by Alana Allen
“What’s going to happen to me? To the baby?” She asked. “Will it look human or alien? How will I deliver it? Why did you do this to me?”
Max let her go and in his shame walked to the other end of the room and hung his head. Softly, he said, “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
CHAPTER FOUR
He was right about all of it. She did know there was something different about him since she first met him the night he found her crawling toward his house half dead.
The Max Collier she had heard about and saw with her own eyes was a gregarious, outgoing, sociable person. He was often spotted in town talking with many the local vendors. However, in recent months, people saw less and less of him. Kadyn had never had any real interaction with them before this, but she knew of him and about his family’s ranch. It definitely wasn’t like him to retreat and keep to himself. It made sense to her that something had changed.
She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that he wasn’t trying to hurt her. Truthfully, she was emotionally invested in this man- or whoever he was- since she first felt his hands heal her. She always questioned how he was able to do that, but as their time stretched on, she decided not to ask any questions and just go with the feeling she had about him. Now to be confronted with the truth was more than she could handle. It was a surreal feeling not understanding what was going. Not to mention being in the middle of running from police and being wanted for murder, much less finding out you’re pregnant with Starman’s baby.
He stood across the room from her waiting for her response. In spite of the many reasons she knew she should run far away from this entire situation, Kadyn didn’t want to leave him. Even though they had been together a short time, Max made her feel she was safe. It was the first time in her life a man had provided safety instead of stripping it from her.
Her heart dropped at the sudden realization that she loved him. She was in love with Max Collier.
No. She was in love with the soul that inhabited Max’s body. If that love meant it was defined between an Earth human and an extra-terrestrial then that’s what it was going to be. She hadn’t found a love like this on her own planet before, and now that it was staring her in the face and giving her a child, she wasn’t going to question it any longer.
***
Max walked out of the hotel room and close the door behind him softly. In the light of the sunrise of a new day, he felt confident that everything would work out. She accepted him and knew the truth. Even though they were still in a lot of trouble, he believed that things were only going to get better.
He put his hands on his hips and stretched his back. Morning brought with it the craving of a substance known as coffee. He had become accustomed to drinking it. He walked toward the lobby to ask the concierge where he might find a local diner.
In the distance he saw two men speaking. One was the hotel agent he recognized when he pulled up yesterday and the other was a sheriff’s deputy. Max slowed his pace until he stopped and watched the two of them. The hotel agent pointed in the direction he was standing. The police officer followed his finger and noticed Max. Max bowed his head and turned around, trying not to rush back to the room, but feeling the urge to get to Kadyn.
“Excuse me, sir.” The officer shouted in his direction.
He ignored it and continued on. Opening the door to the hotel room he yelled to Kadyn.
“Get up, they found us!”
Kadyn jumped up like she’d been bitten by a snake and tried to register what he was saying. He threw her close at her.
“Hurry, get dressed.”
“What’s going on?” She asked.
“I think the hotel attendant recognized us.” He replied.
Max gathered their clothes, keys to his truck, and a few other items and put them in his backpack while Kadyn tried to balance on one leg, to put her pants on.
“Is there a back way out of here?” She asked.
“Not that I know of. We may have to make a run for it. My truck is parked behind the hotel. Follow me.” Max took her hand and opened the door, checking to see if everything was clear.
He didn’t see the officer but noticed that other people were coming out of their rooms due to all the shouting.
“Hurry.” Max waved her on to get in front of him as they ran behind the hotel.
“Where is it?” She asked.
Max, didn’t notice until turning around that his truck was gone. In its place were two officers with their guns pointed at both of them.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kadyn froze. Her heart sunk deeper into her throat as she saw the two officers pointing guns at her face. Instinctively, she put her hands up. She looked over at Max, who also had his hands raised. He met her gaze. The look in his eye worried her.
She could feel the blood pumping through her veins at a fast pace as the adrenaline exploded throughout her body. She knew something was about to go down she just didn’t know what. Where was his truck? Did the officers take it?
“Get down on the ground!” One of the officers demanded.
They moved closer to Max sensing he was the greater threat. When the first officer was in within range, he grabbed Max, turned him around and slammed him against the police car. The second officer did the same thing to Kadyn. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what to do. She couldn’t deliver her baby in a prison cell.
In an instant, Max revealed his wrist to the cop who grabbed it, and began to convulse and fall to the ground. He moved quickly to the second officer that was arresting Kadyn and touched him behind the neck, electrocuting him as well.
