by Maia Starr
When we arrived, I saw with relief that the coast was clear. We were the only ones there, and I walked Samantha to the washing rooms.
“Stay hidden from view in one of the stalls until your sister comes in,” I instructed. “Act as if you are crying or sick so that nobody becomes suspicious. I will instruct the staff to leave you be until my meeting is over. They will do as I command.”
Samantha said nothing, but disappeared into the washing room. I headed to my table and ordered a drink, then sat in wait until I heard Zod’s unpleasant voice from behind me.
“They don’t usually let humans in here,” Zod was bragging. “See how much power I have?”
I rolled my eyes, knowing that soon the humans would be normalized in our culture and their presence in establishments like these would be welcomed rather than frowned upon. Still, I didn’t interject, and held my breath until Zod and Alexa were sitting in front of me.
My hearts skipped a beat when I caught a glance at Alexa, who looked immediately down at the table without meeting my gaze. She was looking well; I had been expecting her to show some signs of damage. It was a relief to know that Zod had been holding his temper.
“Greetings to you,” I said finally, bowing to Zod. He smirked and bowed back without the greeting. It was infuriating, because he was supposed to greet me first, as it was the rule of our rank. But buddying up with the Supreme Leader had left him feeling infallible, and whenever he could get away with it, he would dishonor those who ranked higher than he did.
I let it go, though, and continued.
“I had wanted to speak more of Kalron…”
“Didn’t I tell you!” Zod interjected, elbowing Alexa in the side. She flinched at his touch, but he didn’t seem to notice. “This guy is obsessed with work. He must trust my guidance more than he trusts that of the Supreme Leader himself. Tell me, Chaz’z, why not hold audience with Supreme Leader Aloitus about your concerns? Why speak to me?”
I sighed. “Because I know you have been assigned as diplomat on Kalron, and considering I’m in charge of the most powerful war machine frequenting their planet, I was wondering what you think the people of Kalron want.”
“What they want?” Zod said, laughing dismissively. “They want, of course, to be left alone. Don’t you understand what’s going on here?”
Zod was silent and looked at me hard. I really wasn’t sure, but if I showed any suspicion of corruption being hidden from the masses, it would be my head and likely Zod to replace my command.
“Of course,” I finally said. “I was just wondering what your thoughts were. It would be nice to speak to you personally on such matters. Reports and transcripts are such cold ways of learning things.”
I looked meaningfully at Alexa, whose clear hazel eyes I could feel staring at me now that my focus was on Zod. She got my drift immediately and nodded, almost imperceptibly. She had brought the evidence I needed. My chest hammered in excitement. This was really happening.
Zod laughed dismissively. “This really is quite strange, Chaz’z. We’re in the middle of a war that most people just don’t know anything about. It’s up to us to stick together on this. Nobody else will be able to relate to the way we feel about this. I know I am not the most agreeable person on the fleet, but I do hope that you can learn to trust me.”
His sentiment seemed completely sincere, and I found it very surprising. He wasn’t asking, exactly, to be friends. Just to be treated as I treated all of our other comrades. But it was so difficult. Zod was a disagreeable little man, and we all knew that Aloitus favored him for whatever reason. I would have to look at the evidence that Alexa had accumulated before my next mission to Kalron. Everything we were doing just felt wrong.
“I do trust you, Zod,” I said. “Despite my reservations, I believe in the power of Fate.”
The words felt hollow as I spoke them, and I could only hope that Zod didn’t hear them the same way I did.
“Great! Then let us feast.”
I nodded as the food was served, wondering how in the hell I would manage to get Alexa into the washing room before dinner was over.
***
Fortunately, nature ran its course and Alexa slipped into the washing room a little while later, excusing herself with a deep bow that made me feel a little bit sorry for her. Zod was a man who liked a subservient female more than most, so it seemed he was training her hard in the ways of docility.
“Welcome back, female!” Zod said.
“Hi, Zod!” Samantha said cheerfully. He glanced at her, surprised but pleased by her enthusiasm.
“It’s ‘my Lord.’ Remember?” he reprimanded gently. I wasn’t sure if he was holding his temper back on my account or if he was sincerely feeling tender toward the female. Alexa had a tendency of bringing that out in people, I thought bitterly. I couldn’t wait to have a stern talk with her. It had been far too long.
“Thanks to you, Commander, for the meal,” Zod said finally, bowing and nudging Sam to follow suit. She smiled at me as she bowed, apparently just as glad to be rid of me as I was glad to be rid of her.
“It was my pleasure, Captain. Wishes to safe travel for you and your female.”
Zod left with Samantha in tow, talking his ear off about how nice the restaurant was. His stern demeanor seemed to relax and brighten with Samantha chattering beside him, and I shook my head. What an unlikely couple. But perhaps there was a strong fated thread that was pulling all of us together. That was the only possible way to reconcile the idea of a female actually enjoying Zod’s company, and vice versa.
“Are you all right in there, female?” I asked into the women’s washing room.
