Love From A Star: A BWWM Alien Romance (6 page)

“What’s
going on between you two?” he asked her as soon as she stepped
inside.

“Nothing,”
she said as she immediately went to the stove. “What would you
like to eat?”

“Anything,”
he said in a spoiled childish tone.

“Anything
it is,” she said as she ignored him. She made pancakes, eggs,
sausages, hash browns and toast, followed by coffee and orange juice.

“Are
you planning on feeding an army?” he asked.

“Just
us,” she smiled as she spooned some onto his plate. He took the
plate from her and went to the table. When he wasn’t looking,
Jalicia hid some on paper towel and hurriedly wrapped it before her
father caught her. She wasn’t sure how she could explain that
to him then. She then ate a little before excusing herself once more.

She
didn’t go to the barn right away because she knew he was
watching her, and she worried Antash would starve before she
returned. The second he went next door she seized the opportunity to
return to him. “My father is so suspicious and he kept watching
me. I couldn’t get away,” she explained.

“It
is alright Jalicia of Earth,” he said and smiled. “You
have done enough as it is.”

“I
don’t think I did much,” she retorted. “Anyway,
here,” she smiled back. “I hope you like our food.”

Antash
smiled appreciatively as he took the food from her. “Thank
you,” he said. His hand brushed against hers, and it felt like
a sudden jolt of electricity swept through them that burned to the
touch. She instantly pulled her hand away, but it was too late for
them not to notice.

It was
hard not to be nice to Antash. Usually when she imagined aliens, or
other beings, she often saw them with forked tongues, scaly bodies
that scratched when touched, and bald heads that wouldn’t be
the least bit attractive. She hadn’t expected anything like
this, and as she watched him as he ate, she wondered if he was spoken
for back home. She blushed as the thought came to her, and turned her
head away lest he read it in her features.

But
Antash wasn’t trying to read hers; he was too busy hiding his
own attraction. He was taken by how big her heart was, and he
wondered how it fit inside such a small body. He had always thought
the women on Solaris were small, and that his sister was abnormally
tall for her age, but Jalicia was smaller than them all, and he
towered over her when he stood. And if he had known that the women on
Earth were that beautiful, he would have snuck away before. He
chuckled to himself at the thought.

“What’s
so funny?” she asked. “Food that bad?”

“No,”
he replied. “It is actually good. I was just having a funny
thought.”

“Care
to share?” she asked. She found it surprising how comfortable
she felt around him, though she had every reason to be afraid.

“Maybe
another time,” he said as he emptied the contents of the
napkin. “Interesting meal. What do you call it?”

“In
a category, we would say continental. There are other types of
breakfast like oatmeal, or dumplings or cereal. Maybe you will get
something else if you are still here tomorrow.”

“I
would like to be, as well as I hope to not be,” he said as he
averted his gaze to the sky again.

She saw
the worried expression on his face. “Everything will be alright
Antash,” Jalicia said as soothingly as possible. “Santina
will be fine.”

“She
must be so frightened. Our mother isn’t around much, so she
looks to me more, like a father. I am letting her down now.”

“It
isn’t your fault, you got chased across the galaxy and crash
landed here. You can’t blame yourself for this.”

“It
isn’t really a matter of blame. What’s done is done.
Still, I am not there to protect her.”

Jalicia
could find no words to rebut that claim, because she knew it was
true. Hopefully Ned could actually fix the communicator.

“I
won’t remain in this temporary home all day. I will return to
my ship. If your friend comes back with the communicator, you can
find me there. Pardon my rudeness, but I feel more comfortable
there.”

“No,
that’s not a problem,” Jalicia responded. “Whatever
makes you more comfortable.”

But for
the remainder of the day, Jalicia was distracted. She kept thinking
about the strange man who had infiltrated her world, and she wanted
him gone as well as still there in the morning in equal measure. And
it conflicted her. It must have been June twenty-first, for she felt
like she was experiencing the longest day in the year. By nightfall,
it was obvious to her father that something was going on, but she
declined to comment and retreated early for bed. Samuel was forced to
do the same since she was his only company, but one hour after he had
retired to bed, she was up and tossing items in a duffel bag.

