Coalition Reckoning

by Cassandra Chandler

  He half-dragged her to the other side of the kitchen island, then pushed her to the ground, covering her with his body while he tried to make sense of where the attack was coming from.

  “What are you doing?” Brigid yelled.

  “Saving you from whatever that is,” he said.

  “That’s the popcorn!”

  “What?” He scanned the room, but didn’t see any movement.

  “Dane, look at me.” Brigid put her hands on his cheeks and tugged till he complied. “That is the sound popcorn makes when you cook it. That’s why it’s called popcorn.”

  The noise was dying down, with only intermittent bursts of sound. His heart was pounding and his mouth had gone dry.

  “How the hell can food make so much noise?” he said.

  “The water in the corn is heated to a temperature that causes steam to build up in it. The starches in the kernel expand as it pops, and then they set pretty much instantly, resulting in popcorn.”

  “What?”

  “It’s just food,” she said. “You’re safe. I’m safe. Everyone’s safe.”

  “Well then, I guess this is…”

  Yet more completely unreasonable and suspicious behavior.

  He kept that thought to himself, and instead said, “This is really overreacting.”

  Brigid laughed. “Maybe a little bit. Have you really never had popcorn before?”

  “Never heard of it before today.”

  “That is insane. Where are you even from?” Her expression fell as she hurried to reassure him. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know.”

  He wished he could tell her, but that really would be insane. She’d probably freak out if she knew he was an alien. Especially after what they’d almost done earlier in the day.

  Dammit.

  He couldn’t let anything happen between them without her knowing what he was. He couldn’t believe that hadn’t occurred to him already. And here he was, lying on top of her, their bodies pressed together.

  Her hair was fanned out around her head, her blue eyes shining up at him. The pink cast to her cheeks had deepened and she was staring at his lips. She was breathing fast, her breasts tight against his chest.

  Every cell in his body told him to stay—to kiss her, to shift his weight just a little so he could feel her heat. His dick pulsed at the thought, sending a shudder through him.

  This couldn’t happen, though. It would never happen, because he couldn’t tell her about who and what he was.

  He sat back on his heels, knees on either side of her body, and blew out a breath.

  “So, um…” she said. “Movie?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Yeah.”

  Chapter Seven

  The only reason Brigid was sure she wasn’t having some sort of really vivid dream was that she and Dane weren’t having sex back on the kitchen floor. Her subconscious would never be that mean to her.

  Instead, they were sitting on opposite ends of a comfortable couch in front of a TV screen that took up an entire wall. A huge wall.

  She didn’t understand why Dane was staying so far away from her. Things had been hot and heavy with them up to now, and the sudden change in his behavior was getting to her more than she wanted to admit.

  She barely knew the guy. They’d only just met. What did she care if he didn’t want to hold hands or put his arm around her or do…other things while the movie played?

  Of course, he could not know movie first-date etiquette. He didn’t even know what popcorn was, for crying out loud. The bowl sat on the coffee table in front of them, perfuming the air with that delicious scent so unique to the traditional treat.

  “What do you want to watch?” she asked.

  “Anything, really.” He pointed the remote at the screen and started pressing buttons. “Brendan has it all.”

  “How about something sci-fi?”

  He turned toward her. “Sci-fi?”

  “Yeah. Girls can like sci-fi, you know.”

  “I never thought otherwise.”

  “Are you not into it? Because we could watch something else.”

  “No, that’s… That’s fine. Anything in particular?”

  Something maybe a little scary. But not too scary. She was still hoping to bridge the gap that had suddenly appeared between them. At the same time, after the weird day she’d had, she didn’t want to freak herself out—or Dane.

  “How about, Invasion of the Body Snatchers?” she said. “Either version.”

  “O…kay. I’ll see what I can do.” He started scrolling through titles on the screen.

  “Wow, Brendan really does have a huge collection,” she murmured. “I’ll get the lights.”

  She hopped up and headed to the switch. The room was bathed in a soft white glow as she turned the main lights off.

  Dane’s reaction to the popcorn had raised even more questions. Brendan worked for the government, she knew. And with how Dane had grabbed her and thrown her to the ground, she was sure he’d seen active duty.

  For all she knew, he still was on active duty, protecting Brendan and the others while they worked on their secret projects. She still didn’t understand how they could have managed to hire a civilian chef, though.

  What she did know was that they all seemed like kind and genuine people, if a little weird. Okay, a lot weird. But they were treating her better than any place she’d ever worked—and that was in addition to the ridiculous salary she was making.

  Then there was Dane.

  She’d never been so drawn to someone. The chemistry they had going on was nuclear. She wanted more of that. More of his kisses. More of his touch.

  She would settle for sitting a little closer when she returned to the couch. Her plans were thwarted, though—he had moved the bowl of popcorn onto the cushions beside him.

  She sat on the other side of it, hoping that the darkness of the room would hide her disappointment.

  What had she done to turn him off so suddenly and completely? When he’d been straddling her in the kitchen, his desire had been impressively apparent. She knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

  The movie started up. She looked over at him, but he was focused on the screen.

  “Let me know if you get scared,” she said.

