Love From A Star: A BWWM Alien Romance (5 page)

“Whew,”
she sighed as he did.

“What’s
the matter?”

“Too
many questions,” she told him. “I need to get back to the
house; he will be looking for me soon.”

“I
need to get back home,” Antash said as he stood. He was about
to walk out when Jalicia grabbed his arm.

“No,”
she whispered. “You can’t go out there. You might be
seen.”

“I
need to fix my communicator. I need to go,” he said as a
serious expression crept over his features.

“I
know, but if you go out there and someone sees you, you might not go
home at all. Just wait until nightfall and then we'll go,” she
suggested.

He
looked at her, and he could tell she was sincere. He sat on a stack
of hay and sighed. “I am worried about my sister. I told her I
was making a quick run and I would be back soon,” he sighed.
“Then I ran into trouble and landed here. She will be worried,
and she is on her own.” He was twiddling his thumbs and staring
at the ground as he spoke. “I need to get back.”

“You
will get back to her. How old is she?” Jalicia wanted to know.

“She
is twenty-five,” he said. “Just a little girl.”

Jalicia
was confused after his response. “Twenty five isn’t such
a bad age. She will be fine until you get back, and we will get you
back.”

“No,
she is too young to be alone,” he said louder this time.

Jalicia
looked at him, but she couldn’t see why a girl of that age
couldn’t be fine on her own for a few days. “Look at me,”
she smiled. “I found you all by myself, and I am taking care of
you. I left home to be a doctor and came back to stay with my father
when my mother died, and I am only twenty-six,” she beamed as
she tried to reassure him.

He
looked up sharply when she stopped speaking. “You are
twenty-six?” he asked in shock.

“Yes,
and if I were to guess your age, I would say you are the same,”
she said. “But I take it you are about twenty-seven since you
would be older than your sister.”

Antash
started laughing. “Now it makes sense. No wonder you don’t
understand. How is it you look so grown and you are only twenty-six?
Santina is this high,” he told her as he leveled his hand with
his waist; only a little girl.”

It was
Jalicia’s turn to be amazed. “What?” she asked.
“That’s not possible.”

“I
guess time passes differently here,” he said, and then looked
mischievously at her. “Guess how old I am again.”

“I
am afraid to,” she said.

“I
am one hundred and eight years,” he told her. “Just about
the prime of my life,” he grinned.

Jalicia’s
hand flew to her mouth as she stood there gaping at him. “Oh my
God,” she said. “That’s incredible. Well, no wonder
you are worried about her. Wow,” she said as she tried to wrap
her mind around what he just told her.

“Yes.
Now if only I could get this thing fixed,” he said as he took
up his communicator. “Trouble is brewing for Solaris, and I
need to get word to them before it is too late.” His face grew
serious as he spoke and Jalicia could tell he was anxious for many
reasons.

“Let
me see that,” she said. He handed her the communicator and
sighed. She turned it over in her hands, examining it. “I think
I know just the person who can fix this,” she said as Ned’s
image floated across her mind. “Wait here, I will be back
soon.”

Jalicia
went as fast as she could around the back of the house and across the
fence to Ned’s house. He was just stepping outside when she
rounded the corner at the back.

“Jalicia,”
he said as he wore a surprised expression. “This is odd,”
he said as he referred to her coming over that early.

“Yes
it is, but you need to come with me,” she told him. The urgency
with which she spoke compelled him to move and he hurried behind her.

“What
is it?” he asked along the way.

“You’ll
see,” she said. She surveyed the yard to make sure her father
wasn’t around before sneaking back into the barn. “You
will not believe this,” she said excitedly as she made her way
to the back. But when she got there all she saw was the empty hay
stack where she had left Antash. He was gone!

“Where
is he?” she asked as she turned around looking for him.

“Where
is who?” Ned was asking.

“Antash.
I left him right here,” she said. And then her eyes brightened
as an idea came to her. “The ship,” she said as she
grabbed Ned’s arm and led him outside and across the yard.

