by KD Jones
Defiance
Earth Evolution Book 5
KD Jones
Copyright 2016 KD Jones
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3:
Chapter 4:
Chapter 5:
Chapter 6:
Chapter 7:
Chapter 8:
Chapter 9:
Chapter 10:
Chapter 11:
Chapter 12:
Chapter 13:
Chapter 14:
Chapter 15:
Chapter 16:
Chapter 17:
Chapter 18:
Chapter 19:
Chapter 20:
Chapter 21:
Chapter 22:
Chapter 23:
Chapter 24:
Chapter 25:
About the Author
BLURB
Commander Devlon Estro has the survival of an entire race of people depending on him—and his own people’s protection on top of that. His superiors are pressuring him to quickly get the people of Earth set up to take care of themselves, so that he can return to Drasta. The problem is that the Earth’s people are fighting his every effort, and now there are threats to his people to consider. One Earthling has been a constant thorn in his side; a frustrating, but very sexy and beautiful thorn.
Heather Bates has struggled her whole life to be taken seriously. First as a wife on Earth, wanting to work against her husband’s wishes, and then in a workforce that favored men. That struggle continues even now: someone wants to take her position as a tribe leader and they are willing to kill to make that happen. Her concentration should be on her people and protecting her status, but thoughts of a sexy alien commander plague her.
Can opposing sides come together for the betterment of life? Will hatred destroy everything they have worked for? Or will love defy all obstacles? The only way to find out is to take the journey with us in Defiance.
Chapter 1
Earth Dome
Drastan Commander Devlon Estro entered the conference room where he was meeting with the leaders of Earth. The meeting place was in what once was a city known as Boston. There were representatives from countries all over the planet, and he was grateful to have a translator implant to help with the discussions. Ten males and five females stood as he entered. He shook hands with one, thinking how strange the custom was to him. It wasn’t something done on his home world of Drasta. There were many differences between his people and the humans. After being there almost a year, he was still discovering new things.
He commanded the Drastan fleet, which was comprised of five large spaceships. They had been on their way back to their home world after a long mission in deep space when they received a distress call from an unknown planet called Earth. Their computers had to translate the message, which had been sent out over five years before. The distress call only said that the entire planet had suffered from a nuclear disaster. He wasn’t sure what they would find when they arrived—if anything.
They made first contact with the human survivors in the part of the world called the United States of America. The survivors were living in government-owned and military-run domes, which lay mostly underground but were accessed from the surface of the planet. Each dome was managed by a dome leader who was from a military background.
Devlon discovered that the nuclear disaster had not been caused by an alien attack, but by the Earthlings themselves. They’d built weapons of mass destruction, and by accident one country had set off their own weapons. This triggered a chain reaction worldwide as other countries who had similar weapons believed themselves to be threatened. At the last minute, in desperation, the United States leader had sent a distress call out into space, hoping that someone would answer.
The Drastans’ arrival was a welcome surprise. What no one expected to find—not even the Earth’s leaders—was that there were human living in Earth’s old subway tunnels.
His son Liam found a human, Maggie James, living there with others in groups that they called tribes. Maggie was now his daughter-in-law, mated to Liam, and they’d just had the first human-Drastan offspring. Not everyone, human or Drastan, was happy with the mixing of the species.
There were a few humans who feared that the Drastans would take over Earth. These fearful humans secretly organized an effort against the Drastans, calling themselves rebels, and constantly sabotaging whenever the Drastans visited. Conflict was still brewing, and the Rebels were making conditions dangerous for Drastans to remain on the surface for any length of time.
Devlon’s people had offered medical treatment and supplies. Now, he had to make sure that the domes and the tribes were able to connect and rebuild their world when the Drastans left. Unfortunately, it would be many decades more before the humans could attempt to live aboveground again. The other concern Devlon had was ensuring that while the humans continued to thrive underground, they were not vulnerable to attack by any alien force.
That was his purpose today: to discuss rebuilding efforts between the Earthlings who lived within the government-run domes and the Earthlings who lived in the subway tunnels. He needed to devise an exit plan for his own people to withdraw from Earth and return to their own home world.
Devlon took a seat and asked, “Are we ready to start discussions?”
Dome Leader Lt. Colonel David James—Maggie’s father—shook his head. “We’re waiting for the representative for Boston’s tribe leaders to arrive.”
Devlon was frustrated with these humans. Did they not appreciate being on time for anything? The door opened and he looked up, only to feel his heart stop for a second before starting back up. No, not her.
Devlon looked at the exasperating female as she sat down across from him. “Mrs. Bates, what are you doing here?”
