In His Alien Hands (18 page)

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From the window Josie noticed their descent. Clouds in the sky had cleared enough to allow the moon to cast a dim glow over the ground below. To her surprise they seemed to be aiming toward another small lake. “Are we landing?”

“Yes.”

She shivered, recalling how the ship had emerged from the bottom of a lake. “You’re not putting it down
in
the water are you?”
Markley will freak.

“No, in the forest. We’ll be staying close by.”

This surprised her. “We are?”

“There’s a cabin. It belonged to my dad. My grandfather owned the land originally.”

“Really? Have you ever been there?” She hadn’t recalled him mentioning it.

Bane actually smiled. “I’d forgotten about it. Now that things have come back to me, I remember my dad taking me there a couple of times when I was young. Just him and me, he said it was tradition. His dad took him camping on the land and always talked about building a cabin there. My dad did more than talk about it, he actually built the cabin.”

“What about your mom? Did she ever go there with you?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think she knew anything about it. My grandmother either. Makes sense considering they’re human.”

That was interesting. “So you’re actually half-human.”

He frowned as though the thought just occurred to him. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“It’s strange how your dad and grandfather didn’t know they were aliens, yet they had a secret cabin waiting in the wings just in case,” Josie said. Another thought struck her. She knew Bane was an only child, but what about others like him? “Are all of you who are born to an Acacian father an only child and a son? No daughters?”

“Always sons. And yes, no siblings.”

“Interesting. So you need human females to reproduce?”

“The Sentinels do as way of necessity since there are no Acacian females on Earth.”

“So, do all Acacians look like humans? Or just the Sentinels?”

He seemed to ponder her question for a moment as though he was mentally searching for the answer. “From all outward appearance, we resemble humans. Physically, there are no discerning differences. It’s our superior brains that are different.”

Josie ignored the barb. “It’s so weird that humans have said for years that aliens exist among us. They’re always described as having a big head, giant eyes, and frail little bodies.” Which Bane obviously had none of. “Like, look at the aliens you write about. I don’t remember you ever having them resemble humans.” It was strange, now that she thought about it, how he used to write about aliens. All the time she’d known him he’d been fascinated by them, as though, deep down, they’d shared some strange connection.

“There are aliens that look like that,” he informed her. “Not many though, and the ones that do are mostly interested in studying humans. They don’t pose a threat.”

She thought for a moment. “So, why do Acacians care about humans? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you do, but why? Or is it just the Earth you want to protect?”

He exhaled loudly as though he was getting bored with all her questions. “It’s a long story. The short version is, thousands of years ago an Acacian ship crash-landed on Earth. Two men were aboard. Both were hurt, but the small village they landed near took the men in and cared for them. One of the Acacians fell in love with a village girl. When help finally came from Gannon, he decided to remain on Earth. The other man who’d been in the crash left, but vowed he’d return to Earth one day. He was best friends with the one who decided to stay. He did return, with several men who decided they’d like to live on this strange, new planet.”

He paused for a moment.

“The men on Gannon outnumber the women. It’s the same on several planets. Don’t ask me why, it just is. Anyway, the chance for a new life presented itself. In return for humans’ hospitality, we helped them to advance. Back then, Earth was even less prepared for a hostile alien attack than it is now. Over the years, several more Acacian men arrived, spreading out all over the planet, vowing to keep Earth and the men and women who live here, safe. Over the years, as generations of Acacian and human offspring lived and died, the memories and stories of the arrival of the Acacians was forgotten. The knowledge of who we were was buried deep in our minds, only to be awakened when the time came. Now is that time.”

Josie was fascinated. But before she could ponder more on the subject Bane swooped the craft low to the ground toward a small clearing in a thick forest. The ship hovered over the ground but did not set down.

He got to his feet. “Put Markley in his crate and we’ll go.”

She did as he instructed and when he saw the cat was secure he shouldered the bags and palmed a small, pulsing circle beside the hatch. The doorway swished up, and he jumped the couple of feet to the ground. He turned and put up his hand for Markley. Josie handed him the carrier and jumped to the forest floor that was slick with wet leaves. The hatch swished closed behind her.