“Who
is Antash? And what ship? What is going on?” Ned asked, but
Jalicia’s mind was too preoccupied with worry to answer any
questions logically. Not that she could provide a logical answer to
who Antash was. “What the hell is that?” Ned asked as he
crossed the fence and caught sight of the vessel.

Jalicia
didn’t answer still as she got to the vessel. “Antash!”
she called.

Sure
enough an answer came from inside. “In here.”

“Come,”
she said to Ned who seemed more stubborn to move now. But he followed
her nonetheless as they both squeezed into the wreck. As soon as they
were inside, Ned whistled. “Whoa,” he said as he eyed the
dashboard. “Sweet.”

“Don’t
touch that,” a voice from behind commanded. Ned turned around
and then froze. His eyes bulged as he saw Antash, who by now had
resumed his alien appearance. “I’m Antash,” he
said. Ned’s eyes rushed to find Jalicia’s for an
explanation as to what was going on.

“What
is this?” he asked.

“Don’t
be scared,” Jalicia said to him. “He won’t hurt
you.”

“Even
though I am one of Solaris’ most feared warriors,” Antash
added and scowled at Ned. He laughed when he saw Ned shrinking back
in fear. “I won’t hurt you,” he smiled as he turned
his back and continued looking for something.

“What
is that?” Ned whispered to Jalicia as he pointed at Antash.

“That
would be a person,” Antash answered with his back still turned.
“And yes, I could hear you.”

Jalicia
laughed. “Antash, this is my friend Ned, and I believe he can
help you with your communicator. He is a whiz with gadgets and stuff
like that.”

Ned
looked at her with shock. “Yeah, but only with things from
earth. Look at this control board; I don’t even know how to
turn this on,” he said as he glanced at it.

Antash
walked over and flicked a switch. “Like that.”

“I
don’t know,” he said nervously. “It kinda looks
complicated to me.”

“It’s
alright if you can’t,” Antash said as he goaded him. “I
completely understand if this is entirely beyond your scope of
understanding.”

“Now
hold on a minute,” Ned interjected. “I didn’t say
it like that. All I am saying is I can’t promise anything.
Besides, it is beyond your scope of understanding or else you
wouldn’t need my help,” he said as he swiped the
communicator from his outstretched hand. Antash only smiled when he
did. “Where are you from anyway?”

“Thousands
of miles from here, on a planet called Solaris,” Antash
responded.

“How
did you get here?” Ned wanted to know. He was already
dissecting the portable device and examining its parts.

“I
was out patrolling, then I spotted some enemies plotting to overthrow
my planet,” Antash said and then looked upwards in the
direction of the sky. “I tried to get back home to warn them,
but I couldn’t get past them. I drifted further into space and
when I ran out of fuel I crash landed here. Now I need to get that
fixed so I can radio and tell them what’s happening. I only
hope I am not too late.”

“You
won’t be,” Jalicia said in an attempt to reassure him.
“They lost the element of surprise, or that’s what they
probably think. They don’t know you didn’t make it back
eventually.”

Antash
looked at her with renewed understanding. “You might be right,”
he said. “That may have bought us some amount of time, but they
seemed very intent upon taking over Solaris. They may have already
tried.” A worried look came over his face just then and he
sighed.

“She
will be alright Antash,” Jalicia said as she walked over and
touched his hand. He felt softer to the touch than his appearance
intimated. His scales felt like feathers from a swan, and the texture
had her pleasantly surprised. She noticed him watching her, and she
couldn’t help thinking how beautiful his facial features were.
He had a hard jaw line and a rigid outline that accentuated lips of a
darker shade of green and made his dark eyes even darker. “Now,
let’s get out of here and get something to eat. You must be
hungry and my dad must be worried.” Jalicia had to find a way
to compel herself to move before she got too enthralled with her
guest.

Antash
noticed her blushing and smiled. She was different from the women on
Solaris; her skin was darker, and different from the human male, yet
they were treating him as if he belonged there. Now it seemed
everything he was told about earth may have been false. “I must
say you are nothing like my people told me you are,” he said as
he grabbed the gift Santina had made for him as he exited the glider.

“What
did you hear about us?” Ned asked.

“That
I would be treated cruelly if I came here,” Antash said.

