by Lesley Davis
“I’m thirty-four,” Emory said. “An age which my brother says means I should be settling down in a real job, getting a cat or two….or three, and driving some poor woman mad with my theorizing. That’s his view of my future. It’s not exactly mine.”
“I’m forty,” Sofia said and saw Emory’s eyes widen a fraction.
“Wow, you don’t look that old.” Emory grimaced as she no doubt realized too late how bad that sounded. “I mean, you don’t look your age. Not that forty is old…well, it’s older than me. Six years older than me in fact.”
Oddly amused by Emory’s ramblings, Sofia ignored her and reached into the bag behind her seat for something to eat. She pulled out one of the sandwiches that Emory had grabbed from the gas station hours before and checked to see if it was still edible.
“You’d have left me at the restaurant staring at the bill by now, wouldn’t you?” Emory sighed, finally shutting up.
“My dear, I wouldn’t have gone out with you in the first place.” Sofia took a big bite from the sandwich and savored the taste of plentiful mayonnaise slathered on tuna. Not exactly the breakfast she was used to, but it filled her empty belly.
“Not even if I was the last woman on earth? Which, judging by the way things are going, might be bordering on truth soon.”
“Not even then.” Sofia was delighted to catch Emory’s nonplussed face. “I’m a captain from a top secret base. You broke into said base and misappropriated a military laptop.” Sofia raised a hand to halt any of Emory’s arguments on that accusation. “I don’t see us being star-crossed lovers any time soon, do you?”
“Han Solo was a pirate and he ended up marrying a princess,” Emory said.
“You’re using Star Wars characters for your example of true love?”
Emory’s face lit up. “You’re familiar with Star Wars? Of course you are. You’re old enough to have seen them during their original releases.”
Sofia’s teeth clashed together as she bit harder into her sandwich than she meant to. Fuming, she cut an evil eye at Emory and found her silently laughing at her, her eyes alight with mischief. Sofia glared at her but realized something. She was being teased. It wasn’t something that she often had cause to recognize at work, and none of her friends would ever do it. But Emory obviously felt she could.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re beautiful when you’re angry, Major?”
“That’s Captain,” Sofia bit out, “as you’re well aware.”
Emory nodded. “Yeah, but I think the title Major suits you more because you’re going to be a major pain in my ass.”
Sofia grinned at her evilly. “Oh, you have no idea, Agent. But, by all means, keep poking the bear and see how long it takes before it bites you.”
Emory’s smile grew wide. “I’m glad I saved you, Sofia. You know, from that top secret base I was in illegally but mercifully saved you from certain death there anyway? I can see it now. You and I are going to have so much fun.” Emory took a hand off the steering wheel and gestured to the food bags. “Pass me something sugar laden, Major, and let’s talk about what is so important in Utah for us both. And skip the ‘no comment’ route. We’re way past that nonsense now, wouldn’t you agree?”
Sofia didn’t. Instead she deliberately took another bite from her sandwich to stall the conversation. Alien invasion or not, she knew her position.
No handsome blonde with a devastating grin was going to sway her from her duty while the world was under attack. Especially one who was way too clever at finding out secrets that should never be uncovered.
*
Sprawled out on the long seat in the back of her van, Emory jerked awake from a deep but restless sleep. She lay paralyzed, the nightmare she’d experienced still clutching her tight in its hold. She willed her heart to calm its furious beat until she could once again hear something other than its frantic pounding in her ears. The rhythmic sound of the tires on the road almost lulled her back into slumber. It was only the dawning realization that what she’d seen in her dreams hadn’t been the conjuring’s of a tired mind. Her gaze fell on the teddy bear strapped into the seat opposite her and she remembered. She bit back the moan that clawed to escape her chest as the horror engulfed her all over again.
Ellie was gone. It hadn’t been a dream.