Rain continued to fall in a slight drizzle. She was relieved to see that, although several trees had been knocked down, the ground no longer shook with tremors. Bane pulled one of the devices he’d gotten from the ship out of his jacket pocket. He gripped the hand-sized instrument in both his palms and twisted the top and bottom parts in opposite directions until a click sounded, causing it to light up like a beacon.

“Let’s go,” he said, striding into the thickness of the forest, taking for granted she would follow along.

She sighed and did just that. It’d been an incredibly long and exhausting day—few days actually—and she couldn’t wait for it to be over. She hoped the cabin he led them to would be comfortable and safe. Although, how safe could they expect to be and for how long?

“By tomorrow the Cadeyrns may begin their descent,” Bane warned. “They have a weapon especially made for ground use. It can incinerate almost a dozen people at a time. The device is genius. There’ll be no bodies rotting in the streets, causing sickness or contaminating food or water supplies.”

She didn’t know to respond. He seemed to bear no sentiment about the devastation of humanity—strange considering he’d so recently believed himself to be one of them. The thought of the world’s population being annihilated was terrifying. Billions of men, women, children, entire cities and communities, destroyed. How would they ever recover from something so terrible? Were they even meant to recover, or was this the end?

“The Cadeyrns’ ships are over all the major cities. That’s where they’ll concentrate their attacks. The smaller towns are not of consequence to them—yet. Their main goal is to eliminate as much of the population as possible in the shortest amount of time. We’ll do whatever we can to prevent total annihilation.”

Josie shivered, thinking how very close they’d been to the heart of the chaos. Despite Bane’s cold and calculating ways he’d actually saved her life. She ached inside for the eventual loss of the others, but didn’t know of any way to prevent it.

Soon the forest began to thin and the dark shape of a structure emerged ahead. “There it is,” Bane announced.

Markley meowed several times as though sensing comfort and freedom from his confines. They came up before the cabin, and Josie thought it looked cozy. It sat on the point of a small lake, isolated by miles of thick forest. No light from candles, flashlights, or any other source was visible around the shore, so she surmised this was the only structure here.

As though reading her mind Bane said, “It sits on a hundred acres. Most of the land around the lake, which is named Bentley, is Crown land. It’s owned by the government.”

He climbed the three steps to the deck and set the bags down. Reaching up atop a light fixture beside the door, he withdrew a key. He propped the screen door open with his knee. After he unlocked the wooden door he swung it inward and shone his light inside. Josie came up beside him. From the warm, stale air that rushed out she figured it’d been closed up for a long time. Bane grabbed the bags and entered the cabin. She followed him in and shut the door.

“Wait here,” he said setting down the bags again.

Josie put Markley’s carrier on the floor and stood in the kitchen. Bane grabbed a set of keys and went back out the door, leaving her in the dark. Following the glow of his light with her eyes, she watched him walk over to the wooden shed attached to the cabin and open the door. Moments later the light in the kitchen came on. She was surprised. It didn’t appear to be powered by propane and she couldn’t hear the telltale sound of a generator. Bane soon came back inside and began switching on more lights.

“How’d you get the power on?” she asked, hoping that maybe the electricity had miraculously come back on and he had simply thrown the power switch.

“Alien power supply out in the shed. Once it’s on, it’s on. No electricity, gas, diesel, or propane needed.”

“Cool. Can I let Markley out now?” When he nodded she opened the carrier and fished the cat’s bowls out of one of the bags. She filled a bowl with his dry food and took the other to the sink in the kitchen. “Is this water safe to drink?” She turned on the faucet and waited while the pipes groaned to life and water sputtered out in a drizzle from the tap.

“Yeah, it’s from a deep well. It should be fine. Let it run for a while, it’s full of air bubbles. I’ll turn on the taps in the bathroom and let them run too.”

