Colliding Skies

by Debbie Zaken

  He stood motionless, like a statue. His eyes pinned on the two agents, as if he were unaware of my presence.

  “Okay, Sanchez, you’re on,” Agent Two told Agent One.

  “Lieutenant Daniels, I want you to extend both hands out in front of you and open your palms slowly,” Agent Sanchez said. “I’m going to drop my weapon and walk to you.”

  Lieutenant Daniels stared, like he hadn’t heard a word, but did as he was told.

  Agent Sanchez shot a look at his partner whose shiny, black gun was still pointed at Lieutenant Daniels’ head, and dropped his own weapon. It hit the grass with a low thump. He moved to where Lieutenant Daniels stood.

  As if coming to life, Ethan took a sharp intake of breath. His body leaned into mine, until our shoulders brushed. A jolt, like a static shot ran through my arm. I gasped and he pulled away, leaving my arm cold and missing his touch.

  Agent Sanchez chuckled, bringing my attention back to the scene in front. He held up a small green plastic item. “It’s dental floss. Oh, Peter. You were going to blow us up with dental floss.”

  “You know him?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yes,” replied Agent Sanchez. “We did a few tours of Iraq together. And this isn’t Peter’s first incident.”

  “Matt?” Recognition spread through Lieutenant Peter Daniels’ face.

  “Yeah, it’s me, Peter.” Agent Sanchez turned back to his partner, whose gun was still pointing to the Lieutenant’s head. “It’s okay, Mason. You can put down your weapon. He’s not going to hurt anyone. He just forgot to take his meds again.”

  “What happened?” A confused-looking Peter asked Agent Sanchez.

  “It’s all right. I’ll take you inside and call your sister.” Agent Sanchez put his arm around him. Then he turned to Agent Two. “Mason, get your people to secure the perimeter. Make sure there’s nothing out there.”

  “On it,” Agent Mason shot, and marched away barking orders into his earpiece.

  Agent Sanchez came over to me. “Are you all right, Miss Reilly? Would you like me to get your parents?”

  Bad idea. Mom would go all kinds of crazy if she knew I’d tried to stop a terrorist from flossing us to death.

  “No, that’s okay. I’m fine,” I said.

  Agent Sanchez smiled. “You did a very brave thing tonight. Peter’s no terrorist, just a vet with a bad case of PTSD. But you had no way of knowing that. Had it been a real situation, what you did would’ve saved lives. You’d make one hell of a crisis negotiator, Miss Reilly.”

  “Negotiator? You mean like the FBI?” If I wasn’t still shaking on the inside, I would’ve laughed out loud. Agent Sanchez clearly did not know about my crappy people-skills. I loved studying the planets, but the people that lived on this one weren’t always my cup of tea. With few exceptions, like Emily and Taylor, the only people I seemed to relate to were inside books—and now the mentally disturbed, of course.

  “Yes, Miss Reilly.” Ethan cracked out of his marble statue. “What you did was very admirable.”

  Maybe I’d been too startled last night to notice how damn sexy his deep, smooth voice was. My cheeks turned red, not out of anger this time. I cleared my throat, at the same time trying to clear my mind from the distracting thoughts running through it. “Um, thank you.”

  “Agent Sanchez, thank you for the fine job.” Ethan gave the agent a slight nod, keeping both of his arms by his side. “I know you have work to do. I will be glad to escort Miss Reilly back.”

  I shot Ethan a curious glance. His face was deadpan, but his lips twitched slightly.

  “Thank you for making us aware of the situation, Mr. Ethan,” Agent Sanchez replied. “Peter is harmless, but I am concerned that he managed to slip through security. If you don’t mind, I’d rather this not get out to the other guests. No point in causing alarm.”

  “I completely agree,” Ethan said and motioned to me. “Miss Reilly, shall we?”

  He kept his distance as he led me in silence passed the Rose Garden, his eyes staring up at the night sky. With my arms wrapped around my torso, I scratched my elbow, trying to figure out how to break the awkward silence.

