by Lakes, Lynde
Published by Evernight Publishing at Smashwords
http://www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2012 Lynde Lakes
ISBN: 978-1-927368-86-2
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Marie Medina
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To my wonderful husband, and my friends Sara Rice, Lavon Lowen, and Winona Prette who were with me through the rough times.
And to those who worked to bring this passionate novel to my awesome faithful readers: My publisher Stacey Adderley—EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING, my editor, Marie Medina, my cover artist, Sour Cherry Designs and the acquisitions manager Marie Buttineau.
STAR FALLEN LOVER
Lynde Lakes
Copyright © 2012
Prologue
“The universe is in crisis—time is of the essence,” Dr. Taurus of Uraticus warned Cortz in his native tongue for the umpteenth time. “Earthlings are polluting the solar system. The radiating effect of their effluence is spreading. We must stop it before the damage is irreversible.”
“You have conveyed your point eloquently. A number of times,” Cortz said with no attempt to mask his sarcasm. “I’m supposed to submerge my spaceship and allow the instruments to gather the accurate data needed. So, why is Control permitting you to send a scientist whom you obviously value so little that you believe you must repeat yourself?”
“I repeat myself to emphasize the deadly consequences should you fail,” Taurus said. “You will not be seen as a savior. Be prepared for Earthlings to treat you like a terrifying extraterrestrial…a dangerous space alien.”
“I thought the modification injections and surgery took care of that.”
“But if the U.S. government discovers the spaceship and your connection to it…” He paused, as though letting his words sink in. “Are you balking because you fear failure?”
“I am not balking,” Cortz said. “I look forward to visiting Earth, and of course, I expect to survive the roundtrip journey!” He savored speaking in his native tongue, aware that once he arrived on Earth he must speak English, one of the many languages of that planet. Could he pull it off? The soft music piped into the surgical examining room failed to soothe his mounting tension. He clenched and unclenched his hands in an effort to relax.
“So what is bothering you?” Taurus asked, stroking his milky white jaw. The air pouring down from an overhead vent barely stirred the bangs of the surgeon’s shoulder-length white hair. “Afraid you will not pass as an Earthling?”
Cortz frowned. “That is up to you, is it not?”
“Initially. Now it is up to you. Your immediate goal is to secure a strong ally, using charm, trickery or whatever means necessary to lock into the fragile female human heart.”
Cortz took a deep breath. He hated trickery—truth ruled his life. Could he even lie? Moreover, could he live with a blackened spirit, a spirit beyond redemption? The price of his soul was high, but with the whole universe at stake…. “I made my decision. I will not fail. Live or die.”
“Drama does not become you, my friend. You are well prepared, and your sharp wits will keep you alive.”
Dr. Taurus removed the last of the hot Titanium mask from Cortz’s face, stepped back, and surveyed him. The surgeon’s ruby eyes glowed.
Cortz laughed. “Your glowing eyes and lopsided grin tell me you are pleased—but will I be?”
“Could you expect anything less than perfection from me, Uraticus’s premiere surgeon and genetics expert?”
“Modest, aren’t you?”
“Why be modest?” Taurus asked. “I accomplished something never before done successfully—I altered your coloring to look human.”
Cortz shrugged. “What is the big deal?” He had watched enough of Earth’s television transmissions to know that other than having a pearly, un-pigmented skin tone and white hair, Uraticeans looked like Earthlings. They walked upright, had protruding limbs-of-labor—arms and legs—in the same places and could easily fit within the wide spectrum of Earthling body shapes. He looked up at the ceiling and sent up an obeisance of gratitude to their God, Gwen, for protecting those fearless early pioneers to Earth who had laid the groundwork for his mission by planting a hidden transmission diffuser on Mt. Mauna Kea in the Hawaiian Islands.
“The big deal, my unappreciative friend,” Taurus said, “is that only by studying and considering the complicated weave of genetics, and by modeling you after a real Earthman specimen, was I able to do the impossible—transform you into an exact likeness of a human.”
