When dinner was over, she said her thank yous and goodbyes, and beat feet towards the front door. The entire day had been amazing, and she didn’t want to ruin it by doing something foolish—like asking the two males to take her upstairs to Conall’s bedroom.
Brogan got caught talking to Artair directly after the meal, but Conall escorted her to the front door, opened it for her, and followed her out into the night.
“Thank you for tutoring Oliver today. And for talking to him for me after our argument,” he told her with gratitude.
Onalee hiked her bag onto her shoulder. “You’re welcome. He’s a delightful boy. I’m happy to do all I can to help.”
“You are helping. I see a great improvement in him, in more ways than one.” He said the last part more quietly than the rest, but she still heard him.
They arrived at her vehicle, and she turned to face him. In the moonlight, he was even more handsome. Or maybe she was just becoming infatuated. (Becoming? Ha!) She decided to do one little foolish thing before she left.
“I’m glad I’m helping him. He means a great deal to me, as do you all.”
Gathering all of the courage she could muster, and the joy of the day, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on Conall’s cheek. She couldn’t help but linger for a moment, feeling the short hairs against her lips, and his breath on her ear.
When she pulled back, she gave him a wide smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He didn’t reply as she got into her transport and pressed the home button on the console. She sat back into the seat and replayed the wonderful day in her mind. It felt empowering to be helping people and contributing… To feel like a part of a family… To be needed!
*****
Onalee was still flying high as she entered her home and was greeted by Finch, their butler. Immediately she could feel the tension in the house.
“Forkan is home?” she asked Finch, although she already knew the answer. He wasn’t due home for at least three more days.
“Yes, madam. He’s in his office,” Finch answered.
“Is he alone?” she asked, hoping that Stigus wasn’t in there making things worse.
“Yes, madam.”
Onalee headed that way, pausing only to hand Lena her bag when the female stepped into the hall. Lena gave her a sympathetic smile.
At the door to Forkan’s office, Onalee paused to adjust her hair, clothes, and facial features. Once everything was smooth, she knocked.
“Enter,” Forkan called. She opened the door, went inside, and shut it quietly.
“Forkan, I’m glad you’re home,” she told him warmly. “I didn’t expect you for another few days.”
“Yes, I can see that,” he replied gruffly.
Onalee’s eyes flitted to the glass in his hand. He’d been drinking. What, she didn’t know, but if it was some of the heavier alien liquors, she was in trouble.
Forkan didn’t bother with the pretense of exchanging pleasantries. Instead, he jumped right to anger.
“I came home, expecting you to be here, but instead I’m told that you’re at the Earthers’ house, tutoring that child again. You know how I like you to be here when I come home, Lea.”
Onalee took another couple of steps into the room. “Yes, I do. But we agreed that me getting to know the MacLeods would improve our relationship with the Sirilians…”
“I remember what we agreed to,” he interjected sourly. “But I didn’t think you’d stay out unsupervised until all hours of the night.”
Unsupervised? What kind of supervision was he implying she needed? Normally she would have let the comment go, but not today—not when he was ruining the best day she’d had in years.
“Forkan. I am twenty-five years old. I do not need supervision, nor do I have a curfew. I’m an adult, and am allowed to make my own choices.”
That made him sit up straighter. “When have you ever made your own choices?” Forkan challenged her. “You’ve spent your life in this house, and have relied on me to make every decision for you. All of the sudden you want to be treated like an adult? Now? When I need you more than ever?”
He stood, and came around the side of the desk, setting his glass down on the surface. Onalee didn’t move. She knew better than to retreat, even when on the inside, she was flinching from his harsh words.
“Do you understand that Arathians will be extinct in one-hundred years?” he asked rhetorically. “Cormikan Industries is our race’s only chance at finding a cure. All of that responsibility rests on the company’s shoulders. Our shoulders, Lea. We can’t lose focus now and allow our race to die out.”
“Then let me help,” she argued. “Let me work alongside you and shoulder some of the burden. It’s too much weight for just you alone.”
Forkan scoffed and grabbed his glass, taking another swig as he prowled away from her. “What would you do there? You’ve never worked a day in your life.”
For the first time, Onalee flinched back from Forkan’s verbal blow. He was right, but she’d been offering to work at Cormikan Industries for nearly a decade. The company was a legacy that their parents had meant for Forkan and her to share together. It wasn’t her fault that she’d been so young when the company had been passed to them.
Forkan stalked back across the room. He put his hands on her shoulders and sighed, blowing the smell of alcohol into her face.
“I don’t need you working in Talavera. I need you here, so that I can relax when I come home after stressful days.”
It seemed as though some of his anger was dissipating, so she took a chance and pleaded.
“I need more than that, Forkan. I need a greater purpose.”
She tried to convey her sincerity, but he either ignored her pleading look, or was too inebriated to recognize her need.
“You do serve a great purpose. You support me in the search for a cure. What greater purpose could there be?”
“I… I want a family of my own.”
