Alien Monster

by Sophie Stern

  “Well,” she said. “That’s quite a story.”

  “We have had quite a life,” Delmoro said, suddenly solemn. His face changed, just for a moment, and he almost looked as if he were in pain. Les was filled with the urge to comfort the little creature, but before he could say anything, Wilma was on her knees in front of Delmoro. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

  Although Les towered over the little troll, his hearing was perfect and he had no problem understanding exactly what Wilma was whispering to Delmoro.

  “I’m sorry things have been hard for you. I know what it’s like to feel all alone in the world.”

  “I haven’t been alone,” he whispered. “I might feel it sometimes, but I have always had my brothers by my side.”

  “You’re a lucky man, Delmoro.”

  “I am indeed,” he murmured. “Thank you for the hug, my lady.”

  “Of course,” Wilma said, rising back up. She smoothed her clothes and took Les’ hand quickly. He liked how naturally she reached for him, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

  That made him feel good, strong.

  It made him feel important.

  Les had never really felt small. He wasn’t as big as Lukanterao, but together, they’d ruled the schoolyards of Reslenoau and towered together over the other kids. He’d always been big for his age, even among his own people. He’d always been too big to be fragile.

  Too big to be gentle.

  His classmates had viewed him as a monster: his teachers, as a nuisance. Now he traveled the universe with Lukanterao and he didn’t spend too much time missing home or the people he’d left behind.

  He liked the way Wilma looked at him. He liked that she looked at him as though he was the only thing she needed to be safe, to be certain.

  “We have just the vessel for you,” Delk said, bringing Lukanterao’s thoughts back to the present.

  “And as a thank-you for saving our lives,” Delilane added. “We’ll give it to you for half-off.”

  Chapter 3

  Wilma chuckled as the trolls scurried off down to the little row of boats. There were five in a row that were all the same size. They looked like little Earth canoes, but a little bit longer and a little bit wider. Each one had a canopy over the top, which also made them look a little different.

  At the end of the five boats was a larger houseboat with three stories and lots of windows and banners and flags hanging from it.

  “Is this where they live?” Wilma asked.

  “Yep,” Les told her. “This way, they can be close to work. It makes the commute time unbeatable.”

  “Interesting,” she murmured. She wondered what it was like to live in a boat. It probably wasn’t all that different from living on a space ship, and she’d been doing that for weeks now.

  The ship offered a sort of freedom she’d never experienced before. Oh, Luke and Les had places to be and planets to visit. They transported items and people and did other random things to make money, but they could choose. They could choose the jobs they took. They could choose where they would go. They could choose when they would go.

  They weren’t tied down.

  On Mars, Wilma had been the daughter of a socialite. She had been subjected to parties and gatherings and schedules and boredom. Her days were planned out for her and whether she wanted to go to events or not was irrelevant.

  Whether she wanted to get married or not was irrelevant.

  She shivered as she thought of the narrow escape she and Willow had both had. The man their mother had tried to pawn them both off on was not a good man. Willow thought he was harmless, but Wilma viewed him as evil. She could never quite pinpoint what was wrong with him: only that he had never seemed quite right to her. He would look in her eyes and she could see there was nothing there.

  No heart.

  No spirit.

  No soul.

  He was just empty, like a drab painting you made but didn’t quite like. Just before her sister returned to Mars, she discovered Anthony was intending to marry either of them for the cash. He didn’t care which girl. His family needed money, but hers did, as well. Wasn’t that ironic? Two families that were both completely broke were trying to marry their children into wealth.

  It was almost a pity she wouldn’t get to see the look on his face when he discovered her family had nothing.

  Immigrating to Mars hadn’t been cheap. Her mother’s partying habits hadn’t helped. Now, Willow and Wilma were both gone and Wilma had no idea what would happen when her parents realized their money had run out and there was no easy way for them to get more.

  They couldn’t sell their daughters to the highest bidder anymore.

  They couldn’t simply marry them off.

  It stung that the reason her mother didn’t want her to leave Mars was because it meant there wouldn’t be a wedding with gifts and money and inheritances.

  Wilma tried not to think about it too much because if she did, she might never stop thinking about it. Les was a welcome distraction. Les was easy to be with. He made her laugh and he made her smile and fuck, he made her feel like a damn woman.

  When she was with him, she wasn’t just some second-born twin who wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t just the slightly-less-beautiful twin. She wasn’t just some city woman’s daughter.

  She was a woman herself.

  And she was strong.

  The Delmartkae brothers worked quickly to prepare one of the mini-boats for Les and Wilma. Les hopped down into the boat and she was surprised it didn’t wobble. It looked so small compared to his large size. As if reading her mind, he smiled.

  “Mirroeans know how to float, sweetheart. This isn’t going to capsize.” That was good because Wilma couldn’t swim. At all. Not even a tiny bit. In fact, this was the closest she’d ever been to a large body of water and to be honest, it scared her a little bit.

  She took Les’ hand and gingerly stepped down into the boat. She pressed her body against his as she entered, and he held her close.

