Chapter 6
The next moment, blood was pouring from Harris’ nose as he stared wide-eyed at Kaden. Difficult to say which of them was the most shocked.
Harris put his hand over his lower face. “Yoo…broke…my…uckin…nooze.”
Technically, that had been Joe, but… Yes, I did!
“You’re lucky I didn’t call the police last night. Get out and don’t ever come back.”
To Kaden’s intense relief, Harris grabbed his coat and stormed out, slamming the door so hard behind him that the contents of the bedsit rattled.
Kaden let out a shaky breath as he looked at his hand and flexed his fingers. Not even a twinge of pain.
He hurt you. I hurt him. I want to kill him.
Kaden gasped. Christ! “No killing. That would have got me into a world of trouble.”
I was built to defend my other and kill anyone who threatened his safety.
Oh my God. But I’m not your other. What the hell did he have inside him? “Have you killed anyone?” The moment he’d asked that, he regretted it.
Nor did he like the long pause.
Not…directly, but I want to kill Harris.
“No killing. Please. That’s not the way to handle this.”
What if—
“No what-ifs. If you used me to kill him, I’d go to prison. You can’t kill him. Please.”
He’s gone, though.
Which was true. For now, anyway.
I should have killed him.
“Oh God, Joe. You can’t do things like that, inside me or outside of me.”
Kaden dropped onto his bed. “Lixian is aware something disappeared from the tank, but they don’t know how or exactly what. And what’s left has been destroyed. I couldn’t push Harris to say more, he’d have been suspicious. What do you think happened? Were any of my guesses possible?”
Cannibalism? Possible. Gash, the captain, would have done whatever was required to ensure his survival. So would Lanu, my other.
Kaden shuddered. “Including eating your wings. You said you fed on the contents of the tank.”
Yes, but it wasn’t enough to maintain our metabolism.
“So either some got out or some were eaten.”
Yes. Would anyone else have done what you did and taken material from the tank?
“I’m sure they wouldn’t. They’re trained scientists who follow rules. I should have followed those rules too. No one else would have thought you were trying to get away. Then again, no one noticed you but me. And no one believed you could be sentient.”
Only you.
“Might your crew mates have worked together to raise the lid? One or more of them could have escaped before it dropped down again.”
They spent so much time trying to get me, they didn’t consider that cooperation would secure their release. Nor did they try to free their wings. Maybe they couldn’t.
Kaden chewed his fingernail. “Should we be worried?”
Joe didn’t answer, which was worrying in itself.
“I asked you before about the safety of the planet. Do they have the capacity to damage it?”
I don’t know.
“If they slipped inside someone, could they control them? Could you fully control me?”
I don’t know.
“You’re saying I don’t know to a lot of questions. You’ve already manipulated my body. You made me speak. You made me hit those guys and Harris.”
Full control might be possible. It would be difficult. For me anyway. I was engineered to protect and defend.
“But if two got out and were able to mate…” Oh God. “How quickly can reproduction take place? Were there any females?” He was getting more and more anxious.
Those who are fertilised produce many young over a short space of time.
That sounded like eggs.
Not eggs. More like…frog spawn.
“Frog spawn is eggs.”
Oh. Yes. It is.
“Could they be laid inside a human?”
I can’t think that could happen.
Think wasn’t reassuring.
Would you prefer I say that I don’t know?
Kaden heaved a sigh. “How many survived the crash?”
Ten including me.
“How many were on board?”
Three thousand.
Kaden wondered if more had survived than Joe had thought. Maybe he ought to go and look for the spacecraft.
Perhaps.
“But I’m not sure I could kill anything. I catch and release spiders. I go out of my way not to step on ants.”
You have a big heart.
Which was why he was stuck with Joe.
Kaden almost felt Joe recoil. But it was the truth.
“Everything deserves a chance. If I did find something still alive, I’d have to tell the authorities.”
They’d be too small for you to see. There were no other indications of life when the ten of us left what remained of the craft.
The captain would have been aware of other survivors.
He would have commanded them to help him.
If anyone finds the ship, it will look like broken metal.
Though not a material known to this planet.
“Will a spacecraft be sent to get you?”
No. We all knew the risks of the mission.
No one on board was important enough to warrant rescuing.
Only if the planet was deemed an excellent match for our requirements would anyone come.