Emory could only guess that the rest of her family had been taken as she had. All except for her mother who had been vacationing somewhere in Florida. Emory had a feeling not even alien invaders would touch that old woman with her disapproving mindset. They’d soon beam her back to Earth and the hell off their ship. Her mother could take care of herself, there was little love lost between them, but Emory wanted her nieces back safe and sound. She didn’t have a clue where to start or even what to do. Dispirited by feeling she failed before she could even start, she laid her head back down on the cushion she’d been sleeping on and curled up into a little ball of misery. She hoped that if she held herself tight enough she wouldn’t fall apart.
Blindly, Emory watched the scenery go by the window. She guessed it was early evening, but she had no idea how long she’d slept. They had obviously reached Salt Lake City in that time.
Tall buildings obscured her view, the endless row upon row of windows and metal that usually housed people in their mundane jobs. Emory had a feeling no one was manning those desks today. The dark buildings cast shadows into the van’s interior and made it far cooler than Emory liked. She shivered and then her stomach let out a loud grumbling noise that drew her from her musings.
“I guess your belly is awake even if you’re not,” Sofia said from the driver’s seat.
“How long was I asleep?” Emory forced herself to sit upright and brushed her hair back off her face.
“About three hours. I wasn’t expecting you to stir just yet. You seemed out for the count.”
Emory rubbed at her face wearily. “I had a nightmare that woke me. I dreamed my nieces had been taken up into a large flying saucer. Then I woke up remembering it was true. I don’t know which is worse, seeing it happen in reality or having to relive it when I close my eyes.” Emory stared at her hands. She wasn’t surprised to see them shaking. She barely had time to acknowledge that before she felt something else. Weird vibrations that made her shake all the more.
She shouted out her warning at the exact same time Dink’s came over the cell phone Sofia had resting near her.
“Incoming!” Dink screamed.
In the distance, a huge black triangle craft descended from the clouds. Majestically, it lowered itself to rest above the buildings, where it waited, menacingly.
Emory scrambled over the seats to join Sofia in the front. They both peered up between the surrounding buildings that hid so much of the sky.
An explosion ripped through the air. Emory braced herself for the blast. A large building, two blocks ahead of them, blew apart. Huge chunks of debris were blown from the point of impact and smashed to the ground. The rubble landed directly in the path of the busy traffic in the streets. Cars and buses, full to the brim with people trying to evacuate, were hit with devastating results. Cars were crushed beyond recognition and people on the sidewalks were obliterated. It all happened in the blink of an eye, then everything cascaded into chaos.
Sofia managed to keep the van going while swerving around the cars in front of them. All had either slammed on their brakes or were trying to turn around to get away. She swore loudly as one car nearly took out the front of the van in its driver’s desperation to escape. Sofia deliberately used the bulk of the van to nudge past other vehicles. She gave Emory an apologetic look.
Emory shrugged. “What’s a little chipped paint in an apocalypse?”
The van inadvertently mounted the sidewalk as another car sideswiped them as the inevitable domino effect took place. Car after car slammed into the one in front, and the pileup that resulted began to release smoke into the air.
“We’re going to get trapped,” Emory said as another explosion deafened t
hem with how much closer it was. The resulting damage from that hit smashed another building to smithereens and blocked the road ahead completely with the falling debris.
Sofia searched for what little escape they had available. She ruthlessly pushed another car out of their way so they could drive into an alley between two separate buildings. She smashed through a wrought iron gate in her bid to get them off the road. The trouble was, it wasn’t a roadway, but a very narrow alley that was littered with garbage cans and more gates that Sofia plowed through without ever slowing down. Suddenly, she slammed on the brakes. Emory grabbed for the console in front of her even though she was belted in.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t tell if this alley is narrowing at that end.”
Emory squinted to try to see what Sofia meant. The buildings looked like they were built at an angle; the alley they were in seemed to be tapering to a point. They’d never get the van out.
“Fuck, looks like you’re going to have to reverse all the damn way back,” Emory grumbled. “And there’s nowhere to go back there.” She took off her seat belt and got out of the van. “Let me see if there’s room for us to squeeze out down there before you drive us any farther.”
