Alien-Under-Cover (34 page)

“How did you get in here without me hearing you?” She looked up and drew back in the seat clutching Mirabelle protectively. Instead of Zurian as she expected, a human with cropped gold blond hair in an army uniform stood in front of her, something familiar in his stance.

“Zurian?”

“Human, I am a Zyrgin warrior in disguise. Come,” he said.

She followed him down the ramp and saw men and women huddled together. According to Zurian, the Raiders had taken hundreds of people prisoner, but this couldn’t be more than eighty or a hundred people.

“Where is everybody?”

“They shipped out humans yesterday,” Zurian said and escorted her to the group of sad looking people.

Her heart nearly stopped in fright. If Sarah was among the people shipped, they’d never find her.

“Sarah?”

“Not here. I am going after the ones they shipped out as soon as we have seen to these people.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“They think we are going to sell them again. Reassure them. Ask them where they want to go and tell them the army will take them back to their homes.” All the Zyrgins were dressed like soldiers. “Find out if they heard where the others were shipped to.”

She stepped forward but kept the pity off her face with difficulty. They looked terrible. No one dared look her in the eye, and she could see them bracing themselves for the worst.

Most of them were thin and wearing tattered clothes.

“Hi, everyone, my name is Julia. My friends from...uh...my friends from the army have come to rescue you. If you tell us where you want to go, we will make sure you get home.”

“How do we know they’ll take us home? How do we know they won’t try to sell us again?” This was said aggressively from the back and Julia saw a small redheaded woman push people out of her way to move forward. Something about the way she moved tugged at Julia’s memory. She also noticed that the others gave the woman a wide berth.

“You are welcome to leave on your own or to go with the soldiers. I do not know what other reassurances to give you,” Julia said.

Who knew what the woman had gone through? Julia couldn’t blame her for being distrustful. Still her brash attitude grated.

“What if we want to go with you instead?”

All Julia’s internal sensors went off. She looked up at Zurian who stood slightly behind her.

“We do not allow civilians in our camp,” he said and several of the people stumbled back. The redhead stepped forward.

“Well, right inside an army camp is the only place I’ll ever be safe again.”

Julia could see the bones protruding through the flesh of most of the people here. The aggressive redhead looked a bit scruffy and her clothes were dirty but she clearly wasn’t starving. There was something oddly familiar about her.

“Me, too.” A voice said softly from behind the aggressive redhead and every hair on Julia’s body stood on end.

“Sarah?” she whispered and tears burst from her eyes when she saw her friend shuffle forward slowly, painfully. Her hair hung lank and oily down her neck and shoulders and her clothes were ripped. Her body was one big bruise, but her eyes--her eyes did not belong to her friend Sarah. They were those of a dead woman, or a woman longing for death. An old tired woman.

Julia rushed forward and shifting Mirabelle, gathered Sarah into a hug. There were only fragile bones beneath her hands. She held on tight and felt her friend hesitantly return her embrace.

“Can I go home with you?”

The uncertain whisper broke Julia’s heart. In that moment she would have battled an army of aliens to ensure her friend came with her.

“Yes, you can come with me.” Julia looked at Zurian. “Please,” she mouthed.

“If she can go with the soldiers, I demand to go, too,” the loud redhead insisted.

“What is your name?” Julia asked and felt Sarah stiffen against her.

“Marcie, my name is Marcie. Don’t think you can leave me behind.”

Julia looked up at Zurian.

“She’s coming with us,” a not-quite-warrior voice said from behind them, gruff and determined.

Julia turned and saw one of Natalie’s sons, maybe Larz, staring at Marcia. When Zurian looked at Julia like that her bones melted. But Larz was downright scary. A long discussion in the grating Zyrgin language ensued.

“Are they speaking a different language?” Marcie asked. “It sounds like they’re clearing their throats. It’s rude to speak a language that people around you don’t understand.”

Larz speared her with a penetrating gaze but the woman didn’t seem to find it frightening. Maybe because Larz had the appearance of a twelve-year-old human boy.

The discussion abruptly stopped.

“She comes with us,” Zacar said.

