Ultimate Passage: New Beginnings: Box Set ( Books 1-4) (13 page)

F
inn had shared
with her the information Kal had given him before they left their home. He knew Kal hadn’t told him everything he knew, but he also wasn’t convinced that Kal knew everything there was to know. He wasn’t that high a rank. And even though he was a Governor-Select, that didn’t mean that Finn’s uncle would share everything with his son Kal.

He knew she’d gotten upset. He knew that she wouldn’t understand some Asazi ways. He wasn’t sure he understood them himself.

He waited for the car to approach. He didn’t recognize the vehicle, but then again none of them had shared what vehicles they’d rented. The car came to a halt, and the engine was killed.

Merck emerged from the driver’s side, rounded the car and opened the passenger door. He reached in and came out with a woman.

Marissa gasped. Finn clamped his hand over her mouth.

They couldn’t afford to be found, not in this thicket, not where he had no way to lift off and fly away. He cursed himself for deciding to hide here. Cover would mean nothing if they were heard and if he needed to make a quick escape.

Behind him, a crunch signaled a footfall. He whirled around, pushing Marissa behind him.

Blinding lights shone in his eyes.

“Lieutenant Ramont,” a voice said in Asazi.

He needed to think, quick and now and—

Finn saluted. “Reporting with Target 41, sirs,” he responded in English, hoping to convince them that he was not in collusion with Marissa. That she was his prisoner.

Marissa sucked in a sharp breath, clearly shocked.
Forgive me,
he prayed silently, not even sure whom he was praying to. Then he stepped aside, allowing the Asazi soldiers access to Marissa.

In the gloom, her face paled, and she spun around as if to run, but they grabbed her arms.

Marissa struggled. “How could you?” Betrayal and surprise inundated her tone.

Finn looked away, unable to face her. Behind the colonel, Kal’s eyes had a look that made Finn nervous.

“Proceed.” The commanding officer, Colonel Parn, waved them all toward the compound entrance.

Finn fell behind Marissa and her captors, who still held her.

“She’s not unconscious.” The colonel’s voice carried disappointment and reprimand.

Finn paused. “A portion of the additive spilled, sir. I had to subdue her.”

“What are you saying?” Marissa’s voice was shrill. “Speak English, damn you.”

“Where is your vehicle?” Still speaking Asazi, the colonel turned to face him, eyes sharp over his eagle-beak nose.

Finn responded in English. “It died. I had to carry her.”

Marissa turned to face him. “How could—” Her voice was raised, a scream almost.

One of the soldiers clamped his hand over her mouth. “Silence.”

Kal stepped closer to Finn. Too close, Finn noted. Placed his hand on Finn’s, pushing it...

Confused, Finn looked down. Kal’s weapon holster was unsnapped. Kal wasn’t usually careless. Finn looked his cousin in the eye, but couldn’t interpret his expression.

“Halt.” Colonel Parn raised a hand, halting the procession.

“Lieutenant Ramont, you were ordered to come in. You’ve been insubordinate at the very least.”

“Sir—”

“You will stand trial. You could have risked our mission. And you brought her here, like this—conscious. You know the regulations about witnesses. We made that clear in the briefing. The Asazi cannot afford being exposed to humans.”

Finn feared that his color would broadcast his emotions. Maybe even broadcast his plans, his thoughts.

He seized Kal’s weapon, grabbed the colonel, and gestured for the soldiers to back away. “Leave the woman.”

The soldiers looked at the colonel, then at the gun. Colonel Parn nodded. “Go. Leave us.”

Marissa poised to sprint, leg cocked.

Finn looked at Kal. “Don’t let her go.”

Kal took Marissa by the hand. She jerked her hand back and forth. Getting behind her, Kal clamped his hand over her mouth, sealing her protests in.

“Don’t hurt her, cousin,” Finn cautioned in English. “Colonel, I don’t want to have to kill you. I need Merck’s vehicle. And I want a moment with my cousin. In exchange for that, I’ll let you live.”

Colonel Parn addressed the soldiers, face stern. “Bring Merck’s vehicle to the edge of the thicket. Leave the keys in the console. Tell Merck to wait in the compound. Tell the general I’ll handle this situation, at any cost.”

The soldiers double-timed away.

“Finn.” Kal started to speak but yanked his hand off Marissa’s mouth, a bite mark that had drawn blood evident. “Curses, she’s a hellion.” He swiveled her to face him, then addressed her in English as well. “If you do that again, I’ll be forced to give you something to make you unconscious. That’s your final warning.”

Marissa’s open mouth closed, green fire blasting fury from her eyes.

With Marissa now subdued and silent, Kal turned to Finn once more, this time speaking only in English. “We can trust Parn. He’s one of us.”

Finn studied Kal’s face, looking for an explanation. “Us? What us? What are you talking about? There’s no us.”

“There’s an ‘us’ you don’t know about,” Colonel Parn interjected. “A group of us is working, fully sanctioned, but deep undercover, to determine a better way to assimilate, to reach our final passage to Earth.”