“It’s good seeing you, too, Devlon. And everyone calls me Heather. I’m representing the Boston tribe leaders during these negotiations.”
He didn’t respond, but his heart rate picked up speed and his palms were actually starting to get a bit sweaty. He hadn’t reacted to a female like this since his youth. That was one more reason he didn’t like the female; she made him lose his self-control.
“Who assigned you this position?” He wanted to know who he was going to have to kill.
She gave him an evil smile. “I volunteered. Looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”
“Great.” Devlon knew he was in what the humans called Hell. This would end with one of them killing the other. Not good—not good at all.
*****
Tribe Leader Heather Bates took her seat, ignoring the Drastan commander’s glare. She knew Devlon didn’t like her, and to be honest, she had some major problems with his chauvinistic attitude as well. She didn’t understand it-the other Drastans were protective, but they had female warriors too. Maybe Devlon just had it in for her.
The first time she laid eyes on the brisk, emotionless man, she knew he was trouble. He bothered her on pretty much every level, but if she had to name the thing she disliked most, it was the way he attracted her to him without even trying to.
Devlon was taller than anyone she had met, close to seven feet, with wide shoulders and a muscular chest. There wasn’t an ounce
of fat on his body anywhere. If it weren’t for the distinguished streaks of silver near his temples, he could easily pass for a man in his thirties.
Heather was there to do a job: to ensure that the tribes were treated fairly. She didn’t have time to deal with this attraction between them. She brushed a hand over her hair, which she had pulled back in a ponytail. She felt all eyes on her as she settled in her seat. She’d never been a vain type of person who cared about her looks, especially after the nuclear disaster happened. She was too busy staying alive. Then she became tribe leader, and was swamped with the responsibility of keeping her tribe alive as well.
She looked up and caught Devlon’s eyes on her hands, specifically her left ring finger. She no longer wore her wedding band, but she kept her engagement ring because she’d been the one to work extra hours waiting tables to afford it. Though she’d been separated for years from her husband and no longer considered herself married, it was one of the issues the commander wouldn’t let go. He saw the ring, which to humans represented a union between males and females. Devlon didn’t understand why she would separate herself from her mate—husband— who still lived. Drastans evidently mated for life.
Heather had married at the young age of seventeen, having quit high school without graduating. Her parents had disapproved the relationship from the beginning, because Mark Bates was a twenty-five-year-old man still in college, who pursued her despite her family’s objections. He sweet-talked her and convinced her to run off with him to another state where they could marry.
Fifteen fucking long years she was married to Mark. After the first two years, he began to show her his true colors. He was controlling, abusive, and unfaithful. She left him five times in in those fifteen years. Each time he would promise that he’d changed, she would take him back, and then three months later he’d revert to his old ways. They’d tried couples’ counselling multiple times. The one good thing was that they hadn’t involved children in all that craziness. She filed for separation, and he’d left her alone for three years while she was trying to get a permanent situation.
Right before the disaster hit, she was traveling to court to finalize her divorce. Mark had surprised her by waiting for her at the subway stop to try to talk her out of it. The tunnel shook with the impact of the first bomb. There was so much confusion afterward that she went along with staying by Mark’s side for survival. He became tribe leader and began sleeping with all the women, of course. Finally she couldn’t take his crap one more day, and left.
Heather found a different tribe and became the second for the tribe leader when his current second, a man named Leonard, had gotten sick. She served her tribe well, but Leonard wasn’t happy to have to share his position with her. She would’ve stepped down rather than cause trouble, but the tribe leader insisted she remain. When the leader was dying, he named her as his successor. The rest of the tribe was trilled, but not Leonard. To try to appease him, she kept him as her second. She found herself in a new position that she wasn’t sure she was completely prepared for, but she was determined to not fail at it.
So, here she was in a room full of men who looked at her as if she didn’t belong. Well, fuck them! She wasn’t here for them. Her people needed her.
“What did I miss?” Heather asked Lt. Colonel James. She’d met him a few times and knew him to be a good man, someone she could trust to be honest.
“Nothing; we were waiting until everyone arrived. Let’s get started, then. We’re here today to discuss a transition of sorts. The Drastans have been instrumental in providing much-needed medical care and supplies. Now, it’s time that the government of Earth—the people of Earth—begin to rebuild. We hope to convince the tribes to relocate to the domes.”
Heather shook her head. “That’s not going to happen.”
Dome Leader Mitchell frowned at her. “Why the hell not?”
She glared back at the balding ex-general. He was one of the five dome leaders who had been brought in for the meeting. She’d had several run-ins with him; he expected everyone to fall in line with his way of thinking, without question. She wasn’t going to put up with that. She’d learned the hard way dealing with her ex-husband that she couldn’t show that kind of weakness.
