Resident Alien: Department of Homeworld Security, Book 2 (2 page)

Chapter Three

Brendan sat at his table in front of a plate of cold bean burritos. He only vaguely remembered preparing them. Going through the motions of making lunch calmed him down enough to know that he wasn’t going to have an appetite for a while.

His first thought had been to call Eric, but he wasn’t sure that was the best idea. If this was a ruse to get Brendan back on the project, that would be playing right into their hands. If it wasn’t…

Two ideas presented themselves. Either Kira really wasn’t supposed to talk to him, and letting Eric know about it would possibly get her into serious trouble, or she was in such serious trouble that Brendan might already be too late to help her.

He pushed away from the table and started to pace. The cabin was too small. Stifling him. He couldn’t think.

He walked outside and slammed the door behind him. A walk along the lake’s shore would help clear his head.

Two courses of action. Call Eric or don’t call Eric. Maybe he could make the call, but sort of hedge around the issue. Maybe he could ask Eric to talk off the record. Of all the people Brendan had worked with, Eric was the only one Brendan trusted. It was still a lot to ask.

His chest ached. He rubbed it absently, staring out over the water. He wanted to hear Kira’s voice again.

Summer had settled over the mountains, but the air kept a hint of the crisp snap of snow nearby. Sunlight glinted off the lake, reflecting the peaks in the distance and the pines that lined the shore. A cool breeze made the trees sway and reminded him that he probably should be wearing a jacket over his long-sleeved shirt.

It was peaceful—until something rocketed past him so fast that its slipstream nearly pulled him off his feet.

He stumbled forward, arms flailing as he regained his balance. The projectile was about the size of a car, only shaped like a bullet. It was hard to make out details, since the whole thing was chrome, gleaming in the sun.

His mind tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Some kind of low-flying plane? A missile?

That last possibility made his stomach clench. Maybe Kira wasn’t the only one in line to be shut down.

If it was a missile aimed for him, though, they had missed. The thing was speeding away.

Halfway across the lake, it slowed to a stop and…hovered above the water.

Brendan rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was far away, but he could swear it was at least four feet above the surface, ripples spreading beneath it. It turned back in his direction and approached slowly.

“What the hell?”

His instinct told him to run and his curiosity told him to move forward. He settled on staying put.

The object stopped when it was only a few feet away, definitely hovering above the water. Its exterior looked like chrome, but it was shaped more like a quartz crystal than a bullet.

Six planes made up its body, the sides about ten feet in length with four-foot wide and three-foot tall pyramids formed on both ends. It swiveled around him, keeping the apex of one pyramid pointed at his chest. Then it drifted down to rest on the water.

After a few moments, the top panel of the object popped up, revealing a compartment within. The panel slid to the side, folding seamlessly into what he could now tell was some sort of aircraft.

Or spacecraft
.

Brendan shook his head. No way. It couldn’t be. He took a step closer and stood on his tiptoes, trying to peer inside.

Something moved and he jumped back. A figure rose from the opening, clad in shining silver fabric that clung to her form like a second skin.

At least, he thought it was a
her
. He couldn’t be sure, because she was wearing a helmet that looked like it was made from the same opaque gleaming metal as the capsule.

Whoever—or whatever—was inside the suit had a gorgeous figure. Long legs, curvy hips, narrow waist, and a chest graced with two—and only two—breasts.

Brendan held up his left hand in the Vulcan salute and said,
“Klaatu barada nikto.”

The figure stood motionless for a few more moments, then lifted a hand to her helmet. She tapped the side and parallel lines appeared in the smooth chrome as it broke into one-inch segments. The segments folded back on each other until the woman’s head was uncovered.

Well, uncovered by metal.

The breeze lifted her long strands of chestnut hair, obscuring his view at first. She shook her head to get her hair out of her face, and time seemed to slow like in a swimsuit commercial.

Dark eyebrows curved gracefully over her large brown eyes. Even as far away as he was, Brendan could see how thick and long her lashes were. Her nose was straight and narrow, her cheekbones defined, her chin strong, and her lips full and sensual.

“Brendan Sloan.” Her voice was steel and brandy. The same voice he’d heard every day for months.

