Shalia's Diary (3 page)

If someone was out there and he tried to follow me, I either lost him or he decided I wasn't worth the effort.  I got back home okay, the pails managed to remain half-full after being sloshed all over the place, and Mom is still asleep.  I might stay awake for awhile, just to keep watch and make sure though.  I've got my baseball bat and a butcher knife.  I’m wishing I had a blaster or even one of those old bullet guns, though I don't have a clue how to use either.  You'd think someone who has worked with law enforcement all these years would know a thing or two about firearms.  But since I could never legally carry, I never bothered to pay attention.  My loss.  I hope it doesn't end up being the difference between life and death.

August 22

Shit, I think the Kalquorians suspect we're here.  We're going to have to be extra careful for awhile.  Maybe that's who I felt watching me at the river last night?

First thing this morning, three of the damned things were prowling around the street this house sits on.  Mom was splashing away in the tub, which contained all of an inch of water on the drain side.  Still, being able to wash a little made her happy.  I was in the living room peeking out from behind the drawn shade, wondering if it was going to rain.  The clouds were getting pretty gray and heavy in the sky.  I thought a couple more buckets of water which would allow me to get cleaned up too sounded like a good idea.  That's when I saw them.

I've seen some still vids of real Kalquorians, not the bullshit fake ones I made movies of.  They came from shots taken during the war, which were given to me to use in propaganda films.  Most were of Kalquorians fighting, all of them too blurred to be seen properly even using a high-speed recorder.  Apparently, they can move really fast.  The only decent shots were of the ones that we'd killed.  Black hair.  Dark brown skin.  Lips still pulled back in snarls to show really long, thin fangs behind normal human-squared teeth.  Glazed blue-purple eyes with slitted cat pupils.  Even in death, they looked nightmarishly fierce and scary.  Seeing those shots, it was easy to imagine they really were demons sent from some pit of Hell to destroy God's chosen race.

So I was surprised when I saw the three slowly walking down the street.  I mean, they looked so much like us once I got past how big they were.  They were huge men.  The smallest couldn't have been less than six and half feet tall.  They were muscled like no one I'd ever seen, bigger than even our steroid-fed ground troops. 

From the distance between me and this patrol or whatever it was, I couldn't see their strange eyes.  Though they spoke to each other, I didn't see fangs either.  Just incredibly big, dark men.  As weird as it feels to say it, they were actually attractive.  Two had long, wavy hair past their wide shoulders.  The third's was straight and held back in a ponytail that reached to the middle of his back.  I thought he must be the leader because he would point at something and the other two would look, or he would say something, and they would lean in closer, as if to not miss a word. 

They all pointed their noses upward from time to time, like wolves trying to catch a scent.  I stayed absolutely still as I peeked at them, like a frightened rabbit hoping to not be seen.  I prayed Mom would keep quiet as she bathed.  Rumor said the Kalquorians had really sensitive hearing.  If she called for me as they neared ... I didn't want to think about it.

I should have gone to her and taken her to a part of the house where we could hide.  But it was like I stood hypnotized, watching those three aliens coming closer and closer to my house.  Then they stopped, right in front of it.  They looked straight at the window from where I spied on them.

I was sure they couldn't see me, since I had only the barest sliver of window shade open to watch.  But I didn't even dare to breathe while they looked in my direction.  I suddenly had to pee so bad I thought my bladder would just let go.

One of the wavy hairs, the biggest of this bunch, jerked his head towards the house as he spoke.  The leader did his wolfie-sniff thing.  He stared at my window.  Then he shook his head and said something. 

I knew they were about to come in, that they would force their way into our shelter.  They would rape me and kill Mom, who is well beyond childbearing age and of no use to them.  Then they would take me away to be their breeding slave.  You cannot imagine how relieved I was when they started away, continuing their patrol down the street.

I watched until I couldn't see them anymore.  I swore up and down if we never bathed again it would be perfectly fine.  I am not going back to the river.  I didn't even put the pails outside when it started to rain.  I don't care if I never leave this house again, even if it means starving.

August 23

I am so freaked out.  The Kalquorians know we’re here.  I just can’t figure out why they haven’t forced me to go with them since I’m childbearing age.

Mom and I woke this morning to find a container full of food and a vid message recorder on the dining room table.  I nearly shit myself when I saw that stuff.  I didn’t want to touch any of it.  Someone had found us.  Someone had come in the house while we were asleep. 

So I’m standing there, shaking all over, staring at this stuff like it’s a sack full of rattlesnakes.  Mom was herself for a change, which meant she was pissy.  “Stop being such a baby, Shalia.  We need to know what’s going on.”  She marched over and switched the recorder to play.

A vid appeared in front of us, a full size recording of that Kalquorian I’d thought of as the squad leader who was roaming the street yesterday.  The one with the straight hair in the ponytail?  Yep, there he suddenly stood, freaking looming over me and Mom.  Damn, that bastard is big.  I only come up about chest high to him.  Most shocking of all, his image wore a gentle smile.  He was actually handsome with that expression on his face.  His face was smooth, looking like he was in his early to mid 20’s.  From what I understand, Kalquorians live past the two-century mark.  I have no idea how old he actually might be.  He even had an innocence about him, like life hadn’t had the opportunity to mark him yet.

