by Anna Carven
“Sera,” he said, and she turned. “On your way out, can you please tell the Humans gathered outside to go away? The General will lose patience soon, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“You mean the assho- uh, guy who broke my drone-cam?”
“General Akkadian’s mate is unwell. If those Humans keep interrupting her rest, he might get a little annoyed.”
“So there are female Kordolians.” She shot him an accusing glare. Xal blinked.
“The General’s mate is Human,” he corrected her. “Most females of my species never go off-planet.”
“Oh, she’s Human? Really?” Sera’s mouth went wide, then she slowly closed it, shaking her head. “I’ll definitely warn them. But I doubt they’ll go away. One thing you’ll find out about Earth is that the media are like cockroaches. You’ll never, ever get rid of them, even if the apocalypse happens tomorrow.”
“I don’t know what cockroaches are, Sera Aquinas, but I’d imagine they’re some kind of pest. Don’t you worry. We Kordolians are very good at getting rid of pests.”
“Ha.” She smiled then, displaying her perfect, white, teeth. Even though she didn’t have fangs, she reminded Xal of a beautiful predator. “You obviously haven’t met the paparazzi before. Good luck, and welcome to Planet Earth, Prince Xalikian. I’ll see myself out.”
And with a final, cryptic look, she was gone.
Xal sighed, running his fingers up and down one of his sensitive horns, trying to distract himself from his raging erection and the dull ache that lingered in his temples.
Shit. Was this how it was going to be every time he encountered a Human woman?
Or was it just her?
He shook his head. How in Kaiin’s hells had the General tamed that Abbey of his?
Human females were mystifying creatures, indeed.
Xal couldn’t wait until this side of the Earth turned away from the blistering sun, plunging them into the phase Humans called night. He couldn’t go out when it was like this; there was too much ultraviolet out there. He longed for the darkness. Perhaps then he could take a long, cold swim in the huge mass of water Humans called the Pacific Ocean.
CHAPTER TWO
As she left Xal behind in the living room, Sera passed back the way she came, fumbling for the wall so she didn’t bump into anything.
“Lights on,” she commanded, and the space lit up, revealing a sleek white kitchen.
The only problem was that a big black figure was outlined against the glossy whiteness, startling her. It was the hard, scary Kordolian from earlier. Xal had referred to him as ‘The General.’ He’d been moving silently in the dark, doing something with the beverage-bot on the wall, and she thought she might just creep past, unnoticed.
Too bad her heels were damn loud on the synthetic floor.
He turned and glared at her.
“I was just leaving,” she said hastily, holding her hands up in what she hoped was a placating gesture.
“Human.” He waved her over imperiously. “Come here.”
Sera froze, unsure whether she should just make a break for it. “I’m leaving, I promise.”
“You will explain how one operates this device.”
It wasn’t a request, but an order. Sera considered bolting for the door, but she suspected this Kordolian might be faster than her. He was crazy strong, and the last thing she wanted was to piss him off. She got the feeling he wasn’t used to being disobeyed.
She sighed. “What are you after, General?” She made her way across to the kitchen, where the screen of the beverage dispenser was flashing. It was one of the older, cheaper models; it didn’t have an assist mode or a voice-command option.
“Tea.”
“Okay, but what kind of tea? I mean, you have Ceylon, Kenyan, Rhubarb, Passionfruit, Lady Grey-”
“What would a Human take for an upset stomach?”
“Oh, peppermint tea is good for that sort of thing.” Sera scrolled effortlessly through the selections on the panel. The dispenser hummed to life, and seconds later, a boiling mug of steaming, peppermint tea appeared in the chute. “Are you not feeling well?”
“I do not get sick.” He snapped, taking the mug without any further explanation. “You may go now.”
“Huh.” Sera stared after him in disbelief as he disappeared upstairs. “A ‘thank-you’ wouldn’t hurt,” she muttered under her breath. She wondered what kind of woman would be insane enough to get involved with a guy like that.
With a sigh, she left the house, making her way back down the garden path. The media throng descended on her as she pushed open the gate.
“Hey lady, what the hell did you do in there? Will you give us a statement? What are the Kordolians doing here on Earth? Is the start of Invasion Day?”
She waved a particularly irritating micro-drone out of her face and smiled. “Well apparently, they want our females.”
Laughter rippled through the media pack. “Come on, give us something to work with. Don’t keep all the juicy stuff to yourself.”
“I’ve got nothing for you except a message from the Kordolians. Hmm, let me think. It went something like: get out of here, or that big, threatening guy in the exo-armor will come out and deal with you. I have no idea what he might do to you all, but I get the feeling you might not like it.”
Again, there was laughter. “Whatever,” a blonde woman chuckled. “You know how much security they’ve got going on in the DZ. We’re perfectly safe here. Although I’d let him deal with me any day.” She gave Sera a salacious wink before her expression turned serious. “So what are the Kordolians really like? Are they as bad as all the stories make them out to be?”
Sera elbowed her way through the crowd, smiling sweetly. “Why don’t you all go knock on the door and find out? They don’t exactly bite.”
