Arden’s Mission: Scifi Alien Adventure Romance (Science Fiction Alien Romance) (Galactic Survival Book 2)

by Hana Starr

  “Zipporah?” He mirrored, repeating the word on his lips several times, as if it tasted strange. She nodded slowly, repeating her own name. She waited a few moments, assuming he would tell her his name as well, but he said nothing.

  “What’s your name?” She asked finally, breaking into a small smile. His eyebrows twisted up, distorting his face. Zipporah wasn’t sure what that meant, but she wondered if people on this planet were called anything at all.

  “We have no names here. We simply know one another.”

  “Then what am I to call you?”

  He blinked a few times, considering her question. On Ethra, names were unnecessary. There was no need to distinguish themselves by using names, because they had the ability to see into the souls of those they addressed. But, inexplicably, he couldn’t see into hers. He wondered if perhaps she didn’t have one.

  “You look like a Arden. Is that alright?”

  He nodded quickly and flashed a small smile, secretly pleased with the gift of a name.

  ****

  Arden led Zipporah along a path, moving softly with his body through the sweet air of Ethra. He had so much to tell her, so much to explain. But she was lost and tired, so he would show her the beauty first. Looking at her, he wondered how the Earth could have been so cruel to humans. She was exquisite—so different from him. What will happen when she sees me in my true form? He wondered quietly to himself. Her heart felt soft and accepting, but there was something there that pushed—a wall she had built herself—and it hadn’t always been there.

  They came to his place of dwelling; a small orb no bigger than Zipporah’s room on the Star Line. Arden pressed his hand against the rounded body of the orb and his body passed through, taking Zipporah with him. She let out a small gasp as they entered something much larger than she had given it credit for. It was a strange home—there was no kitchen or bedroom. There was nothing to sit on or entertain oneself with. The floors were bare and the rounded walls were clear, allowing the onlooker to gaze out to the scenery of Ethra.

  Trees grew up through the house and twined around each other, creating a hammock on which to rest a body. Zipporah raised an eyebrow. She was expecting alien technology—something cold and calculative. But this was something different entirely. It was almost whimsical, and she loved it.

  “I live here alone.” He stated, observing her as she moved around, touching things gingerly as if they might shatter. She was beautiful moving around in such a curious fashion. Arden wondered if he had ever seen anything so lovely in his lifetime.

  “It’s so different from what I expected. I didn’t know what to expect.” Zipporah leaned up against one of the walls, only considering that she could fall out of the orb once she was already jutting herself forward to prevent it.

  “Humans are so easy to astound,” Arden smiled. He looked over Zipporah again, scarcely believing she was in his orb. She was practically famous on his planet—they watched her ever since the Earth went dark. Most of them honed in on her because she seemed good, but he saw something else. Something deeper. She wasn’t just good, she was pure. There was something pure about her that he just couldn’t explain, and it locked with a soul in such a way that he could not allow her to die.

  “Have you met many humans, then?” She sat on the floor and looked up at him, continuing to attempt deciphering him. Arden chuckled, unsure of how to tell her that Ethrans had been watching the human race since the beginning of time. He wondered if she would find it odd that he had been an onlooker of her entire life—would she feel violated?

  “I am much attuned to humanity. We all are here.” Arden chose his words carefully, hoping not to damager her delicate state.

  “Why am I here, Arden?” She asked, meeting his striking eyes. As she looked into them, it almost seemed that they were melting and shining through.

  “You’re here because the universe meant for me to find you. You’re important. I just haven’t figured out why.”

  Zipporah laughed. That had been her entire life story. She wanted to believe that she mattered, but she could never say why.

  “I’m not important—trust me. I was little more than a servant before you snatched me from that ship.”

  Arden already knew that, but he continued to stay silent. He knew there was something about her that was worth saving. And he knew that when he presented her to the elders, they would know exactly what to do with her.

  “You need to rest. Tomorrow I would like to take you to meet some very important Ethrans. Would you do that?”

  Important Ethrans? Were they all as kind as he was? She didn’t know what to expect. But what else was she to do? Stay in his home until she died? Hesitantly, she nodded.

  Arden touched her temples softly. The moment his fingers came in touch with her skin, her body hit the floor. She fell into a dreamless sleep, induced by whatever magic Arden had within.

  ****

  The morning came with no change in skylight. There was no night time on Ethra, according to Arden. However, one side of the planet was in perpetual darkness. He didn’t recommend going there.

  Arden gave Zipporah a strange garb to replace her janitor’s outfit, and showed her how to clean herself inside the orb. He led her to a small, unimpressive room.

  “I will leave you. Step inside and instruct the room to prepare you for your day. It will do exactly what you need.”

  Arden turned on his heel and left. Zipporah’s stomach rumbled and she absentmindedly wondered if Arden was going to prepare some food. She peeled her clothes from her body and tossed them into a pile on the floor. There wasn’t much to look at in the room. It was the only room in his house she had seen that was closed off from the glass walls.

