"You aren't bothering me, but you do know you aren't really supposed to walk onto the base. If you need something, I'll walk you in."
“I was wondering… An alien’s here.”
"Yes. Rix is his name, I think. He just arrived a few hours ago."
“Why is he here?”
“He brought over some machines.” She bursts out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I feel like a fool because I’m confused all over again. I’ve been told before that I’m rough around the edges, and there are times when I’m just flat-out uncomfortable around people. That’s the case today. That’s for sure.
“Your smile. I never saw you smile before. It was so wide. You want to see what he brought, don’t you?”
“I doubt I’ll be allowed to,” I say slowly.
“I don’t have the authority to show you the machines myself, but I can bring you closer so you can ask someone in charge. It’s the best I can do.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you willing to help me?”
“Why are you acting like it’s so strange for someone to want to help you?”
I just blink at her.
“All I want is for everyone to be happy, to share my happiness.” Jenny beams. “Branden and I are so—”
“You’re marrying Branden?” I ask.
She nods. “Yes. I know you two are friends—”
“Is that the only reason why you’re helping me now?” I grumble, feeling a bit used.
“No,” Jenny says simply. “I’m happy. I want you to be happy and Darryl there.” She points to a guy walking swiftly by. “And Bob. Not Harry, though. He’s a bit of an ass, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
I almost grin. “Okay. Sorry. I’m a bit out of sorts today.”
“That’s all right.”
Jenny chatters about this and that as we walk along, and the deeper we head into the base, the more excited I become.
Until a sergeant marches over.
“What seems to be going on here?” he asks in a no-nonsense tone.
“I was just—”
“This civilian can’t be here,” he says firmly. “She doesn’t have a visitor badge and—”
“I would if you would give me one,” I point out.
He glowers at me before blatantly ignoring me and focusing on Jenny. “Get her out of here.”
“Yes, sir.”
"This isn't a social hour. This is no bring your friend to work day. Do I make myself clear?"
“Yes, sir.” Jenny salutes, and I wait until the sergeant turns around to give him my kind of salute, the middle finger kind.
Jenny heaves a sigh. “I’m not thinking clearly. We can sign you in and get you a badge and—”
“No. Better not risk it today. He looks like he’s on the warpath, and if he comes back around and sees me, he’s liable to pick me up and throw me out like the garbage.”
“He does seem to be in a bad mood.” Jenny grimaces. “I really am sorry. My mind’s in a fog—”
“You don’t have to apologize. I get it. You’re in the clouds. Ready to walk on the moon. I wish you and Branden the best.”
I start to rush away when I notice the alien’s walking about as if he belongs on the base, as if he fits in. No one is giving him a hard time about being here, of course, and I don’t see a visitor badge on him either. Figures. It doesn’t matter what planet you come from. If you’re on Earth and you have a cock, and you do whatever the fuck you want.
He glances at me and does a double-take. His lips twitch like he doesn’t know if he wants to smile or smirk, and he ends up settling on the smirk. Of course. Because he thinks that just because he’s an alien, that makes him God’s gift to women.
I cross my arms and pointedly ignore him, but I have to walk right by him. To my shock, he slides out of my way as I near. I almost figured he would try to block my path.
“Ava.”
Hearing my name on his lips infuriates me. I stiffen but do my best to ignore him and keep on marching along. Who told him my name? Why did he ask around about me? I’m sure that he couldn’t have heard anything good about me.
What the hell? Why should I care what he thinks about me? That’s absurd!
“Rix,” I spit out with a curt nod, still not looking at him. A part of me hopes that Jenny had misheard the alien’s name. Rix. What kind of a name is that?
“You know my name.” He sounds so pleased, almost like a puppy dog wagging his tail.
I stop and glance over at him. Yep, he’s smiling.
“You need to stop,” I inform him.
“Stop what?”
“Stop following me. Harassing me.”
“I’m not harassing you, and I’m not following you.” He tilts his head to the side. “Why are you here?”
“What’s it matter to you?” I narrow my eyes and cross my arms.
To his credit, his gaze doesn't drop. Most guys would've. I might hate it, but I know how to play guys, how to distract them.
“It doesn’t, but you seem upset. More upset than just because an alien’s talking to you. You don’t seem to like my kind.”
“I have no issues with Novans per se,” I start.
“First of all, I’m not Novan. Well, half-Novan. I’m a Kurian.”
“No difference. My issue is more with males in general.”
“Why is that?”
“Do you always ask personal questions to strange women?”
“You aren’t strange, and I’m just making pleasant conversation.”
“I am a stranger to you, and I always will be. Oh, and this conversation isn’t that pleasant.” I turn away from him and get ready to march away.
“You don’t like to ask for help, do you?” he calls after me.
Gritting my teeth, I turn back around. “Look, buddy, I—”
“I have rather good hearing,” he continues. “I wasn’t trying to stalk you or eavesdrop, but I think I gathered that you want to see alien tech? Is that right?”
I eye him. “That is really stalkerish.”
