by Maya Kane
Dax held up his hand and smiled a politician’s smile. “Harvesting is the wrong term.”
Athena’s hands flew to her chest. She wasn’t sure whether she should be relieved or full of dread at what the correct term would turn out to be.
“They seize planets and enslave the native Reon species.”
Kate exhaled loudly. “That’s so much better. Thanks for clarifying.”
Athena just shook her head. “And you allied with these barbarians?”
“We didn’t have a choice,” Dax said. “By that stage it was too late to just say ‘see ya, actually we’re not interested in working together’.”
Athena balled her fists. “Um, how about getting the UEF involved and bombing the hell out of them before they got to us? You could have prevented this disaster from ever happening.”
Dax looked sober. “We didn’t have the tech at the time. We needed to draw them in; to understand them. A deal was negotiated. Of course everyone was horrified, but the higher ups decided that was the only way we could safely extricate ourselves. We agreed to provide them with agricultural technology and in return they shared some of their defense technology. If it wasn’t for that, we’d all have died out there today.”
Athena sighed and shook her head. “There must have been another way.”
“No,” Dax said. “Come on; we’re not monsters. We just happened to open a hornet’s nest. And we got stung before we developed the means to destroy it.”
38
“Wow,” was all Athena could say when they arrived back at the ship.
Dax had offered to fly them back to Utah, but they had declined. There was so much to take in. She didn’t know whether she believed them when they said they didn’t know the enemy’s true nature until it was too late. But then what human would knowingly bring that fate to earth? She sighed. Even if she didn’t believe them, they were the best chance the UEF had of getting the hostages back. Athena was willing to bet that this had something to do with the strange pulsing in the ground.
Kate shook her head. “I know, right?”
“You didn’t tell them about that strange place in West Pennsylvania.”
Athena crossed her arms. “I didn’t. Kate, I’ve never heard of these people. It’s just crazy—another space force working alongside us but completely secret. Why?”
Kate shrugged. “I don’t think we’ll find an easy answer to that.”
“No,” Athena admitted. “There are no easy answers anymore.”
“I know,” Danni said with a shiver. “What do you think? Should we work with them?”
Athena sighed and looked back at Aron. He had that look on his face that he always got right after he shifted back. She couldn’t help but feel protective of him when he was like that. He looked up and smiled at her. Maybe now they’d finally get to spend some time together that didn’t involve flying vertically through the sky and dodging enemy fire.
“I don’t know,” Athena said. There was so much they didn’t know about the Special Forces team. But they weren’t in a position to be picky about who they worked with. The SSF team had ships that were invisible to the enemy. They had knowledge. “I can’t work him out—that Dax guy,” she sighed. “But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do everything in my power to find those hostages.”
Hostages. She was used to hostage scenarios where hundreds being captured made front page news around the world. In this case, they were looking at millions—maybe more. And there hadn’t been any news coverage. Mainly because the media was swept up along with everybody else.
Kate shook her head. “It’s unbelievable. But look at it this way—we know more than we did when we woke up this morning.”
Athena pulled at her lip, thinking over the events of the day. She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could do so, Aron wrapped his arms around her waist. He growled and muttered something in Dreon. She couldn’t understand his language but she was left in no doubt about what he meant.
She spun around. He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. It was the closest thing to peace Athena had felt in a very long time.
“What do you think?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” he said, pulling her even closer to him.
“You trust him?”
Aron grunted. “I trust you.”
Heat rushed through Athena. “That’s not what I asked.”
“Let’s not discuss it now. Come on.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the ship.
Athena’s stomach flipped. Just months ago she would have shaken her head and refused, going instead to the library and spending most of the night figuring out their next move.
But with Aron, things were different.
“It has been a hell of a long day.”
Behind her, Kate groaned. “That’s an incredible understatement. I think I’m going to sleep for at least two days—if not an entire week.”
Athena glanced up at Aron and caught him watching her closely. She squeezed his hand. She was exhausted too, but sleep wasn’t the first thing on her mind. Or the second.
“Dax said he had several units patrolling and searching for the hostages. Plus they have some sort of intel on the Cantokas’ movements. I vote we take the next twelve hours to rest and…” she swallowed. “Recuperate,” she added quickly.
Danni snorted. “That’s not what you were going to say.”
Athena glanced over at her. She was wrapped in Zalon’s arms looking like she was going to have a hard time moving out of that position. She laughed. “No, it’s not,” she grinned.
Kate slapped her shoulder. “He’s good for you. Aron. You’re lighter. Trust you to find your softer side in the middle of the biggest crisis earth has ever faced.”
Athena shrugged. She didn’t really get it either. There was something about his presence that calmed her and gave her perspective. She’d felt it so strongly the past couple of days, like nothing she had ever felt before. It was like it came from…
Athena’s eyes widened and she clamped her hand over her stomach.
She had never given contraception a second thought. After all, they were from a planet nobody on earth had ever heard of. Athena had just assumed that they couldn’t…
The strange fluttering in her abdomen suggested otherwise, however.
Aron bent his head. “Are you feeling okay?” he whispered, clamping his huge hand over hers.
Athena shifted her hand so his was clamped over her stomach. She looked up at him and felt a tug somewhere deep inside. It was different to the feeling he set off every time he touched her. She shook her head.
“Young,” he said simply.
Athena nodded. The problem with Uniton was it had been created for diplomacy and trade. They didn’t have the vocabulary to discuss this. She realized something with a start—they didn’t need to. The way Aron was holding her made it clear that he understood and shared her suspicions.
She sighed. It wasn’t confirmed yet. Her planner was back at the base—she couldn’t remember where she was in her cycle, and even if she could, the return from space to earth would likely have played havoc with it as usual.
“I’m not sure yet,” she whispered, staring into his golden eyes. She wasn’t sure whether she was imagining it, but they looked even more luminescent than usual.
He smiled. “I am.”
Athena laughed out loud. She looked around quickly, hoping none of the others had noticed. But they were too wrapped up in their Dreon to care. Kate looked like she had already fallen asleep.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked, turning and wrapping her arms around him. “It’s only been a couple of days.”
He shook his head solemnly. “I can feel it. Trust me, Athena. Our little one is on the way.”
Tears welled up in Athena’s eyes. Could it be true? She clamped her hands over his and concentrated hard. Yes, there was a strange fluttering feeling there that she had never felt before. It made her feel even more det
ermined to figure out what was going on with those Cantokas. There was no way she was risking it being dragged out—she wasn’t going to sit this out on parental leave.
“How long will it take?” she whispered.
“Come on,” he growled. “I’ll tell you everything I know after.”
“After?” Athena murmured, excitement growing within her. She knew what he was getting at but it was too much fun not to push him to answer. Uniton didn’t lend itself to flirtation, but they’d been testing that to its limits the past couple days.
“You know what I mean,” he said, eyes glinting.
Athena didn’t need to be told twice. She practically pushed him out of the room and along the corridor to his cabin.
Kate and Redon’s story: Alien Shifter Force
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