His stomach was in his throat, his chest tight enough he could barely breathe. He was so lightheaded he thought he might pass out.

What a first impression that would make. He managed to get hold of himself, forcing air into his lungs so he could breathe her name.

“Kira…”

She brushed the last unruly strands of hair behind one ear and smiled. The way her cheeks pulled up, the crinkles around her eyes, the dimples…

Kira was here. She was safe.

And standing in a spaceship
.

He had made so many jokes about her being an alien. He thought she was playing along when she danced around the issue rather than calling him out on it. But now—

That sexy as hell voice of hers pulled him back to the moment as she said, “I come in peace.”

Chapter Four

Kira couldn’t believe that Brendan stood right in front of her. He was even more beautiful than she’d imagined.

He stared at her with blue eyes—wide and expressive. The sunlight shimmered on his pale skin. His red hair was short, sticking up in disheveled spikes on top of his head, then settling down to frame his face in a neatly formed beard that covered his jaw and chin. The beard drew her attention to his full lips.

She had only seen beards on people in the data she screened from Earth’s broadcasts. The genetic engineers seemed to do their best to minimize body and facial hair on Sadirians—except for eyebrows and eyelashes. Well, and the pubis. They generally stayed away from that area.

She loved Brendan’s beard. She wanted to run her fingers along his jaw and feel its texture.

The thought shocked her. Why would she want to do something like that?

Shaking herself, she focused on her immediate problem—the danger they were both in. If the Coalition found her talking to an Earthling, Brendan would get a mind-wipe and she’d end up in prison. If any Tau Ceti survived and managed to track her down, she and Brendan were just plain dead.

When she had put in Brendan’s coordinates, she hadn’t been thinking clearly. She was still putting her brain back together after the minor miracle she’d pulled off with the station.

Looking at him now, being so close to him, she couldn’t honestly say that she wouldn’t have come anyway.

She’d wanted to meet him.

Now she needed to keep him safe. The only way to do that was to keep the Coalition and the Tau Ceti from finding them. She needed to be off their scans, which meant no tech. Her nanites were already powered down and she planned to keep them that way for now.

She unlatched the bands at her forearms that held her uniform’s controls, then did the same to the collar that held the segments of her helmet. With that out of the way, she grabbed her uniform’s seal and slid it open down the length of her torso.

“Whoa,” Brendan said. “Um, Kira?”

She glanced at him, noting that his eyebrows had hiked way up his forehead. A quick look at their surroundings didn’t reveal any threats. The escape capsule should notify her of predators as well. For the next few minutes, anyway.

“What is it?”

He stammered for a few moments, then asked, “What are you doing?”

“Stripping.” She wiggled out of her uniform till it was around her ankles, then unlatched her boots and stepped out of them.

“I can see that. I can really, really see that.” He shifted his weight and clasped his hands in front of his body. “But why are you doing it?”

“Coalition tech shows up like a nova on scans. My uniform and the escape capsule are filled with it.”

She grabbed the capsule’s med-kit and tossed it to Brendan. He scrambled to catch the small metal case.

“The med-kit is shielded from scans, plus its tech is inactive.”

She keyed in the destruct sequence—manually, thank the stars—then programmed new coordinates that would take the capsule deep into the lake before it exploded. She sat on the edge of the capsule and swung her legs over the edge before sliding into the shallow water.

“Wait!” Brendan dropped the med-kit and rushed forward, water splashing up his jeans.

Gravity was faster.

As the water closed around her legs and waist, the cold hit her like a blow. Her knees gave out and she sank deeper before Brendan grabbed her and lifted her from the lake. One arm was under her knees and the other around her back. Her arms settled around his neck without needing her command.

After a few gasping breaths, she managed to say, “Much…colder…than…expected.”

“This lake is fed from runoff from the mountains.” Brendan gestured with his head across the water to snow-capped peaks.

That explained why her skin was covered in bumps and her heart was trying to beat its way out of her ribcage both as punishment and to escape from the stinging cold. Kira had been through a lot in her training, but liquid water wasn’t all that common. And cold water was very different from the freezing atmospheres her teachers had exposed her to—in her uniform.

