Alpha Rising (7 page)

The three remaining agents gathered around
the four AstroLab crewmates and escorted them from their ship.
Lynch and a dark-haired agent were first down the ramp, followed by
G.R. steadied by Kaz on one side and the black agent on the other.
Noting Deni’s splinted ankle and the makeshift cane, the tall,
dark-haired alien held her arm to assist. She stared without
letting it show—the man stood a foot taller than she. Beyond the
doorway, the luminous red, boomerang-shaped craft idled near the
lake. Like something from a scary sci-fi movie, the water’s surface
churned with hissing bubbles in reaction to the ship’s engines.
Hobbling down the ramp in the agent’s grip, Deni secretly looked
for Bach. He wasn’t in the AstroLab when the aliens arrived, and
was nowhere in sight.

The agent pulled her to a stop at the end of
the ramp. “Wait here.” He rushed back inside, headed straight to
Faith’s body, and lifted the blanket. Her head was turned to one
side with eyes closed. Wisps of blond hair framed her angelic face
and the gold cross pendant lay on her chest. He grasped the chain
and examined the cross. Muttering something under his breath he
pulled off his glove, unclasped the necklace, and stuck it under a
flap on his utility belt as he darted down the ramp.

Once in his ship, the tall agent seated Deni
with Lynch, Kaz, and G.R. on a semicircular padded bench just
inside the door. He passed through a darkened alcove leading from
the holding area to the cockpit where the aliens from Ulwor all
spoke in hushed voices.

Elaborate surveillance systems clicked and
flashed around the crewmates. Deni whispered to the others, “Watch
what you say … recorded.”

G.R. tried to sit upright, but grabbed his
lower back with both hands and groaned through clenched teeth. “I
don’t care who they are, as long as they give us medical
attention.”

Kaz groused at Lynch, “You and your big idea
of making contact.”

“
We didn’t contact them,”
he replied in an iron-edged whisper.

She sighed forcefully. Her crewmates stared.
Staring back, she suddenly realized Bach wasn’t there and leapt up
with a shout. “Bach? Where’s Bach?”

Deni grabbed her. “Kaz, no!”

The tall agent appeared in the inner
doorway. He pounded his open hand with his fist and scrutinized the
crewmates’ faces one-by-one. “What’s bok?”

The earthlings made no eye
contact. When silence grew uncomfortable, Lynch spoke out. “She’s
askin’ for her
books,
the ship’s logs.” He exaggerated his twangy drawl. “She
maintains the
books
.” He nodded toward Kaz. “She hit her head when we crashed.
She’s not right.”

The agent walked away. “She won’t need
books.”

The man was barely out of
sight when Kaz inched from her seat and, before her crewmates could
stop her, backed toward the open door and slipped outside like
human liquid. She rushed toward the AstroLab, looking for Bach on
the way. “I’m not leaving without him
.
”

Footsteps closed in strong from behind and
the tall agent grabbed her with a powerful overhand grip. “You’ve
jeopardized your future.”

She stiffened in his grasp. “I need … I need
my books.”

The man stared from steely dark eyes.
“You’re lying about books. What are you after?”

Trembling, Kaz turned on a girlish charm.
“No, honest. There’s nothing else of value except our journals.
They have specs and communications frequencies.” Then came a
brainstorm. “And there’s data on the lab experiments.”

“
Lab experiments?” He
hesitated for a moment. “All right, find the books.”

With the agent at her side, Kaz plodded
toward the earthships, covertly searching for Bach on the way. On
the chance he’d made it back to the ship, she stopped walking as
they neared and talked loudly to the agent. “You’re so nice to let
me get my books from the ship.” She touched his bicep. “Will you
get one of my crewmates to help me, or will you help? I’ll have
trouble finding them by myself.”

He pushed her forward, air huffing from his
nose. “You wanted the books, you get them.”

The alien looked on as Kaz searched the
disarrayed cabin and complained.

Bach was nowhere to be found.

Within minutes, the agent grew impatient.
“That’s it, long enough.” He grabbed Kaz’s arm just as she found
the first book in a pile of trash.