  “So I see you recovered from your eye surgery,” I blurted out.

  He glanced at me, his face impassive. “My apologies for scaring you. I wanted to observe the eclipse as best possible. With the military curfew, I did not expect there to be anyone there.”

  “Right. And those supergalactic, hypersonic glasses of yours were simply a fashion statement.”

  Wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes before they smoothed back into his unreadable demeanor. “I put them on when I saw you. I was about to leave but when you cried out about the police, I realized how scared you were. I do apologize.”

  I scrutinized his face, failing to recognize any emotion in it. His tone, at least, sounded apologetic. “Fine. I understand the lying. But why did you ignore me before?”

  He stopped walking and shifted his attention to me. “Again, my apologies. I did not want to alarm anyone about our previous encounter, particularly, not your parents. After all, your father is Dr. Jonathan Reilly.”

  Good point. Mom and Dad would have flipped their lid if they’d learned about my close encounter of the hot alien kind. They’d never let me go stargazing again.

  I huffed. “Okay, I guess that makes sense.” It was rude, but smart. “Were you the one who saw me with Peter? Did you get the agents?”

  “Yes, I heard you talking to him,” he replied. “I wanted to intervene, but he sounded serious and I was afraid that if I approached him alone, it would make the situation worse. I figured it would be better to let your authorities handle it.”

  Had he gone to look for me after I ran out of the tent? His face gave nothing away. Only his eyes flickered as they scanned the sky.

  “Thank you,” I said. “For doing that.”

  His lips tightened. “What you did, Miss Reilly, was brave but foolish. You should have run the moment you saw him. Why did you not?” It was a simple question. No reprimanding tone.

  I followed his gaze up to the few stars that could be seen through the city lights. “Because running would’ve been wrong. Because if it had been real, I would’ve put all those people in danger, my family included.”

  “So instead, you put yourself in danger.” A statement, pure and simple. He leaned in and cloud of electricity surrounded me. “You see that brilliant starlight in the sky?”

  I gazed up to where his finger pointed at a star, larger and brighter than any of the others around it. “Venus,” I said.

  His eyes jerked back to me. “Yes, the Evening Star.” Curiosity—the first real sign of emotion—lit his face. “You have a real interest in the study of celestial objects. I thought perhaps the allure of the Blood Moon is what brought you out last night.”

  His assumption and the way he emphasized the term Blood Moon, insulted me a little. As if I couldn’t really be interested in outer space. “I’ve loved astronomy since I was a little kid. My dad used to take us stargazing all the time.” I did get my geekiness from somewhere. “I wasn’t going to miss a perigee full lunar eclipse.” Take that hot alien dude. “And Venus is always the brightest object in the sky because it’s the closest to Earth.”

  The edge of his mouth curled up. “Then being an aspiring astronomer, you must have realized Venus is at its greatest brilliancy tonight.”

  I tore my eyes away from the handsome but irksome alien and focused on the most glistening speck in the sky. “Yes, it is particularly bright tonight.”

  “And do you know why? What do Venus and the Earth’s moon have in common?”

  At his condescending teacher-like tone, I grinned.

  Jeez, this alien must think I’m idiot.

  “Venus has different phases,” I replied. “Like the moon.”

  “Correct.” His smile widened, and my pulse spiked. Embarrassed and a little angry by my body’s reaction to him, I looked down at the freshly-trimmed lawn. “
It is in its thin crescent phase now,” he continued, “which means it is only about twenty-seven percent illuminated by the sun.”

  “Although there’s less light hitting it, it’s the closest it’ll be to Earth, making it appear brighter and larger. So, a smaller Venus closer to Earth looks bigger and brighter than a full Venus farther away. That is why you can see it so clearly tonight.” I finished the explanation for him.

  “Exactly,” he nodded. “From this point on, it will grow smaller and dimmer as it moves farther from Earth and closer to the sun.” He looked at me intently and his face darkened. “It is not wise to chase a starlight, Skye.” It was the first time he’d called me by my name. His voice wrapped around it like silk, leaving a fluttery sensation in my mind. “Even when they are the closest they will ever be they are already moving away.”