  Feeling a little silly, Zipporah placed a toe onto the center circle of the floor and held her hands out. “I need a shower please?”

  As if powered by magic, something began to happen within the solitary room. Rain clouds were forming over her head. Zipporah looked up in amazement as the grey, fluffy tendrils reached out about her and began to sprinkle rain onto her body. It started out softly, as any storm would, and then began to pelt down on her skin. It smelled clean, but unlike chemicals that she was expected to wash with back on the Star Line. The water smelled like a field of flowers after a rainy day. Clean, simple, and ironically earthy.

  Next, the wind came. After every inch of her body had been rinsed and cleaned, the little habitat room began to gather all of the forces of the wind to dry her. Zipporah held on to her hair, knowing what would happen if she allowed it to blow freely for too long. The air was warmer than a regular breeze, as if it were coming off of the ocean during the summertime. It even smelled a little salty.

  Finally, when Zipporah was dry, she turned around to see a small little table with a comb and an odd looking toothbrush. She picked up the comb and studied it for a moment. It looked as if it were made out of some type of bone. She ran her fingers along the polished white sides and grimaced, wondering what kind of animal had to die in order to make it. But she ran it through her hair regardless, because it was more tangled than she could have imagined. She combed it through and braided it back into several coils, wrapping them together to create a tasteful bun.

  At last, she took up the garb that Arden had given her and felt the fabric with the tips of her fingers. It was silky to the touch, but looked breathable and light. The color was a shade she had never seen before—like a sunset mixed together into something not quite human—the fabric even seemed to have its own source of light. It took her breath away. She slipped it over her head and it fluttered down on her body perfectly. She tied the straps of the dress around her neck and observed herself in the mirror. The dress went all the way down to her feet and boasted a pleated skirt, causing it to bellow as she moved. There was no bra waiting for her, and she looked at her chest self-consciously. She wasn’t exactly small chested and her breasts were visible through the dress.

  “You look lovely,” Arden’s voice
came from behind her. Zipporah turned around to face him, wondering how long he had been watching her—and what all he had seen.

  “This dress is lovely. What’s this color called?” She attempted nonchalance while ducking her head out of his view so he couldn’t see her blushing.

  “Alra. It’s a very popular color here.”

  Zipporah looked down at the dress again and tried to associate the impossible color with its name.

  “Do a lot of the women here wear this color?” Zipporah mused, turning back to the mirror to survey her face.

  “They wear nothing. They have no need for clothing.”

  Zipporah’s eyebrows contorted her face as she began to ask him what he meant. Surely he didn’t mean that they walked around unclothed. Aliens or not, that had to be improper.

  “The first time we met I was not wearing clothes. Do you remember?”

  She nodded. It had been quite a shock, but quickly forgotten given everything else that followed. He smiled and approached her, putting a hand to her cheek.

  “This is not my body. This is my camouflage. I adapt to whomever I am in front of, as long as they are a different species from myself. The first time you saw me, I was camouflaged into a male of your particular ethnicity. That is the face I will be forced to keep whenever we are together. It is part of the Ethran defense mechanism.”

  Zipporah took a step back and surveyed him, looking for something alien. He looked so warm, and so real. She couldn’t imagine that this wasn’t his true body.

  “What do you really look like?” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly self-conscious about her humanity. He searched for the words for a long moment, but was unable to find them.

  “I don’t know how to explain.” He admitted, pulling a silvery jacket over his human camouflage. Zipporah stared at him for another moment, wondering why the most beautiful man she had ever met was ultimately wearing a mask.

  ****

  As the pair walked, they discussed many things. Zipporah was an endless vacuum of questions that Arden patiently answered. She wondered how they shared a language, to which he answered that was part of his adaption mechanism. Her mind was an endless sea of ponderings and amazement, and Arden kept up with each one gracefully.

  As they walked, the world seemed to shift. Things began to bloom as he passed them. Everything was different. If there was a barren branch, it was transformed with the passing of his body. Instead of asking questions, Zipporah simply stared in amazement. She wanted so much to be a part of this vastly strange would. It was so intangible to her. Everyone hidden from her view—everything so incomprehensible.

  ****

  Arden led her softly, as if he was guiding a child. She supposed perhaps that is what she was in his mind. The landscapes changed from exotic nature to the strange buildings she had seen before. They stood majestically against the ever bright sky, glinting in the light of the stars that danced brightly around the atmosphere. Zipporah knew she was somewhere important. She could feel it teeming in the air.

  “This is amazing,” She breathed. Arden looked back at her and grinned. He wouldn’t say it aloud, but she was more amazing than anything they were seeing now.