Josie waited a bit and then filled up the water bowl before shutting off the tap. She set the bowl down beside Markley, who was munching away on his food, tail swishing rapidly back and forth. “I’m glad there’s indoor plumbing,” she said as Bane reentered the living room.

Now that the cabin was lit up she could see everything more clearly. The kitchen was small. A counter acted as a divider between it and the living room. Four doors led off the living room, which was a good size. She figured two were bedrooms, one a bathroom, and the last being another access to outside. A stone fireplace nestled in the corner. The furniture consisted of two comfy chairs and a couch, all appearing to be from the seventies. The walls were paneled, and the carpet was shag. There was peel-and-stick tile on the floor in the kitchen. Despite having felt like she’d stepped back in time, Josie found the cabin comfortable and neat besides needing a good airing out and dusting.

Markley finished up his food while Josie turned off the taps in the bathroom and went around opening up all the windows, letting in the cool night air. Bane took their bags into the largest bedroom, which had a long dresser and a cedar chest at the base of the queen-sized bed. The smaller bedroom had a dresser and bunk beds. Both rooms had serviceable deep green carpet and dark green curtains covering two windows.

“Does that door lead outside?” she asked.

Bane went over and pulled the door open and gestured for her to come see. “Watch that the cat doesn’t get out,” he said, opening up a screen door that led to a large deck facing the tip of the point.

Through the trees Josie could detect the dark water of the lake surrounding them on three sides. She stood beside Bane, who leaned against the rail of the deck, staring out at the water. The warm night and the lulling sounds of bullfrogs and crickets made her smile. She linked her arm with Bane’s and leaned against him. For just a moment she wanted to pretend that everything was all right. That there were no spaceships lurking around determined to decimate Earth. That Bane was the same man she’d known and loved for two years. And that the ring in her pocket would one day be on her finger.

Bane moved back abruptly. “Let’s go in. We can eat, then fuck, then sleep. Early tomorrow I need to leave for a while.” Without waiting for a response he strode inside.

Josie sighed and waited to go in, preferring her own company to his. Every time she thought they were reconnecting, he turned back into a bastard.

Chapter 5

Bane was rifling through the cupboards when Josie came inside. He’d taken off his jacket. Josie removed hers and tossed it over his on the back of one of the chairs. Markley was curled up, washing himself by the fireplace in the other chair. Josie went into the kitchen area and swung her leg over the bench of the polished picnic table that served as the kitchen table.

“None of the food here will be edible,” she informed him. “Not if it’s been sitting in this furnace for the past fifteen to twenty summers.”

“I know. I’m taking stock on what I need to grab in town. Will you go through the bags and see if there’s anything left to eat?”

She climbed back off the bench and went into the bedroom. The bags were sitting on the floor. She found the last sleeve of crackers and a couple tins of chicken noodle soup and brought them into the kitchen.

“This is it,” she said putting the food on the counter.

She rinsed out two bowls and boiled water for tea—there were some ancient tea bags stashed inside a jar in the cupboard she figured wouldn’t kill them. Soon Bane had the soup heated. He filled their bowls while Josie finished making the tea, and they sat down across from each other.

As she ate she watched him. He stared straight ahead and didn’t make eye contact. She wondered about the remark he’d made about fucking. He hadn’t raised an eyebrow, given her a wink, or shown any indication he was hot for her. She wasn’t exactly hot for him either. Especially after all he’d told her.

She tried to put herself in his position. He could be confused and overwhelmed. Realizing his purpose in life was to act as guardian for another race and planet probably contributed to his foul temper. Maybe she could get him to open up. When he thought he was human he’d shared everything with her—his thoughts and feelings, his hopes and dreams.

“I can’t imagine how you’re feeling. It’s a huge weight on your shoulders knowing your role is to prevent the destruction of an entire race. It must be disturbing to realize you’re not who you thought you were after all this time.”

The eyes he turned on her were impassive. “What does that have to do with anything? I have a mission to carry out, and I will. My personal feelings don’t register in this.”