She
crept downstairs and out the back door without any further
disturbances. She remembered exactly where the vessel would be, and
as soon as she passed the old fort she started calling out to him in
what was a loud whisper rather than a shout. “Antash,”
she called.

He
appeared as if out of thin air and guided her back inside the glider.
“I am not sure how the temperature on Solaris is, but the
nights here can get cold so I brought you a blanket. And some
supplies just in case you want to stay here always.”

Antash
could not help but feel grateful and enamored all at once. “Why
are you being so nice to me?” he asked.

“Because
if I crash landed on Solaris on your farm, I would want you to be
nice to me too,” she replied as she fished in her bag for the
things she had taken for him. “Now, you must be hungry.”

“I
am used to hunting for my own food; not being handed it every time by
a woman,” he told her.

“Oh,
the men of Solaris are chivalrous. Here, we sort of have to do it
mostly by ourselves. I think some of the women are to be blamed for
that.”

“And
what about you Jalicia? Do you like men doing things for you?”

“Sometimes,”
she admitted. “I think it is cute.” She flashed him a
broad grin and he returned in kind. “Why do you still look
human even though you are alone?”

“I
don’t know,” he told her. “This isn’t a bad
face,” he said and grinned.

“I
agree,” she said. She held out her hands so that he could take
the things she offered.

“And
what are these?” he questioned.

“This
is a blanket; these are some fruits; this is juice and these you
might like,” she said as she held up a bag of trix cereal.

That was
the one he tasted first and then smiled as he felt the sweetness
dissolve in his mouth as well as the sound of the crunching as it
did. “This is nice. I should take some for Santina when I go
back.”

Just
then there was a beeping sound coming from the control board. Antash
whipped his head around in fright. He rushed over and saw that the
screen was still active, and it now identified an incoming vessel.
“It can’t be,” he said as he peered at the screen.

“What
is it?” Jalicia asked as she came over.

“Someone
is here, but I am not sure who yet,” he responded.

“Maybe
someone from Solaris was able to track you,” she said
hopefully.

“No,
the size of that ship is too big. Solaris has nothing like that. That
ship belongs to the Brocoy,” he said as he gritted his teeth.
“They must have followed my trail here.”

“But
that means they haven’t attacked Solaris yet, or they wouldn’t
be here,” she said.

Antash
looked at her with renewed hope. “You’re right, but we
can’t let them see me. I need to get this ship fixed.”

“I
don’t think Ned can do that,” she told him.

“All
he needs to do is fix the communicator, and my people will,” he
replied as his eyes left the monitor now and drifted into the
clearing. “There,” he said as he saw the vessel begin to
take shape.

Jalicia
moved closer to Antash as she saw the oversized ship hovering nearby.
“They don’t seem to be able to read your location,”
she said, and then if on impulse she flicked the off switch.

“What
are you doing?” he asked.

“Maybe
they picked up a signal because it was on. If it is off they will
have nothing,” she told him.

They
both watched as the vessel circled overhead a few yards away, before
disappearing into the night. “That was some quick thinking,”
he looked over at her and said. “Thank you.”

“You
really need to stop thanking me. I was just...”

She
didn’t get to finish her statement. His lips found hers, and
she closed her eyes as she felt his warmth soaking through them. She
opened her eyes, and found his, and he stared back at her with as
much curiosity as he found in hers. And then she reached in and
kissed him this time. And the second time around was even better. He
held her around the middle and pulled her to him. Jalicia had to
crane her neck to receive him, but his lips caught her by surprise as
did his skin, and they were both hot and cold as they moved over
hers. Her body began to tremble violently, and she held onto her
father’s overalls as she got heady. She felt like she was
losing control and gliding upwards, and she was afraid to open her
eyes and realize she was only dreaming.