  “You’re going to be fine,” he said. “Scared of water?”

  “A little.”

  “There’s nothing in the water here that will hurt you, okay? No giant sea monsters, at least not in this part of the planet.”

  “What about the other parts?”

  “We won’t be going there,” he said firmly, and he motioned for her to sit. Wilma sat down on one of the two cushioned benches. Les paid the Delmartkaes and settled in his own seat. They were facing each other.

  “I’ll row first,” Wilma said, reaching for a paddle. She remembered boats on Earth. She had been just a kid when they left the planet, so her memories were few and far between, and they were faded. Thinking about life on Earth was like trying to remember something when you were really, really drunk.

  She could do it, but it was hard, and everything was fuzzy.

  She grabbed the paddle, but thought maybe she was on the wrong side of the boat. Wasn’t the person rowing supposed to be in the back? She was definitely on the front end of the boat.

  “Don’t,” Les placed his hand on hers and smiled. “Those are just for emergencies, love. Look.” He motioned to a little control pad that was next to his seat. He pressed a button, and she heard an engine come to life. It was quiet: no louder than a soft hum.

  “Wow,” Wilma said. It was all she could say. Les used the little controls to guide them away from the platform and the three brothers, who were waving. Wilma waved back. Then she turned to watch as the boat pulled away from the busy harbor.

  She thought they might go out to sea, that they might drift for awhile, but they didn’t. Instead, Les guided the boat straight, then turned toward the busy, bustling town. There were boats everywhere, so they couldn’t move very quickly. The waterway led straight through the center of town, which was built on planks and bridges and floating houses.

  She’d never seen anything like it before.

  “There’s no grass, no solid
ground,” Wilma said.

  “There is, but it’s rare. There’s not much of it. This is the outskirts of the capital city,” Les explained. “Everything is on stilts or floating out here. As we near the center, we’ll find solid ground. Then we can dock the boat and walk around, if you like.”

  “What about storms? Don’t storms destroy all of this?” She motioned to the docks, to the people bustling around on the hovering walkways. It was hard to believe more people didn’t fall in the water. Everyone seemed to be in such a hurry, but most of the walkways had railings. A few, the ones closest to the docks, didn’t.

  “Mirroean doesn’t have storms,” Les told her.

  “No storms?”

  “No storms.”

  Huh. She sat back and looked around at the hustle and bustle around her. The scent of fresh food, maybe bread or cake, wafted out over the water.

  “What do you think, princess?” Les asked.

  “It’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “I know what you mean,” he said. “It truly is beautiful.” Only Les wasn’t looking at the people walking around and he wasn’t looking at the architecture. He was looking right at Wilma and in that moment, she realized he didn’t just view her as a distraction.

  He didn’t just view her as a way to pass the time.

  He didn’t just view her as his best friend’s sister-in-law.

  He viewed her as something else, something more.

  Something special.

  Wilma’s heart swelled and she blushed, then reached for his hand. He took it and gave her a soft squeeze, then released her hand so he could continue guiding the boat. They rode in silence, listening to the sounds of the city, until they rounded another corner and suddenly, the water traffic cleared.

  “Land,” she whispered. They were at a beach. They were at a real, honest-to-goodness beach with sand and trees and people splashing in the water. Les smiled as he guided the boat to the area designated for parking. He found an empty space and they stopped the boat on the sand. He hopped out and pulled the boat up the embankment so Wilma could climb out onto the sand, rather than into the water.

  She grabbed her bag and climbed out, marveling at how squishy and soft the sand was beneath her shoes.

  “Feels even better when you wiggle your toes in it,” Les told her.

  “Really?” She asked. “Can we try?”

  “Not today, princess,” he said. “You don’t want the paks biting.” He pointed to a little creature on the sand. It looked like a crab, but it was purple and had bright, beady eyes.

  “A pak?” She asked, crouching down to look at it. “It’s cute.”

  She reached her hand for it and immediately discovered what Les had meant with his warning. He chuckled as the creature’s little beak closed down on her finger and she squealed and waved her finger around. It hung on tightly, though, and wouldn’t let go.

  “Ouch! Get it off!” She cried. “Quick! Please! Get it off of me!”

  Les reached out and flicked it with his finger. The pak instantly released her finger and went flying. It landed on the sand, righted itself, and went scurrying away.

  “What was that thing?” She asked, pressing her hand to her chest. It had freaked her out. She was surprised at how fast it was, at how much it had hurt. She stared at her swollen, achy finger and shivered. She was lucky it hadn’t bitten the damn thing right off.

  “Some sort of sand-dwelling little creature,” Les shrugged. “They taste good, too.” He took her finger and pressed it between his lips, giving her a gentle kiss. “There you go, darling,” he said, then he pulled her close to himself. “All better.”

  Les kissed her deeply and after a second, she forgot about everything that had happened. She forgot they were standing in the middle of a beach. She forgot about the pak. She forgot about her aching finger.

  She forgot about everything except the fact that Les was holding her and somehow, the whole world seemed perfect now.

  Somehow, he was her entire world.