“Fine,” Alexa’s gentle voice reached my ears, and it felt like a soothing balm on my very injured soul. The wound that had been inflicted upon me was one that only she could fix, and if she couldn’t, then at the very least, she would be able to help me figure out whether or not I was doing the right thing by honoring Fate’s code and the people guiding my planet into a dark age.
“Come on out now; it is time for us to head back home,” I said, surprised by how right it felt to refer to my home as Alexa’s home as well. But I couldn’t let myself get drawn in by sentiment. There was work to do, and the female had betrayed me.
“All right,” Alexa said, coming out of the room tentatively, still clutching the bag that she had brought with her when she’d entered with Zod.
Heat coursed through my body as I took her in; she still wore Thressl’n clothing much more naturally than her sister, and the curves of her body seemed snug inside the fabric. It brought my mind back to the memory of her soft gasps as I roamed those curves the night of the fleet’s event at the palace, and how distraught I had been to lose her in the crowd so soon after expressing, what I thought, was a vow for us to stay together.
“The craft is this way,” I said, clearing my throat and attempting not to let those memories pave the way toward any unwanted feelings. Alexa followed, keeping her eyes on the ground until we got in the hovercraft. The silence as I drove was unbearable, and Alexa suddenly turned her beautiful clear eyes upon me.
“I should have told you sooner,” she said desperately. “I tried. I didn’t want to leave that night with Zod, but he found me in the crowd and forced me back with him. I am really afraid of him, Chaz’z. He’s the first Thressl’n man I was assigned to and left me cold in his cellar without food or water after beating me senseless. I didn’t know what to do; I couldn’t just…”
I was silent as Alexa’s words poured from her lips. I could imagine how afraid she must have been, and my hatred toward Zod doubled upon hearing how he treated his female. But it still didn’t make up for the betrayal. No matter what she said, I was hurt.
“I don’t know what to say to you right now,” I said, sighing deeply. We soon pulled into my home, and we sat in the craft, the tension between us thick. “I thought that I could trust you.”
“Let’s go inside,” Alexa said, touching my arm gently
. It felt so right to have her touching me, but I was still conflicted. “I’ll tell you everything.”
I thought it over for a few moments. It couldn’t hurt to talk things over. And afterward, whatever conclusion we arrived at, I would be able to learn the truth about Zod, Aloitus, and my government’s actions. It was worth a try.
***
Alexa was trembling as we sat on my long couch together, staring at her hands as she attempted to gather her words.
“It started when we went to the first event. The woman you said looked like me is my sister, which you know now. She’s insufferable, but I have a feeling you know that too. So when she forced me into switching places with her, I was almost relieved in a way, not to be forced into suffering…to let my twin suffer in my place the way I always have for her.”
“That makes sense,” I agreed. I had seen for myself just how willful Samantha could be. And I was quickly learning that there really was nothing more aggravating than a willful, spoiled Earth female. It wasn’t a lifestyle I was anxious to live.
“I’m sorry, Chaz’z,” Alexa said, dropping her head into her hands miserably. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t stand the thought of Zod being cruel to her, so I left. And we were too afraid to tell either one of you.”
“You could have told me,” I said. “Perhaps before we joined bodies, you should have.”
Alexa grimaced.
“You’re right. I should have. I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess it’s just terrifying to be here. To not know what to expect of the people around you. After Zod treated me the way he did, I guess I just wasn’t comfortable testing your temper. I was worried something might happen to me and Sam if I told anybody.”
“But you just disappeared,” I exclaimed. “How do you think it made me feel to discover that it wasn’t you, it was your sister who was nearly invited to my bed? Do you realize just how complicated things could have gotten?”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“I don’t want Samantha,” I said, looking Alexa hard in the eye. “I want you. And I don’t know how long it will take before I can trust you again.”
Alexa’s eyes filled with pain, and she nodded, pulling the bag she had been carrying onto her lap and pulling the camera out for me.
“Here,” she said. “I hope these are useful because I risked my life for them.”
I grabbed the camera eagerly and immediately began scanning the images on it through its projection lens.
“Where did you get that, anyway?” Alexa asked. “It’s so similar to cameras on Earth, but so much better.”
“A man named Laike made it when I asked him. He is quite inventive, and is responsible for the design of my ships.”
“Well he did a good job,” Alexa said.
But I barely heard her. I was taking in the information on the photographs, confused and shocked by what I was seeing.
“Are you sure this was in Zod’s room?” I demanded, flipping through the images again.
“I’m sure,” Alexa said defiantly. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go to look for information.”
“I don’t believe it,” I breathed. “I can’t believe it. Not without confirmation…these could be decoys.”
“What are you talking about?”
But there was no time to explain.
“Put this back in your bag,” I said, thrusting the camera at Alexa. “We have to go back to the palace.”
***
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Alexa hissed. It irritated me to be second-guessed.
“Please keep quiet. This is the only way.”
She sighed and followed me to the room where the Supreme Leader worked.
“Stay here.”
Alexa nodded. She already knew the plan. I had enlisted some of the men from my fleet, who were convinced of the Supreme Leader’s corruption, to create a diversion outside the palace gates. All hands would be required, and Aloitus and I would go to see what the trouble was. Alexa would sneak into the office and get whatever information she could, at whatever cost.