She shocked herself, and Forkan, with the admission. His hands fell from her shoulders, and he became very still—all except his eyes, which became hard and unyielding. It was a look she’d seen him wield against people who opposed him, but not her. He’d never looked at her that way.
“Are you talking about finding mates?” Forkan clarified in a sharp tone. “Let me remind you that we’ve already had this discussion. Once I get closer to the cure, I’ll help you find worthy males. For now, the two of us as a family will have to be enough.”
She nodded, knowing that starting a full-out argument in that moment would be fruitless. But she was not letting the subject go. The more time she spent at the MacLeod house, the more she became unhappy with her current situation.
Later, as Lena was brushing out her hair, Onalee had a shocking revelation: she suddenly realized that the two of them—her and Forkan, alone together—had never been enough. She hadn’t fully recognized that until right then.
The surprise was that it had taken her that many years to see it.
CHAPTER 9
Conall entered a room inside the MacLeod house that he’d never been in before, even though it was “public space” and he knew he was welcome. This was the room where Reus had installed his holographic projection technology.
It was a modest sized room, with a high ceiling and monochromatic coloring. It was completely empty, allowing his steps to echo on the walls.
Normally the space was used by Reus and Karo to play octoball, but today Conall wasn’t interested in playing the Sirilian sport. Today he was going to use the projectors to explore the planet.
His family hadn’t traveled outside of the comfort and security of their new home since they’d arrived on Arath—the meal at the royals’ palace notwithstanding.
Conall’d thought about it long and hard, and decided that he wasn’t going to become more comfortable living on an alien world by sitting idle at home. He needed to get to know his new surroundings and life. Still, walking into the room felt intrusive
, so he was grateful the rest of the family were occupied at the moment. He tried to suppress his discomfort and cleared his throat.
“LINK, you with me?” It was his usual greeting to the AI, even though he knew that LINK was embedded into their entire house and transports.
“Yes I am. Good morning, Conall.” LINK replied through the speakers in the room.
“Morning. I’m hoping you can help me. Can this room project information from the Arathian Database?”
“Of course. Was there something in particular you wanted to see?”
“Aye.” Conall wasn’t sure where he wanted to “visit” first, but starting out slowly seemed like the right thing to do. “Please project a popular tourist destination. Maybe something quiet and off the beaten path?”
The room shimmered right away, then solidified into a wide expanse of blue.
Conall was disorientated for a moment as his mind processed what he was suddenly seeing. Once the near-vertigo feeling passed, he realized that the blue surrounding him on all sides, was water. Rays of sunlight filtered down and glinted off of fish and sea creatures as they swam by on all sides. The floor he was standing on was clear, which gave him an unimpeded view of the sea life on the ocean floor. Schools of brightly colored fish danced around spires of anemone-like bottom dwellers.
“Where are we?” he asked LINK.
“The Great Northern Aquatic Observatory, located in the largest lake in the northern hemisphere.”
“This isn’t an ocean?” Conall asked in surprise. The brightly colored creatures and fish resembled ones found in coral reefs on Earth.
“No. Arath doesn’t have oceans, like you think of them. Their planet is mostly land, segmented by thousands of rivers and lakes. This observatory is a popular destination to view and study the aquatic life.”
Conall rolled his eyes at his own stupid question. Of course he knew that Arath didn’t have oceans, or large bodies of water of any kind—nothing by Earther standards, anyway.
During the two-week long trip from Earth to Arath on Kor’s ship, he’d spent a large amount of time studying their new world. It was amazing how similar, and yet different, the two planets were.
Fish and water were nice, but it was time to move on.
“How about something on land this time?” he asked LINK.
“No problem.”
The room shimmered, and this time Conall tried to brace himself for the disorientation of suddenly being in entirely different surroundings. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was standing on the outskirts of a town in winter.
Snowflakes fell all around him, blowing in the virtual wind he couldn’t feel against his skin. In the distance, he could make out shapes of towering mountains surrounding the cozy town.
It was peaceful and serene, so the sound of a door opening startled him.
Conall turned, expecting to see Reus or maybe Ashlyn standing in the threshold; but instead he saw Brogan. The male’s eyes scanned the virtual scenery briefly before landing on him.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. Reus told me that I could come take a look at the new tech he’s been developing. I didn’t know you were already using the room.”
“It’s okay,” Conall quickly told him. “I can go and leave you to it.”
He started to move towards the exit, but Brogan stopped him by stepping into the room. The doors automatically slid shut.
“Please don’t let me run you off,” Brogan told him.
Conall was brought up short. He hadn’t been alone with Brogan in days, although the man had been working on the security network for his house all that time. But being alone with him now felt intimate. He almost wished there was someone else there to chaperone.
Who needs chaperoning? He asked himself. Am I tempted to do something to Brogan? Or with Brogan?
Conall quickly dismissed the idea. He was straight—had been his entire life. He’d had a wife and child for Christ sake! But it didn’t matter how many times Conall had repeated that to himself over the past couple of weeks, he couldn’t stop his body’s reaction whenever Brogan was close. His heart beat fast, palms would get sweaty; his entire focus was on the male. Conall was constantly aware of where he was in the room, who he was talking to… and if they brushed together at any moment (even bumped shoulders), Conall would get a flutter in his gut.