  “Close?” My voice was more a breath than a whisper. “Venus is still like forty million miles away.”

  “Forty-two million,” he murmured.

  “And Celeia? How far is it?”

  “Thousands of light years away. Too far to see with even your most powerful telescopes.” He leaned in even closer and the electricity intensified. Currents tickled my skin, flowing in through my nose and filling my lungs. I could almost taste his energizing breath. Minty, like a York Peppermint Pattie on my tongue. I bit my lip.

  “How— How do you travel so far?” Theories had been tossed around—vessels that traveled faster than the speed of light, folding space, worm holes, but no official explanation.

  “Maybe…some time I could show you.”

  “Show me? Show me how?” I gazed at the extraterrestrial in front of me, fascinated by him as much as by the possibility of space travel.

  The corners of his lips twisted into a devilish smile. “No worries. No alien abductions necessary. There are other ways…without actually traveling. Would you care to see the cosmos closer than you have seen them before?”

  Yes, I wanted to say, but I was so captivated, I couldn’t get my mouth to connect to my brain. My heart was outrunning my chest. The electricity enveloping me pulled me to him like gravity. The energy was so strong, I thought for sure the currents surrounding us were visible. I had a crazy impulse to erase the space between us. He was so close, yet not close enough. Without thinking, I took a step closer and lifted my hand, my palm open in a strange gesture of reaching out to him. He looked at me and then his eyes widened with alarm.

  “Ethan!” The voice burst the bubble of energy surrounding us. We twisted to see the blond male alien, Aaron, glaring at us. “Abigail is looking for you.”

  “I will be right there,” Ethan answered, but his eyes squinted with tension.

  “She needs to see you now,” Aaron hissed.

  Ethan turned back to me and smiled politely. “Enjoy your stargazing. I presume you will be all right finding your way back?”

  ‘Wait. Don’t go. Please,’ my mind yelled, but my lips whimpered, “Yes, thank you.”

  Ethan, however, didn’t move. His gaze fastened on me. This time Aaron’s warning was a snarl. “Ethan.”

  For a brief second, Ethan’s eyes became a whirling blue storm. They settled, and his face turned stoic. “Take care, Skye,” he whispered.

  I stared back in silence, unable to shake the feeling of finality in his farewell. But before I could respond, the two aliens strode away.

  “Goodbye, Ethan,” I whispered to the empty air, fighting back an odd but overwhelming urge to cry.

  When I got back to our table, desert was over. The string quartet had played their last piece and everyone was clapping.

  “There you are,” Mom said. “I was getting ready to send out a search party.”

  “Yeah, sorry. I was uh, talking to someone.” My eyes went to Abigail’s table, but Ethan’s seat was empty. As people filed out of the tent, I searched for him in the crowd. There was no sign of him. The moment he walked down the dark lawn, it was like he’d simply faded into the night once again.

  I SOARED IN the sky, the ground rushing below me, the cool air on my face. My feet touched firm land again, and warm arms wrapped around me. I looked up to see a pair of glowing sapphire eyes and Ethan smiling at me. I held my breath waiting for his lips to come down on mine.

  Buzz… buzz…buzz…

  My phone vibrating on the nightstand woke me up. I grabbed it. A message from Taylor.

  Call me when you wake up?

  I pressed my eyes closed in a long blink. He’d gotten back last night. I’d promised to text him after dinner and forgot. Covering my face with a pillow, I tried to hide my shame. It wasn’t just that I’d forgotten to text Taylor, I hadn’t even thought about him all night. So busy looking at a certain alien, you completely forgot about your BOYFRIEND!

  I shook my head, defending myself from my guilty conscience.

  It was just the nerves of being in a so-called life threatening situation. Or all that astronomy talk. Besides, nothing happened. And you wouldn’t actually have done anything.

  Then I remembered the currents that ran down my skin when Ethan stood close to me, the longing I’d felt to move closer. I sat up in bed and continued my mental criminal defense.