Although Earth looked promising, we needed to be on the surface to collect accurate data.
The captain was briefly in touch with our home planet but communications ceased before we crashed.
I doubt he’d have convinced anyone to rescue us.
Even if he did, it wouldn’t happen for several of your Earth years.
Kaden sucked in a breath.
I can’t and won’t stay in you for that long. I don’t want to go back. I want Earth to be my home. I’m just not yet sure how I can survive here. Each day I stay in you, I learn more about how to be human.
Guilt settled over Kaden like a heavy blanket. This was all his fault. He had to fight not to cry. He could feel Joe trying to calm him.
I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I didn’t want to be a protector before, but I do now.
His world had changed the moment he took Joe from the tank. He wished he’d left him where he was.
You saved me.
At what cost?
I’ll protect you always.
Kaden couldn’t see how Joe could promise that.
By the time Kaden arrived at The Old Vic pub, his throat was dry with nerves. He wasn’t in the mood to perform stand-up tonight but he wouldn’t let people down. He’d made Joe promise to be quiet and he’d been uncharacteristically silent since well before Kaden set off.
Kaden sat in the backstage area set aside for those performing and tried not to twist his fingers together. Another sign of his anxiety, though less to do with performing and more to do with Joe. I’ll be okay, Mum. Kaden always thought of her when he did this, how proud she’d be.
“You’ll be fine.” Dora handed him a glass of water.
Dora compèred all over London and managed to get laughs before she even opened her mouth. But then she had that sort of face. Kaden looked like a guy who was shocked to find himself still trying to make a name doing this.
Then why are you?
“Shut up.” Kaden spoke aloud without thinking and quickly added, “Ha! You’ll be fine? Easy for you to say. I’ll be lucky to even edge towards fine.” Please, Joe. Keep quiet. He should have known the silence wouldn’t last.
Dora patted his knee. “They might feel sorry for you.”
“I should be so lucky.”
She laughed. “You’re on next. Sweaty Steven has had them chortling and we both know that’s a miracle. Knock ‘em dead, kid.”
Dora flounced up onto the stage in enormous heels as Steven came down the steps, wiping his forehead with a soaked handkerchief.
Ugh. Kaden half-listened to Steven complaining about a loud-mouthed heckler at the back and half-listened to Dora making the audience chuckle.
He hoped his friends were there because they’d cheer him on whether he was funny or not.
Another act came into the backstage area. A man Kaden hadn’t seen before. He didn’t look nervous at all. Lucky thing.
Dora had the audience in the palm of her hand.
“Right, that’s enough from me. Time for the next act.
Don’t nip off to the bog. You should have gone while Steven was on because you won’t want to miss a moment with the love bomb coming up next.
He’s funny, he’s sexy and he’s wearing jeans a size too small.
Phew! Ladies and gentlemen and everyone else, please give a warm welcome to… Kaden Bauer.”
Kaden bounded up, nodded his thanks to Dora, smiled at his imaginary mum in the audience, and paced from one side of the stage to the other. “Every time I do this, I think why am I doing this? It’s because of my mum. She thought I was funny. Please don’t prove her wrong.”
That won him a laugh.
“When my dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said rich. He chuckled and said, no, what job do you want to do? I said one that makes me rich. And failing that a spy. Dad dangled my AirPods over the toilet and said, “What’s the password for your phone?” Of course I told him. That was one idea snuffed out.”
That got the response he wanted and then it all flowed.
Kaden’s routine was high energy and involved him continually moving.
Not easy on a little stage like this but he did what he could, kept his enthusiasm high and his delivery fast. He caught sight of his friends sitting at a table near the front and their smiles reassured him.
“Hands up who had a pet when you were a kid? Nearly all of you. I pleaded with my dad. No to a dog. No to a cat. Hell no to a snake. That was his suggestion, not mine. He finally gave way on me having a stick insect. Probably because it was free. I called him Sticky. Not my dad. School was overrun with them. The biology teacher was pleading with pupils to take them. Sticky was supposed to be easy to take care of. I mean they don’t do anything other than pretend to be a small twig.
But he was a picky eater. He only ate privet and there were no privet bushes anywhere near where we lived.
I went exploring with a pair of scissors and got reported to the police by a lady who said I was trimming her bush without permission. ”
The audience hooted.