The warriors helped all the others to get into the army transport trucks. Julia had only ever seen them in old movies and she wondered where the Zyrgins had gotten them. At least, it seemed to reassure everyone that they’d be taken home.

Sarah and the redheaded Marcie were quiet as they ushered them into the space craft. Sarah did what they told her and stared in front of her with a vacant, unblinking gaze. She didn’t show any curiosity at the alien transport. Didn’t seem to see Mirabelle cradled in Julia’s arms.

Julia noticed that Marcie didn’t miss anything.

Marcie’s eyes narrowed when Zurian put the craft on auto pilot and came to sit next to Julia. “This is not army issue.”

When Julia caught his eye, he nodded at her and she realized they were very aware of the redhead’s doings.

“We’re not going to an army camp are we?” Marcie asked.

Julia had no intention of telling the woman anything. “I cannot answer your questions.”

She felt guilty for the instant dislike she felt. And still, something familiar tugged at her. Could she have seen Marcie in Denver, in her previous life?

They landed the spacecraft at the foot of the mountain in an area Julia didn’t know.

“Where are we?” she whispered to Zurian as he helped her out of the craft. She turned back to help Sarah and found her already out of the craft, looking forlorn.

“Guest quarters,” Zurian said.

At first, Julia thought there was nothing there but, as she looked around, a perfectly round shape caught her eye. A dome-like structure, built on similar lines as their dwelling, blended perfectly with the surrounding mountains.

Zacar grunted and the door slid open. They walked into a beautifully furnished living room.

Julia frowned at her surroundings. As beautiful and comfortable as this was, she didn’t want to leave Sarah here. She wanted to take her home and care for her. Try and put the laughter back in her eyes. Julia was ashamed to admit that she definitely didn’t want to take Marcie with them. She simply didn’t trust her.

“This is amazing. When did you do all this?” Julia and Zurian stood a little apart from the others. “Why did you build this?”

Marcie looked around with narrowed eyes, Larz sticking close to her. “Why’s he on top of me all the time?” the woman asked, so shrilly Julia winced.

“I protect you,” Larz said.

Natalie walked out of, what Julia assumed was the kitchen, holding a tray with coffee cups.

“Welcome. This is our guest lodge. I hope you will be comfortable here. Would you like some coffee?”

“
Guest Lodge
, how very grand,” Marcie drawled.

Larz dropped his disguise.

Marcie shrieked and moved back. “You’re one of those aliens they talked about on the TC. Why aren’t you purple?”

“Sarah,” Natalie exclaimed and, putting down the tray, rushed forward to Sarah and carefully hugged her. “I’m so glad they found you. We never stopped looking.”

“Who cares you found your long lost friend?” Marcie shrilled. “These are aliens,”

“Sarah, would you like to take a bath,” Natalie asked. “There are clothes for you in the suitcase in the first bedroom but you can choose any of the other bedrooms you like.”

Sarah slowly shuffled to the entrance to the bedroom. Julia lowered her eyes to the floor because if she saw her friend like that one moment longer, she would cry.

“And what about me?” Marcie demanded.

“You too, of course,” Natalie said neutrally.

“Just keep that strange little fucker away from me.” Marcie moved away from Larz and he stepped closer. Marcie went to one of the bedrooms. She turned to Larz. “Sit, stay.”

Julia stepped outside and looked helplessly up at Zurian.

“We can’t leave her here alone. Not with that woman.”

He didn’t answer.

She leaned her head against his chest. “I don’t know what to do. What to say to her. She’s so broken.”

Zurian drew her closer to him, turning her so that he didn’t crush Mirabelle. “As soon as the doctor is sure they have no tracking devices, we will decide what to do with them.”

“Why would they do that? It must be expensive to put trackers into all their prisoners.”

“Not all their prisoners. Just the one we’ve been hunting for almost a year.”

“You think they’re using her to find you.”

“Yes.

Natalie joined them outside, cradling her baby. “We have to take Sarah with us. We can’t leave her with that horrible woman.

“We cannot trust her,” Zurian said.

“She would never betray us in any way,” Julia said, but she knew people changed, acted out of desperation and fear.