It was the damnedest thing.
“Admiring the scenery?” Brogan asked lightheartedly.
Conall’s heart stalled. Had Brogan noticed the intense manner in which he watched him?
He was ready to deny, deny, deny, but Brogan gestured to the snowy landscape, and Conall exhaled in relief. He’d been asking about the scenery of the holoroom. Right.
“LINK chose it,” Conall answered. “I was using the holoprojectors to travel around Arath.”
Truth was, he didn’t know why LINK had chosen this town with its starkness. Although, the harsh weather was beautiful in its own way.
Brogan moved farther into the room until he was at Conall’s side.
“It’s amazing,” he murmured. “LINK’s been able to take information from our Database and create a 3-D environment.”
Brogan held out a hand and a large snowflake fell through his palm. Conall knew that there was no sensation of touch, but the scenery was so lifelike that their brains were nearly fooled. He was beginning to feel cold, even though it was all in his mind.
“Too bad there’s no sense of feeling or smell,” Brogan absently lamented before correcting himself. “Maybe that’s a good thing, seeing as though this town’s temperatures usually stay around hypothermia levels.”
Conall chuckled at the joke. “Have you ever been here? I mean, in real life?”
Brogan pulled his hand back, and faced Conall.
“Yes, but it’s far too cold for my southern-liking. I had to do exercises in plenty of harsh climates like this while training to become a Guard, and I was always miserable. Sub-zero temperatures are not my thing. It’s beautiful though,” he quietly observed before looking up at Conall. “Where else have you visited?”
“The Northern Aquatic Observatory is the only other place. I was working myself up to Talavera.”
Brogan’s eyebrows knit together. “Why do you say it like that?”
Conall shrugged. “I keep hearing how intense the capital is, and it sounds overwhelming.”
The other man gave that a moment’s thought. “I suppose so, what with all of the activity, the buildings, and the different cultures. But all the better to jump into the mix.”
Conall gave him a skeptical look that had Brogan chuckling.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t I take you there tonight for dinner? I can show you around, and let you see that it’s not something to be scared of.”
“I’m not scared,” Conall replied. After he said it, he realized that maybe he’d responded a bit too quickly. Brogan (thankfully) only gave him a mild look of skepticism. He let the comment go.
“Come on. I’ll show you around, we’ll have a meal, and you can see that Talavera is just like any other capital city in the Galactic Alliance.”
Conall found himself agreeing, even as the knot in the pit of his stomach grew. More time alone with Brogan? That was definitely a bad idea.
*****
After he’d contacted Reus and Ashlyn to ask them to watch over Oliver for the evening (if the lad knew where he was going, he’d undoubtedly want to come along), Conall found himself sitting next to Brogan on their way to Talavera.
He couldn’t help but admire the green autotransport as they flew towards the city. It’d been his favorite vehicle since he’d arrived, and this was his first time taking it out for a ride. It flew effortlessly over the trees, tearing through the sky.
Conall glanced over at his companion across the bench seat, and tried to gauge his mood. Brogan was quiet, observant, and had no idea what this trip meant to Conall. He may think nothing of the offer, but to Conall it was important. It meant that he w
as one step closer to gaining his footing on this alien world—something that he’d been struggling to accomplish since he’d arrived.
“What would you like to see first?” Brogan asked in the quiet of the vehicle. Conall shrugged.
“I don’t know what there is.”
Brogan chuckled. “Fair enough.”
He programmed a route into the computer that took them on a circuitous loop through the city.
“There,” he declared once he sat back into his seat. “That’ll let us see the vast majority of sights, and still allow us to make our dinner reservation.”
Conall only nodded in reply. “Dinner reservation” sounded so formal… and intimate—almost like a date. He had a distinct feeling that this wouldn’t be like when he met up with his friends back home in Scotland, and they had a few pints at the local pub.
He glanced down at the plaid button-down shirt, worn jeans, and work boots he wore. Hopefully, wherever they were going, he wouldn’t stick out like the Earther alien he was.
That was one of things that made him the most nervous: with his pale skin and flaming red hair, there was no hiding the fact that he wasn’t Arathian. He would be like a beacon amidst the tan, black haired race, and Conall had never liked attention.
“There, you can just begin to see the tallest buildings in the city,” Brogan told him while pointing to the horizon.
Conall leaned forward in his seat, but couldn’t see anything man-made (or, Arathian-made, as it were). He only saw the valley they were flying through, and the hills on either side.
“I don’t see it yet. Must only be visible to those of us with robot eyes.” The joke slipped out before Conall could censor himself, but Brogan chuckled and slapped him once on the back.
“You’re right. Sometimes I forget that I can see better than most.”
“And hear better too, right?” Conall asked. “Onalee told me that your hearing is also enhanced.”
Brogan nodded. “It’s common for members of the Guard, especially those of us who operate in stealth. It’s more efficient and effective to protect the royals if we can rely on our enhancements, rather than always carry gear with us.”
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