Eva woke to thunder and lightning, dark clouds and heavy rain, reminding her of the song that claimed it never rained in California, it only poured.
The aliens had probably ended the decades long California drought, the fifth major drought in the past century, but it didn’t take a genius to realize that crops, food, would never grow under perpetually cloudy skies.
Greenhouses would work. The Hrwang had set some up behind Hearst Castle, but they couldn’t grow enough food for all of humanity. Humanity couldn’t grow enough food for all of humanity, if the reports at the Lord Admiral’s staff meetings were to be believed. Eva marveled that those staff meetings had ended as soon as the Lord Admiral had gone up into space with the human Ambassador, confirming her suspicion that they were only held for his benefit. If those reports were to be believed however, humanity would wipe itself out fighting for scraps of food throughout the upcoming winter.
She’d found a leaflet printed in English, Spanish, and several other languages, making just that claim. A soldier told her they’d begun dropping them over populated areas all over the world.
Propaganda warfare.
She couldn’t run in the rain outside. It was too heavy, the skies too dark, and it was possibly even dangerous to be the tallest object on a trail during a heavy lightning storm. She went downstairs to the gym instead and worked out on the punching bag, but gave up quickly. She simply wasn’t in the mood.
She returned to her room, walking slowly along the ostentatious, over the top hallways of Hearst Castle. She’d begun to hate the place, to hate the never ending artwork, the nude statues and ornate frescoes, the murals, the carved columns, the kaleidoscope carpets, even the amazing views of the Pacific Ocean. She hated the furniture, she hated the chandeliers, she hated the marble tiled floors and staircases. She hated the lampshades with writing on them, the multi-colored, leather bound books lining every shelf, and she especially hated the painting of Hearst himself sitting smugly overlooking his Gothic Study.
Hearst Castle had come to represent what the aliens wanted from Earth and Eva knew she hated the place for that.
Surprised by the onset of depression caused by the rain, Eva wondered why it affected her so much right now.
She knew people were affected by sadness at times when they didn’t get enough sunlight. She’d never thought of herself that way, but she’d always enjoyed the outdoors. She’d always enjoyed being out in the sun, her skin tanning, her hair turning lighter, boys eyeing her with desire when she wore a tank top and shorts or a swimsuit. Summer was the best time of the year.
And her Lord Admiral, the evil alien from another star, had ruined summer. Had possibly ruined the Earth.
She resurrected her desire to kill the man. She knew another would simply take his place, but didn’t he deserve to die? She would die with him. The Hrwang would kill her certainly if not quickly. She wondered if they really did flay their victims alive. Noah repeated stories he’d heard, although no one had ever witnessed it personally.
The Hrwang were just like humans, just as human if their claims were true, and they gossiped and told horror stories to each other to shock and impress, like fairy tales of old.
Instead of plotting to kill the man, she plodded to her room, depressed at the rain and desirous of seeing the sun. She wanted light. She needed light. Maybe she could talk the Lieutenant Grenadier into taking her up in a combat craft above the clouds again. The thought relaxed her.
The door to her bedroom stood open.
She wished she had a gun she could pull out from somewhere. She hadn’t yet carried a weapon in the presence of the Hrwang, which always made her feel vulnerable, and she had debated asking for permission for one. All the soldiers around her were armed, although the Lord Admiral never was. If she asked, he would probably just laugh at her and tell her she was perfectly safe when she was with his men. Hadn’t the Lieutenant Grenadier saved her when she’d been attacked by one of her own?
She crept soundlessly to the open door and peeked inside. She saw a man in a Hrwang uniform doing something next to her bed. Fear crossed her mind. She had things hidden there. Just the knife and Jim’s collar, but she didn’t want them discovered. She pushed on the door and walked in noisily. The man next to her bed jumped.
“Just cleaning, Lady,” he said, nodding at her. Two other men were also in her room and the three hurriedly left, continuing to make excuses about cleaning.
She checked everything. Her hidden items were still hidden, her other things seemed to be in order, and nothing seemed cleaner, or dirtier, than when she’d left. Hrwang had never cleaned her room before unless they did it when she ran, but she didn’t believe that. She’d ended her workout session prematurely and she’d surprised the men in her room who must have been up to something.
They’d bugged it. That was the only explanation she could come up with. They’d bugged her room.
She knew she’d never find the bugs. If the Hrwang could detect passive listening devices, they would have bugs far more sophisticated than anything humans had encountered before.
Eva looked around her room, feeling violated. Now she hated her room as much as she hated the whole place.
She gathered her things. It was time for a new bedroom.
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