by Rachel Aukes
Her greatest fear wasn’t looking bad in front of others; that she could live with. Her greatest fear also wasn’t Apolo realizing he had made a mistake. Or of those closest to her seeing that she couldn’t hack it. Or even those who had seen and done shit she’d only imagined who would see through her in a heartbeat if she faltered and would know that she had been faking it all along, that she didn’t have the guts to make the tough calls.
No, her greatest fear was that her actions could lead to death. That was something she wasn’t sure she could handle.
Legian squeezed her hand. “Is everything okay?”
She put on a fake smile. “First day on the job jitters, that’s all.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You’ll do fine. Apolo will be there. You won’t be alone. You will never be alone.”
“Yeah.” Sienna grinned, and then stared out the window at the passing trees. It was true. She knew she wasn’t alone. With them, she would never feel alone.
Sienna leaned forward and squeezed Jax’s shoulder. “Thanks for driving.”
“No problem. I’m a piss-poor backseat driver. I’ll take driving any day over being a passenger.”
“What do we need to do before your father arrives?” Risa asked Jax from beside him in the front seat.
“We’ll need to set up a perimeter in case the news leaked to the Draeken,” Legian answered.
Jax answered. “Ace checked out the place a couple of days ago, so we should be all set. The cabin and surrounding woods will be secure.”
“He’s your army buddy, right?” Risa asked.
Jax nodded.
“So, Lea,” Sienna said. “If I remember right, we’re due for a girls’ night involving some wine you’ve been hiding in your room.”
Nalea smiled in response, snapping her attention back inside the vehicle. “The wine’s still there, safe and sound.”
“Then it’s a date.”
“Are there pillow fights involved in this girls’ night?” Jax asked with a shit-ass grin.
Risa smacked his arm, grinning too.
Sienna smiled sweetly. “Maybe. It depends how long it takes to clean up after the baby oil wrestling. That reminds me, I need to grab my red string bikini while we’re here.”
“Can I watch?” Jax asked.
“Not on your life,” Legian cut in. “Only tahren are allowed to watch.” His lips traced her ear as he whispered, “And I would like to watch that very much.”
She halfheartedly pushed against him. “Men. Doesn’t matter what world you’re from. You’re all so easy to play.”
“We’re here,” Jax called out from the front, his voice turning soldier-serious in a split second.
Conversation over, she looked out the window. Her heart gave a little jump. Home. Only it wasn’t home. Not anymore. Sienna had never thought she’d see the place again. It looked exactly as she’d left it. The small stone cabin stood in a scant clearing within dense pine woods. She’d built it for the privacy and had always found solace there, surrounded by sounds of bird songs and pine needles rustling in the breeze.
She couldn’t even begin to fathom how homesick the Sephians must be, knowing they never would see their home again. She stepped out of the SUV and inhaled the forest air. It was cool and laden with the woodsy scent of evergreen. Spring was beginning to show its blooms, though winter was still hanging on for all it was worth. She walked around the matching SUVs already parked nearby and took in the building before her. Home.
The colonel and others weren’t scheduled to arrive until twilight when the Sephians could cope without dark glasses. She’d wanted to come early to have some time at her cabin. But as she stepped through the door, a bustle of activity filled the small space. Her home had become claustrophobic, and she bit back the tension. There hadn’t been this many people here even when the construction crew had built the place.
With her mother off touring the world, she’d never found the time to see the house her daughter built. Not that Sienna hadn’t expected that. Kat had always made it clear that work was more important. Sienna loved her mother—that was never in question—but her mother wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type. She believed good parenting involved exposing children to the ugliness in the world by the time they could walk.
Once Sienna hit eighteen, her parents had shipped her off to college. She’d wanted to stay with them and join their humanitarian crew, but they’d had different ideas. They seemed to think college was a necessity. Considering her an adult, they put Sienna on the first flight back to the States.
She may not have had a loving childhood, but for the first time in her life she was thankful for her parents. They had taught her life was tough. They had also fervently believed that there was life beyond the stars. What would have happened to Legian if he’d crashed in a skeptic’s backyard? And she’d learned one critical thing while raising herself out of a suitcase: no matter what happened, she could deal with it. It was a lesson she’d used over and over again with the Sephians.
She sensed Legian come up behind her before he touched her. “You are my rock,” she murmured as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I don’t understand the statement. I don’t consider myself like a stone, although parts of me become hard as one.”
She twirled in his arms to find a grin on his face.
“Let’s go for a walk.” He gruffly took her hand and led her outdoors.
Nearly an hour later, they sauntered back into the cabin.
Nalea winked at her. “You still have a branch in your hair.”
“Nice to see you two could make it,” Jax said, walking from the kitchen eating a real, honest-to-goodness cheeseburger.
Her stomach growled, and she grabbed the half-eaten burger from his hand.
“I was eating that.”
She took a big bite of the juicy burger. “Perks of being a model citizen,” she said with a very full mouth.
He shrugged, walked back into the kitchen and returned seconds later with another one. “The security perimeter has been set up. We have full video. Had it three hours now.”