Taurus tilted his head to the side and examined Cortz’s face intently. “Be glad I didn’t choose an ugly man.”
“How do I know that you didn’t?” To Cortz all humans looked like they had fallen into one of the rainbows that graced the Hawaiian skies where rain and sun met. “Just be certain I can pass!” His life depended upon that.
“Worry not,” Taurus said. “After months of reviewing Earth’s news transmissions, I found the perfect match, Gregory Harris.”
“Who is he?” Cortz asked.
“A tragic case,” Taurus said, shaking his head. “Harris’s wife and twin sons died in an explosion.”
Cortz’s throat constricted, and for a moment, he could not speak. “Couldn’t you find an Earthling without a tragic past?” He could not conceal the unsteadiness in his voice. He raked his fingers through his newly darkened hair, wishing he did not have this sudden foreboding about using someone burdened with such tragedy.
Taurus’s eyes softened. “To pull this off, you must harden your tender heart. Harris was perfect, same basic build and features. I considered everything: age, facial distinctions, bone structure, height, weight, body movement, mannerisms, voice, personality—in the final analysis, it had to be him. I played a crystal of the news interview over and over, studying him from every angle, making sketches, matching colors.” Taurus lifted Cortz’s chin with long, artistic fingers. “Now everything is flawless. If Harris saw you, he would think he was looking into a mirror.”
“Let me see.” Cortz reached for the looking glass.
Taurus put it just beyond Cortz’s reach. “Patience, my friend.”
“You’re enjoying stretching this out far too much. Rest assured. I will get even.”
Taurus laughed. “Better wait until you return and I reverse the procedure, or you’ll be stuck like this forever. Uraticean women might not be as attracted to you with Earthling features and coloring. But who knows, you might start a new fad.”
“Stuck like this? You forgot to mention that possibility.”
Taurus only laughed again.
Cortz glared at him. The transformation had taken several months. The Lazar-XZR surgery had been painless, even enjoyable and arousing, but the pigment injections had been tedious and left him with a bitter zinar taste in his mouth that made joy-edibles taste like unwashed feet. But that slight annoyance was behind him. “Drawing out this torture shows your sadistic side, Taurus.” His gut tightened. He wanted to grab him, shake him.
Taurus slowly dabbed Cortz’s face with a soft round tool dampened with something cool that smelled like poppy wine. “I gave your jaw a stronger angle. Put in a few lines around the eyes and made your nose almost imperceptibly crooked.”
“Great! Jus
t what I always wanted, a crooked nose.”
“It was necessary, my friend.” A look of pure conceit lit up Taurus’s face. “Even though Harris’s nose was so well formed that few artists would have noticed the slight flaw, I noticed.”
“How lucky I am to have had such a perfectionist doing my surgery,” Cortz said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his tone. “And those injections—” The Lazer-Plaezo shots had burned in his veins, causing hours of hot, relentless pain.
“It was absolutely necessary, my friend, to color your pigmentless skin and white hair.”
“How long will it take you to remove the pigmentation when I return?”
“Ah…that’s another thing I forgot to mention. You must adhere strictly to the timetable. If we wait too long to reverse the procedure, the change could be permanent.”
“Permanent! What other pieces of information have you failed to share? What about Harris? Could I run into him?”
“Nearly impossible. He lives an ocean away from the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Besides, in a recent newscast a reporter said Harris had disappeared. They fear suicide.”
Cortz’s blood chilled. What kind of barbaric people was he traveling through hyperspace to deal with? The word nearly registered in his mind. He prayed the man was alive. But if they met, it could mean disaster. “Anything else I should know?”
Taurus stopped massaging Cortz’s face and studied him closely. “The only problem I had was with your eyes. I tripled the dose of pigment-enhancers, but still the ruby shows through the brown. It is not bad though. It gives the illusion of specks of ruby light. I can live with that.”
“But can I?”