“Is it? Considering it seems like you’re the one stalking me?”
"How can you even say that? When you showed up at my… Just stop." I say, feeling more than a little threatened and put off by this heavily muscular, too-tall male. He's at least a foot and a half taller than I am. I'm five foot. Short. Very short. Next to him, I'm a bug, and he's a giant. I don't want him to know that where we first met is my home.
“I can stop. You can continue on walking and leave and not have a chance to see any alien tech.”
I glower at him. “What is it you want from me?” I blurt out. “You that desperate for sex that you’re willing to pimp out your tech?”
He blinks a few times. “We do think about things other than fucking. I wasn’t thinking about fucking you. If I was, I would be hard. I’m not.”
I can't help peeking, and I'm shocked to realize he's right. He's not hard. Unless he has a teeny tiny cock, and from what I've heard, that's not the case with the aliens.
Flushing, I lift my gaze to his face. He’s smirking again, and I have to admit that I deserve that.
“I can’t bring you to the machines I brought over to your military, your government,” he says, “but I can bring you on board my ship. You can look around, and I’ll answer any questions you have. How does that sound?”
“Why?” I ask suspiciously.
“Why what?”
“Why are you willing to do this for me?”
“Why not?” He shrugs. “What else am I going to do?”
“If you’re bored, I’m sure you could find a woman to fuck.”
He bursts out laughing. “You won’t quit with that, will you?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“You’re right. I could find a woman to fuck if I wanted to.”
I can feel the heat of his gaze, but I refuse to look over. I really need to stop talking about sex
with him, but I can’t help it. He makes me feel all on edge, and I don’t like it. When I’m on edge, I say my thoughts out loud, and everything I know about the aliens is related to sex. I’m not going to talk to him about anything personal, so the only connection I can make with him is about sex.
Not that we will ever have sex.
Not that I’ve ever had sex.
Yes, I’m a virgin. Of course I am. What guy would want to be with me? I bathe regularly in the pond near my place, but I don’t have access to a proper shower. I don’t have a house. I make do the best that I can, but I’m odd, and that won’t ever change.
There was one guy I thought that I could maybe be with. A guy who I thought I could maybe let in. No. Of course not. I’m so seriously jaded that it took me a long time to be able to talk to a guy after shit hit the fan. Not literally. I don’t have a fan, at least not one that will blow on me. All of my fans are built into my machines. They get more love than I do.
The ship isn’t that far of a walk away. It’s just beyond the base. No one is walking around, and we’re all alone. I try not to feel uncomfortable entering an enclosed space with the alien, but he doesn’t do anything to make me feel this way. It’s my own past issues, maybe, but that’s all right. I’d rather be on my toes and be careful and guarded than risk getting hurt again.
Rix gives me a tour of the place, and I eye the control panels, the setup, all of it, and I'm not impressed. Not at all. Years ago, when I was about ten, I sneaked onto an alien ship. It was right when I was starting to tinker a great deal.
I run my hands over the dashboard. Sure enough, there’s a slight divot where young Ava tried to pry a piece off to see what was underneath.
It’s the same ship. The aliens haven’t updated their technology any. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement to the nth degree.
5
Rix
It’s clear from the shining light of wonder and joy in Ava’s eyes dimming to a dull spark that she’s not impressed. She looked so beautiful with her eyes on fire as she stepped on board. She tried to hide her excitement, of course. I don’t understand her, not really, but I think I might want to.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “You don’t seem happy.”
“Happiness isn’t an emotion I ever feel,” she says distractedly, running her fingers along the dashboard. Her fingers stop, and she scowls.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why do you keep repeating yourself?” she snaps. “Do you have a limited vocabulary?”
“No, not at all.” I appraise her. She’s tough. She doesn’t like to have help.
Why do I care?
Maybe because I’ve felt the same way. I’ve experienced a lot of freedom that most Kurians and Novans never had, and I like to push things to the limit. I like to do things myself, to do things my way. If someone gets in the way, look out.
So I can respect that, but clearly, she wants something. She’s after something.
“You can leave at any time,” I tell her, leaning against the doorway to the cockpit, crossing my arms as I appraise her. “You don’t seem to be happy with the tour, and I’m sorry I bothered to help.”
She glares at me. “You brought me here for a reason,” she says slowly.
“Not to fuck you,” I joke.
I shudder as I recall that my dad did that with my mom.
Ava narrows her eyes. “What?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head. “You don’t want to know.”
“I don’t. You’re right.” She heaves a sigh, and her shoulders slump.
I don’t ask. There’s no point. She won’t answer.
“I came here because I…” Ava starts and then stops. Right when I think she won’t continue, she adds, “I need a certain piece of equipment. I need…”
“What?” I prompt.
“I don’t even know. I need cables that can carry a coolant and have it kept separate from the robotics. And… here’s the issue I need an element that I don’t know exists.”
“What do you need this element to do?”
“It needs to create a gravitational field basically. Long story short.”
I frown. “Magnets would be the easiest way.”