“That
may not be far from the truth. It was just sheer luck I was the one
who found you. Had you landed in New York, or Washington, then you
wouldn’t be treated as nice. You might have wound up in a
laboratory as an experiment as we try to understand you, and perhaps
where you come from,” Jalicia explained.

“But
wouldn’t that be easier if you just ask?” Antash queried.
Both Ned and Jalicia looked at each other, and then laughed. “What’s
so funny?”

“Just
the simplicity of your answer,” Jalicia replied. “They
find more thrill in the hunt I suppose.”

“Hmm,”
grunted Antash. “Weird and uncivilized.”

“Yep.
That’s us,” Ned agreed. “This doesn’t seem so
different from the audio set I was working on the other day,”
he said as he turned the device over and over in his hands as they
walked to the barn.

“What
happens if it doesn’t get fixed?” Jalicia asked Antash.

He
stopped and stared dead ahead as if something was keeping him
grounded. “It has to be fixed,” he said and then started
moving again.

Ned
looked over at Jalicia with hopeful eyes. “I will fix it my
alien friend,” he grinned. “I wouldn’t want to be
stuck here either.”

They got
to the barn then, and Antash went back to the corner like it had been
assigned his temporary home. “Maybe you could do that thing you
did before so you could come inside the house and not have to stay
out here. You must be hungry by now,” Jalicia offered.

“I
don’t want to impose,” Antash said.

“No
imposition,” Jalicia said. “I feel bad leaving you out
here all alone. I wouldn’t want anyone to come upon you
unsuspected and make an alarm. People will do anything for money
these days.”

“Thank
you Jalicia, but I don’t think your father would take too
kindly to you letting a stranger inside his house,” Antash
responded.

“How
do you know what my father would do?” she asked.

“Because
he is coming over here now, and he isn’t too pleased,” he
said.

Ned and
Jalicia turned to face the house instantly. “Where? I don’t
see him,” she said.

“Three,
two, one,” Antash said as he counted down.

And as
if on cue Samuel walked into the barn. “Jalicia, who was that
man I saw you with just now?” he asked sternly.

“Ned?”
she asked.

“No,
there was someone else, and don’t be coy with me,” he
responded.

“Oh,
him,” she said as she blushed. She looked behind her, but
Antash was nowhere to be seen. “It was just someone asking for
directions. He is from the city and a little bit lost.”

“Don’t
you go bringing any strangers around here missus. And where have you
been all morning? It is almost nine and normally you would be in the
kitchen by now,” he said, still maintaining his suspicious
gait.

“Dad,
I am not a child. I know better than that. There was something I
needed to do with Ned,” she lied. “I will be up in a
little while. I am beginning to feel hungry too.”

“Okay
then,” he grunted and walked off.

“Good
Morning Sir,” Ned said as an afterthought. The old man only
looked back with a frown, grunted and continued walking. “Whew,
that was close,” Ned said as he looked around for Antash.
“Where did he go?”

“Right
here,” Antash said, and as he emerged he was wearing the human
camouflage he had shown Jalicia earlier.

“How
did you do that?” Ned asked, his eyes wide open with
fascination.

“One
good thing about not being human,” Jalicia said. “He did
it last night too.”

“Can
you turn into anyone, or anything?” Ned wanted to know.

“Okay
Ned,” Jalicia said as she interrupted his childish fantasies.
“You should probably get started on working on that thing.”

“Right,”
he said and nodded. “I need to get some things from my house.”

“And
Ned, please don’t say anything to anyone,” she pleaded.
“The people around here will turn this place into a circus if
they find out about him.

“Well
what about the ship? What if someone sees it?”

“Not
now they won’t. For now it can’t be seen. We have
cloaking technology for all of our vessels,” Antash explained.

“I
need to visit Solaris one day,” Ned said.

Antash
laughed. “You have no idea how long I have wanted to visit
earth.”

“Well,
I will see you soon,” he said as he held up the communicator.

After he
had gone, Jalicia left Antash in the barn and went up to the house.
She had to make breakfast for them all, and she didn’t want her
father to suspect anything further.