Emory set off to check it out. She heard the other van door close and Sofia was soon beside her.
“We shouldn’t…” Sofia began, but her words tapered off as the alleyway was plunged into darkness. Total darkness.
Sofia grabbed onto her arm as they both looked up to see what had blocked out the already meager light that managed to shine between the two buildings.
Oh, crap.
Emory was able to make out every detail on the black triangle’s undercarriage. There were no visible panels, no nuts or bolts keeping the ship intact. The whole craft looked like it was made from one seamless piece of material. And just what kind of material that was Emory couldn’t even begin to imagine. This close under it, the craft shimmered like a fluid, as shiny as an oil slick. Nothing reflected on it, for all the shine of its skin, nothing it hovered above was reflected back on its sheen.
“Whoa.” Dink’s voice was hushed in Emory’s ear. “Em, if you can bring me one of those babies back too I’d love you forever.”
“I’ll need a bigger trailer,” Emory whispered, terrified that the ship above would hear her. Her whole body trembled from the vibrating hum that the black triangle emitted. She couldn’t move; she was mesmerized by the alien ship that was very likely going to kill her. Abduct her, experiment on her, then kill her. She was beginning to wish she’d never woken up.
Sofia’s crippling grip on Emory’s arm broke her from her paralysis. “Have you ever seen one of those before?” Emory asked her, her mind always full of questions.
“We can’t just stand here and stare. Let’s get back to the van and go.”
Emory didn’t budge even when Sofia tugged at her roughly. “Have you?” she asked again.
Sofia huffed out a grumble. “I’ve heard about them just like you have, but I have never seen one this close.”
“So you guys haven’t got your own versions of these hidden away in a base somewhere?”
“Unfortunately not.”
Emory couldn’t mistake the disappointment in Sofia’s tone. “Did you know about these being here?”
“Emory, this isn’t the time or place for you to pull a Fox Mulder! We need to go!” Sofia spun Emory around and pulled her back toward the van.
They never had a chance to reach it.
Chapter Eleven
An explosion hit one of the nearby buildings. It was way too close to where they were sandwiched in the alley. The power of the blast, even from a distance, blew Emory clear off her feet as it exploded through the narrow alley opening. She landed ungainly, flat on her back in a pile of garbage bags situated halfway down the alley. Emory rolled off and landed with a thud on the ground. Her arm twisted under her and made her cry out in pain. She could feel the steady rain of tiny pieces of rubble and glass pelting her from above. She covered her head with her hood quickly to stop herself from being hurt more. Whatever weapon had hit this time had pulverized the building which, in turn, had damaged surrounding structures. Emory was still being showered by the debris. In her haste to get out of there, she barely registered when a larger piece of brick struck her head and knocked her down. The resulting ringing in her ears and the blurring of her eyes let her know that it had been more than a glancing blow. Emory blinked repeatedly, desperately trying to clear her vision. The black craft had moved on and a weak light, dust-laden and smoky, gave her some sight back in the alley. She had a brief moment of panic checking that she still had her glasses on and that they were undamaged. Then she rummaged in her pocket to make sure her phone wasn’t smashed. She let out a sigh of relief. She couldn’t lose Dink too.
“I can see, Emory, but I can’t see you. Are you okay?” Dink’s frantic voice echoed through her head. At least she hadn’t lost the earpiece either after being thrown halfway down the alley.
“I think so. Just got my bell rung by something.” Emory coughed and hacked at the dust, trying to yell over the din as another explosion rang out and the building to her left seemed to shudder and shake. She realized they were not safe anywhere. Emory scrambled to her feet. She rocked as if drunk and tried to get her bearings in the heavy blanket of dust. She needed to find Sofia.
“Sofia? Sofia!”