Kadyn was stunned. She stood there as Max grabbed the handcuff keys and unlocked her wrists from the handcuffs.
“Get in the car.” Max ordered her.
“What? We can’t steal a police car!” She said.
“Just get in!” This is the first time he’d ever raised his voice to her. It was intimidating enough that she obeyed his order.
Kadyn watched from the window and saw Max lean down next to the officers. He placed both hands over each body hovering over them without touching. Glowing light radiated from his hands and covered the officers’ bodies. Kadyn watched the officers as they each moved taking a deep breath. Max moved away from them and headed for the car. He got in and closed the door, put the gear shift in drive and stepped on the gas, spinning the tires as they drove out from behind the hotel and onto the highway.
“What just happened?” Kadyn asked. Although she already knew the answer. It was the same thing he had done to her the first night he met her. She didn’t ask any questions before, but this time seeing him do it to someone else a slow realization crept into her mind. He had the power to heal others with his hands. He was telling the truth. He was from a different world.
Max kept his eyes on the road, but said nothing. He knew their time was running out. More than anything he needed to get Kadyn to a safe place to deliver their baby. This wasn’t going to be easy. There weren’t many people he had met in these past 18 months that he knew he could trust, except for one.
Looking onto the road ahead it seem like a long journey, both behind and ahead of them. His only concern now was to keep Kadyn safe and have their baby delivered successfully without it getting in the hands of the government. Her pregnancy was unplanned and unexpected, but a miracle nonetheless.
He focused his attention on the radio scanner that was reporting their latest get away. Apparently other officers were in pursuit of the police car they were driving. If he was going to get her to safety, he needed to get rid of this car. He drove until he came upon a small town. At the next light, there was an auto body garage. He pulled in and parked the car behind the building.
“Get out.” He said.
“Where are we going?” Kadyn asked.
“We have to get rid of the car.”
Kadyn followed him and got out of the front seat. She helped him open the garage door to the auto body shop, push the car inside, and t
hen shut it behind them. Across the parking lot they saw an old beat up blue Chevy truck that looked abandoned.
“There,” he said. “That one.” He pointed to the vehicle. They ran across street and got into the truck.
“What about the keys?” She said.
“I’ve got it.” Max put his hand over the ignition and with just a brief couple of clicks was able to start the truck.
“That’s some gift you have there,” Kadyn said.
CHAPTER SIX
They were riding down the road when a deep pressure in her belly took hold of Kadyn. She grabbed her stomach and felt it expand.
“What’s happening to me?” She screamed. Her stomach moved, expanded, and sunk lower before expanding again.
Max took one hand off the steering wheel and placed it on her stomach.
“Are you feeling any pain?” He asked.
“No, just a lot of pressure and tingling. Make it stop, Max. Please.” Kadyn scrambled in her seat and grabbed his shoulder pulling on his jacket.
“It will be alright.”
He pulled the truck over to the side of the road, put it in park and shut off the engine. Closing his eyes, he opened his hand and expelled a gold light over her belly.
Kadyn felt the calm that wiped over her body. Her stomach stopped moving. Max put the truck in drive and continued on along the highway. His expression was stoic.
“What is inside of me, Max?” She asked, terrified of what just happened.
He ignored her and kept his gaze on the road ahead.
“Answer me!” She yelled, tears rolling down her face.
“I don’t know Kadyn. This has never happened before.” He tried to comfort her but knew that she wouldn’t believe anything he said because the truth was, he didn’t have the answer.
Between gasps of air and sniffles, she whimpered, “can you at least lie to me?”
“No. I will never lie to you.” He said.
Kadyn scooted over to his side of the seat and rested her head on his shoulder. He took one hand off of the steering wheel and put it around her.
“Please don’t leave me.” She said.
He looked down at her, “Never.”
***
Max suspected there wasn’t much time left. The baby would come soon and he had to get her to a place where the police would not find them. There was only one place he knew that he could take her. One person on this world he could trust. The only other being that was like himself who had been here on a long-term mission.
Cal Jenkins.
In any mission made to Earth, there was always a pair of them on the planet. One for shorter missions to gather data and another resident who stayed for several Earth years learning the culture and adapting to the world’s conditions. It was only through the data sent back to our world from these residents that the short-term mission travelers were able to blend easily among humans.