“Who knows what they have done to her? Done to her mind. And something about that redheaded woman is not right,” Natalie said. She turned to Zacar who’d followed her outside. “And what’s up with Larz? He’s standing guard outside the room she chose.”

“He chose her for his breeder,” Zacar said.

“
What
?” Natalie and Julia said together.

“It is his choice.”

“But he’s only gone through one change. You said Zyrgins had to go through three changes before they can take a
wife
,” Natalie said.

“He is close to his second change. We will keep the woman here until he goes through his third change and can take a
breeder
,” Zacar answered.

Julia wasn’t about to get in the middle of that argument. “Do you think she could be a spy?” she asked Zurian.

“The redheaded woman, yes. Your Sarah may have been forced to have a locator.”

“So we have to leave them here.”

“Yes,” Zacar said.

“Can’t we have the doctor look for a locator and extract it,” Julia said and saw Natalie nod in agreement.

They both wanted Sarah away from Marcie. It might be that their negative reaction was just to the woman’s harsh way of speaking. Who knew what kind of defense mechanisms she had to create to survive?

“She will stay here until I have built a dwelling and then she will stay with me,” Larz said from behind them.

Natalie appeared as surprised as the rest of them. She looked at Zacar. “You deal with this.” She turned to Julia. “Let’s wait inside.”

Julia and Natalie sat on one of the couches to wait for Sarah and Marcie. Julia could hear Larz and Zacar talking outside, speaking in even harsher tones than normal.

“Are they arguing?” Julia asked Natalie.

Natalie shrugged. “Who knows? After all this time, I still read them wrong sometimes.”

Marcie came out, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and boots. Her hair was still wet and clung to her scalp. Larz walked in, followed by Zurian and Zacar. None of them wore a human disguise.

“What are they?” Marcie’s voice was flat, her eyes cold, as she addressed the question to Natalie.

“This is my husband Zacar.” Natalie motioned to Zacar who didn’t acknowledge the woman with even a look. “These are Zyrgin warriors from another planet. You are quite safe with them. In many ways, you will be much better off here.”

“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that? Just because you’re so desperate for a man, you’d even take a weird green one, doesn’t mean we all feel the same way.”

Larz stepped forward and Julia instinctively shrank back. He looked like he meant business. Natalie frowned at him and shook her head. Zacar fixed him with a red stare. “Stay back,” he grated in English.

Larz stood, his shoulders drawn back and his feet planted apart, arms crossed. He looked like a miniature Zacar.

“What would they expect from us?” This came from Sarah who stood in the doorway leading to the bedrooms, small and vulnerable, and very beautiful, in an ethereal way.

Julia couldn’t help wondering why Larz would fixate on someone like Marcie with Sarah around.

“Nothing for now. All you need to do is rest and get well.” Natalie turned to Marcie and Julia could see her stiffen slightly, her face a smooth mask. “Don’t worry about my son. He’s quite friendly once you get to know him.”

“You gave birth to aliens,” the redhead gasped. “That’s disgusting.”

Natalie immediately bristled at the other women’s tone. “Marcie, it might seem strange to you, but I love my sons dearly and would not change anything.”

The woman got to her feet with an aggressive movement. “You’re damn right, it seems strange. I want out of here. You will take me to a town where I will be safe.”

Zacar stepped in front of Natalie and Zurian drew Julia and Mirabelle to his side.

“She is mine,” Larz said.

Larz swayed but, before Marcie could say anything, Zacar casually stepped next to him and clasped his shoulders. In the next moment, Larz was standing upright, away from his father, and Julia wondered if she’d imagined it. Then she saw the worry on Natalie’s face when she looked at her son.

“Well, little boy, I don’t want you,” Marcie said. “I’m going to a town right this minute and a little runt like you will not stop me.”

Julia thought the woman had to be remarkably stupid to taunt Larz like that. He might be little but she would not want to meet him in a dark ally. And anyone looking at the other Zyrgins should realize he’d grow to massive proportions.

Larz drew himself up and, instead of acting hurt, he bared his teeth at her in what Julia supposed to be either a smile or a smirk. Whatever it was it, was scary to behold. Marcie drew back slightly and Julia could see Larz cataloguing the woman’s reactions.

“Try it, woman, and see how far you get.”