She finally spotted her, lying curled up and motionless against a wall. Emory rushed over to her just as another earth-shattering explosion hit. The blast made Emory throw herself over Sofia’s smaller body to try to protect her as best she could. Eventually, she realized that explosion had happened much farther away from where they were trapped. However, the violent aftershocks from it made the ground quiver beneath her. Carefully, Emory eased back to see if Sofia was okay. Her face was bloodied, and there was a deep cut on her cheek that bled through the thin layer of dust that seemed to cover everything now. Emory hadn’t even realized she was shedding layers of dust every time she moved. There was then one more boom that sounded too close for comfort.
“That last explosion was a tank shell,” Sofia said, barely shifting in Emory’s hold. “We’re fighting back with our own weapons. Someone’s brought in the big guns.”
Emory flinched at every explosion and sound of buildings being blown apart that thundered loudly in the distance. Now it was joined by the sound of big military guns shooting back. She never once released Sofia from her arms as she bent over her, shielding her from whatever was going to happen next. She could feel the warmth of Sofia’s breath tickling her skin. The destruction courtesy of the black craft seemed to be moving farther away, but Emory was loathe to leave Sofia uncovered. Only when noise filtered in from the street behind them did Emory realize that the alien threat had shifted away from where they were. She finally felt like she could breathe again. Gingerly, and only when she was certain Sofia hadn’t broken anything, Emory shifted from her cramped position. She moved to cradle Sofia in her arms. The all too quiet, almost unresponsive reactions she was seeing from Sofia were unnerving her.
The steady noise of gunfire, a uniquely human sound, erupted around them again. Reinforcements had arrived. It was so loud Emory could no longer hear Dink in her ear as he tried to tell her what he was seeing on what few street cameras were still functioning amid the chaos. The military was riding in on tanks and huge vehicles, firing on the silver saucers that Emory hadn’t even realized were also in on the attack.
Emory noted that Sofia barely flinched at the sounds of the battle raging. She wondered what kind of service Sofia had seen to be almost immune to the constant noise and the screaming. Emory wished the screaming would stop most of all. She was thankful to be trapped in the alleyway and not on the street where the people were out in the open and exposed. She dreaded to think what she would see back there. The sounds of terror in between the gunfire made Emory all the more frightened for them all. She held Sofia tighter. She was
so lost in her own head that she started when a hand brushed at her face, wiping away the blood that was running down along her jawline.
Sofia spoke against Emory’s ear causing her to shiver. “I could probably sit up now,” she said. “I just had the wind knocked out of me hitting the wall.”
“I’m not holding onto you for you, I’m holding onto you for me,” Emory said, incredibly aware she wasn’t lying either. She’d been terrified that something had happened to Sofia, and she didn’t know what she would have done if she’d found her dead instead of just dazed. Unable to help herself, Emory stared down at Sofia. Even covered in dust, Sofia was beautiful, and the fire in her eyes was still plainly visible through the pain she obviously felt. True to her nature, Emory didn’t think; she acted. She gently wiped off a smear of dust from Sofia’s bottom lip and lowered her head to kiss her. It was a soft kiss, a gentle pressing of their lips together. In that one sweet kiss was wrapped a benediction, an honest expression of relief, and for Emory, a recognition that Sofia was someone special to her, for all their differences in a very crazy world.
Sofia looked suitably surprised when Emory pulled back.
“What was that for?” Sofia asked huskily.
“I couldn’t stand the thought of me dying here in this alley and never having felt your lips on mine.”
The corners of Sofia’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. “You really are a scoundrel.”
Emory smiled in recognition of the term. “You like me because I’m a scoundrel.” She wondered how much further Sofia would take them in reciting the love scene from The Empire Strikes Back.
“You haven’t forgotten I still have to arrest you, right?”
Oh, not much further at all, Emory lamented, but enjoyed hearing the authoritative tenor back in Sofia’s voice. “Yeah, I know. Just add my kissing you to my list of charges. At least this way I’ll have something wonderful to remember when I’m in my cell trying to dig my way out with a spork.”