by Tracy Lauren
“Oh my… that’s so sad and tragic Rennek. It’s bullshit. You shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of your father.”
“No, my Kate. It is the way of things. What if traits of my sire did surface within me? What if I had hurt Madreed or my brother or sister. It would be unforgivable. There is little we know about my sire’s people. What if I became dangerous at some point in my maturation process? If an unknown instinct was awoken? This way, young males can be taught and monitored. If there is a problem, no innocents are forced to reap the consequences.”
“I can’t help but hate it Rennek, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to trash your culture or anything, but it’s clear you’re good. You are a good man, with a good heart. Or a good male, with a good alien organ or whatever you guys have.”
“You are sweet, my Kate. You are pure to your core.”
I’m quiet for a moment, taking all this in--trying not to be too judgy. “Are you close to your brother and sister?”
“When we were small we would play. It was a good time in my life, but that was long ago. I was honored when Tennir called upon me to join him in his work.”
“And you just quit your job? You left everything behind to help Tennir?”
“Yes, and my friends did too. It was an honor.”
“Wow. Okay.”
“I take it the ways of my culture differ from yours?” He asks amused, despite the serious undertones of the conversation.
I sigh and think about much worse atrocities humanity has carried out. “Yes and no, I guess.” I smile at him. “I do think it’s weird you just gave up your career. Back on Earth, a career was the one thing I was really searching for. A place that I fit--where I belonged. Something that would be forever… and you just gave up all your hard work and goals to help your brother. No judgement there, it’s just surprising.”
“Kate, you have somewhere you belong. It is here with me,” he tells me and I don’t know how to respond, so I stay quiet.
After some time, his arms pull me closer and I feel his breath even out. He must still be pretty tired and I guess I must be too, because I fall asleep shortly after.
Chapter 19
Kate
I wake up to Rennek putting his clothes on… and I use the term lightly. Dude wears little more than a glorified belt.
“You may continue to rest,” he says when he notices I’m awake. “Unfortunately, I must return to my duties. We are at a heightened alert considering the bounty on us. I am sure the others are ready for their rest cycles.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll get up to and go spend some time with the girls. Bond or something,” I tell him as I sit up and try to straighten my hair a bit. “Is there anything I can do to help out around here? Anything any of us can do? I’m sure the others are bored in their rooms now that they’ve had a chance to get some sleep.”
“I do not care about any of the other females,” he smiles, “but I would be pleased if you joined me on the bridge.” He sits on the bed and pulls me onto his lap so I’m straddling him. He starts kissing and nibbling at my neck. “Mmm, it is difficult to leave your side sweet Kate.”
If this were some Earth guy I had just started seeing I would probably make a joke in response. I’d try to come off as cool or causal or something. But here with Rennek, I don’t feel like I need to do any of that cat and mouse crap. Maybe I’m becoming more mature. Or maybe it’s Rennek. Or maybe getting abducted by aliens just puts shit in perspective, you know? Whatever it is, everything just feels real… authentic. And I’m right there with him--it is hard to leave his side. So, instead of joking I take his mouth in a kiss and we get lost in it together.
After a bit he growls and sets me down on the bed again. He adjusts himself and takes a second to regain his composure. “Join me soon, my Kate?”
“Definitely,” I smile.
He beams one back at me and leaves. But just as the door hisses shut, it hisses right back open again and he wraps his muscular arms around me, lifting me up. This dude is seriously strong. His kisses are hard and full of need. His body feels delicious against mine and I grind wildly against his hard cock, meeting his enthusiasm with my own.
****
Eventually Rennek proves to be the more level headed of the two of us and he marches off to save the day or whatever it is alien spaceship captains do--after I promise half a dozen more times I’ll come hang out with him. Soon.
I think I have a permanent smile stuck on my face as I make my way back to my room. The door opens and I’m surprised to find Vivian and Reagan there waiting for me. Vivian is curled up and asleep on my bed and Reagan is sitting there with a cup of ceata in her hands and what looks like a black eye on her face.
“Reagan?! What the fuck happened to you?”
“It’s not that bad, really. You should see the other guy.”
“No, don’t tell me…”
“Reagan and Allison got in a fight,” Vivian announces sleepily.
“Oh my god! Tell. Me. Everything.” I say squeezing onto the bed.
Vivian sits up and makes room. “Well, you know I went to go talk to her… I just felt like she needed a friend or something.”
“And surprise, surprise she acted like a bitch,” Reagan rolls her eyes.
“It’s my fault, she was trying to push my buttons and I let her. This situation--everything is so scary. I already have all these what-ifs running around in my head and when she and I started talking I just got overwhelmed.”
