Chapter 10
Brax stood at the bottom of the ramp as it reached the earth. His brother Voren—too much muscle and not enough brains on some days—stood to his side with his arms crossed, a scowl twisting his lips downward.
I had not thought my little trip would cause such a stir. It seemed I had been mistaken.
“You idiot,” Voren roared, lunging for me.
“Brother, stop.” Baraxen grabbed his sibling by the shoulder and yanked him backward. “This is not the time nor the place.” Brax gave a pointed glance upward toward flight control, located in an alcove recessed thirty rugars above to watch the hangars and visually direct traffic if comms failed.
A petite woman watched through the glass, giving Voren a small wave.
His shoulders relaxed and he pushed Brax’s hand away.
“I am confused as to why you are angry with me. No one told me Earth had been restricted.” Though they had been talking about it.
“You’re right, Drayven. We hadn’t made it official before you left. Our concern had been for your safety, and the progress of the Perseverance . We cannot afford to lose you or worse—have you captured by the humans.” Brax’s attention shifted to behind me, and his eyes widened. “Oh no. What have you done?”
Gerri stopped next to me and seemed to shrink inward.
I put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight. “I went to find inspiration for the generational ship and found my life mate instead.”
“Truly?” Brax stepped closer. “How strange that within the span of a few weeks, two Volderens have discovered their life mates are human.”
“This is Gerri Johnson.” Relief washed over me, knowing Brax understood why I needed this particular human. No, not just need her, but want her, desire her, love her. How could I love someone I had just met? I did not know, but I would not deny the emotion that filled my chest with warmth.
“Welcome, Gerri. It is an honor to meet a life mate. I know things must seem strange right now, but Voren’s life mate is also a human. Perhaps you would like to meet her?”
Gerri nodded. “I have to admit, I’m feeling really overwhelmed right now, standing on another planet talking to aliens.”
Voren rolled his eyes and sighed. “I hope you are not as troublesome as Lilly when she first came aboard.”
“Vor, you have to admit there’s a reason she tried to escape. We did abduct her.”
“It was for her own good. Besides, she does not seem to mind so much now.”
Gerri’s eyes rounded and she pushed herself closer to me.
I wanted to punch Voren.
Brax directed his stare to Gerri. “Most of us do not go around kidnapping humans. Lilly was a special case. She not only is saving our race, but it was imperative to get to her before the U.S. military. What they had planned would not have been pleasant, to say the least.”
“Oh,” Gerri said, glancing upward to where Lilly stood and watched. “She’s not a prisoner then?”
A dark laugh flew from Brax’s lips. “Not at all. Voren is more her prisoner now.”
Voren’s eyes flashed and his jaw tightened. “I only allow it to a certain degree. If she gets too dominant, I spank her into submission.”
Brax laughed even harder, shaking his head.
“And I believe that is our cue to leave,” I said, reaching for Gerri’s hand and carefully pulling her down the ramp. “Let me get Gerri settled and rested, then I will give you my report. I have several changes that need to be made on the Perseverance , but perhaps you will agree they will add significant enhancements to the journey.”
“Very well, Drayven. Go. Rest up, take care of your mate, and when you’re ready, we shall regroup and get back to work. Our timeline must be tightened. A scout picked up a Quantorian transmission near Tau Ceti.”
His words sent an invisible cold rod down my spine, and I froze near the lift that would take us to the control level, where Lilly waited for Voren. “Let us hope they are not on their way to this solar system.”
“It is concerning, yet not alarming, not yet.” Voren’s deep voice held a note of assurance. “We will be finished with the ship and long gone before they arrive, if they are even heading this way.”
“That would be a good thing.”
“What if they show up after you leave? What about the people on Earth?” asked Gerri, her quiet voice firm.
“I do not know.” With tenderness, I led her onto the lift and commanded it to arrive at my apartment. “We will take one day at a time. That is all we can do.”
A line formed between her brows and she breathed deeply. “You’re right. There’s no sense in worrying about something that may never happen.”
“Now, can I entice you into my bedroom to carry on what we started?”
“Not until you feed me tacos and tell me I’m pretty.”
“I do not understand. Of course you are pretty, but Volderens do not usually eat tacos, though now I am intrigued.”
Her laugh filled my soul. “It’s just something people say on Earth. You don’t really have to—”
“Oh, you will get a taco, then I will worship you so there is no doubt in your mind that I do not think you are beautiful.”
She reached up on her tiptoes and placed a hand against my cheek. “Thank you for your kindness and understanding. I'm curious to know everything about your culture and your people.”
“We will start tomorrow. If you agree, I would like help with designing the community spaces of the Perseverance. I think the central dome should have a park like the one where we met. Our replicators can form most of the materials we would need, but it is lacking when it comes to aesthetics.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
“It will be. Imagine painting but with your mind.”
“I was sold at the mention of painting,” she teased.
As the lift ascended, I bent down and kissed her lips. She wrapped her hands around my neck and whispered, “Take me home, Drayven.”
I happily obliged. “Wherever you are, my home will always be with you. Thank you for giving me another chance, Gerri. I promise you will never regret it.”
She stroked my cheek. “Thank you for bringing hope and love into my life.”
I crushed her body into mine. Hope and love—what a perfect harmony.
