Alien Romance: The Alien's Bliss: A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance (6 page)

“Aimee is right,” Carmen added. “No peace agreement can overcome those prejudices. It isn’t about Aquilla at all.”

“Then it’s all hopeless,” Anna put in. “We should all pack up and go home.”

“Not at all,” Aimee argued. “We came here to help sway the men in favor of peace. We can still do that. Each of us—I mean, each of
you
—can approach your mates and pass on the message to them that we need to work together among ourselves instead of concentrating on convincing Aquilla. That will do more for peace than anything else.”

“And what about you, Aimee?” Emily asked. “You’re the only one of us without a mate to approach. What will you do?”

Aimee gazed up the hill. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling it will come to me before too long.”

That night, Aimee lay awake on her Ursidrean army cot and stared up into the blackness. After hours reviewing her conversation with Piwaka, his words no longer played in her head. Instead, his face, with his burning eyes and penetrating stare, hovered before her eyes. His eyes locked on hers and never let her go. Whatever she thought of, he always drew her back.

In her mind’s eye, she gazed into his face, and he awoke that forgotten part of herself lying dormant beneath her warrior persona. How could she fail, all these months, even to recognize that it was there? How could such an essential part of herself lie disused and festering without giving her the slightest disturbance? Why did it take a complete stranger to awaken that part of herself and bring it to the surface?

One question disturbed her more than all the others. Why him? What made him the one to awaken her? What unique gift of sight allowed him to see that part of her lurking below the surface and draw it out into the light of day? Why him, of all people? Why couldn’t it have been one of her cousins, or one of her Lycaon friends?

He was beyond strange to her. He was another faction, another species. And he was older—much older. She couldn’t stand exposed before him—could she? The thought made her shudder, but there he stayed, right in front of her. When he looked into her eyes, he saw that part of her. He barely noticed her warrior identity. To him, it was so much window dressing. It didn’t exist to him. The real Aimee, the Aimee no one else knew was there—that was the person he saw when he looked into her eyes.

In her vision, she stood before him uncovered. She wore none of the skins of the Lycaon, but she wasn’t naked. Her hair hung down to her shoulders and beyond instead of cropped short, the way she wore it with the warriors for the better part of the last year. Her skin, her face, even her fingernails glowed with electric energy. She throbbed with life from every pore. What had he done to her?

She had only to think of herself past, the way she was with the warriors, to find the answer. When she ran through the woods on patrol, she ran from herself. Far from finding herself and her life’s purpose defending the faction she thought was her own, she lost herself in the company of people she could never connect with. They were automatons, empty shells who touched her life in the most superficial way, if at all.

She’d walked through a nightmare of half-existence, without purpose, without intimacy, without a body. She never let anyone touch her, physically or in any other way. To be touched would have shattered her carefully constructed mask of happiness. Even her cousins, who should have known her best, mistook her fervor for happiness. Frieda and Anna were too engrossed in their own struggles and dramas to notice, and Emily only saw Aimee after months away, and she barely recognized her cousin when they did meet.

In the dark, Aimee let her hand trail down her body under the blankets, exploring the vibrant sensations of her skin come alive. Every cell ached with life yet to be embraced. She had only to reach...just a little further...She stopped herself and threw her arm over her eyes to hide from all that life. If only she could turn her feelings on and off at will, she could tolerate the unstoppable torrent of emotions and sensations coursing through her, but the fateful vision left her no peace. What would become of her? Who would she become? She would certainly see Piwaka again. She ought to get out of bed right now and run back to Lycaon territory before he devastated her in some other, more dreadful way.

But she didn’t leave. She lay awake all night with his face haunting her, waking and sleeping, until the dawn and the noise of the camp drove her out of bed. She swung her legs over the side of the cot with a sigh. What could she do but get up and keep moving? Yet she shivered at the thought of seeing him again, even at a distance. She couldn’t trust herself near him. She might fly apart at the seams at any moment.

Outside the tent, she found Chris and Marissa studying the thermal transmogrifier. They glanced up at her and went back to frowning at it. “How do you work this thing?”