  And he was perfect.

  Chapter 4

  The restaurant at the edge of the beach was one of the best on Mirroean. The restaurant didn’t print prices on the menu, and when Wilma began to flip it over, trying to figure out how much each item cost, he put his hand on hers.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he told her. “Choose what looks good.”

  Instead of protesting or throwing a fit or complaining, she cocked her head shyly and smiled at him. Fuck, if that smile didn’t reach right to his heart and right to his dick. He would give her the whole planet if it would make her smile. Did she know? Did she know the effect she had on him?

  If she didn’t, she was about to because he was going to tell her.

  When the server came to take their order, Wilma struggled through the pronunciation of her grealean and petal juice. Les placed a hand on hers to silently encourage her. She could do this. She smiled at him and tried once more. This time, she got the pronunciation perfect.

  “And for you, sir?” The server asked.

  “I’ll have the same.”

  They handed their menus to the tall, slender man, and he glided away. His feet didn’t leave the floor, and Les noticed Wilma staring at him.

  “What is it?”

  “Does he have wheels?”

  “Wheels?”

  “You know, on his shoes. Does he have wheels?”

  “He’s not wearing shoes.”

  “Then how can he…you know? How can he move like that? He looks like he’s gliding?”

  “Oh,” Les smiled. “He’s Orchidian.”

  “From Orchid? The planet with the purple water?”

  “The one and only.”

  “So, what, they don’t have to lift their feet up?” She looked amazed.

  “No, love, they don’t. Pretty incredible, right?” He motioned to the other restaurant employees, who were also gliding around the restaurant. “Their feet have slickening properties, which make it easy for them to slide around quickly.”

  “They don’t fall a lot?”

  “They learn fast,” he said with a sly smile. “Little Orchidians are painful to watch. As soon as they learn to stand, they immediately start falling back over. Once they learn to balance, though, they’re unstoppable.”

  “Incredible,” Wilma said, watching the employees move with swiftness, ease, and grace. “They’re so perfect.”

  “So are you,” Les said, and she turned back to him, her eyes wide.

  “What?” She whispered. He could hear her heart racing, could practically smell the nervousness and excitement radiating from her body. Oh, his little minx liked that idea, didn’t she? She liked knowing he thought she was amazing, liked knowing he thought she was incredible.

  He opened his mouth to tell her he loved her. He opened his mouth to say he couldn’t live without her, that he’d spend the rest of his life mourning her if he were to lose her. He opened his mouth to say there was no one like her.

  He opened his mouth to say she was his one true mate.

  He opened his mouth, but no sound came out because just then, there was a loud cheering across the restaurant, and the moment was broken. Wilma turned her head toward the source of the noise.

  “What’s that?” She asked.

  “Diplomatic meeting,” the waiter said, suddenly appearing with two glasses of petal juice. He placed them silently on the table and lowered his voice. “There are officials from several planets today, including Mars and Orchid. There’s even someone from Reslenoau. They’re holding a series of meetings all week on how they can improve interplanetary relations.”

  “You said there’s someone from Mars?” Wilma said, her voice suddenly cold.

  “Someone from Reslenoau?” Les could feel himself go pale.

  It couldn’t be.

  His luck couldn’t be this bad.

  It couldn’t be this terrible.

  “Yes, the senator Taransarao the 4th of the 19th Cla
n. Perhaps you know her, being Reslenoauan yourself,” the waiter said. He smiled, his bright orange eyes glowing briefly with excitement. “She’s-”

  “Been wondering when she’d see you again,” a female voice said, and Lesmentarao looked up into the coolest, most hateful eyes he’d ever seen. “Lesmentarao,” she said. “It’s a pleasure.”

  “Aunt Taransarao,” he said through gritted teeth. He didn’t want to see her, didn’t even want to think about her being here. What were the odds of her being on Mirroean? What were the odds of her being in this restaurant?

  “I see you’re still,” she paused, looking Wilma up and down. “Picking up strays.”

  Deep breaths.

  He needed to take deep breaths so he didn’t freak the fuck out. This was his aunt, after all, and she was a very important person on Reslenoau. She was the type of person you couldn’t piss off, the type of person you couldn’t wrong.

  She was the type of person you couldn’t make mad because it would be political suicide and career suicide and social suicide.

  In some cases, it might just be actual suicide.

  “Actually, he’s picking up the woman who single-handedly saved him from eight three-toed dragons on Taneyemm last month,” Wilma said, standing up. She rose to her full height and held her hand out to Les’ aunt. “Taransarao, was it?” Wilma asked evenly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Les.

  Was.

  Shocked.

  His girl had just stood up to Taransarao. His girl had just stood up to the bitchiest senator on Reslenoau, the one who was known to make grown men cry and shifters cower in their animal forms. She was a beast, a monster, and she was the one who had given Les the hard exterior so many people saw from him.

  Although his parents raised him, he spent more than his fair share of time with Aunt Taransarao. She thought a young man should know what it meant to be strong, to be brave. In Lesmentarao’s mind, this often came across to be unloving, as well.