I felt guilty using her in such a way, but it seemed I had no choice. There was more at stake than my personal feelings for this Earthling. And it would do her planet good, too, to learn the true motives of the Thressl’n and the Vellreq.
“Supreme Leader Aloitus,” I said, bowing deeply. “Greetings to you.”
“Commander Chaz’z, this is quite a surprise. Welcome.”
“Thank you,” I said, perching on the seat across from the Supreme Leader’s desk. His frightening attempt at a smile appeared on his face, and I tried my best to return it.
“What is it you seek from me, today? Zod tells me you have been quite interested in the people of Kalron; is that right?”
“That’s right, sir. That is why I am here today. I thought perhaps you could use more ground forces. Men who might put the Kalron at ease despite the war raging around them. Docility may make our mission easier to accomplish, don’t you think?”
“Well, Commander, the fact is—”
A sudden alarm blared throughout the palace, and Aloitus’ eyes widened.
“Supreme Leader Aloitus, you will have to come with me. It seems there is danger and your life may be at risk.”
I was surprised that the small diversion I had organized had escalated to such a fearful event for the Supreme Leader, and Aloitus looked pleadingly at me.
“Please, accompany me to my chambers. I shall feel safe with you there.”
“Of course, sir,” I said, taking my laser gun out and leading the way out of the room. “As you wish.”
Chapter 9
Alexa Thomas (Investigative Journalist)
I watched quietly, slinking into the background as all of the guards bustled about the palace and headed to defend it. Soon, Chaz’z and the Supreme Leader rushed past, neither even noticing I was there, and the guards outside the doors were suddenly creating a wall around Aloitus and leading him up a grand stairway.
I waited until they were out of sight before I crept inside the office. In all the panic, Chaz’z had slyly disarmed the security system by planting an override device on the door. He said it was one of the many gadgets he had requested from Laike, the brilliant but humble man who had been responsible for building my camera.
I clutched it tightly as I walked through the doorway, my blood like ice as I glanced around the room. It was highly organized, and I’d been instructed to remove the override device and use it on the drawers of Aloitus’ office.
I had gotten myself into a lot of sticky situations in my days as an investigative journalist, but nothing quite so terrifying as exploring the office of an extraterrestrial leader who may have been responsible for the colonization of my species. It was a whole new level of work.
And yet, I was thrilled to be doing it. I had always known there would be a day when my skills would come in handy to me personally, but I hadn’t realized that I would actually be working to try and save the world.
The override device worked quickly on the drawers of the Supreme Leader’s desk, and I quickly took out the classified documents. Many of them were stored in projectors I had no idea how to operate, but luckily Chaz’z and Laike had kept that in mind and given me a little port, kind of like a USB stick, that would copy all electronic information and save it.
As it copied, I busied myself taking as many photos as I possibly could of every single document that looked important. I had to trust my instincts and my limited knowledge of the written Thressl’n language.
My heart lurched when I heard heavy footfalls coming toward the office, and I scrambled to put everything away as I had found it and get the override device back on the door before I was discovered.
The door hissed open, and I nearly cried out in fear when I saw the dark silhouette of a body in front of me.
“Did you get it?”
Chaz’z’s comforting, masculine voice electrified me, and I ran out of the room in tears, grabbing the ove
rride device as I went.
“Yes, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Chaz’z nodded and before I knew it, we were back in his hovercraft and heading for home.
***
“Are you okay?” he asked me gently when we were nearly back to his dwelling. I was surprised by the concern in his voice. He had been so angry and hurt by the betrayal, I almost wondered if I was imagining things.
“Yes,” I said. “I hope I was able to get enough information for you.”
“You did your best,” Chaz’z said, glancing at his rearview mirror. He had been doing that a lot since we left the palace. It was almost as if he didn’t trust that the surveillance had been cut off; another nifty trick Chaz’z had received from Laike.
“Will Laike get in trouble if anybody finds out about this?” I asked. He had been so helpful. And although I’d never met him, I felt like I owed him a lot for making my job easier.
“We would all get in trouble,” Chaz’z said distantly, gazing at his window again. “But don’t worry about him. He’s planning an escape from here. Most of the underappreciated are recruited in the cursed war. But he is leaving with his Earth female, and they will not be looking back. They will be all right.”
“We could leave too,” I said. “If things got too bad, then…”
“They won’t,” Chaz’z said, turning his serious eyes onto me. A tremor coursed through me. I had forgotten just how sensual his gaze could be.
“All right,” I said, shifting uncomfortably and looking away. I couldn’t let myself get caught up in my attraction for Chaz’z. Not when there was so much at stake and he had to sort his feelings for me out. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.
We arrived at Chaz’z’s dwelling, and I was alarmed when Chaz’z shouted, “Oh Gods!”
I looked out the window, and my stomach dropped. Zod and Samantha were standing in front of the doorway of the house, Zod with his hands crossed over his chest. Sam was wincing at the ground, her cheek swollen and bruised.