7th Kind 1: Christmas in Dreamland (8 page)

When Ike woke on Christmas morning, he had the best present. Meg was sprawled across him and Charlie. Still deep in sleep, she tugged the sheet around her and snuggled.

Ike nudged Charlie and got the same response. Slowly, Charlie’s eyes opened and surveyed the area. They’d been soldiers for too long to be easily startled, but if there were tension in the air, they’d bolt into action.

“It’s okay. Just me. We need to tell her.” Ike had been holding out for fear she’d be in danger, but she was willing to put her neck on the line for men she wasn’t even in love with. The woman deserved to know the whole truth.

“I think she figured it out. You heard her dropping hints. She’s smarter than all of us.” Charlie squinted at the clock “What time is it?”

“Too early to be talking on a holiday,” Henry muttered.

“No holidays in Dreamland. We can take her out to Vegas for Valentine’s Day and spoil her. No one will notice us in Vegas.” Ike plucked a piece of tinsel out of her hair.

“Let’s make it to New Year’s first.” Charlie stretched and poked Henry in the ribs. “It’s almost eight.”

Henry groaned and yawned. “Don’t wake the sleeping genius. She’ll be hung over.”

Meg stretched out on top of them. “I’m awake. What is it? I’m not working today.”

“We need to tell you something.” Ike kissed the nearest part of her, which happened to be her elbow.

“Okay.” She groped on the nightstand until Henry found and handed over her glasses. “Thanks.”

Charlie sat up and pulled Meg with him. “Hopefully, it’s not a problem,” he said.

She frowned. “You do have girlfriends.”

“No!” they answered together.

“Okay, what?” She freed her hair from the ponytail and shook out the tinsel.

“Maybe, she’s not in the mood now? Shower first?” Henry suggested.

“No, now. What’s the big secret?” She fluffed a pillow and propped it behind her head as she wiggled in between Ike and Charlie.

“We didn’t want to tell you this because it might endanger you under the current circumstances of abductions and tension about the Keelons. However, given your willingness to protect the aliens, it’s not something we want to hide. We never meant to lie.” Charlie looked to Ike for help.

“We’re aliens,” Ike blurted.

Meg rolled her eyes and nodded. “I know. I figured that out once the other aliens got back.”

“You did?” Henry asked.

She nodded. “Actually, I suspected it after the first night. Your skin feels a little different. I was sure when I saw you guys so comfortable together sexually. Then when the other aliens came in Dreamland, there was no question.”

Ike frowned. “We kept them in your lab and followed all the orders.”

“True but you showed no fear of them at all. Okay, fine you’re big tough military hunks of muscle. But still, you didn’t doubt them or keep weapons pointed at them. Aliens are stronger, and they’re bred for war. So you could’ve defended yourself and subdued one of them if they attacked you.”

“They weren’t combative at all,” Henry said.

Meg shrugged. “Still, a human wouldn’t like that inequality of power and would have had more fire power. I’ve known you guys long enough to know you show zero fear. And last night, I gave them rum. You drank a little, very little, but you never stopped me from letting them have some. You three kept control and didn’t really let your guard down. If you’d gotten drunk, you might let something slip.”

“It was all a test?” Ike grabbed her and pinned her to the bed.

“No, not a test. Just an experiment to prove my hypothesis.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “So were you really in the military, or is this some elaborate cover up for a secret mission?”

Ike kissed her mouth. “You’re not mad?”

“I’m not mad. You’re taking a risk telling me. I’m sure it’s against the rules. This all happened very fast, but I’m not easy to fool.” She shrugged.

Henry smiled. “No secret mission. We crashed.”

“Like the others? But you’re far more assimilated to human culture.” She stared at them as if she were trying to solve a puzzle.

“You want the story now, or do you want to see how much we love and trust you?” Charlie asked.

She slid from beneath Ike and kissed Charlie and Henry. “Thank you for trusting me. I won’t let your secret slip. I did know, but your trust and love are the best Christmas presents ever. What do you want to show me?”

Henry climbed out of bed and went to their little fridge. “We’ve been on Earth for a long time. Most aliens can’t control their skin’s reaction to things. It’s automatic, like breathing. That’s how they’re found out.”

Meg nodded. “The automatic response to environment makes them—sorry
you guys
,” she clarified, “better warriors.”

“We think of it as
them,
too.” Ike hugged her. “We feel like humans most of the time. We don’t know anything else.”

Henry took an ice cube and slid it along his forearm. Nothing happened. “A new alien would react differently.” He ran it over his stomach, and a patch of fur sprang up.

Meg smiled and stroked the patch of hair until it disappeared. “Amazing. How do you hold your skin to human appearance?”

“Practice. Conditioning. Focus. We’re humanoid shaped so it’s not hard. This skin naturally fits this climate.” Charlie kissed her cheek. “I think we four need to bond now that the truth is out.”

“You’re not going to go furry or scaly or anything with me in bed, are you?” she asked.

“Want us to?” Ike couldn’t help teasing her.

Her nose scrunched in that cute way, and she shook her head. “No, not now. Maybe someday in experiments. So that’s why you don’t have girlfriends. You think they’ll freak if they find out. Or not want to be shared by three men.”

Henry grabbed her wrists and held her down to the bed. “We were waiting for you. You’re ours. We love you. End of story. No other girlfriends. We’ve always known that we’d find our female someday.” His mouth claimed a breast and licked it possessively.

Charlie straddled her waist. “It’s your fault. You have all those men working in your lab. I never knew if you were free. I thought you were sleeping with one of them.”

She laughed and moaned. “No, never. They treat me like their sister or the boss. It’s annoying. You’re the first guys who ever really made me feel like a woman instead of a geek, freak or joke.”