The option of taking it off while stranded on an alien planet hadn’t been covered. It was generally believed that if things were bad enough to take out their uniform, the soldier wearing it would be dead anyway.

But she was alive. And she intended to stay that way.

The orientation session that prepared her for her assignment in Earth’s listening station gave her rudimentary knowledge of the environment and things she might encounter if she had to go planetside. It was a rarity, and she certainly had never heard of it happening under the circumstances she was facing.

She pulled on her training anyway, trying to calm her heartbeat. Deep slow breaths, focus on the objective. But all she could seem to think about was Brendan’s warm chest pressed against her side.

The escape capsule silently drifted away from them, then sank under the water when it was several meters away.

“Where’s that going?” Brendan asked.

“Under the water so the explosion won’t be visible.”

“
Explosion
?”

“The water should protect us from the blast.”

“That’s not particularly reassuring.” Brendan was already headed for the shore. It didn’t take long for them to clear the water.

He bent so she could grab the med-kit. As he stood again, he said, “How far away do we need to—”

A dull boom-whoosh sounded behind them. Brendan flinched, tucking Kira closer against his body, wrapping more of his around her.

He was protecting her.

The thought made the bumps on her skin intensify. Held in his arms, she had the same internal sensations as she did in zero gravity.

He looked over his shoulder at the spout of water that was already starting to fall back to the lake. “Okay. I guess that was that.”

“I would have told you if we were in danger.”

“Right. Because showing up in an escape capsule that you then promptly destroy is a sign that everything’s peachy keen.”

“Peachy what?”

“It’s an idiom.”

He stared into her eyes for long enough that she grew uncomfortable. Her stomach was fluttering and her skin still tingled from the cold. Strangely, she felt hot at the same time. Especially where they touched. The feeling spread to…places she was not used to paying attention to.

The form-fitting undergarments she wore under her uniform were wet from the lake water. She was cold and her body was trying to find equilibrium. That was all it was.

She knew the thought was a lie.

“You’re shivering.”

His voice was gravely and lower than usual. His pupils were dilated too, as if he was excited.

It was probably from the shock of her arrival—not from her proximity. She wondered what her nanites could tell her about what else was going on in his body.

“Clothing would be useful given the cool temperature in the region,” she said.

Slowly, he let her go, as if he didn’t want to. The ground shifted beneath her feet. Sand. It squished up between her toes, abrading her skin.

She was about to say something when Brendan pulled his shirt up and over his head. Sunlight gleamed along his shoulders and highlighted the smooth skin of his pectoral muscles, abdomen, navel…

Something deep inside her destructed as her gaze seemed locked at the fastener for his jeans. Heat pooled in her belly, tingling spread between her legs. She felt almost like she’d taken a hit of
Coupling
, only the effects were much more intense.

“Here.”

He handed her the shirt. It was still warm from his body.

“Won’t you be cold now?”

“My cabin isn’t far. I’ll live.”

She handed him the med-kit, then slipped into his shirt. The soft fabric whispered across her skin. A rich, sweet scent surrounded her. Brendan’s scent.

He took her hand and started to lead her toward the grass. Earthlings referred to
blades
of grass. But he wouldn’t lead her into something dangerous. She trusted him.

She stepped onto the green foliage.

The plants poked at her skin, tickling the sides of her feet. She took another step. Both feet were on the life-forms. The leaves were cool. Some of the sand stuck to her was wiped away. More of it seemed to be grinding deeper.

Cygnus-X, she was a soldier. She had been trained to withstand torture. But she had never been planetside before. Not in an undeveloped, pristine environment, teeming with life.

She paused and said, “Wait.”

“What’s wrong?” Brendan turned to face her, creases appearing between his eyebrows.

Focusing on him made her feel better. She gripped his hand more tightly.

“There’s too much… Too many…” She shook her head and closed her eyes. Even that wasn’t enough to shut out all of the stimulae.

Birds were singing nearby. The hush of processed air whispering through the station’s vents had been replaced with leaves rustling in the trees. The swells and ebbs of the wind were nothing like the steady drone she was used to. They left her breathless, made her wonder what would happen next.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky—a clear and crystalline blue with a few fluffy white clouds breaking up the monochromatic backdrop. Very different from the speckled black canvas visible from the station’s viewports—from every viewport she had ever used.