They do have fangs, though.
The smell of rain was in the air as she made her way back across the DZ, itching to write her story. She hadn’t exactly gotten the information she’d wanted, but it was enough. They’d all seen her going in and out of that place. Whatever she put to text would be seen as legit.
As she crossed the threshold and entered the Free Zone, the wind started to pick up. Dense black clouds were coming in from the north, towering and angry. It was as if the sky had been split in two; half of it was clear blue, the other half held a menacing tropical storm.
Not that she was worried.
The terraformed island of Nova Terra was right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The storms came and went, and people went about their daily business, mostly without concern, because everything was built to withstand a Category 6 hurricane.
Sera stepped onto another hoverail, glad for its cool interior. The heat and humidity were starting to become oppressive. It was only when she sat down that she put her head back and laughed quietly to herself over the stupidity and audacity of what she’d just done.
She’d gotten herself a prime interview and she hadn’t been able to get out of there fast enough. The strength of her reaction to the Kordolian Prince had freaked her out. She never got like that with guys, ever.
Usually, she was the one calling the shots.
They glided downtown, passing tall glass and steel towers, which reflected the sun and stood out like stark, shimmering crystals against the darkened sky. The twin monoliths of Aquinas Towers winked at her as a flash of light glinted off them. They were an ever-present reminder that despite all her efforts to break free, her family’s legacy loomed over her like an inescapable shadow.
The hoverail reached her stop, and Sera alighted, making her way down into the huge, subterranean complex that locals called The Catacombs. The nickname was misleading; the area was a maze of brightly lit shops and eateries that stretched for miles. People even had apartments down here, happy to trade windows and sunlight for convenience.
Sera entered the narrow offices of BrightBlack. The small media outlet occupied a dead space between a hotel and a department s
tore; a long snaking space that was only a meter wide in some places. The only good thing about it was that the roof was high, soaring above them and saving the place from becoming a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare.
It was a closely guarded secret that BrightBlack was Sera’s own company, a small startup that she dreamt of turning into a powerful, influential news outlet. Even the manager and the editor didn’t know.
Her father, the staff, her family; they all thought she just worked there because of some misguided sense of justice.
She was the antithesis to her family’s corporate, politically connected empire.
“Hey Jonas.” She nodded to the intern, who was engaged in a three-way virtualstream with a couple of international freelancers. The kid was wearing a visor, but he turned at the sound of her voice, pointing to the screen on the wall. Footage of her entering the Kordolian house was already appearing on the networks.
She rolled her eyes. They had nothing on her except for that vision. She hadn’t given them anything quotable.
Sera kicked off her heels and climbed the thin metal ladder that led to her retreat; a small mezzanine platform that was cantilevered high above the gleaming synthetic floor.
A nest of cushions was scattered haphazardly across the floor, and she collapsed into them, staring up at the concrete ceiling.
Thoughts of a certain silver alien entered her mind. The memory of his burning amber gaze seared her thoughts and spoilt her concentration. Sera sighed.
If he could have that effect on her, then she couldn’t even imagine how the rest of Earth would react. They would go crazy for these mysterious beings. The Kordolians were powerful, dark and sexy; they had the potential to become the perfect media darlings.
Still, just because they were alluring, didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous.
She was going to write her article, and she was going to ask the question loud and clear, putting it out there for all of Humankind to contemplate. There was no way she was letting some sexy, silver-skinned alien prince seduce her just so he could have a free ride into Human society.
These Kordolians hadn’t come all the way from the centre of the Universe to distant Earth on a whim.
We want your females. Sera snorted. Did Prince Xalikian think she was an idiot? There was no way she could believe that. They were Kordolians, the brutal, parasitic overlords of half the known universe.
What the hell were they doing here?
There had to be an agenda.
~~~
It was late when Sera finished her article, and by the time she’d had it digitally edited and changed a few things to her satisfaction, she felt restless. She stretched, loosening her stiff limbs.
She hit ‘upload’, and her piece was instantly translated into hundreds of Earth languages and of course, into Universal. A digital reader converted it to spoken word, and it was churned out onto the Networks, having been categorized by a few very carefully selected keywords.
Kordolian.
Agenda.
Invasion.
She didn’t know what kind of shady back-room deal they’d done to be allowed to come to Earth so easily, but she suspected that a large amount of minerals or credits had exchanged hands somewhere up in Earth’s orbit. Even though they didn’t agree on just about everything, Sera was her father’s daughter, and she was an Aquinas.
She knew how this shit worked.
Corruption was alive and well, despite everything the Federation told them.
Sera shut off her holoscreen and peered over the edge of her platform. The space below had gone to dim-light, and the staff were all gone. From next door, the sound of deep, reverberating bass pounded through the walls. The club in the hotel was just getting started.
She grabbed her bag and used a wipe to strip the make-up from her face. Her scars would show, but she didn’t care. She undressed and slipped on a seamless workout top and a pair of running tights. The light Syntech fabric was like a second skin, covering her colorful tattoos yet allowing her skin to breathe.
