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

by Hana Starr

  “Now we know what has caused the sickness on the Earth, we can find another way to take it away. Raths are intolerant to Ethran light. It is deadly to them—that is one of the reasons our camouflage system is so important. Many beings are not able to look at pure and perfect light without repercussions.”

  It was the female elder who was speaking. She looked the same as she had before to Zipporah; dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. It was nice to hear her voice again, surprisingly. She still hadn’t heard much from the others.

  “So then, what can we do?” Zipporah asked, folding her hands on the table. She felt Arden’s hand on her back, but made no more towards him. The elders all looked at her solemnly.

  “You will have to go into the darkness,” she whispered. “With an Ethran.”

  Arden immediately looked to Zipporah, eyes wide with alarm. She didn’t even try to imagine what he was thinking as her mind spun in circles. What if she was trapped down there forever? Or perhaps there were no humans alive after all.

  “Ethrans have never walked among humans,” Arden reminded her, alarm thick within his voice.

  “Yes they have,” She said softly. “They are just unable to come back.”

  Zipporah’s eyes filled with tears for the sacrifice that was being asked of Arden. He loved his planet and the light that he was. He was continuously in awe of the beauty all around him.

  “I’m not a human,” he whispered, looking down at his human body with disgust. “How am I to live a human life when I know what is up in the stars? I would go mad!”

  The female Ethran looked at him sternly. “You are the only Ethran on this planet that would be capable of this. You are already more human than anyone here. And you would not be alone.” She looked pointedly at Zipporah, both accusing him and calming him at the same time. Zipporah’s hand went to Arden’s face and she sighed heavily, wishing she could take some of the burden off of his shoulders. His eyes seemed to fill with tears at her touch and he turned to her with a heavy heart.

  “You do not have to do this,” She told him gently. It was asking a great deal. Perhaps too much. “You have already saved my life more than once. You do not have to sacrifice anymore.”

  Arden bit his lip, and then looked to the elders, who were all staring at him with displeased eyes.

  “When do we leave?” He said finally, giving Zipporah’s hand a final squeeze, as if setting their fate in stone.

  ****

  They left the next day, equipped with a bag that never ended filled with clothes, food, and weapons. It all happened in such a whirlwind, Zipporah wasn’t even sure she completely understood what was happening. All she knew was that she was going home. Whatever that meant, she did not know.

  “Are you ready?” Arden asked her, taking her by the shoulders. She looked at him, eyes unsure. She was ready. Ready to die if necessary. But her heart ached for him and what he was giving up.

  “Are you?” She retorted. He looked at her and smiled sadly, but did not answer. They were not traveling in the usual fashion—by particles. Instead, they needed a spaceship. Specifically, the Rath spaceship that was still floating around the atmosphere of Ethra. It was the belief of the Ethran elders that the only ship that could penetrate the darkness was a Rath ship, and luckily for them, they had one. The last one in existence.

  Zipporah and Arden climbed into the ship, along with one other Ethran who planned to take them as far as the atmosphere of Earth before dissipating and watching closely from above. They were either going to their victory or to the death.

  The ship was dank and dark, just the way Zipporah had remembered it. There was a very faint smell of blood, and she thought it might have even been her own from the torture she endured previously. Shivering at the thought, she pulled her jacket tightly around her body and looked at Arden. They had created some suitable clothes for her—black pants and a simple top, paired with some heavy boots in case of rough terrain. She was glad that they hadn’t decided to provide her with another dress.

  “This ship holds some very unpleasant memories,” she stated, tossing her braid behind her back and looking around with her one good eye. She had fashioned an eyepatch for her second eye, so that the scar did not offend.

  “We will not be on it long.” Arden rubbed her back softly and soothed her. She knew he was right, but still wished not to be on it at all. She took a seat near the front of the ship and looked out of the giant glass dome that was their view. The universe was a beautiful, deadly place. Stars dotted the sky and made everything seem so much brighter.

  “Are you ready?” The Ethran man looked to Zipporah and Arden, really asking Arden if he was ready to give up everything. With a stiff nod, the man sat down at the controls and began to start the ship. The whole metal contraption began to shake as it roared to life, a little more skeptically than Zipporah would have liked. She gripped on to the material bound around her seat and took a deep breath.

  It was not a pleasant ride. Zipporah was used to being aboard a luxury cruise liner. Even in the vile lower levels where she was forced to exist, there was almost never any turbulence, and when there was, there was mass hysteria. She was used to not even realizing she was in space. But on this hellish ride, she was bumping and flying all over. She wondered for a moment if the Ethran that was driving even had any knowledge of what he was doing.

  “How long is this ride?” She asked, holding on to a nearby panel for dear life. The Ethran man looked back at her and chuckled, slightly enjoying her discomfort. That was odd, she thought. But discarded it.