“
Gosh, you seemed nice at
first, but now….” She shoved the book to his chest, expecting him
to hold it. He pushed it back. Her temper flared. “Don’t you know
how to treat guests in your solar system?”

“
It’s not a solar system,
it’s a zone.”

“
Zone? Who cares? You’re
supposed to be nice.”

“
Nice, like the people on
your planet?” he said.

“
Yes, we would treat aliens
to the best of everything.”

He smirked. “That’s not what happens to the
blue planet’s alien visitors and you know it.”

“
The blue planet? It’s
Earth. And what would you know about Earth? You’re just a grunt who
works your planet’s security.”

“
That shows how much you
know.” He puffed up with pride. “We’re Rooks—Rulers of other
kingdoms. Now if you want your books, hurry up, and shut
up!”

Rooks. Rulers of other kingdoms. His words
hung in the air. Heart pounding, Kaz searched in silence for the
other journals as the irritated Rook looked on. When she found the
third book, he prodded her out the door, never offering to help
with the heavy load.

Trudging across the barren planet with the
Rook on her heels, Kaz’s cynical side surfaced at seeing red laser
lights zinging from the alien spacecraft’s windows. The lights
looked like those in a trendy nightclub, but this nightclub was
more likely a taxi to hell. She looked at the Rook and mindlessly
grumbled, “I hate nightclubs and taxis.”

He ignored her. When they reached his ship
he lifted a journal from her arms, thumbed through the pages then
slammed it shut. “You wasted my time on this primitive drivel?” He
grabbed the other books from her grasp and strode to the gurgling
lake.

Kaz caught up just as he hurled one of the
books into the water. She swatted at his arms and yelled, “Stop it!
Don’t destroy our records.”

“
We have no use for such
nonsense.” He flung the second and third books into the lake then
turned around with a humorless laugh. She lunged like a wildcat and
knocked him off balance. His arms windmilled like an overwound toy
as he pitched backward into the bubbling black water. When he tried
to stand, a froth of gray foam stuck to his blue bodysuit and took
him back down.

Kaz hid her amusement. “Thrash in your
bubblebath, Bigfoot,” she whispered with a smirk.

The Rook crawled to shore on hands and
knees, coughing, sputtering, and uttering a rash of strange words.
The gold cross and chain fell from his utility belt onto the sand,
unnoticed. He grabbed Kaz by the arm. “That death lake could have
killed me.”

“
Death lake?”

“
Shut up.” He shoved her
toward his ship.

She complained all the way. “Stop it, you’re
hurting me. You’re not very nice. Where are you taking us?”

He pushed her onto the bench beside her
crewmates. The door sucked closed on his words. “To Ulwor—the
Ultimate World.”

As the ship ascended, its
red laser lights cast a hellish aura over the golden sand and
churning lake. From narrow rectangular windows, the earthlings saw
a fading glimpse of the space station with the two smaller ships
tucked under its wings. The words
United
States of America
near the AstroLab’s tail
bid them farewell. Kaz’s cry for Bach blended in with the engines’
whine.

#

When the enemy ship went airborne, the
vacuum-like pressure under the boulder eased off and Bach struggled
to swim out. Billions of hissing bubbles clung to him as if trying
to restrain him, but he fought with every stroke to surface, and
exploded from the water gasping for breath. The hot air reeked of
noxious rocket fuel, yet he hungrily sucked it deep into his lungs
as he staggered from the lake and fell to his knees.

He looked into the black Jenesis sky as the
last speck of red light from the agents’ ship vanished into the
darkness. He closed his eyes, but the image wouldn’t leave, and the
finality of it all stirred emotions he’d never felt before. Alone
and shivering, Bach wept. “I failed them. They were lost. It was my
job to get them home, now they’re lost again, and Faith is dead.”
He pounded the sand and gnashed his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.
“I’m closer to heaven, so why am I tasting hell?”