Here’s a sneak preview of the first chapter of the next book in the Alien Quickies series, Her Alien Ancient, available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DLJ7Y5RJ
Chapter 1
“Professor Janeway, we have something…odd…over at site four.” Kurt, one of my third-year anthropology majors, stared down while I brushed dirt remnants from a broken, ancient knife blade made from seashells. His eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Is that so?” Oh, to recapture those days when every find promised intrigue. After a couple of decades, though, the newness had worn off.
I imagined what he deemed a breakthrough discovery was nothing more than another common relic from the native Calusa tribe who inhabited this area of Florida for thousands of years.
“I…I don’t know what to make of it. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before. The lines are perfect, and it’s covered with a gold-like metal.”
“Well,” I said, standing up and wiping dirt from my trousers. “Let’s go see this hidden treasure.” I gave a smile of encouragement. The novelty of a discovery might’ve waned for me over the years, but I still remembered the initial spark of wonder, and even I still experienced it on occasion as we recovered rare finds to see an unexpected look into an ancient culture.
A hundred feet or so farther across the wet ground, we climbed a gentle slope until the soil met rocky embankment. Three second-year students huddled around the recess of site four, where’d they’d been diligently and carefully digging and brushing.
As I arrived, they pulled away from the chest high mound, giving me a tantalizing view of their find. Though only a corner peeked through the sediment, it was enough to tell me Kurt had every reason to be excited.
Blood beat a steady rhythm in my ears, probably like the ancient shell weapons of the Calusa as they engaged in battle with the Europeans and their native foes.
Ting-ting-ting-ting.
“What do you think, Professor J?”
Clearing my throat and forcing my nerves to relax, I grabbed a brush from my apron and gently leaned forward, brushing away a bit more sediment to reveal the entire end of the box. Strange hieroglyphs flowed and danced across the surface. “Perhaps it’s a trinket they traded for with the Spaniards,” I said, though deep down that didn’t feel true.
“But this writing doesn’t match any indigenous tribes in the entire state.” Elizabeth, one of the second years, pointed toward the artifact. “This doesn’t make sense. The first two symbols look like a combination of Greek and Egyptian, yet not quite right.”
Nodding, I straightened. “Possibly, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Document everything, and once it’s free, we’ll know more about it.”
Four weeks later, I sat at my desk on the campus of the University of Florida and stared at the cloth-covered cube. Testing had confirmed the runes were in a language as yet undiscovered. Instead of gold, the metal covering its surface was something unknown, the composition undeterminable. As the anthropology department head, I’d managed to keep our discovery under wraps, but it would only be a matter of time before a tech, student, or fellow faculty member leaked the information. Deep in my heart I knew the discovery should be shared with the world, but I couldn’t let it go. Not yet. I couldn’t explain the connection I felt every time I looked at the cube.
I need more time to study it—that’s why I feel so possessive.. This potentially groundbreaking discovery could refute everything we thought we knew about the ancient cultures of native Floridians.
Why did that make me nervous, though? Every anthropologist and archeologist dreamed of finding a lost society or relic that had never been seen before.
It’s because it leads to answers about the past. But this? I tugged a corner of cloth from the cube. This feels more like a doomsday device, and I feel like a moth drawn to the flame.
“Stop being an idiot,” I told myself, hating the shakiness of my words. I’d not touched the relic because something held me back. But now? I hated the uneasiness stirring in my bones.
Touch it. Prove it’s just an object, not a supernatural trinket.
Normally, I’d never been superstitious. I’d studied many cultures who believed in the supernatural, the spirit world, and deities, but not me. Not until my students had found what everyone had been referring to as the Calusa Reliquary .
“It’s not cursed or blessed. I’m sure the rest of the tests will confirm it’s a jewelry box or some other possession owned by a noblewoman, possibly traded for during a missionary visit, or even with the Spaniard traders hundreds of years ago. That’s all.” Talking to myself calmed my nerves. Thank goodness I dismissed my last class a couple of hours ago. The last thing I need is for them to think Professor J has lost her mind.
Taking a deep breath, I glided my fingertip over the reliquary’s surface, which was surprisingly smooth and warm. I lifted the box and set it on my palm. Though it was no bigger than an old cigar box, its weight measured over ten pounds.
“Why are you so heavy?” No one had been able to find an opening and every scan we’d tried couldn’t penetrate to see inside. I turned it around, felt every corner, and even gave it a light shake, knowing this had all been done before but compelled to try anyhow.
Nothing.
I held it in front of my face and peered at the strange writing. “Who made you? Huh?” My breath fogged the golden metallic side. A strange vibration shook the cube.
Out of reflex or fear, I lost my grip on it and tried to catch the heavy object as it seemed to tumble in slow motion. “What the—”
With a thud, it fell onto my desk. A searing, blinding white light pulsed from within, the metal becoming translucent. Cedar filled the room, like a breeze from a thick forest with a scattering of cinnamon.
The vibrations strengthened, shaking the wooden floorboards underneath my feet. A terrible rattling filled my ears, the sensation unbearable.
Whatever it is, it’s not natural, maybe not even man-made. If I want to live, I need to get the hell out of here.
I turned to run, but the pulsing light disappeared as quickly as it had started. A blanket of shadow swallowed the room. The rattling wood ceased, and the silence of the darkness deafened my ears, pushing into my brain until I became one with the night, with the thing inside the box that had yearned to be found, to be seen, to be remembered.
I became the reliquary. It became me. I gave in under its demanding pressure.