Cal had been on this planet for the past forty Earth years. Well past mission requirements, but he chose to stay and live among the earthlings after he met and married one. When his wife died, he refused to leave declaring Earth as the place his soul would dim. Now, he lived in a log cabin deep in the northern woods and only showed himself when other travelers were in trouble.
Max was aware of his existence and had known Cal from before they both deployed here, but had never had a need to contact him prior to now. He only hoped nothing had changed and Cal was still there.
He watched Kadyn as she slept. She looked so peaceful. He wanted her to always feel that way. She surely deserved to be happy, if not with him then with someone in her life. His mood was somber as he realized that despite his best intentions, he still hadn’t been honest with her. There was one dark secret left. One that would no doubt hurt her and may change her forever. He didn’t want to be the one to do that to her.
Her father had done enough damage, but when it was all said and done he was from a different world and both their futures depended on him doing his job.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kadyn woke from her nap to the sound of the engine roaring down the highway. She sat up to see the glare of the headlights breaking into the night sky ahead of them. She felt a little less stressed than she had before falling asleep until she remembered she carried a foreign being inside of her. Panic returned and the unanswered questions she had before came to her lips.
“Max, what is going to happen to me? Will I survive this birth?”
He gave her a reassuring nod but kept his hands on the steering wheel. She wasn’t comforted. It was like he knew more than he was telling her. She straightened her body and tried to get comfortable despite the huge belly that impeded her ability to move.
It looked like it had grown even more since she slept. She looked like she was nine months pregnant. Fear shot through her.
“Look at me!” She cried. “I’m huge!”
“It’s going to be fine.”
Kadyn knew he was trying his best to console her but without the certainty in his voice, she couldn’t believe him.
“Tell me what you know. What is going to happen to me? Is it going to kill me? Will it be painful?”
Kadyn fought the tears streaming down her face. She wanted to be brave, to be strong but she was frightened. Everything was happening all at once.
“The truth is I don’t know what is going to happen to you or the baby.” Max paused.
His honesty scared her more than his ignoring her did.
“Our species are healers. We are able to heal human bodies in many instances. It makes sense that it is likely you will not feel pain, nor will this birth kill you.”
He grabbed her hand.
“I won’t leave you, Kadyn. No matter what happens.”
***
Max pulled up onto the dirt driveway and parked the truck. He and Kadyn got out and walked up to the cabin. On the porch sat an older man in a rocking chair. His features were weathered and dark. He stood up and met them at the top of the patio stairs.
“Cal?” Max questioned.
“Who are you?” The man asked.
Max climbed three steps and met his gaze. He outstretched his forearm and waited for Cal to do the same. The man looked down and then grabbed Max’s forearm.
A glowing radiated from the men’s arms and after a moment Cal recognized the man standing before him.
“Max Collier. Come inside.” Cal smiled and grabbed Max’s other hand to shake it.
He focused his attention on the girl who was behind him. “Who is this?” He asked.
Kadyn stepped up to shake his hand. He met hers with his own. “You’re quite pretty, ma’am.”
Kadyn blushed. “Thank you.” She replied.
His smile faded away as he gazed on Kadyn, noticing her belly. He looked at Max in alarm before looking back at her.
“What’s the meaning of this?” He asked Max.
“That’s what we were hoping you could help us with.” Max said.
“Looks like you’ve helped yourself into a world of trouble.” Cal berated him. “You know what this means to the mission now.”
“What does it mean?” Kadyn looked puzzled.
“You haven’t told her yet, have you?’ Cal asked him. Max wasn’t sure he would be able to answer his question and keep Kadyn calm.
“Maybe we should all sit down first.” Max said.
Cal sighed and motioned to them, “come inside. We need to talk.”
Max held the door for Kadyn. She passed by him with a glare that told him he was in some kind of trouble.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kadyn was getting more scared the longer she heard the two of them talking. Max seemed reluctant to give straight answers and Cal didn’t want to talk without Max’s permission. Both of them were trying to calm her, but the more they tried the more she realized that what was about to happen to her was serious. Maybe even fatal.
She took a deep breath to quiet her nerves, but it didn’t help. Her hand, which had been re
sting on her belly, moved. It was the baby again, expanding and contracting as before, growing inside of her. She panicked.
“Max, it’s happening again.” She reached out for his hand as he helped her to the couch.
There was no pain, but the intense pressure in her pelvis returned. She didn’t know what she should do. She had never been a mother besides raising her baby sister and this was entirely different than what she was used to doing. Max stood by her while Cal searched for towels. Her forehead began to sweat.