“You dome leaders are the ones who turned the rest of us away, throwing us out like garbage. We don’t trust you, and we certainly won’t be leaving the only home we’ve known for the past six years to live where you tell us to live. We have every right to decide our own fate.”
“Then what do your people want to do?”
Many of tribes’ people had been turned away from the domes and just barely managed to get to safety in the subway. The domes were run like military compounds; they hadn’t made any attempt to search for survivors outside the domes who might need their help until the Drastans had shown up. Before the tribes were discovered, they had to search the tunnels for areas where the city had stockpiled canned food, dry goods, and other supplies in case of a disaster. Now the dome leaders were offering shelter and supplies, but it was still hard for her people to trust their intentions.
Heather took a steady breath. “We want to open up the subway systems to do more than provide transportation from the tribes to the domes. We want to expand the system city-wide, then state-wide and eventually across the country. Other countries that have the same capability will be able to do the same. Eventually we could conduct trade with other countries again.”
“That would be an enormous undertaking. What of the tribes?” Lt. Colonel James asked. It was clear to her that he was interested in what she was saying. The lt. colonel was one of the few dome leaders who understood a little more about the tribes and how they worked. His oldest daughter, Maggie, had been separated from her family and survived in the tunnels. They were reunited a year ago, and she was happily mated to the commander’s son Liam. The lt. colonel also had a younger daughter, Rachel, who was mated to the commander’s youngest son. In fact, all the Estro men except for the commander were mated to human women.
“I understand that. We want to build a full underground city with apartments, fresh markets and small businesses. We don’t want to be reliant on the domes and the government for everything; we want to contribute to rebuilding our world and the economy.”
The representatives looked around at each other, surprised at what she was proposing. She knew this was much more than what they had planned on doing. To connect city to city would be a great undertaking in itself.
The people in the domes were specifically chosen from the best of teachers, scientists, and artists, as well as the military, who ran the domes. Since there was no money there was no banking but the government allotted each of the dome citizens credits which they used to purchase what they needed. Money had become less important than the need to find food. The tribes had to trade for what they needed. The domes had markets, apartments, and businesses, so they were flourishing. They even had schoolrooms for their children. Heather wanted that for her people, too.
She couldn’t help but glance over at Devlon. He was rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger, giving her suggestion serious thought. Their eyes locked, and she felt her heartbeat race. How did he make her feel like a teenager again?
Lt. Colonel James addressed Devlon. “What do you think, Commander?”
“It will take possibly two years, just in this country, to get most of your tunnels set up and your underground cities established. But it could work. If it’s successful, other countries will be able to follow your example. You would be able to travel dome-to-dome using the subway system instead of going above ground. That offers you more protection from radiation.”
“This is a crazy plan. She wants markets! Like they can grow anything down there,” Mitchell complained.
“You have greenhouses with small gardens in the domes. There’s no reason something similar can’t be built in the subways. In fact, we’re already building a greenhouse in my daughter-in-law’s old tribe, along with UV lighti
ng and a few small housing apartments. It took two months to complete building the housing for thirty people, but they have heating, air conditioning, electricity, and running water.”
Heather fought to keep from showing her excitement. She needed to stay cool and calm. Could her tribe have the same?
“This sounds time-consuming and expensive,” Mitchell said dismissively. Thankfully, no one was paying attention to him.
Lt. Colonel James asked, “Commander, if it took one month to complete the new construction, how long would it take you to build similar structures for the rest of the tribes in this city?”
“How many tribes are there?”
Heather answered him. “I only know of fifteen tribes found in the United States with survivors. Not every city or country had the subway infrastructure. There may have been survivors that took to caves but the chances of them surviving without the supplies that the domes or the subways have are low. There may be many other subway survivors we don’t know about that have been separated from the main tunnels.”
The representative for the United Kingdom spoke up. “We just recently discovered survivors in our own subway systems. They are going to need radiation treatment and supplies before any building can begin.”
Devlon looked around the table. “Let me know how many of you have found survivors in the subways and I will send my people to begin the treatments.”
“Thank you, Commander Devlon.” The woman from the United Kingdom smiled at him.
Heather felt a little jealousy at the interest he was getting from the other women in the room. She needed to stop thinking about it and get back to work.
She cleared her throat. “So for just our own country, we have fifteen tribes that need to be connected to a nearby dome. It took one month to build up one tribe, so that’s fourteen more months possibly twenty-four.”
Devlon nodded. “Yes, as long as we don’t encounter any delays.”