  This is ridiculous. And it doesn’t even matter because you’re never going to see him again.

  Disappointment swept over me as I realized the truth in my thoughts. My phone vibrated again with another message from Taylor.

  Emily and Lucas are picking you up at 10.

  The barbecue at his house today. I’d forgotten about it.

  “Aagh!” Throwing myself back on the bed, I hid under the covers, a fresh wave of guilt washing over me. I needed time before I could talk to him. I got dressed. Downstairs I found Dad, making breakfast.

  “Hi, honey. You’re up early this morning. Want some eggs?”

  I was so distraught when I woke up I hadn’t even checked the time. Eight o’clock on a Sunday morning.

  Great. More time to wallow in guilt.

  “Nah, I think I’ll just have some toast. Mom and Chase still asleep?” I slid a slice of bread in the toaster.

  “Chase is. Your mom went to the gym.”

  We sat at the kitchen table, Dad sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper. The State Dinner for the Celeians was on the front page. I looked at the photo of Abigail standing next to President Soto and the First Lady. Below it was another picture. A crowd of angry-looking people picketing in front of the White House, holding American flags and signs that read: “Earth for Earthlings” and “Celeians Out”. Thank goodness only good old Lieutenant Peter managed to slip through security.

  “So Mom’s working out on a Sunday morning?”

  He shrugged. “When I came back from my run, she was on her way out. Said something about getting into shape. Don’t know what that’s about. Your guess is as good as mine.”

  My guess was that being in a room full of drop-dead gorgeous, inhumanely flawless females from outer-space had been a bit of a blow to her self-esteem. I could relate.

  “Did you enjoy last night?” he asked.

  Last night? Where to begin? Vivid hallucinations, the Dental Floss terrorist or the temporary boyfriend amnesia caused by one gorgeous alien?

  “It was something.”

  “Yeah. Now you can boast to your friends about meeting the President.”

  And him ogling at my cleavage. Clearly we’re in good hands with President Creeper.

  But what my friends really wanted was the lowdown on the beautiful aliens. And so did I, or at least on one in particular.

  Despite my better judgment, I looked at Dad, carefully gauging how open he would be to questions.

  “Dad, what’s it like working with them? The Celeians.”

  Despite my innocent tone, he shot me a look of warning. Chase and I knew he hated being asked questions about his job that he couldn’t answer.

  “Oh come on, Dad. I’m not asking you to reveal top-secret government information here. I just want to know what you
think of them.”

  He put down his paper and let out a heavy sigh. “They’re extraordinarily rational. Logical to an extreme. That can make them astringent and cold.”

  “Cold? You mean like Intergalactic Barbie?”

  He grinned. “I assume you mean Abigail. I guess as the leader, she’s probably the most intimidating. But they are capable of compassion. The other female you met, Naomi, is kind. She’s their medical officer, spearheading different projects with researchers and doctors. I hear they have some amazing things coming down the pike. Cures for all kinds of diseases and hyper advanced lifesaving treatments.”

  “So then, they’re good?” Of course they were good. Ethan had been the one to get help when he thought I was in danger.

  Dad considered my question for a moment. “We all have the ability to be good or bad. It’s a matter of choice and circumstance. I don’t think in that sense they’re that different from us.”

  I remembered Ethan’s neon-blue eyes looking up at Venus. Then I remembered another pair of eyes, sharp and cold like icebergs. Abigail.

  “So you believe they’re here to do good?”

  Again, he took his time before responding. “I think everything so far supports that. We should take advantage of this opportunity. Honey, there’s so much we can learn from them. Their knowledge of astrophysics challenges everything we know about the universe. Their technology is out of this world. No pun intended. And it’s not just space exploration. Bio-engineering, nanotechnology, robotics… it just blows my mind! They’re superior to us in so many ways.”

  At his lengthy explanation, my jaw about hit the floor. Dad never said more than two words about work.

  “They’re smarter than us,” I said. No wonder Ethan was surprised when I answered his question. In their eyes, humans were intellectually inferior, and from what Dad said, they were right.