“You’re nothing but perfect.” Ike buried his face in her pussy and licked.

Meg lifted and arched. Ike watched Charlie lean in to kiss her as Henry still played with Meg’s breasts. It was lazy Christmas morning affection, but he had high hopes for the rest of the day.

* * * *

Hours of dozing later, Meg felt awake and the fact that the truth of her men was out finally sank in. When she looked at the nightstand, she discovered her men had been busy. A small Christmas tree twinkled and was decorated with candy canes.

She reached up and grabbed a cane then unwrapped it and savored the minty memories. It took her back to being a kid when all she’d wanted was for Santa to bring her perfect eyes or bigger boobs. Meg didn’t need those things anymore. Santa had more than made up for it with three hot men. Aliens or not.

Taking the candy out of her mouth, she ran it along Henry’s chest and licked up the sweetness. His eyes popped open, and he shifted to her. Charlie and Ike both stirred as well. The three men were so connected, Meg couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before.

She snuggled with them. “Tell me how you got here.”

Charlie grabbed a candy cane and unwrapped it. “We only remember bits and pieces. We were on a ship with a bunch of other male children, and we crashed in the desert.”

“How old were you?” Meg asked.

Ike shrugged. “About five years in human definitions. We were already a bonded group. There aren’t memories of us not being together.”

“But you’re not like brothers or anything?” Meg sat up.

Henry chuckled. “No, it doesn’t work that way. We were taken from our parents young and trained to fight and to do our duty. We’re a unit, a team and not related. They bond us. I don’t know how the process worked, whether it’s genetics or behavior training. I remember drills, not enough food and so much fighting.”

“Like the Spartans. But you couldn’t be sent off to fight so young. Why were you on a ship? Why would you be brought here?” Meg crunched the end of her cane.

“I don’t think we were supposed to be there. I remember older boys wanting to sneak on and fight with the adults. Our age group was extremely competitive. We must’ve followed them. You obeyed the leader without question.” Charlie rubbed his eyes. “I remember us hiding from the adults.”

Ike rubbed Charlie’s shoulders. “It’s okay. We survived. The crash was terrifying for a child, but we were in the cargo hold at the time.”

“At least, you were safe. So what happened to the adults?” Meg hugged herself to Charlie and Henry.

“The humans were on us fast. The military took over. The adults fought and were killed, except for two who were badly injured and kept alive to answer questions. When the military found us, they didn’t kill us. I’m still amazed.” Ike shook his head.

“You were children.” Meg held him tight.

“The adults were brutal. They killed all the human first responders. They took out most of the military men until the humans used a flamethrower. Bullets did nothing.” Henry toyed with Meg’s hair.

She sighed and let her hands wander. “I’m glad they spared you. Fire would work, but it’s hard to control. So the adults left alive were burned?”

Charlie nodded. “Hurt enough to be kept under control. We didn’t know anything about humans. Good or bad. That ship must’ve been on a research mission. But we didn’t know how to act or how to fight them. Some of the older boys tried and were locked up, interrogated and kept jailed.”

“What did they do with you? You were kids all alone on a new world. You must’ve been paralyzed with fear.” Meg had a new appreciation for her family. Dysfunctional, yes, but she always had food and clothes, and no one made her fight. No one took her away from her parents or her school. Being lost on a new world made wandering off at the mall look like an adventure.

Ike ran his hand along her face. “It wasn’t fun, but we were together. They kept us in a big government facility. Another Dreamland but sort of like an orphanage. We didn’t speak the language or understand the culture but kids learn fast. If anyone on our planet missed us or realized what happened, they never came after us. We eventually adapted.”

“The military style was actually comforting. It was the routine we needed.” Charlie smiled.

“So are a lot of military men aliens?” Meg asked.

Henry shook his head. “No, not many. There were about two-dozen boys our age. The four older boys were basically prisoners. Once we realized we didn’t have to be and that we’d be treated better than at home, we worked with our supervisors to be good humans. I’m sure we’re traitors on our home planet.”

Meg sat up indignantly. “Not traitors! You were kids. You snuck into a ship like some kids sneak into the movies. You had to survive. There was no way back. So twenty-four aliens were raised by and serve the military? Wow!”

“More or less. They all went into government work. We had memories of before the crash so we were tested and challenged more. Some had no clue. The crash traumatized them.” Charlie kissed Henry’s shoulder.

“What did they do to you?” she asked softly.

Ike shook his head. “Nothing as bad as our own people did. Once we were adults, they challenged us to prove our loyalty. We got the roughest assignments, were watched all the time and endured the harshest conditions, but we could take them.”

“They even tried to bust us up.” Henry hugged Charlie.

“No.” Meg loved her country, but there were times when she hated what was done in the name of national security. The government was made of men who could make mistakes like anyone, but she couldn’t change some of the outdated methods from the outside.

“They didn’t succeed. We weren’t able to function without each other. They had to deal with our
alien programming
as they called it. The rules were clear—we had to be assigned together and room together. We had to keep our sexual connection a secret, but we performed well in the field and were promoted.” Charlie kissed her forehead.

“So that’s why you’re not cutting any corners with the aliens, but you’re not afraid of them at all.” Meg’s theory held up so far, but she didn’t know their complete history yet.

“How are you going to handle the weapon? You know the brass will want proof it works.” Ike took her candy cane and sucked it.

Meg had been working on a theory. “We’ll see. I have some options, but I won’t torture people.”

“They’ll do it if you won’t.” Henry shrugged.

She knew that too, which was why she needed a real alternative. “They kept me back while Liz was off for the holidays precisely so I’d do it now. It’s bad enough to test a weapon on living things, but making her watch? She’d insist on being there. It’s a nice way to put me in a terrible spot. I won’t do it.” She hugged her guys.