  Chapter Three

  Zipporah stood shakily beside of Arden, her heart beating much faster than usual. The creatures in front of her—clothed in human skin—stared at her as if she were an insect. Arden opened his arms widely and began to speak to them in a language that Zipporah could not understand. She suspected this was purposeful.

  Arden gestured to the seven figures sitting on high. They looked at him with scrutiny and uncertainty, but not disdain. He had their ears, and he was glad of that. If nothing else in the world, he knew that the girl was important. He had been watching her since the beginning of her time. She stood out from the others—solemn and absolute in her choices. Ever faithful. Pure through and through. If there was any one human that could help them join with the dying Earth, it was her.

  “I can’t understand,” Zipporah said finally. She had been standing stiffly, waiting for someone to lift the language barrier. Arden looked over at her and kissed her softly on the mouth. A blustering heat crept into her stomach and she jerked back in utter shock. The feel of his smooth lips against her still echoed in her mind, but she had no words for the oddness of his timing.

  “Give us your name, Human.” A seemingly female entity commanded. But miraculously, Zipporah understood.

  “I am Zipporah. I come from Earth.” She knew nothing else to say. The Ethrans were staring at her unblinkingly.

  “Earth.” The female repeated. Her hands tightened on the grip of her chair. It seemed Earth had struck a chord. “Our sister planet.”

  Zipporah’s eyebrows shot up involuntarily. Sister planet? Ethra was so different from Earth.

  “Then you must know what has happened,” Zipporah carried on. If they did not know, they would soon enough. She explained how a dark fog had coated the Earth and swallowed up all of its inhabitants. After encouragement from Arden, she briefly told the story of her time on the Star Line, and how it was incinerated.

  “You were the only survivor?” The woman asked, raking a hand through her dark hair. Again, all of the elders looked as Zipporah did. Dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skinned. She was both flattered and disturbed at the lack of diversity.

  “Yes, it was only me.”

  “And you were brought here by one of our own. He said he saw something in you. That you were different. Are you different, Zipporah?”

  Zipporah blinked hastily now, unsure of how to answer the woman’s pointed questions. She had never considered herself different or special. She didn’t do anything differently from her family, or anyone else in the world.

  “I’m not sure,” She admitted softly. “I feel very ordinary.”

  The woman’s eyebrow raised slightly and she directed her gaze at Arden. It felt that the room was full of ice. Zipporah turned her face from the leaders of Ethra and looked instead to the crystal floor. Almost instantly, she saw an eruption of light spread over the floor.

  “What in the stars?” She breathed, almost frightened to look back. Arden was still in her peripheral vision—she suspected that was by design. Zipporah knew that they only held human form while she was facing them, and that if she turned around again they would change back. But she had to wonder…What was this light?

  “Ethrans are made of light, Zipporah. We are the stars. We are every particle of light in the entire universe.” It was the female voice that had been doing most of the talking so far. Zipporah was secretly glad she didn’t have to face her and pretend to search for words.

  “We exist everywhere. We see everything. We’ve seen you. Since you were a child, we have seen you. We watched you grow. We saw your heart grow and flourish. Not without its darkness—but we saw the light. You have light inside of you too, and this is why you are here.”

  “I don’t understand,” Zipporah whispered. Her mind was racing, full of all sorts of impossibilities and notions. There was nothing that made sense to her at the moment.

  “Right now, you are the last human not consumed on Earth. All others have perished. We have been trying for years now to restore the light on Earth. It is possible that its inhabitants are still alive. Perhaps not many, but some. We cannot see. It is past our eye now—we’ve been waiting for you.”

  Zipporah felt an unfamiliar feeling spring forward in her chest. It was the budding of hope.

  “What can I do?” Zipporah asked eagerly, turning around to face the potential saviors of the human race. As her eyes rounded towards the Elders, she saw their light begin to diminish. She looked at Arden and sighed, wishing she could see them.

  “We need to be brought back to Earth. We suspect that something has settled over the atmosphere—something sinister. We need to find out who it is and subdue the enemy. After that is done, you can bring one of us back to Earth.”

  Zipporah nodded slowly, her hope ebbing again.
She wasn’t the type for battle. All she could imagine was a bloody conflict.

  “But you leave that to us. Today, we celebrate!”

  They stood and moved closer to Zipporah. All at once, all seven of them were holding their temples and quietly humming. The soft noise pierced their air. Zipporah covered her ears, unable to bear the pitch. She recognized that they were calling to the others. She would be meeting an awful lot of aliens today.

  ****

  Zipporah and Arden left the slowly growing group of Ethrans to walk quietly through the crystal palace. There were many rooms tangled through each other, it was hard to keep track of where they were. Zipporah looked over at him, but he was already staring right at her.

  “When you kissed me earlier—why did you do that?” She asked shyly, sitting down on a piece of oddly shaped furniture in an empty room they had wandered into. Arden looked at her with questions in his eyes, as if he were searching his mind for the word she had just used.