I won’t even discuss how his body looked.  Seeing him from a distance in that skintight bodysuit hadn’t prepared me for what he looked like up close.  Muscles, muscles, muscles.  His groin was even more impressive than I’d initially thought.  Yes, I looked at that.  How could I miss it?  The guy looked like he was smuggling an anaconda.  Good grief.  Despite not having the best of experiences with men and sex, I couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like naked.  Maybe it was that boyish expression on his face, the total lack of guile.  I’m not sure.  I don’t even know why I’m writing all this down.  What a freak I am.

Anyway, the recording plays.  Mr. Alien says, “Greetings, Mataras.  I am Dramok Dusa, a scout with the Kalquorian rescue mission based out of your law training facility.  We have established a rescue and aid center within the boundaries of the training academy.”

“It is with great sadness that I report that all Earthers must evacuate your planet.  You are no doubt aware of the explosions, known to you as Armageddon.  These were caused by nuclear devices beneath your major cities and triggered by the Kalquorian entrance into your atmosphere through the Bermuda Triangle vortex.  Because of this event, Earth will be uninhabitable in approximately two years.  It is vital we get you onto an Earther colony of your choice or to Kalquor to save your lives.”

“We realize you may be hesitant to accept our offer of rescue.  I will visit you again in five days to discuss any concerns you may have.  In the meantime, please accept the food and clean water I have left for you.  You should not be drinking water from the nearby river as our tests have shown it contains harmful bacteria.  I have made a scan of you as you slept, and you appear to be healthy at this time.”

“Should you prefer to seek shelter and assistance before the five days are up, you are more than welcome to come to the Academy.  There we will register you so that any family members who are looking for you can be reunited.  We will also explain your new home options and schedule a transport to take you where you wish to live.”

“I look forward to seeing you soon.”

Dramok Dusa disappeared, his great big self replaced by the floating words,
Play recording again?
  He’d used an Earther device to record his message.  I could see ‘Property of Law Enforcement Academy’ stamped on it.  He’d even spoken perfect English, albeit with a kind of slurred accent.

Mom was already pawing through the container, which had fruits and vegetables.  She shoved a peach in her mouth, not noticing as juice ran down her arm to drip off her elbow.  She had already disappeared back behind the veil of dementia.  As angry as she is when she’s herself, at least she could have offered a good sounding board for me to discuss our situation with.  Now she was gone in that little girl mindset, leaving me to figure everything out on my own.  Again.

It was on the tip of my tongue to warn her not to eat the food, which might have been drugged or poisoned.  Then it occurred to me that had the Kalquorian wanted to hurt or kidnap us, he could have easily done so last night.  I sure as hell never heard him come into the house.  Okay, so apparently his kind aren’t in a hurry to harvest vaginas.  That’s something of a relief, I guess.

Still, he’d said he’d done a medical scan.  Even if it was a portable scanner that one just waves over the body, the idea makes me feel a little too vulnerable.  Almost violated, in fact.  The thought of it sends cold through my body even now despite the oppressive heat and humidity we’re having. 

I shake to realize how helpless Mom and I had been against this Dramok Dusa despite the locked doors and windows (which were, by the way, still locked when I checked).  He must have used a frequency disruptor to break in.  I almost threw up just thinking about it.

He is coming back in five days.  I have that long to find us another place to hide.  At least I know who had been watching me at the river.  The alien’s snide little remark about the water’s drinkability told me that much.

“Are we going to the Academy before he comes back?”  My mother spoke around a mouthful of juicy peach.

“Now why would we do such a thing?” I snapped.  “Didn’t you hear what he said?  They’re registering Earthers.  Getting a head count.  Processing us.  Then we’re off to work in their mines and have their freak alien babies.”

I realized I was repeating the Earther government mantra on the evils of Kalquorians.  I had no idea if they kept slaves for their mines these days, like they had done to Joshadans in the very distant past.  The breeding thing was pretty much a foregone conclusion though.

“He said we could go to one of our own colonies.  We don’t have to go to Kalquor.”

I snorted at her mind-fogged innocence.  “It’s just a bunch of pretty lies told by the enemy.  They know a good number of us are desperate enough to buy into it too.” 

Despite my concerns, I couldn’t help but poke around the food container Dusa had left behind.  Tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, oranges, green beans, carrots, and so much more.  There were even two whole chickens, kept fresh in cooling containers.  And water.  Lots and lots of water.

“We can’t stay here.  Earth is dying, he said.  Or is that a lie too?” Mom asked.

No, that’s the truth.  Mike told me if even just a quarter of the warheads went off, we were pretty much looking at extinction.  But Mom’s eyes were filling with tears, and she looked scared.  I don’t like my mother to look that way.

All my life, my mother Eve Monroe has been either suicidally depressed or abusively angry.  She got the short end of the bipolar stick, since most sufferers bounce between depression and manic highs.  Her highs come out mean.  Since she has an almost phobic hatred of medication and treatment, she never got better.  She was never a picnic to be around, but she was tough in her anger mode.  Even when she was depressed, she never came across as scared.

I can’t handle her scared.  So I said, “We only have his word for it, don’t we?  I think we can put off the panic for now.”

“All right,” she said and went back to eating fruit.  She found a bunch of grapes and wandered into the back bedroom.  She’s knitting baby booties in there, of all things.  She must have enough to keep the toes of fifty newborns cozy by now.  But I don’t say anything about it since it keeps her busy and happy.

I’m really scared of going out tonight, now that the Kalquorians are aware of where we’re hiding.  I’m mostly worried about leaving Mom alone.  But we have to go somewhere else.  We can’t stay here anymore, waiting to be collected by our enemies.