  He let out a little laugh and shook his head. “I don’t see that happening, but sure.”

  “Thanks for keeping me company while I wind down.”

  “Sure.”

  Even her attempts to reconnect via conversation were falling flat. She retreated into her thoughts as the movie played in the background, her mind wandering through all the different things they’d said and done, searching for anything that might explain his behavior. Nothing made sense.

  A sharp intake of breath brought her back to the room some time later. She glanced over at Dane, who was staring wide-eyed at the screen.

  She looked at it, too, trying to determine what was freaking him out. He’d picked the 1950’s version, and between the black-and-white film and lack of special effects, it didn’t seem like it could scare anybody.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “What? No. I mean yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “You look a little upset.”

  “This movie is…” He shook his head. “It’s profoundly disturbing.”

  She laughed before she could help herself. “Really? I mean, I guess the concepts might be.”

  “You go to sleep and you wake up somebody else.” His voice grew harsher as he continued. “Your body, your mind, your memory, your thoughts—none of it truly yours. Everything is gone and rewritten, and you don’t even know it. Emotions stripped.” He picked up the remote and stopped the movie, then threw the remote down on the coffee table.

  “Dane…”

  He crushed his palms against his eyes, shaking his head. “Who the hell came up with this? Who could have known?”

  “Known what?”

  She moved the emp
ty popcorn bowl to the coffee table, then knelt next to him on the couch. Cautiously, she reached out to him. When he didn’t pull away, she shifted closer.

  “I’m really sorry,” she said. “This is just a movie I used to watch with my family. We would joke about pod people and alien invasions and—”

  Dane dropped his hands and glared at her.

  “I’m sorry, I just…” Her voice trailed off. She had no idea what to say, especially since she had no idea why he was freaking out again.

  How the heck could pod people upset him so much? This was even worse than the popcorn.

  Maybe he’s part of an alien invasion and is worried you’re going to figure it out after watching this show.

  Her sleep-deprived brain wasn’t being helpful.

  Then again, it was pretty strange that he didn’t know what popcorn was. Or baseball. Or how to use an ice pack, especially as a doctor.

  A dozen little things from their conversations and interactions paraded themselves in front of her mind—things she’d dismissed as him “not being from around here.” It sure seemed strange he couldn’t tell her where he was from.

  In the background, her brain kept reminding her of Craig and Barbara—the not-howler monkey velociraptor hybrids living in the basement and only eating peanuts. Oh right, and Barbara was pregnant, so there would be more of them soon.

  Maybe Dane wasn’t part of an alien invasion, but he and the others could be working to stop one. That would explain the high tech gadgetry and—

  Oh my God. I need to sleep.

  She also needed to give Dane some space. Or a hug. Or kiss him.

  “I don’t know why this is upsetting you,” she said.

  “I just need to sort some stuff out.” He stood and walked over to the screen, one hand in the back pocket of his jeans and the other holding his hair away from his face.

  “Okay, I can just…” She looked around, searching for some way she could help. Her gaze landed on the empty popcorn bowl. There weren’t even any unpopped kernels in the bottom.

  She must have been really deep in thought to not notice him eating all that. And he must have loved it.

  “I’ll make us some more popcorn,” she said.

  “I don’t want more popcorn.”

  A booming voice sounded from behind the couch. “I do.”

  Brigid saw Dane’s eyes widen and his mouth drop open, almost like it was in slow motion. He started forward as she turned her head.

  Her brain shut down. It just…stopped processing. Because what she was seeing was absolutely impossible.

  From her elevated position sitting on her knees on the couch, she could easily see the floor space between her and the door. The large floor space that was completely taken up by a giant, white-furred, blue-faced thing.

  It was as big as a rhinoceros, but shaped like a gorilla. Sort of.

  The arms were different.

  There were four of them.

  Blue batwing-shaped ears twitched on either side of its head, and its pupils were elongated sideways like a goat’s. As Brigid stared, it smiled at her, revealing rows and rows of jagged teeth, like in a shark’s mouth.

  “Oh my freaking God, what are you?” The words poured out so quickly, they slurred together. Brigid’s voice rose in pitch with each syllable.

  The thing on the floor cocked its head at her. “I’m Barbara.”

  Chapter Eight

  Brigid sucked in a breath, her chest expanding. Just before she let out a scream, Dane managed to clamp a hand over her mouth. He wrapped his arm around her stomach, crushing her against his chest.

  “Shh,” he hissed, his lips close against her ear. “Barbara’s not going to hurt you, but she’s extra-sensitive right now and tends to break things when she’s upset.”

  The scream he was stifling turned into a high-pitched “Eeeeeee!”

  Dammit, how had this happened?

  “Barbara is a Lyrian,” he said.

  Barbara snorted. “Like that explains anything.”

  She had a point.

  “She and her baby need to be protected,” Dane said. “They’re extremely rare life forms.”

  “From the Lyra system,” Barbara added. “Hence ‘Lyrian’.”

  “That’s not helping!” Dane said.