She pulled on her joggers and slipped out of the office, emerging from The Catacombs into the warm tropical night.
The wind whipped around her as she started to run, passing through the busy streets of downtown. The Free Zones of Nova Terra operated throughout the day and night; it was the city that never slept. Somewhere on Earth or in the Nine Galaxies, someone was doing trades and business deals, and if it was going through Earth, it was going through Nova Terra.
She passed restaurants and cafés, their warm glow spilling out onto the illuminated street, along with the smells of food and freshly roasted coffee. She slipped down past the waterfront, where sleek yachts and hybrid landflyers were parked. Aboard many of the ships, their wealthy owners were hosting lavish parties, illuminated by colored strings of lanterns and hovering lights.
As she reached the seawall, she increased her speed, pounding the pavement. She inhaled the salty sea air as the waves crashed against the wall, far below her.
Nova Terra was a Free State that had been constructed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean from dirt and millions of tones of concrete. It rose out of the sea like a grand fortress, buttressed on all side by high walls.
It was hurricane-proof and tsunami-proof.
The wind was becoming stronger, and in the distance, lightning flashed out on the ocean.
There would be a storm tonight.
She gave it an hour before it hit. That would be enough time to make it to the lookout and back.
Increasing her pace, she passed sleek white residential structures along the foreshore, their walls artistically adorned with bio-filters and energy harvesters. Verdant vert-gardens and rooftop orchards added a backdrop of greenery, the plants swaying in the wind.
Sera ran along the seawall, enjoying the roar of the ocean as it beat relentlessly against the foundations of the island-state.
She ran faster and faster, losing herself to the euphoria of physical exertion, her feet beating a steady rhythm.
On this small landmass, where everything was monitored and controlled, this was the only time she could feel free.
She ran until she reached the iconic red tower of the lookout. Its powerful light illuminated the sea below, and as she reached the northernmost tip of the island, she leaned against the railing, looking out to the sea.
The ocean was an undulating grey mass, disappearing into the darkness. Far below the seawall, a crescent-shaped beach stretched out, its pale sand a stark contrast to the dark sea.
The beach was the only remnant of the original island on which Nova Terra’s foundations had been built.
She took a moment to catch her breath. Then she turned, gearing up for the return leg.
A tiny part of her was disappointed. She’d been stupidly hoping that she might somehow run into the Kordolian Prince; that he’d defied the odds and made his way out to the Northern seawall for a breath of fresh air. He said he’d come at night. She didn’t know why she had this feeling. It was irrational; nothing more than a ridiculous fantasy.
Why the hell would she want to see him, anyway? Especially with her face like this.
Why the hell did her thoughts keep coming back to him?
It didn’t matter, anyway. She probably wouldn’t have much to do with him from now on. She had gotten what she wanted; first dibs on the Kordolians. Her article was already out there, doing its rounds on the Networks.
She started to run back, keeping an eye on the beach as the wind began to turn cold.
She ran all the way back to her office, ignoring the curious looks she got from bystanders as she slowed her pace, her dark hair dampened with sweat.
She felt energized after her run, high on endorphins, her heart pounding with the afterglow of pushing her body to its limits. She’d flushed away the unsettled feeling she’d had after her meeting with Prince Xal, and she was ready to tackle her next project.
The underground mall was quieter now; the shops were still open, b
ut the foot-traffic was less dense. Sera stole into the office to grab her things. As she climbed up onto her mezzanine, her link bracelet started chiming like crazy. She’d left it on her desk, preferring to strip away all technology before she went on her run. Despite her father’s insistence, she’d refused to get a neural implant, horrified at the thought of a permanent device through which a person could be constantly tracked and monitored.
Sighing, she wrapped the link around her wrist and checked her messages.
“Sera, where the hell are you?” Her father appeared, or at least an image of him appeared before her, his cold blue eyes narrowed in a glare. “Contact me when you get this. It’s urgent.” The hologram flickered and disappeared. Sera tapped her link.
“Get me Senator Aquinas,” she commanded, and moments later, she was staring at the man himself, in real-time.
“Sera,” her father growled, “what the hell have you been doing? Your story has blown up on the Networks and the Citizen Discontent Index has soared.”
“I’m just asking the important questions, that’s all.” She stared back at his image, knowing he’d be seeing a similar representation of her. “You expect Citizens to believe that bullshit the Federation feeds them? Oh wait, I forgot. You are the Federation.”
“Preserving the public order is my priority, Sera. I am not going to open the dialogue with accusations of conspiracies and corruption. There haven’t been any deals made with the Kordolians as you insinuated. This is a delicate political situation and we can’t afford to antagonize them. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what you’ve done.”
“What do you mean?” For the first time, Sera noticed dark circles of fatigue underneath her father’s eyes. His normally impeccable silver hair was disheveled and the collar of his suit was loose.
“A second Kordolian battle cruiser has appeared, orbiting very close to Earth’s atmosphere. They have rejected all communication requests and have shot down three of our fighters. They are clearly hostile.”
“How does my article have anything to do with this?”