"I thought about that, but that's not possible, not for the amount of force that I would need. It can't be generated, not with the technology humans have now."
“No, but if you use a plasma morpher, that might help to increase the field that the magnets alone make.”
“I already said that the magnets aren’t enough, but if I were to get my hands on a plasma morpher, I might be able to modify it so that together with my anion preciever…” She rubs her chin.
“An anion preciever?” I ask. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s something I invented. It causes the ions in an element to shrink down so that a part of it will become weightless, but where all those ions gather contains all of the weight then. A plasma morpher… yes, that could work. With modifications, of course, but yes!”
Just like that, the fire is back in her eyes. She’s thrilled, and that makes me happy. My chest is light.
“I knew I could help you,” I say, pleased. “I promise I will.”
She makes a scoffing sound. “I don’t want your help. I just need to get my hands on a plasma morpher.” She eyes me. “Do you have one on board?”
“No.”
“Damn. Of course not. I was going to see if I could barter for one.”
"For an anion preciever, maybe?"
She scowls at me. “Of course not,” she repeats much angrier than before. “I only have the one. Can I make more? Yes, but that would take time and equipment that I don’t have easily available right now.”
I eye her, waiting, watching, wondering what she’s thinking because I can tell that she’s trying to figure things out.
“The machines you brought along, do any of them contain a plasma morpher?” she asks, but even her tone contains a thread of doubt.
“No.”
“Of course not.” She sighs.
“Maybe you’re the one with the limited vocabulary,” I say lightly to tease her.
She eyes me. “When you’re used to disappointment and the world knocking you down from every ladder you’ve ever had the courage to dare to start climbing… you get used to the universe telling you no and fighting you at every turn.”
“But that should also help you to roll with the punches, right?”
“I’m not going to spar you.”
I grin. “That’s your loss.”
“You would kill me!”
“I can be gentle when I want to be.”
She snorts. “I doubt that.”
“It’s the truth, but you don’t have to believe me.” I shrug, still waiting.
“I don’t think I can replicate a plasma morpher.” She bites her lower lip. “Do you know enough about the part to be able to?”
I say nothing.
“I would find a way to pay you. Work out a barter. We can come to an understanding.”
Ovian, she's enchanting. There's no other word for it. The women brought to Kuria, the women here… None of them have her fire, her passion, her spunk. She's unique and not just because of her purple and silver hair, which I absolutely love and wish I could touch and brush back. It falls in gentle waves, brushing her shoulders, not long enough to stay behind them.
“Well?” she demands. “Do you think you can help me or not?”
“I already promised to help you.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t really want help. I just want the part.” She rubs the back of her neck. “I’ll figure something out,” she mumbles to herself. “I always do.”
I clear my throat. "There might be a few places I haven't shown you yet on the ship."
“That’s all right. I’ve seen it already.”
I stare at her blankly. “You have?”
“I’m not interested. Thanks, though. I need to go and see if I can…” She brush
es past me, and she hightails it off the ship.
Amused more than anything, I follow, standing on the bottom of the ramp, watching her walk away. Her hair bounces with every step, and she looks so happy, so joyful. Her energy level is sky-high compared to earlier.
She’s driven and passionate. I have a feeling most people don’t know her all that well. Fuck, I don’t either. All I know is that she’s jaded, very jaded. Something must’ve happened to her to make her like this, and it frustrates me to no end. People shouldn’t mistreat each other. There’s no excuse for people to be assholes. She’s an amazing woman, and she deserves to be treated that way.
A plasma morpher. She can’t get her hands on one, not without connections. As far as I know, only her government has access to one.
Lucky for her, I have connections.
Even luckier for her, I have other things on this ship that might not interest her but might interest the government.
Yes, I’m treading dangerous ground here because I’m not entirely certain that the overlord would be the most pleased about this. I don’t honestly care. Anyone who comes to Earth from Kuria is supposed to ensure that relations between Earthlings and Kurians and Novans are good. What better way to ensure that than to make the one Earthling I know who is unhappy happy? More than just giving her an idea for whatever project she’s working on.
She might not have access to barter for what she needs, but I do.
It doesn’t take me long to rummage around some of the spare parts in the cargo hold of the ship. Dad tends to keep everything clean, but he does have a few boxes filled with odds and ends, and I find a box with augmentron inducers inside. Several of them are dusty, and one looks to be shot. I plug it in, using a plasma conductor cable, and run diagnostics. Yep, the meter readings are off, but that’s nothing that a phase cleaner can’t fix.
While that runs in the background, I look around and make a mental list of the other objects I have available. It’s always good to know what’s around. By the time the phase cleaner is done and I recheck the augmentron inducer, everything is perfect. Plus, the cargo hold is cleaner than it’s ever been. Dad’ll be pleased. I’ve emptied the boxes and stored all of the items onto the shelves that had been mostly bare. Don’t ask me why Dad never bothered to do this himself. Probably too busy with Mom. Ugh. The thought makes me shudder.
Enchanted by the Alien Explorer Page 3