Taurus laughed. “You decide, my skeptical friend,” he said, handing Cortz the mirror. At last.
Cortz scowled at his reflection—ruby flecks of light flashed hotly in his eyes.
“Seeing myself tinted is ridiculous. And for the love of Gwen, how do I control the fires in my eyes?”
Taurus cleared his throat. “That’s the one tiny thing that I must caution you about.”
Cortz slammed the examining table with his palm. “Here it comes! I knew it!”
“Perfect example,” Taurus said, handing Cortz the mirror again.
Cortz stared into the looking glass and immediately understood the problem. When upset, the ruby lights in his eyes glowed even more fiercely.
“Control your emotions by keeping your mind on the goal,” Taurus said. “Do that, and stick to the timetable, and all will go well. However, should you not return in time, you will grow to love the color, as others will. They shall beg me to pigment their skin. My fame will be unprecedented.”
Cortz glared at him. “Cut the tangents! This isn’t about you.”
“I know. It was a test and you failed. Concentrate. You must control your usual poignant emotions. The stronger they are, the brighter the glow. You could scare those Earthlings, my friend.”
“Can’t you do something about it?” With a life or death task ahead, he had no time to worry about emotions that, on a foreign planet, would probably rocket all over the place.
Taurus shrugged. “I’ve done all I can. The rest is up to you.”
Chapter One
Darli Grenlane felt a foreboding as she swam out to the floating deck anchored in the inky night waters about a hundred yards from the Waikiki shoreline. She reached it without incident, yet still her unease persisted. Stop it! she told herself. All week she’d looked forward to coming out here, and she refused to allow an elusive wariness to spoil it.
Water lapped gently against the wooden platform. The full Honolulu moon reflected a shimmering path of silver onto the gently cresting waters. In the distance, a rainbow of lights sparkled from the Waikiki skyline and from the scattering of tour boats. Sounds of strumming ukuleles and pulsating gourd drums drifted through the warm, tropical air. Laughter and playful shouts of nearby swimmers carried across the water.
She took a whiff of salty air as a warm trade wind caressed her body and lifted drying strands of waist-length hair from her back. The unrestrained whipping of hair in the breeze felt freeing—not confining like the conservative, braided chignon that she usually wore to the university. Starting to relax, she lay back on the weather-roughened deck and stared at the star-strewn sky. Nothing could outshine the magnificence and mysteries of the heavens. Her life wouldn’t be long enough to learn all she wanted to know about them.
Suddenly, a falling star caught her attention. She sat up, then stood. A meteor! In all of her years studying celestial phenomena she had never seen one hit! She shivered in anticipation.
The meteor moved quickly across the sky. Then the radiating, silvery orb sliced through the night directly in front of her, lighting the horizon. She squinted from the brightness. Curiosity wouldn’t permit her to look away.
Was that a low humming? She cupped her hand to her ear, listening, straining to be sure. Before she could decide, the orb dropped into the ocean less than five hundred yards from the deck. The water hissed like escaping steam, exploded into a geyser of foam, and swallowed the meteor.
The surging ocean rocked the deck, sending cool waves washing over her, stealing her breath. She gripped the tie-down hooks and hung on. Finally, the waves passed and the rocking eased. Whew! Luckily, she wasn’t swept overboard.
The horizon where the meteor vanished boiled in a snarl of froth and blackness. From the depths of turbulence, something oval and silvery with a tail or streamer bobbed to the surface and charged through the water toward her! Her heart beat wildly. She moved to the center of the deck. Raw fear held her rigid.
Then as unexpectedly as it had appeared, the orb dipped under the dark, choppy water and disappeared. My God! What was it? And where did it go? Her eyes stung, but she continued to search for it.
Whoosh, slap! She jerked her head at the sound of sloshing water behind her. She wanted to escape. But cold terror rooted her to the spot.