“Finn—” Kal began.

Finn had had enough. “What the curses. Kal, you’re a part of this? This—whatever this is?”

“Yes, and my father, and yours was too. We were hoping you would join. Spearhead the movement, even.”

Finn looked to his commanding officer. Colonel Parn nodded.

“Who knows of this?”

“Very few at home, and only the two of us on this mission.” Kal said. “Now three, counting you.”

“Four,” Marissa whispered.

“Give me a moment, Colonel, Kal.” Finn took a step closer to Marissa. “You know I wasn’t going to let them take you in, right? You know I’d—”

He didn’t want to say he’d have flown off; a part of him still didn’t want that secret shared. Not yet. He had trusted Kal all his life, but what if there was some sort of chicanery afoot? What if Kal was being used to gain information or manipulate Finn? He searched for the right words to explain to Marissa that he would have died before he let harm come to her. He wanted her to know, even if telling her would wreak havoc on him if Colonel Parn and Kal were lying.

A part of him didn’t want to believe that Kal was lying.

“Marissa.” He put his hands on her arms and pulled her close, until their faces were almost touching, his lips almost on hers.

She looked back at him with eyes aglow, partially with suspicion, it seemed; the other half... He couldn’t pin that emotion down.

“
I
would have died
before I’d have let them take you.” Finn’s face was sincere, his color a greenish-blue in the moonlight.

She knew deep down that this man was honorable. And she did think of him as a man. He was more man than many men she’d met on Earth. She knew he’d have died for her. The problem was, she didn’t know why. There was so much to process. So much confused her. And now these two new men, Colonel Parn and Kal, who evidently was Finn’s cousin, might be offering some sort of salvation. They’d all reverted to English once the two soldiers had left.

She rose up on her toes and put her lips close to his ear. “What is it that they’re asking of you?” She breathed him in. His scent and warmth were a comfort, even on a night that wasn’t cold.

“We’re going to find out right now.” Finn stepped back, but put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to his side. He addressed both men. “Please use English. I don’t want her alarmed any more than she already has been.”

“This is 41?” the colonel asked Kal.

Finn put his hand up. “She’s not 41. Not anymore. Her name is Marissa. And I won’t harbor any secrets from her.”

“Let’s go for a ride,” Kal suggested. “It will lend us better privacy.”

Though the four of them started toward the car, Marissa was concerned. In a car, Finn wouldn’t be able to fly, so he’d have no means of escape. She eyed the gun in his hand, idle, pointing down, and hoped he’d at least keep that.

The colonel drove, Kal sat next to him in the front seat, and to Marissa’s relief she and Finn took the back.

Seated behind Kal, she couldn’t help but notice that the man Finn called cousin looked just like Finn. He could be Finn’s brother, his twin, even. She looked from one good-looking Asazi man to the other. Yes, they definitely could pass for twins, at least in this lighting. Same profile, same military haircut. Finn was a little larger, like he’d done more physical work, but it wasn’t substantial.

A few moments later, the colonel began to speak. “Years ago, after your grandmother joined our community, a plan was formed. The Asazi have several factions: those who want to stay on Kormia, those who want to migrate as a whole and attempt to overtake areas of Earth, and then the last group, ours. We wanted to begin our passage to Earth in a different manner, slowly building up property, means, and opportunities to start fresh, without building suspicion. It’s not impossible. Compounds exist in countries where there are no records, no reliable data. In many countries, in different ways.”

He continued, “We have a compound that we are ready to disguise as a right-wing conservative group that is in favor of less government. We have a monastery in Greece that hasn’t received any attention. An orphanage in Lebanon. Several military compounds in the Middle East. The list is not endless, but it’s extensive.”

Marissa wished he’d get to the point. All this talk meant next to nothing to her.

“What do you need from me, specifically?” Evidently Finn wasn’t interested in a long explanation, either.

Kal turned to face them. “You would be the first to start this. To prepare an area for us to bring a few over. Migrate several of those of us who want to start over, subtly and peacefully.”

“How do you propose to do that?” Marissa couldn’t help but ask, even though she knew she had nothing to do with it, and if Finn weren’t here, she would have been killed as a witness.

“Leave Finn here. Set him up on one of the properties we have and prepare for a small influx of relocators, every so often, as we can get them over,” Kal explained.

“It won’t be easy. Our governing body doesn’t support this effort. The greatest support lies with the first two factions, not with ours,” Colonel Parn added.

“But either way, that means Finn can stay here? And not be in danger?” She couldn’t help the flood of joy and relief that swept through her, even though she had no reason to think that Finn would be a part of her life.

“Not in danger from us. We’ll have to create a convincing story. But if he’s discovered by your kind, he’ll be taken in for observation. He’ll be a prisoner. A lab animal. And if the wrong people discover this on our end...”

Marissa knew that could mean a lot of things. She didn’t want to think of those things. She looked at Finn, whose gaze was focused on the road, his expression unfathomable. Maybe what she should be doing was figuring out a way to get out of here. Alive.

“While you guys sort out your plans, do you mind taking me home?”