When the
kiss ended, Jalicia seemed as if she had been suffocating and had now
received oxygen. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and she
touched her throbbing lips to solidify the reality she found herself
in now. Antash had crept into her world; crash landed even, and had
taken her by surprise. But like Christmas, this wasn’t a gift
she was prepared to return, and tears came to her eyes in that moment
when she realized her gift was a loaner, and sooner rather than
later, she would have to return it.

Antash
held her as she did, knowing all too well the emotions she now
carried, and he wished he could find a way to make the dream last
too.

“There
has been no word from Antash since last week. Where can he be?”
Mekhi asked as he circled the Council room with his hands clasped
behind him.

“He
went on patrol and no one has seen or heard anything since. We have
even sent Tobin and the others to search for him, but nothing. Not
him, not the glider, and no means of communicating with him. Jaquar
tells us it was broken the last time he saw him,” Bolivar,
another of the elders said.

“Why
doesn’t that man ever listen?” Mekhi asked. “He
knows better to go on patrol without communication.”

“What
if he was captured?” Eldin asked.

“By
whom?” Mekhi thundered in as powerful a voice as a creature
could on all fours. He raised his body upright now and jumped onto
the stone pillar in the center of the room. “It was a long time
since trouble found us here on Solaris.”

“Still,
there is no ban on it,” Bolivar counseled. “There is
nothing to say when or who might attack us here at any time. It is
not a good sign that Antash is missing. He is one of our finest
warriors and if he can be taken, then that could mean trouble for us,
and trouble for us only spells one thing.”

“The
Brocoy,” Mekhi said and gritted his teeth. “Best we be
prepared then, in the event that Antash being missing is a pre-war
tactic.”

“We
can’t let the people know about this until we are sure,”
Elijah advised. “Give the commanders a heads up. We might have
a war on our hands.”

“Antash
may not have been taken though,” Mekhi said as he resumed his
stance among the other council members. “There are only three
planets close enough that he could have gotten to if he was chased.
There is no sign of his glider or of any debris to suggest he is
dead, so maybe he fled to a neighboring planet. There are only three
close by.”

“Earth,
Varen and Mars,” Elijah said.

“And
I am sure it is everyone’s guess where he would go. I guess he
did get to see Earth after all,” Mekhi whispered.

“I
only hope that is true, and there will be no Brocoy after all,”
Bolivar said.

“There
has to be something that caused him to flee. He would never leave his
sister alone,” Mekhi said. “I don’t like it.”

“We'll
get the men ready. By all indications an attack is imminent,”
Mekhi added, and then walked out of the room.

The
other council members stared at each other for a considerable period
before doing the same. They could only hope they would be ready this
time; the Brocoy no longer had the element of surprise.

*****

“My
people actually originated from Earth,” Antash told Jalicia one
night as they strolled across the field. “Would you have ever
guessed that?”

“No,
I wouldn’t,” she laughed. “How did that happen?”

“Well,
the Ackach, those are the wise ones on Solaris, always came under
attack from the Brocoy. They are the villains who go around
terrorizing the galaxy. That’s why we now have routine patrols
so that we wouldn’t be caught unaware again,” he paused
and rested against the bark of a tree. He looked up at the sky and
then slid along the bark until he rested on the ground. Jalicia came
to sit next to him.

“They
will see you are missing,” she said.

“I
know,” he said as he looked over at her and smiled. “The
Ackach are very smart, but they couldn’t fight. They are much
smaller than us, and don’t look like humans at all. Well, I
don’t either, but that is because of the cross-multiplication
between humans and other beings over the centuries. We practically
created our own species,” he smiled.

“I
can see that,” she replied.

“I’ve
always dreamed of coming here,” he told her as he felt the
blades of grass that came up between his legs. “It is a lot
like Solaris here, except there is more grass.”

“No,
this is just one part of earth. The cities have less than this. Maybe
if things go well, you can come back and I will show you. You know
how to blend in well. They won’t even know you are different.”