She stopped chewing. “How far out does the perimeter go?”
He smirked. “Far enough to see which tree you carved your names into.”
Another hour later—because Legian definitely did not behave in the shower—Sienna reached for the doorknob, poised for the meeting. She paused, turned, and looked around.
Nothing had changed. Everything looked exactly as she’d left it. Surprising, since Jax’s team—and possibly the police—had rifled through every square inch of the cabin. Sienna moved to the dresser, opened the small wood box on the top of it, and pulled out the silver charm bracelet. A charm for every trip she and Bobby had taken, a charm for every special occasion. At least, that had been the plan. Only a couple of the links had charms. Their time had been cut far too short. When he died, she’d thought she had, too. Maybe that was the real reason why she’d built a cabin so far out in the woods. To avoid connecting with anyone else.
And then life went on. She’d found out she hadn’t died with Bobby. Instead, she had plenty of life left. It had just been buried under grit and grime.
“Ready for this?” Legian asked as he came up behind her.
She placed the bracelet back in the box, closed it, and stepped toward the door. She smoothed her hands down her loose linen sweater and khaki cargos before reaching for the doorknob again. “I am ready.” She took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped into the hallway beyond.
A fire was lit in the living room, giving the area a comfortable, homey feel. Apolo had been right. Her home was a perfect location for this meeting. You couldn’t get more human than a cabin.
“Hey, Sienna.”
She turned to see Nalea standing nearby. “Sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“The humans will be here any minute, but there’s still no sign of Apolo. Have you heard from him?”
Sienna grabbed her phone, even though Apolo ha
d never called her on it before. No missed calls. “No one’s heard from him?”
“I’m afraid not. He’s usually early to all functions.”
At that moment, Apolo’s SUV pulled into the drive and Sienna rushed out to meet them.
The back door of the SUV swung open and she grabbed it. Apolo looked pissed off, but otherwise unharmed. “Where have you been?”
Apolo motioned toward the front of the vehicle. “Bente got us lost.”
“Fucking address isn’t on the nav system,” Bente spewed out as he stalked past her.
She smiled and caught up with Bente. “You could fly light years through space and find a little planet in the middle of the universe, but you couldn’t find a cabin in the woods less than fifty miles from the base?”
“Piss off,” was the Sephian’s reply, and he opened the screen door, letting it snap back shut in front of her. Bente wasn’t exactly a gentleman. He could make bad guys in the movies look warm and cuddly. Then again, she guessed warm and cuddly would’ve been pretty useless during a war. No wonder he was so popular with Sephian women. If he wasn’t there to kill you, a girl could feel pretty safe with him around.
She caught the door into the cabin before it smacked her in the face.
“What the hell kind of food is this?” Bente grumbled from the kitchen, and she walked toward his voice.
He was holding a cheeseburger in one hand, examining it like it had wiggled.
“It’s called food. And trust me, our guests are going to like these a whole lot better than the crap you like so much,” she said with a visible shudder.
Nalea looked up from her chair by the window and came to her feet. “You made it.”
Apolo grimaced. “Yes, just some minor delays. Any word from our guests?”
“Ace says they’re less than a mile out,” Jax replied. Jax lifted his hand. “Wait. No. They’re driving in now.” He stepped outside without another word.
“Game on.” She stood and followed Apolo outside.
Several black Humvees pulled up in a semi-circle around the front of the cabin and soldiers poured out. She recognized Colonel Jerrick and Major Sommers right away. A couple of suits walked with them, each protected on all sides by soldiers in two different types of uniforms. American and British.
Jax stepped up first and saluted his father. The older Jerrick returned it with a haphazard salute before continuing toward the house. He stopped a few feet away.
Sienna nodded to each in turn. “Good to see you again, Colonel. Major. Welcome to my home.”
The colonel held out his hand, which she accepted. “Thank you for hosting us, Ms. Wolfe.” He turned to Apolo. “Apolo. I can only hope that tonight’s meeting is less exciting and far more productive.”
“As do I, Colonel. The perimeter has been secured by both your and my people. I believe you will find security up to your standards.”
The officer nodded then motioned to the men standing at his side. “I’d like to introduce Senator Dane Sokolos of the U.S. Senate and Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Bryant of the British Army.”
After a flurry of introductions, Sienna opened the door. “Shall we go inside where it is more comfortable, gentlemen?”
The group filled the living room. Apolo stood to her left with Jax and Bente on his other side. Legian and Nalea stepped in on her right.
“The Draeken showed first aggression at the club,” the colonel said as he sat down on the sofa. Evidently not one to mince words, he got right down to business. “As such, we believe is it in the best interest of our countries to treat the Draeken as a likely threat. We also believe that an arrangement would be beneficial between our people and yours.”
Apolo smiled with a slight nod. “That is what we desire. By combining forces, we can eradicate the Draeken threat.”
Jerrick lifted a finger. “Our stance is not to eradicate an entire race. Rather, we want to gather more information and perhaps engage the Draeken, while insulating our people against harm.”