  “Not much longer. Ethrans drive fast.” Arden answered her, looking sick himself. She looked around, taking in the familiarity of the cockpit.

  Zipporah sighed, trying to relax her body as the ship came to a less alarming pace. She could see Earth, although very far away. It was the only giant black circle in the sky. Her chest was hurting, and there was still a very present ache in her skull. She had almost forgotten the hideous name carved into her flesh, but how could she? The wounds were still healing. She had prevented infection by instructing the Ethran healers on how to treat her, but she would have the scars forever.

  “No Ethran has ever been to Earth?” She asked finally, filling the silence. Arden pursed his lips and looked into the galaxies. It was complicated, the relationship Earth had with Ethra. Ethra was the light of Earth, they were silent partners. The planets were related somehow. But when an Ethran set foot on Earth, they were bound forever. Their bodies would simply disintegrate if any attempt was made to leave. Ethrans on Earth provided the light. And some of them just lived as citizens.

  Arden explained all of this to her, as it had been explained to him by the elders. Now Arden knew why his people didn’t go down to Earth, but instead watched from above so intently at human life. When Arden was a child, he wondered if the Earth watched him back. As he grew older, he knew that the Earth wasn’t yet sophisticated enough for such technology. In fact, they weren’t sophisticated enough to travel into space when he was a child.

  “Funny that you’ve been watching me my whole life, but you’ve never actually been there.” Zipporah mused, toying with the end of her braid. She glanced over at him and smiled softly.

  “Your life was the most colorful thing I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot.” Arden touched her cheek. It was as if he was saying goodbye.

  “How old are you?” She asked suddenly, the thought popping into her head. Arden looked at her sheepishly, and glanced down at his lap.

  “We don’t observe time in Ethra the way you do on Earth. But my first memory was of the Renaissance era.”

  Zipporah stared at him with her single eye, shocked. She had just assumed that he was around her age because of his youthful appearance. She gazed into his eyes. He had seen so much. So much human history and extraterrestrial history, and in everything he had ever seen, she was the most colorful? She was honored.

  “And you’ve been watching me for 20 years?” She questioned, “From
the day I was born?”

  Arden smiled. It was almost blinding. The contrast of the white in his teeth against his tanned, olive skin was striking. With a gentle shake of his head, he corrected her.

  “No, not since the day you were born. I skimmed over Earth from time to time to see what humans were up to. Sometimes I would even enter homes with my light. But one day I entered this little cottage on the outskirts of some country I can’t even remember the name of. And I saw a baby—or more of a toddler. It was you. You were sitting on a man’s lap while a woman sang from another room. You had such a glow—you were happy and powerful. A leader by nature. I knew right then that you would be important. And I was right.”

  Zipporah’s mouth stood slightly agape as he wrapped up his story. She had never felt so important. In a normal situation, she would have felt like her privacy had been invaded, but Arden was not of the Earth. And for some reason, it did not bother her one bit that a curious spec in orbit watched her life unfold.

  “Do you think you could ever be happy on Earth? You’ve watched it for centuries.”

  Arden ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, unsure of what to say. Zipporah made him happy. Truly she did, but his whole identity was Ethran. He loved humans, but he was not one of them. He would never feel like he truly belonged. But then again, he felt the same way on Ethra. Always the one staring into another world, engrossed in cultures and languages and emotions.

  “Maybe someday. It just feels like I’m being put into a box and having that box sealed forever. The whole universe was there for me to see.”

  Zipporah understood, although she wished he could see what a huge thing he was doing. Perhaps it wasn’t huge in his eyes. But it was huge to her. It meant the world to her that he would even consider doing something so drastic for her.

  The Ethran man looked back at the pair and raised an eyebrow.

  “We will be there soon.”

  Zipporah took a deep breath, bracing herself for what could be sudden death. She now could see the black covered Earth perfectly. She looked over to Arden and prayed that his light would be enough. The ship neared the atmosphere of the Earth and the Ethran man stood up and handed the controls to Arden. With a nod of his head, he put a finger over Zipporah’s eyelid and closed it so he could reveal his true form. She felt the warmth on her skin and shivered.

  “Good luck,” his newly soft and ethereal voice reached out and whispered in her ear. With a nod, he was gone to watch if they succeeded from a safe distance. Arden took the controls tightly in his hands and accelerated towards the Earth.

  “Hold on Zipporah,” he yelled as the ship broke through the dark matter surrounding her home. Suddenly Zipporah’s ears were filled with a piercing, screeching noise. It was as if everything around her was shattering. Arden’s jaw was locked as his body was braced against the control panel. They had made it in.

  “Is it over?” She asked when the noise and violent thrashing subsided. Arden exhaled and looked back at her, nodding silently. It was over. She opened her eye and looked out of the window. It looked as if it were night time, except there were no moon or stars. There was barely a light to be seen. She wondered if anyone was alive below her. There was one street lamp that continued to burn, like the hope in her heart.