A wide-shouldered man in a silver diving suit hoisted himself onto the deck. He shook his head and glistening water droplets flipped off his face and closely cropped, curly hair. The man crouched low and glanced around. Then he stood. His sinuous, cautious movements alerted her. There was something foreign, maybe dangerous, about this man.
Darli regarded the tall, lean swimmer. His skin-tight diving suit emphasized the length of his smoothly muscled legs and made him look like a metallic nude. She swallowed and moistened her lips, not sure if she was more afraid of what she’d seen coming toward her through the water or him. Good Lord, he’s wearing silver! Could he have something to do with the orb? A crazy thought—her runaway imagination.
In even, definite strides, he walked past her to the edge of the deck. His moon-cast shadow swallowed hers. An icy shiver slipped down her spine. As he scanned the water, her curiosity overrode her apprehension, and she joined him.
He turned, his gaze darting over her, pausing only when he looked into her face. Stunned, she stared directly into eyes so dark they looked black; meeting those piercing eyes was like sinking into…into devouring ebony moonsand. Moonsand? Strange, looking at him made her think in celestial terms. A prickly coolness whispered at the base of her skull.
He couldn’t have anything to do with the falling star. Or could he? Trying to hide her fear and accompanying excitement, Darli kept her voice evenly modulated. “Did you see something silver moving through the water?” He shook his head. His presence and mute demeanor both calmed and disturbed her. She felt a curious attraction to him and at the same time, a persistent foreboding.
Flecks of ruby glints brightened and intensified his eyes. The silence that punctuated his stare unnerved her. She needed to hear a human voice, even if it was her own. “I saw a falling star drop into the ocean,” she said. “For an instant I thought it was still there…in the water….” Without looking away from him, Darli pointed in the general direction. Her words hung in the air, embraced by the stillness of the night. The man held her mesmerized with
his gaze. Then, without saying a word, he dove back into the water.
He could have at least answered my question…said he didn’t know…anything! She peered into the inky, undulating water, crossing her arms over her breasts to halt her shivering and breathed in deeply to try to calm herself. She was fiercely curious about the orb, but her curiosity would have to go unsatisfied. Whatever she’d seen before had disappeared and so had the silver-clad man.
Lingering alone on the floating deck no longer felt safe. She dove into the cool water and swam full speed to shore. She didn’t look back until she felt sand under her feet. She turned and scanned the water. Nothing looked unusual out there now…just another balmy, moonlit night at Waikiki Beach.
It was hard to believe now that she’d seen anything at all out there. But she had. She headed for the lockers. Fighting a lingering anxiety, she forced herself to think about how cool and refreshing the swim had been before the falling orb. It had been exactly what she had needed on a Friday evening after grading forty-five narrative test papers.
Testing and grading were the duties of being a professor she liked least. Bringing the excitement of astronomy to her students was the part she loved. Of course, there were other benefits that came with teaching at the University of Hawaii. It gave her access to the finest equipment in the islands and to the world famous International Mauna Kea Observatory. Perhaps at this very minute one of the astronomers there was tracking the falling star. She could hardly wait to find out. Tomorrow, when she told her students about it, there would surely be a lively discussion. It would be even better if they had seen it.
Darli removed her things from the public locker and pulled a terry dress over her bathing suit. She couldn’t stop thinking about the unnerving man in the diving suit. Where had he come from and why hadn’t he spoken to her? She shook her head. There was no point in letting someone she would never see again disturb her.
Darli slipped into her sandals and began the two-mile walk home. She could have driven her car to the beach but leaving it at home saved her the hassle of trying to find a scarce, usually non-existent, parking space. But best of all, walking freed her mind and gave her a chance to inspect nighttime Waikiki street life close up. She loved to look at the store window displays and people-watch. She took a deep breath. The air was salty and spiked with aromas of baking pizza and macadamia nut cookies. She glanced at her reflection in the glass storefront and shook her head. A minute on the lips puts inches on the hips. She’d had a heck of a time getting those last five pounds off after the Astronomers Convention in San Diego.