The wind picked up and the trees bent, branches turning over and leaves waving like thousands of tiny hands. It was beautiful and terrifying.

“I don’t think I can walk,” she said.

“Are you hurt?” He stepped closer, but not close enough. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold on forever. Or at least until they could get inside.

“I’m not hurt. I’m just…overwhelmed. I’ve never been outside of… Well, I’ve never been outside before.”

“You can’t be serious. Don’t you have…planets where you’re from?”

“We do, but they’re mostly dome-worlds or otherwise covered in tech. I was raised on space stations and ships. I’ve only been planetside for training.” Training that seemed absolutely inadequate at the moment. “And there was no grass. And I had shoes.”

Planets like Earth were rare. They were valuable. That was why the Coalition had assigned Earth preservation status. Most soldiers were unlikely to ever encounter a planet so rich in life. Her training hadn’t covered anything like the springy green plant-matter beneath her feet.

“Are you agoraphobic?” he asked.

“No, there’s just…so much here. Clouds and birds and—” She swatted at a small flying insect that buzzed past her face.

“I get it.” He smiled. “Earth’s a happening place. I tried to tell you it’s the only place to be in the Sol system.”

She surprised herself by being able to smile back at him. “I came for the company, not the scenery.”

That…was not what she meant to say. It was the truth, though. She cleared her throat and looked away, but not before she caught how the furrows between his brows eased.

“Come on.” He let go of her hand and turned around, then crouched in front of her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to give you a piggyback ride.”

“A what?”

“Lean forward and wrap your arms around my neck. Just don’t choke me.”

He shifted so that his back was brushing her stomach. Was this some sort of Earth mating ritual? She shook the thought away.

He patted his shoulder, as if encouraging her. She leaned into him, holding onto his neck carefully.

“I’ll need you to carry this.” He handed her the med-kit, then said, “We’re playing hot potato with this thing.”

“Hot potato?”

“Forget it.” He laughed, then reached back and gripped her thighs. She let out a gasp as he lifted her into the air, with most of her weight spread over his back.

“Relax.” His voice was gentle. “I’ve got you.”

The fluttering in her stomach intensified as he started walking, carrying her along with him. She felt like she’d been given too much
Balance
—the chemical mixture most Coalition citizens used to maintain their contented state of mind.

She hadn’t used it herself for years, though the Coalition made sure she always had some on hand. Even the med-kit had several vials. But she hadn’t bothered with
Balance
since she’d been sent on her first assignment.

Balance
always gave her a weird buzz that she didn’t like. Maybe it was because she was a glitch. She was more likely to use
Coupling
. The physical release it generated was enough to keep her content. Too bad
Coupling
wasn’t part of a standard med-kit. She could introduce Brendan to Coalition mating rituals.

Moons, where had
that
thought come from? She glanced at Brendan, but looked away quickly. Her face was probably as red as a skeelbat’s belly.

At his age, Brendan was statistically likely to have had multiple sexual encounters—none of them involving a drug that would take care of everything for him. Earthlings did things manually.

Kira was suddenly very aware of his hands on the bare skin of her legs, on her chest and pelvis pressed against his back. His hands were large and strong. And warm. All of him was warm. She wondered what it would be like to snuggle up with him under a blanket and explore their anatomical compatibilities.

“You okay?” he asked.

She had never lied to him and wasn’t about to start. “I’m not sure. This is weird.”

“
You
think this is weird? I’m the one giving a piggyback ride to an alien.”

She laughed and started to feel a bit lighter. She had made it this far. The Coalition would send someone to investigate what had happened to the listening station. She would be presumed dead, if they even knew she had been there in the first place. They would discover the Tau Ceti involvement when they scanned the energy field of the explosion and take action. She wouldn’t have to do anything.

And she could live out the rest of her days happily on Earth. Once she acclimated.

“You not wanting to be found…” Brendan said. “Does it have anything to do with you talking to me? You said you weren’t supposed to make contact.”