“How so?”
“Well, my grandma raised me because my parents weren’t around and she got really sick a few years back. Anyway, I ended up taking care of her until she passed.”
“I’m so sorry Vivian, that must have been really hard,” I put my hand on hers.
She forces a smile, “It was. My grandma was everything to me. I just… I just miss her even more now, and I don’t have anything to remember her by here. No pictures, none of her handmade quilts. Her recipes. It’s all gone.” She starts to cry.
“So, Allison started picking at that until Vivian came running out crying,” Reagan interjects.
“What? She was talking about your grandma? What did she even say?” I’m shocked, because it doesn’t just seem bitchy to me. It seems cruel.
“Oh, I’m being dumb! Guys, please!” She wipes at her eyes. “That’s what I tried to tell Reagan. Allison just asked about why no one would miss me and I told her about my grandma, then I started thinking about what my grandma would be going through if she were still alive… You see, my mom had gotten into drugs and it nearly killed my grandma with heartache worrying about her, until one day we got word that my mom had finally ODed.” Her voice breaks again. I look at Reagan, who just looks away--her jaw hard. I don’t know what to say, so I just wait for Vivian to go on. I’m not so sure this is as much about Allison now as it is about what Vivian is going through.
And suddenly I feel guilt filling me. It’s like a pound of lead in my stomach. Here I am running off, having make out sessions with my big naked alien gargoyle, while I have a group of humans--my people--going through the trauma of a freaking alien abduction. These are my people. Humans. There’s all of six of us and we’re probably thousands of light years from home. All we have is each other. I have to be there for them. No matter what.
But, for whatever reason my feelings just don’t resonate with what Vivian’s going through. It’s intimidating to be where we are. I have this deeper understanding of how small I am compared to our galaxy… but I’m not tripping about home or anything I left behind. Maybe it’s because I never had a close bond with anyone back on Earth, maybe it’s because I didn’t really have a place there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not super stoked to be an alien abductee… but I’m okay right now.
“Anyway, I lost track of the conversation with Allison and started talking about all this stuff, then I tried to go back to my room and Reagan saw me leaving Allison crying… next thing you know they’re swinging at each other,” Vivi
an hiccups.
“She was playing you Vivian! She led the conversation there to upset you!” Reagan tells her and though I wasn’t there to hear it myself, I can’t say I’d be surprised to find that Reagan is right. “She’s a bitch who gets off on hurting others. Period.” We fall silent--lost in thought.
“We can’t go on like this guys, we need to pull it together and become a team. Particularly before we end up on this ‘Mother Planet. We have to be united when we face whatever it is we are going to face there.”
Vivian is nodding, but Reagan looks stone faced.
“What?” I ask her.
“You’re siding with Allison on this?”
“Whoa! Let’s not get crazy. I’m not on anyone’s side,” but that’s not quite right. “Let me rephrase that: there is only one side. We are in this together. I’m just trying to think of everyone’s best interest in the long term. We don’t know what to expect when we meet these other aliens and we don’t want any one person causing damage to our circumstances. Look, I’ll talk to her.”
“Watch out for her right hook. She’s stronger than her princess attitude lets on,” Reagan says ruefully.
“Hopefully that won’t be an issue for me. But do come running if you hear me scream for help. I’ve never been in a fight and I’m not looking to start now.” I get up to leave, but Vivian stops me.
“Wait! We didn’t hear your story yet.”
“There’s not much to me. Bad job, crappy apartment. Trying to go to school.” I shrug.
“No, not that,” she says smiling.
“Yeah, we want to hear how you got that hickey,” Reagan asks, clearly trying to hold in her laughter.
“Oh my god! Busted!” I bury my face in a pillow in an attempt to hide my mortification. “Is this weird? Am I weird?” I say without looking up.
“No way, they’re all totally hot,” Reagan says without hesitation.
“And the one with the wings is so sweet to you! I mean, I can’t understand anything he says… but he seems way into you,” Vivian agrees.
“It just feels like I should feel weird about it. I don’t know, maybe it’s because he saved us, but everything with him feels right, we’re just clicking. But he’s an alien! He looks so alien!”
“What about his junk?” Reagan asks, “Is it as alien as he is?”
“Oh my gosh! Reagan, she hasn’t seen his stuff yet! We’ve only known them a few days!” They both look to me to settle this dispute and I do the only thing I can: bury my head in the pillow again. They scream.
“Well, I only got a quick look… but it’s just as big as everything else on them. Like the biggest one I’ve ever seen. And it might have some extras going on.”
“Extras like what?” Reagan arches an eyebrow.