“Ideally,” Lieutenant-Colonel Bryant interjected in a smooth British accent. “While the United Kingdom has no desire in becoming embroiled in a costly war, we will not stand idly by if the Draeken attack our allies and attempt to build an empire across the ocean.”
Apolo spoke slowly and warmly. “Then our goals are common. I believe a partnership can be devised to secure our common interests.”
Jerrick leaned forward. “And I’m most curious about what some of those interests may be, Apolo.”
Apolo gave a slight tilt of his head. “I see you appreciate candor, Colonel, so I’ll lay it out. We exhausted our power supplies when we followed the Draeken to your world. We cannot return to Sephia. We offer our knowledge and technology in return for amnesty and full citizenship.”
Jerrick rubbed his chin while the room sat in silence, considering Apolo’s words. The senator, who Sienna recognized as being from Arkansas, spoke first. “An agreement like that would need to be formalized first by the American President, and then the United Nations Security Council would need to accept it. Following that, it must be communicated to the public in the right way and at the right time. It won’t be easy introducing your people to the general population. We can expect riots, both from the human rights and the religious fronts, as well as the racists. And that’s just for starters.”
Sienna swallowed before speaking. “It will change the way we’ve always looked at ourselves. We’re no longer alone in the universe, and we have to learn to accept that there are other races as intelligent as us. It wasn’t easy for me, and I imagine it was no easier for you. It will be the biggest change ever to be announced to the world. However, as leaders, you have the power to embrace the opportunity and announce us to the world in your own way and at a time of your choosing, or else have the Draeken do it for you. You can usher in a new age of enlightenment.”
“Sienna speaks the truth,” Apolo added. “We are not forcing your decision. The decision is yours. We will maintain a covert base as long as the Draeken threat permits, knowing we remain under your goodwill. However, the Draeken have made no such promises. And from what we saw at the club, the Draeken will quickly become much more than urban legends. What have you learned from the Draeken prisoners you attained at the club?”
“Unfortunately, very little,” Sommers replied. “We had no proof of their existence until last week. We have begun to study the Draeken we captured. They haven’t spoken yet, but biologically speaking, they have been a goldmine of information so far.”
Sienna cringed inwardly at the implication of his words. Visions of mice in cages surrounded by white lab coats came to mind. No one, not even the Draeken, deserved to be lab experiments.
She picked up a small briefcase. “Within weeks of landing on our world, Sephian computer systems designed a vaccine for the common cold. Sephian knowledge and technology are generations ahead of ours, and they are willing to share all that in exchange for an alliance. This case contains several vials of the vaccine, and memory sticks with the formula and all the medical data you need to prove that it works with no negative side effects. I have taken it and suffered no ill effect. Consider this token as a gift to show the depth of Sephian intent and goodwill.” She opened the case and walked around to show it to the men in the room.
Jerrick accepted the case, snapped it shut, and handed it to the soldier at his right. “I believe our intentions are aligned. I have the authority to formalize a temporary arrangement with the Sephians from a military perspective. We will work together to mitigate the Draeken threat, under certain conditions, of course.”
“Of course,” Apolo said and shook the colonel’s hand.
It was the senator’s turn next. “While we cannot commit to a formal agreement today, I give you my word that the proposal will be brought to the President. Your act of good faith will go far in earning our trust. I’ll be in touch to discuss an arrangement in more detail.”
Senator Sokolos held out his hand, and again
Apolo accepted.
“Lieutenant-Colonel Bryant,” Apolo spoke, and the British officer turned his attention to the Sephian leader. “I have a proposal for you.”
“Go ahead,” Bryant replied.
“Having the entire Sephian force in one location is a risk that has plagued me since we came to your world. A risk that became a reality when the Draeken attacked our base. I propose we will split the Sephian force, with half staying in North America, and half relocating to the UK. You would select the location, of course. You may also station key personnel at the location to learn from us. It would provide an opportunity for us to work alongside one another while better protecting the Sephian people and our knowledge of the Draeken. What say you to this?”
Bryant sat quiet for a moment, and then came to his feet abruptly. “Since there’s plenty of hand shaking going on today, why not some more.” He smiled. “I came here to propose the same. In fact, I already have a location being prepared. As such, I accept your proposal, and I believe we will learn much from one another.”
The two men shook hands.
One of the soldiers stepped forward holding something in his hand. Sienna jumped at the movement.
The senator gestured to the soldier. “We’d like some photographs of this momentous occasion. This meeting will be considered First Contact in the history books.”
“Of course,” Apolo said.
The men came to stand near Apolo. The trinity, Jax, and Sienna stood behind Apolo. Sienna stood with a practiced smile, oblivious to the flashes of the camera. She had bigger things on her mind. Alliances were being formed, but what if they failed?
Chapter Twenty
Sienna’s day began with an envelope. A small, discreet manila envelope slid under her bedroom door.
She lifted Legian’s arm and slid out from under him and climbed out of bed, the old wrought iron bed creaking as she did so. A large hand reached out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her back toward him.