Aimee peered down at the thing. “I have no idea. Anna says it’s some kind of oven that cooks food, but don’t ask me how it works. Ask her or Emily or Aria.”

Chris puffed out her cheeks. “Why can’t we get a fire going like any sensible people?” She waved toward the Felsite camp, where columns of smoke rose into the grey air. “The Felsite are doing it.”

“Maybe we should camp with them,” Aimee suggested.

Chris and Marissa looked at each other. Then they laughed. “I’ll ask Carmen if we can.”

“Donen would be offended,” Chris pointed out. “He was very generous to invite us to stay with the Ursidreans, seeing as Aimee is Emily and Anna’s cousin.”

“That wasn’t the only reason,” Aimee told her. “He thought we would be most comfortable here, since the Ursidreans have the most advanced technology. He probably thought, since we come from a planet with high technology, that we would want to use it again.”

Chris kicked the transmogrifier. “I’ve been with the Lycaon too long to appreciate some metal box that pulverizes my food. Give me a spit-roast any day of the week.”

Marissa sat down on a stool in front of the box. “I’m not hungry. I can wait for one of the others to come along and make breakfast.”

Chris shook her head. “You need to eat if you’re going to grow a baby. Stay here. I’ll get a fire going and cook you a nice meal cake with a side of knackle-bones.”

Marissa smiled up at her. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Chris started to turn away when the flap of Emily and Faruk’s tent flew back and Emily stepped out. Her eye flicked around the circle. “Hey, guys. What’s for breakfast?”

Chris frowned. “Nothing, because none of us know how to work this infernal contraption of yours. I was just about to go collect some wood to make a fire so Marissa here can eat something before she perishes with hunger.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “If you didn’t know how to work the infernal contraption, all you had to do was say so. I’ll show you how to use it so you don’t have to build a fire.”

Chris set her hands on her hips. “I want to build a fire. I would rather build a fire than learn how to use this thing.”

Emily stared at her. “You want to build a fire? But why? It takes so long to find wood, and it wastes a lot of energy. The transmogrifier makes cooking so much easier.”

“Then you use it,” Chris returned. “I would rather take the time to gather the wood to build a fire to cook my food the old-fashioned Lycaon way, thank you very much.”

Emily opened her mouth, but she closed it again without saying anything. The others listened to this exchange in mute astonishment. At last, Emily smiled down at Marissa and winked. She walked over to a giant metal box standing between her own tent and Donen’s. She punched the buttons on a digital panel next to the locked door, and the panel beeped. Then it let out a ping, and the door locks popped open.

Emily opened the door and took from a metal shelf inside a round metal tray with a white enamel surface. It look like any standard dinner plate. She handed it to Marissa, and all the women craned their necks to inhale the most heavenly aroma of two poached eggs, two sizzling slices of bacon, and hash-browned potatoes. A steaming cup of fragrant tea sat in the corner of the tray.

Emily stood back and crossed her arms over her chest. “The Ursidreans’ technology is designed to make our lives easier, not harder. Anna hasn’t had any difficulty learning to use it, and neither will you if you try. Look. I’ll show you right now how to use the transmogrifier, and then I’ll show you how to use the store chamber over there. Then you can order up any food you can possibly imagine in a couple of seconds.”

She swept the group with one last triumphant look and turned away. Chris glared at her and humphed. Aimee watched Marissa pounce on her breakfast. “I wouldn’t mind getting me some of that bacon. Where do you think they got it?”

“That store chamber thing must have constructed it out of random subatomic particles,” Chris replied. “Emily and Anna and Aria must have programmed it to produce all their favorite foods from Earth.”

Aimee gazed into the distance. “Mocha ice cream with caramel sauce.”

Chris sighed. “Anchovy pizza with mushrooms and green bell peppers.”

Marissa tore a chunk off her bacon. “This is pretty good. I could be satisfied with this for a long time.”

Chris snapped out of her reverie and looked down at the plate. “Here comes Emily. Let’s find out how to use these machines. Then we can eat.”

The women sat together in a line and watched Donen, Caleb, and Renier talking at the base of the hill. “What do you think they’re talking about?”