When an ounce of courage finally opened his
eyes, Bach pushed himself up from the sand. But there was something
more than sand beneath his right hand. He lifted Faith’s necklace
from the shore and stroked the small cross, wondering how it got
there. Staring into space, he put the necklace in his pocket with a
cry of anguish that echoed across the desolate landscape. Then he
turned back to the lake and waded in, waist deep, to his shoulders,
then disappearing beneath the frothy surface.

The water churned and bubbled like a witch’s
cauldron.

*****

CHAPTER NINE

Soaked to the bone and covered in seething
bubbles, Bach slogged to shore with a logbook in his hands.

He refreshed himself with a
few deep breaths then, hoping to find the other two journals, waded
back into the water. But a strange sensation stopped him short. His
body felt heavy, as if the air pressure had changed.
Stress reaction
, he told
himself. Filling his lungs with air, he prepared to dive under
again when a peculiar chilling breeze rolled through the darkness
and the air quivered with vibrations that prickled his skin like
the charge from a nine-volt battery on the tongue. A faint sound,
like muffled clapping, closed in from all sides, and a cross-shaped
imprint appeared on the glowing sand.

“
Oh, God, more invaders!”
he cried. “I’m not going without a fight.” He splashed out of the
water, raced to the AstroLab and plowed through the debris for
something to use as a weapon. A two-foot length of metal pipe would
have to do.

The fluttering sound intensified with an
ear-popping vacuum. Then everything fell so quiet Bach heard the
blood from his pounding heart coursing through his ears.

A faint swish outside broke the stillness,
followed by footsteps of more than one moving across the sand. Bach
raised his weapon over his head and flattened his back to the wall
alongside the open doorway.

Someone reached the ramp. Their approaching
steps drew closer, then stopped at the doorframe. A light shone
through the cabin and a female called out, “Hello?”

Bach’s voice cracked. “Who’s there? Don’t
move. Put your weapons down.”

“
Our weapons are
secured.”

“
Just stay right where you
are. What do you want?”

The woman spoke, “We’re here to take you to
safety.”

“
I’m not
leaving.”

“
We’ve come in peace.
Unfortunately, the Rooks arrived first. You’ve crashed in what’s
supposed to be the neutral sector, but you can’t stay
here.”

“
Rooks? Neutral sector?”
his words tumbled out.

A fragile but firm elderly male voice spoke
out with a sense of urgency. “Please, may we enter? You are in
great danger.”

Bach readied for battle. The pipe quivered
in his hands over his head. “How many?”

“
Two. My daughter and I,”
the man replied.

“
Only she can come in … and
slowly.” He tightened his grip and prepared to swing.

The female flashed the light through the
wreckage as she stepped inside. Bach tried to stifle his heavy
breathing, but couldn’t. She turned to see him flattened to the
wall with the pipe raised menacingly over his head and an
astonished look on his face.

She moved forward and extended her hand.

He shook the pipe as a warning, scrutinizing
her shimmery silver jumpsuit and odd knee-high platinum boots. When
his eyes stopped on her face, he saw before him a woman so
rivetingly beautiful he felt like he’d grabbed a hot wire that
surged so hard he couldn’t let go. Silky dark hair fell softly over
her shoulders, and eyes the color of blue satin sheets highlighted
a face beyond the standard for perfection. A circular, gold-colored
crystal icon on the jumpsuit over her heart seemed alive with
energy, as if illuminated. His eyes moved from her face to the
transparent icon, to her outstretched hand. He loosened his grip on
the pipe and dropped his hand to his side.

She seemed to smile.

He stared without moving.
The woman’s sky-blue eyes almost overpowered him.
She has to be a friend,
he rationalized,
she’s young and
courageous, and doesn’t have a weapon. But, beautiful people can be
evil too.

“
My name is Star.” Her
words startled him. “Welcome to Jenesis.”

“
Star? Genesis?” he mumbled
softly.
Oh, God.

“
May my father come in? We
won’t harm you, but the enemy will return when they learn you’re
here. We have little time.”

Bach stepped sideways, rambling, almost
tripping over his words. “We’re from Earth. A space mission failed
and our ships crashed.” He wasn’t sure how much to say. “Those
others … what are they gonna do to my fiancée and crewmates? We
have to stay together.”