Finn’s head snapped in her direction. His expression was still unreadable.

“
S
he doesn’t know
how you feel about her?” Kal asked Finn in Asazi.

“I suppose not. How do you know how I feel about her?” he responded in Asazi.

“Hey. Not fair.” Marissa grabbed his arm. “English.”

Finn reverted back to English. “Sorry.” He took her hand. “We were making plans about returning you. I don’t think you’d be safe. You’re still a target.” He turned to the colonel. “Unless we tell them she’s dead.”

“Yes, but she can’t go back to her old life, even so. Someone will know, sooner or later. Our researchers will find out. One day. Somehow. They found her through her medical records. They flagged her chromosomes. It will happen again if she ever has a medical procedure done. If she ever has blood drawn at a lab. It will go to the main database, which the Asazi have access to.”

Marissa bit her lip, chewed on it. “Great. Just great. So now I’ll be wanted, but by an alien entity? By some group of aliens who want me? I can’t even tell my legal authorities about it. Who would believe me? That’s not very reassuring.”

“I have a thought,” Finn said. “She can go with me. She’d be safe. From the Asazi, anyway.”

“Wait a second.” Marissa rubbed her temples, stress written on her face. “I’m in the middle of a battle to keep my restaurant. I’m trying to get a loan, and now you say that I’m going to have to go away? To run somewhere? To hide?”

“You would need a new identity,” Kal said. “Something that wouldn’t arouse suspicion or the attention of our Surveillance Team.” He turned back to Finn. “You didn’t say if you wanted to stay. You don’t have to. You can go back with us, be the soldier you want to be. The one you’ve always wanted to be.”

Finn glanced at Marissa. Soldiering seemed so very secondary now, compared to the emotions he felt for her. Yes, emotions. He would not deny that part of himself any longer. He would not deny himself.

“You’re out of the Binding with Alithera. So what’s the problem with the life? You want to be a soldier, you want to be in the action. We’re going back tomorrow, and that’s what you can be. That’s exactly what you can do.”

“What’s a Binding? Who is Alithera?” Marissa asked.

Finn didn’t answer her; instead, he addressed Kal. “You wouldn’t understand. You never could.”

“Because I don’t have human blood, I won’t understand? You think that’s what’s driving what you’re feeling? Don’t you think that maybe it’s something different? Do you give me no credit?” Kal seemed angry. His Asazi skin flickered orange. Definitely angry.

“Why? Because you’re older? I should give you credit for knowledge of what I’m feeling because you are older? By one paltry year?”

“Not exactly that, but yes, in a way. I’m old enough to have been in the military longer than you. To have felt and seen the effects of some things.”

Fury scoured Finn’s nerves. “Don’t speak in riddles. Explain.”

“I can’t explain.”

Finn could tell something was going on with his cousin. “What you mean is that you won’t.”

“Fine, I won’t. Not now. Maybe never. But I’m willing to help you.”

“Help me what?”

“To help you not return to Kormia. To stay on Earth.”

“What about Marissa? They will come back for her.”

“Yes, one day they will. In another Wave, when there is one scheduled, if they think she’s alive.”

“Is there one?”

“Next year.”

“I won’t have her in danger.”

“I can make sure she’s taken off the roster.” Kal switched back to Asazi. “Will you be Bound to her?”

“I don’t know. It’s early. I don’t know how she feels.”

“One warning. Do not let her get pregnant. Human women die giving birth to Asazi babies. Your mother did, and every other one before her. That is why the methodology changed.”

Marissa harrumphed, clearly agitated by their decision to stick with Asazi language. But there was no way Finn wanted her to hear this.

“I’ll make sure.”

“If she does, the only thing that can save her is what they call a Caesarean section birth. But the problem with that is, once the baby is out, they will see the Asazi skin, the Asazi wings. And you will be exposed. You will find yourselves locked in laboratories that the public doesn’t know about, all three of you. And you will be test subjects for their scientists.”

“It seems you know what you’re talking about.”

“Trust me, I do.”

There was a sadness in Kal’s tone that made Finn wonder, but not enough to ask. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t become pregnant. Tell me something. Why these women? How are they selecting them?”

“Our scientists track the women who have a certain genetic makeup. I’m not sure what they look for. If I had to guess, I’d say they are closest to Asazi traits. Maybe they’re descendants of the early Asazi? When we come in for a Wave, we try to get to the area that has the greatest concentration. This time, Houston was it. The next Wave will go to the second largest concentration for harvesting.”

“Where is that?”

“Right now that is Tucson, Arizona. They were such a close second to Houston that it was a tough call. There were only two more in Houston than in Tucson.”

Feeling safer in the knowledge that Marissa wouldn’t put together the depth of the feelings he had for her, so she wouldn’t feel obligated to stay with him, he switched to English. “So the next time you arrive, you’ll set up a bunker near Tucson? Perhaps I will try to arrange to be near, so I can see you.”

“That could prove foolhardy.” The colonel finally spoke.

“Give us a moment alone, please,” Kal requested.