  Barbara shook her head. “Fine, I’ll help. My mate, Craig, and I have been visiting Earth for hundreds of solar cycles—I guess I should say years. Your cryptozoologists usually call us Bigfoot, though we prefer space-Sasquatch, since our little Henry is so fond of describing us that way. Henry lost his parents in a car crash not terribly long ago, and even though he’s considered grown for your species, we adopted him anyway.”

  Brigid stopped making the sustained “eee” sound, and her breathing began to slow. Dane could feel her relaxing as he was tensing up. Brigid shouldn’t know any of this. After seeing Barbara, though… It was a little late to try to hide the truth.

  “Craig wanted to give Henry a sibling, which I knew was a bad idea, with the Reckoning on the way.” Barbara leaned forward, and said, “That’s a warship sent by the Coalition of Planets to investigate the ‘unauthorized influence Earth is having on their soldiers’—meaning, they plan to arrest or reassign everyone and give mind-wipes to the Earthlings involved.”

  Brigid stiffened again.

  “But don’t worry,” Barbara said. “We have the Vegans on our side. Most of the Earthlings call them ‘little lizard people from the Vega system.’ It’s pronounced ‘vayguns’, but apparently, you have a group of people who call themselves vegans, which is great for you, because it led to a misunderstanding that has them claiming Earth as their new homeworld. Not the Earthling-vegans but the Vega-Vegans.”

  Dane had never heard Barbara talk this much. What the hell had gotten into her?

  “The Reckoning doesn’t stand a chance against the Vegans.” Barbara looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Well, unless that new mysterious technology that’s surfaced lately is more advanced than we thought.”

  “Barbara,” Dane warned.

  “You really do have a strange effect on Sadirians.” Barbara went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “And they seem to do the same to you. All of these flash-fire pair-bonds have been so inspiring. The pheromones you’re both putting off right now is exactly the kind of thing that prompted Craig and I to make a nestling earlier than we intended. Well, except for the fear response that’s gotten mixed in.”

  Brigid said something, but the words were muffled. Dane slowly removed his hand.

  “Pheromones?” Brigid said.

  “Earthlings and Sadirians are biologically compatible.” Barbara let out a little laugh. “Some couples more than others. And your bodies put off chemicals signaling that.”

  “How…” Brigid leaned closer to Dane, pressing herself more firmly against his chest. Her voice was shaking. “Why…”

  “Oh, I hope for your future nestlings’ sake that this is just the shock making you stupid,” Barbara said.

  “Hey!” Dane and Brigid said the word at the same time.

  Barbara spoke slowly as she explained. “The intense physical attraction you feel for each other is causing your bodies to secrete arousal chemicals that I can detect.”

  “I get that,” Brigid said.

  She sounded more angry than afraid. That was an improvement. Probably.

  “Wait a minute.” Brigid twisted around in his arms, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Does that mean that you’re an alien, too?”

  It was way too late to try to lie to her. Before he could respond, Barbara jumped in again, using that same patronizing tone.

  “Yes, he is an alien from outer space,” Barbara said. “Sadr-4 specifically. That’s in the Gamma Cygni system. And I’m from the Lyra system. That’s why they call me Lyrian. And you’re from Earth.”

  “I know where I’m from,” Brigid snapped.

  Barbara grinned. Dane started to wonder if Barbara was doing this on purpose—antagonizing Bri
gid to snap her out of being afraid. He didn’t know many people who were familiar with Lyrians who would yell at them like that, let alone a sentient who was seeing one for the first time.

  “Now that we have that all settled,” Dane nodded toward Barbara, “can we please discuss why you’re here?”

  “I live here,” Barbara said.

  Dane let out a sigh. “Yeah, and your nest is in the basement. You said you’d stay in your nest until…”

  His stomach clenched and his skin felt electrified. Barbara’s eyes widened as they stared at each other.

  At the same time, they said, “Until the nestling was ready to emerge.”

  Dane released Brigid and ran to Barbara. He reached for the center of her chest, where he knew the nestling was, but she swatted him away. Brigid was at his side. She’d come closer, too.

  Could she be trying to help? The situation had to be terrifying her.

  “Don’t confuse it,” Barbara yelled. “You do not want it trying to attach to you instead of Craig.”

  “Shit,” Dane said. “What do I do?”

  “How do you not know what to do?” Brigid said. “Aren’t you a doctor?”

  “I’m a Sadirian doctor,” Dane yelled. “We don’t have babies.”

  “Don’t have…” Brigid shook her head. “Then where do Sadirians come from?”

  “They’re genetically engineered and grown to adulthood in maturation chambers,” Barbara said.

  “You can’t be serious.” Brigid actually laughed. When neither joined in, she said, “Oh my God. You can’t be serious!”

  Dane slapped his hand on his watch, activating the comm channel. “Sitewide alert. The nestling is coming. We need Craig in the movie room now.”

  A split-second later, he heard a crash from the basement. The floor shook and a pounding sound vibrated through the room.

  “Craig’s on his way.” Henry’s voice sounded over the comm. “What’s Barbara doing in the movie room?”

  “I was hungry for something different,” Barbara said.

  Brigid shook her head. “She must have smelled the popcorn.”

  “Was that…” Henry began. “Was that Brigid?”