retrieved from her team to keep her occupied while he was gone, but she couldn't figure it to save her life. She just didn't think the same way he did.
She sat in her cage at the center of his life and watched him living, unable to touch it or take part except in the most limited of ways. They talked always, and she could hold his hand through the bars, but she couldn't really affect his life. She was at the center of almost everything he did now, and removed from him at the same time.
There was a disorienting sense of dehumanization to it sometimes. She felt like a weird art piece. An object or a pet. A dog in a kennel. She wondered somewhat anxiously if that was how he saw her.
When he'd said she was beautiful, did he only mean it in the way she might say the same thing of a cocker spaniel? The thought hurt her more than she expected it to, but she didn't dare ask.
Time was whittled away a little more every day, and every day she felt both closer to him and more distant, the bars of her cage a gulf between them, and she wondered why she couldn't focus on her swiftly approaching death instead. It still seemed so unreal and impossible. Maybe she was just certain that he would keep his promise to her and find a way for them to survive this. She only seemed to think about how little time she had left when she lay down to sleep.
Only three days left, only two...
Tau returned late the night before the trial. He'd been gone the entire 48 hour day, having left before the morning chime.
"Any luck?" Penny asked, gripping the bars of her cage as he removed his helmet. He looked tired and strained.
"I believe so," he said, sinking down next to her cage without even taking off his armor, "It was very difficult. I consulted with your hive- I apologize, your team, on how to interface with your technology. Once I had access to the data, translating it into a form our computers could work with was... Difficult is putting it lightly. I am lucky to have connections who understand that sort of thing better than I. But I should have what I need to present to the regency tomorrow. It will be enough, I hope."
"I believe in you," Penny said, though her smile was worried, "We'll figure something out."
She reached through the bars to touch him, the chitin of his armor a strange texture that wasn't quite metal or bone. He took her hand, still wearing his clawed gauntlets.
"After the trial," he asked, looking down at her hand in his, "If they release you. What will you do?"
Penny hadn't thought about it yet, and she considered it now, leaning against the bars.
"I guess we'd go home," she said, "Back to Earth. To tell everyone about what we learned here. We might stay here a little longer to see more and collect more data. But I'm sure after what we've been through everyone is eager to go home."
She frowned at the thought and Tau noticed, releasing her hand to touch her cheek.
"You don't seem happy about that."
She bit the inside of her cheek, wondering if she should tell him how little she wanted to go back to Earth. She wondered if he could even begin to understand.
"There isn't a lot waiting for me back there," her voice was halting, unsure, "I didn't really have any friends outside of the team. No other hobbies or involvements. I've poured pretty much my entire life into this. Never really had time for anything else. There's just my parents, and they..."
She trailed off, taking a deep breath through her nose as she thought about her parents.
"You have to understand," she tried to explain, "They weren't cruel. I mean, they could have been a lot worse. I never went hungry or neglected. They never physically hurt me. Sometimes, I wish they had. It would be easier to explain to people than what they did do. Things like locking me in a closet when my test scores weren't high enough sounds dramatic and makes people sympathetic, but that only happened a handful of times. That's not what living with it was like.
The constant, impossible expectations. Thinking you've finally done it only to have them move the goal posts. Never feeling good enough or like you've accomplished anything. The constant tension under every conversation, every moment I was in that house. Like the moment in a movie when the camera focuses on a closed door and the music thins out, only it just goes on forever... Sorry, this probably doesn't make any sense to you."
Tau shook his head, but the concerned frown on his face told her he understood she was in pain, even if he couldn't hope to comprehend why.
"I've never had those experiences," he said, "I can't know what it was like. But I understand not belonging. Wanting to leave a place so much you'll do anything to leave it behind."
"Like join the space program and dedicate your life to getting off planet so you don't even have to be in the same solar system anymore?" Penny a
sked with a small, bitter laugh. Tau's hand was still on her cheek, his thumb grazing her cheekbone.
"You succeeded," he said, "You crossed the universe to leave them behind. I can't imagine many other humans, many other beings at all, have accomplished that. Whatever else, that is an incredible victory."
Penny felt a warm glow in her chest and tears at her eyes. She'd never believed those words before, coming from reporters or boyfriends or her team mates. Why did they mean so much coming from him?
"Are you hurt?" Tau asked, wiping at the tears that gathered under her eyes, "Why are you upset?"
"I'm not," Penny said, her voice breaking as she pressed into his hand, "This happens sometimes when humans are feeling a lot of any emotion. And right now, I'm just really happy."
He smiled, and Penny felt the fiercest need to be closer to him.
"Tau?" she asked quietly, "Can you lean closer to the bars? I want to try something."
He shifted closer as she'd asked, and she reached through the bars to catch the back of his head, the texture of his hair strange and fibrous under her hand. She pulled him in closer still, until she was staring into those iridescent eyes, their faces a bare inch apart, separated by the bars of the cage. But the spaces between the bars were wide enough for this.
Penny closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Tau's. She felt him stiffen in surprise, unsure what to do. His mouth was warm, not at all unlike a human man's, but left her lips tingling like the touch of menthol, with a taste that reminded her of anise. She pulled away and he stared back at her, wide eyed.
"What was that?" he asked.
"A human thing," Penny explained, blushing, "It's a way of saying... You said the winged males have romances together. It's a way of expressing a feeling like that."
Tau blinked, looking taken aback.
"You would share that with me?" he asked, voice soft with disbelief.
"If you want it," she withdrew her hand, a little unsure, "If you could see me that way. In spite of everything, I'm so glad I met you."
Alien Romance: Caged By The Alien: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 4) Page 8