  Chapter Seven

  Everything was quiet. Too quiet for Zipporah’s liking. She had no idea on Earth where she was, or what language was spoken there. Hopefully she would be able to use Arden as a translator if needed. If there was anyone left to translate for.

  “What do we do now?” She whispered to him, pressing her forehead against his arm as some form of security. He didn’t seem to know, but stood anyway.

  “We get off of the ship,” He whispered softly, touching the nape of her neck. She missed that touch, even if she had only gone without for a matter of hours. It was he that calmed her, and she could not have been more grateful that he was there with her.

  The two of them gathered up their nearly weightless bags and stepped onto the extended exit ramp. Zipporah took a final breath as the giant door to the spacecraft slid open to let in the freezing air of Earth. Arden put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. They had been prepared for cold. If not for human technology, they would have assumed everyone froze to death a long time ago.

  “Do you know what country this is?” He asked her, stepping onto the cobblestone paved sidewalk that the ship had landed on. She shook her head, but suspected somewhere in the Americas or Europe, although she couldn’t rely on the climate.

  The two of them, hand in hand, began knocking on doors. They called down the streets, looking for any sign of life. She kept the streetlamp in sight, reminding herself not to let go of her hope. If a light was still on, that meant someone was still alive to help power it.

  “Hello?” Zipporah called down the street, knocking on her twentieth door. Nothing happened. Everything was deserted, but there was no stench of unbearable death in the air. She would have thought that if every human on the planet had died, there would be a terrible smell. But there was nothing. The trees and grass were all dead, but the smell of Earth was so present it made her want to cry.

  “What if they all gathered together somewhere?” She suggested, wondering if perhaps looking into a church or a very large building would be better than knocking on doors. Or perhaps there was no more trust for human beings. Perhaps they had begun to turn on each other, and Zipporah and Arden were just two cutthroats looking to steal food.

  The two of them got back into the spaceship and used it as a low hovering device, surveying the area with the high beams on, casting light on to everything in sight. She looked for moving shadows, listened for any noise, and prayed that the light would attract people.

  They continued their search for hours without finding a single human—or a single body. There had to be somewhere they were hiding. Zipporah knew that anything else was not possible. Arden put his fingers to his temples and zoned out for a moment, seemingly communicating with the Ethrans. Often times she forgot that they shared a mental link. That’s when it hit her.

  “Arden,” she cried. “There are Ethrans on Earth. They’re living as humans. Reach out to them.” If anyone were to still be alive, it would be them. Arden looked at her and smiled, knowing she was brilliant. He changed his finger structure and closed his eyes, concentrating on creating a link. Zipporah wished she could be in his head when he did it, but she was stuck watching him.

  “They’re alive,” he whispered and looked at her. “But they aren’t responding. That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Can you tell where they are? If we could find them then we might be able to find humans.” Zipporah took the wheel of the ship while Arden searched around with his mind. She knew she shouldn’t be driving with only one eye, but there was no other option. She surveyed the area, keeping her eye peeled for any sign of life.

  “They are all together,” he informed her. “Near a desert. I can feel them there.”

  Zipporah’s mind raced, wondering where in the world that could be. Almost every country had some kind of desert.

  “Can you get us there? Can you find them?” Zipporah called back to him, frantically dodging buildings with the ship and looking out for anyone who might be moving around on the ground. Arden wasn’t making a noise. Zipporah wasn’t sure if she should be concerned or quiet.

  “Give me the controls,” Arden commanded swiftly, taking the controls from her hands. “We are going to somewhere called Arizona.”

  Zipporah’s heart nearly exploded out of her chest. He was able to contact his Ethran brothers and sisters. They would doubtlessly be able to help them. She wondered to herself why none of them had done anything when the Rath cast the darkness over the Earth. They must have been capable of stopping them.

  “How soon can we be there?” She said excitedly, grabbing on to the edge of her chair. Some progress was finally happening. He didn’t answer her, but accelerated the speed of the ship as if to prove the p
oint that they were going to be there as soon as possible.

  So many things ran through her mind as they soared above the city they had been flying in. Zipporah realized that they had been in Paris when she saw the Eiffel tower, unilluminated in the darkness of the never ending night. They were certainly a long way from Arizona. It was a good fourteen hour flight in a plane, but lucky for them they were not in a plane. Arden was zooming at the speed of light over the country, ocean, and following terrain.

  It took little over an hour to land in Arizona. Arden’s connection to the Ethrans made it easy to follow the path, where hopefully they would be waiting for him. Zipporah’s stomach twisted and bubbled with excitement as they stepped off of the space craft for the second time. This time, they knew where they were going. The needed to find these Ethrans as badly as the Ethrans needed to find them. Then her next objective was to find her parents.