“Like ribbed for my pleasure sort of extras,” I smile. “His whole… happy trail, I guess you’d call it, is kind of ribbed too. Like a washboard.”
“Okay, as long as they only have horns on one head,” Reagan jokes causing Vivian to squeal.
“Oh my god, I can’t even!” Vivian screeches.
We break into peals of laughter and I have to say--it feels so good. I haven’t had this since high school. Girlfriends, I mean. It’s just another thing here on my alien abduction adventure that’s just clicking. It’s funny, I worked so hard to find a place for myself on Earth and I always felt like I was coming up empty. I spend a couple days floating in space and now everything seems to be fitting into place. Hopefully, my good fortune in this impossible situation continues, but I better look around for some wood to knock on, just in case.
We wrap up our girl talk session and I get cleaned up. I’m about the head over to wherever Rennek is, see if I can learn a thing or two about life in space, but I have one thing I need to take care of before I do.
Her door hisses open. She is lying on her bed facing the wall.
“Yeah?”
I came in here thinking about threatening to throw her out of the airlock. But just as I’m about to lay into her, I change course.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask.
She sits up and her face looks as blank and unemotional as ever, the only addition to her bored expression is her bruised lip. “Talk about what?”
“Damn Allison, just cut this ‘I’m too cool to be affected by an alien abduction’ crap. No one cares and believe me, you aren’t coming off as cool.”
“Frankly, I don’t care what your or your little loser lackeys think.”
“Well frankly, no one cares what you think. No one cares what trauma you’re dealing with, because everybody’s got their own. What I won’t stand for, what the rest of us won’t stand for, is you stirring the pot and hurting people, or hurting our chances to be somewhere safe.”
She’s silent and I can practically feel the wall she has built up.
“What’s your goal here? What’s the point of this shitty attitude?” I say exasperated.
“I’m not like you guys. I’m not so unimportant that no one is going to look for me. People will miss me. They’ll know I’m gone,” she says firmly.
“Yeah, okay. You already said that…” but then I notice the unshed tears in her eyes and I start to hear the question in her voice.
I sigh and take a seat. I haven’t been punched yet, so I think I’m making progress.
“You aren’t unimportant. I can’t speak to the life and people you left behind, but right here, right now? We need you and you’re important to us,” I tell her this with all sincerity, but she rolls her eyes hard.
“Look, I’m not trying to kiss your ass. Believe me, I have no reason to. I’m stating fact here Allison. There are six of us and we need to combine our skills, knowledge and anything else we’ve got to make sure we survive this. Who knows what’s going to happen once we reach the Mother Planet? And let’s not forget there’s a bounty on Rennek and his men because of what they did to rescue us.”
“You don’t think we’re safe?”
“I honestly don’t want my brain to even go there, but what if another alien ship attacks and our guys don’t win? What do you think alien bounty hunters will do with us?”
“Well, what’s your big plan? I don’t see you doing anything to change your circumstances.”
“Our circumstances,” I correct her. “I’m going to go to the bridge and I’m going learn as much about these guys, their ship, their culture and maybe even their weapons as I can. You’re strong. Smart too, from what I can tell. Why waste your time and energy lying around like this? We have to adapt Allison. We are here now.”
She hangs her head and the silence stretches on. I’m about to walk out when she looks at me.
“I’m ready.”
“Come on then, let’s be proactive.”
“Fine.”
“Awesome.”
“I was going to die of boredom if I had to sit around here staring at the wall any longer anyway.”
“Look, we don’t have to be friends if you don’t want to, but we need to be a team,” I reach my hand out and after only the slightest hesitation, she takes it. Looks like we have a truce.
Chapter 20
Tennir
I wake up groggy and push myself upright on the couch in my office. I have been sleeping at the lab for four rotations now, ever since I got word about this whole debacle with Rennek. I wait anxiously for his arrival and send prayers to the Goddesses that he makes his journey safely. I rub my hands over my face. I feel responsible for my brother getting mixed up in this dangerous business. I asked him to take this position because I thought it would keep him marginally safer than a career as an enforcer. I also thought it would help to keep him more connected to us, his family. It has seemed the older we get the greater the distance between us gets as well. When I look at my brother, I only see the little boy I grew up playing with back on Mother World. I think though, when he looks at me he only sees all he did not have. The familiar guilt pools in my core.
“Lights.”
“Time for work, I suppose,” I say to no one but myself. I pull on my lab coat over my day old wrinkled attire and grab a protein pack from my desk. Not the healthiest breakfast, but it’ll do for now. I will work to occupy my mind while I wait for word from Rennek and then I’ll eat a real lunch, I promise myself.