“I sure hope it’s the peace negotiation,” Anna remarked. “I hate to think of them discussing the weather at a time like this.”

“They
are
discussing the peace negotiation,” Emily told them. “That’s why Faruk and Menlo and Turk weren’t invited. They wanted to discuss it between themselves, just the Alphas, without anybody else.”

“And without us,” Marissa pointed out. “They didn’t want to give the impression anybody was influencing their decisions.”

“What are they going to do about Aquilla?” Chris asked.

“I’m sure that’s exactly what they’re discussing,” Emily replied. “Without him, this peace negotiation doesn’t exist.”

“Not necessarily,” Anna told her. “That’s three factions in agreement over there. A few years ago, no one could have anticipated this. That in itself is a huge accomplishment. Even if we walk away from here without bringing Aquilla around, we’ve still achieved an enormous victory for the Angondran people. At least our three factions will live in peace with each other.”

Aimee sighed and sat back in her seat. Her mind hadn’t stopped working since last night. Emily studied her. “You’re very quiet this morning. What’s on your mind?”

“If I knew that,” Aimee replied, “I wouldn’t have to be quiet about it.”

“You were right about one thing,” Aria told her. “You were right about us talking to our mates about peace.”

“What do you mean?” Aimee asked.

“I talked to Donen last night,” Aria replied. “He said some things about the Avitras that made me think maybe Aquilla is right not to trust this negotiation. What you said yesterday kept coming back to me. Even if they agree to peace here, the old prejudices still exist below the surface, waiting to flare up.”

The group sat in silence for a while. Then Marissa spoke up in such a low murmur the others could barely hear her. “Caleb is the same. He’s not ready to make peace with......well, with anybody.”

Chris spun around. “What do you mean by that? I thought he supported this negotiation.”

“He does,” Marissa replied. “He sees the logic of disarming the borders, since none of the factions have the resources to guard them anymore. But he doesn’t trust any of the other factions. It isn’t just the Avitras. He doesn’t trust the Felsite or the Ursidreans, either.”

“But they’re standing together right over there.” Chris pointed across the land at the three men.

“That’s one Felsite and one Ursidrean,” Marissa replied. “One man is easy to talk to. A whole faction is something else entirely, and the Avitras are openly hostile to all of us. Guarding the Avitras border would still put a strain on the Lycaon we can’t afford.”

“So what are we going to do?” Emily asked. “Those prejudices could take generations to fade.”

“They won’t fade,” Aimee told her. “They’ll continue to be handed down from one generation to the next, and as long as the prejudice remains, the wars will continue.” She stood up and stretched. Then she turned away.

“Hey!” Chris called after her. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going for a walk.” She didn’t look back.

She didn’t go straight up the hill. That would be too obvious. She walked along the base of the Divide until a pile of rocks hid her from her friends’ view. Then and only then did she veer off and strike out for the mountain.

The farther she walked, the faster her heart beat. The physical exertion of climbing the slope didn’t faze her at all. She’d run up steeper mountains than this many times, but the memory of Piwaka kept her moving with a shiver of excitement. Would she meet him again somewhere between the trees?

What was she doing, coming up here to look for him like a giddy schoolgirl? Maybe he didn’t feel the same way about her. Maybe he didn’t think about her at all. He might laugh in her face if he met her coming to look for him.

She shook those doubts out of her head. She couldn’t rest until she found out for certain if her fevered vision had any basis in reality. Had she imagined the magnetic charge passing between them? Was he something special, something she’d searched for her whole life and only just wakened to find, or was he just a charming man with a persuasive way of talking to people? She had to find out. She wouldn’t go back until she put this demon to rest. If he laughed her down the mountain, at least she’d know she imagined the whole thing.

She came back to the same tree, but she didn’t climb it. She ought to go back before he spotted her. She walked away from the tree, but she didn’t go down the mountain. She headed for the big rock where the Avitras pitched their camp. A ways down the hill from the rock, she scaled another tree. To her surprise, not one Avitras remained on the rock. It was completely deserted. The Avitras had retreated into their own territory. There would be no negotiation with them for a long time, if ever.