United: An Alienated Novel (7 page)

“Did you ask
nicely
?” Cara said.

“Yes!” Jake flung a hand in the air. “They ignored all my…” He trailed off and feigned a casual smile at the exact moment a young L’eihr female walked behind him. The flash in his eyes made it clear he liked the girl. As soon as she passed out of view, Jake’s lips curved downward again. “They think humans are idiots. I can tell.”

Well …
Aelyx thought, tipping his head,
a few of them are
.

Syrine crouched by Cara’s side and entered the conversation. “Stop that girl,” she said, pointing. “The one who just passed you. Her name is Ayah.”

Jake hesitated, then turned and called out to the girl. He waved her over, and soon her hologram appeared alongside his, though at a distance that indicated how uncomfortable she was in his presence. She glanced at Cara and Syrine.

“Yes?” she asked in L’eihr.

Syrine spoke in their native language. “This human wants to make a prototype that could find the Aribols’ home planet. He needs help understanding our systems. Will you work with him?”

Ayah winced. “I don’t like him. He’s loud, and he stands too close when he talks.”

“I’ll tell him to give you space,” Syrine said. When that didn’t yield results, she added, “I would consider this a favor. Remember when I helped
you
during your breakup with—”

“I remember,” Ayah blurted, her cheeks darkening. “I’ll do it.”

Syrine grinned and addressed Jake in English. “Ayah is happy to assist you with the project.” She held up an index finger. “But remember, our ears are more sensitive than yours. Use a soft voice when you speak to her, and keep an arm’s length of distance between you.”

Jake’s skin turned the shade of ripe berries, but he thanked Syrine and delivered a wobbly smile. When the transmission ended, Aelyx tried to catch Syrine’s eye so he could ask why she’d gone out of her way to help Jake with the target of his affections, but she wouldn’t hold his gaze long enough for Silent Speech. He couldn’t blame her for that either. If their situations were reversed, he would want to keep his grief private, too.

Cara pocketed her com-sphere and looped an arm through his. “Hey, I forgot. Did you get through to the ambassador?”

Aelyx nodded. “He’s expecting us, but I’m not sure about the sleeping arrangements.” There were three guest bedrooms in the Manhattan penthouse, and eight bodies in need of beds: Aelyx, Cara, Elle, Syrine, Larish, and Cara’s family, who’d flown in to meet her.

“It’s no biggie. Most of us have been roommates at some point.” Cara gestured at Elle, who had just entered from the hallway. “She bunked with me and my brother in the Aegis.”

Elle turned her eyes toward them, and her gaze brightened. Her abnormally long eyelashes gave her a deceptively meek appearance as she smiled at them, but upon noticing Syrine, she scowled and returned to the corridor.

Syrine sniffed dryly. “Tell Elyx’a”—Elle’s given name—“that she and I won’t be sharing quarters.”

“Tell her yourself,” Aelyx said. “I’m tired of being your go-between.”

Syrine spun around, flicking him in the face with her ponytail before charging away.

“Must be tough,” Cara observed while resting her head on his shoulder. “Caught in the middle of all that drama between your best friend and your sister.”

“Not really. You keep forgetting—”

“That Elle is more like a friend than a sister, and nuclear families don’t exist at the Aegis,” Cara finished. “Blah, blah, blah. Just admit it’s annoying.”

“It is,” he conceded. “We should lock them in a room until they forgive each other.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Cara said, patting his arm. “You don’t know much about girls, do you?”

Aelyx smiled as an echo of grief tugged at his stomach. “That’s what David used to say.” He missed his friend. David had made mistakes, but only because he was under duress. In the end, he’d done the right thing, and that was all that mattered. “If I can forgive David for trying to kill me, why can’t Syrine and Elle move past a love triangle?”

“It’s basic Girl Code. If you and your bestie share a crush, neither of you can have him. Exes are off-limits, too, though my former BFF didn’t get the memo on that.”

A simultaneous chime sounded from their com-spheres, informing them that the shuttle was ready for boarding. Aelyx had requested a specific craft, one he could pilot himself. It was a small ten-seater, equipped with cloaking technology that would allow him to hide it in plain sight. That way they’d have access to rapid transportation if they needed to fly across the globe to meet with world leaders.

Everyone returned to their respective rooms to pack their duffels, and then the team met in the hangar. Aelyx made Syrine and Elle wait until last to board, so they’d have no choice but to share a seat. They turned their glares on him instead of each other, which he supposed was progress. He offered the copilot’s seat to Cara and took his place behind the wheel, and then they were off, speeding away from the transport into the clouds.

He used his com-sphere to inform the head of his security detail, Colonel Rutter, that he was en route, and once the colonel cleared Aelyx to enter military airspace, he began his descent and landed the shuttle on one of the base’s vacant helipads.

Cara’s parents were already visible though the front shield, both of them bouncing and waving from the mouth of an adjacent hangar, where they stood with a dozen or so uniformed soldiers. No sooner had Aelyx cut the engine than Cara threw open the passenger door and bounded across the tarmac toward her family, her scarlet braid trailing in the breeze. Bill Sweeney caught his daughter in his bearlike arms and twirled her in a dozen circles before he set her down and she stumbled dizzily to embrace Eileen.

Aelyx stepped outside and cringed at the change in temperature since his last visit. New York in spring had been tolerable, but now the air was stifling hot and so humid he could almost drown from breathing it. By the time he caught up with Cara, the front of his tunic was damp with sweat.

Eileen didn’t seem to mind. She launched herself at him in a crushing hug and then planted sticky kisses on his cheeks. “We missed you so much,” she said, pulling back to brush the lint off his tunic and smooth the strands of hair that had escaped his ponytail.

Aelyx let her fuss over him, glad for the attention. As a clone, this was the closest he would ever come to having a mother. “I missed you, too.”

A soldier snuck up behind Cara and captured her in a headlock. Aelyx stiffened until he recognized the boy as Troy Sweeney, her older brother. Troy had the same electric blue eyes as Cara, but he’d inherited their mother’s black hair instead of their father’s red. He scrubbed his knuckles over Cara’s scalp until she squealed and thrust an elbow in his belly. Then he ruffled her already mussed hair and called her dorkus.

Aelyx shared a glance with Elle and tried to imagine having that kind of sibling bond with her. Clearly she was thinking the same thing, because she told him privately,
If you ever do that to me, I’ll smother you in your sleep
.

“Elle,” Troy breathed, yanking off his camouflage hat and flinching to attention. His pupils widened and his teeth flashed in a lopsided smile. His reaction was nearly identical to that of Jake Winters, and Aelyx had to clamp his lips together to trap a laugh. He’d forgotten about Troy’s unrequited crush on Elle.

Aelyx nudged Elle and asked,
Have you picked out names for your offspring yet?
She burned a glare into his head, and he responded by making kissing noises, which earned him a punch on the arm.

“Uh-huh,” Cara muttered. “You’re nothing like human siblings at all.”

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Troy said to Elle while sliding an annoyed look at his sister. “Someone forgot to mention it.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Excuse me for being preoccupied with saving the world from alien domination.”

“Speaking of which,” interrupted Colonel Rutter, who’d been silently observing them from the fringes. “Not a word about these Ari-bol”—mispronouncing it Airy-Ball—“to anyone outside the group. HALO will lose their damn minds, start rioting in the streets again.” Aelyx grimaced as he recalled last year’s run-ins with the fanatical group Humans Against L’eihr Occupation. Colonel Rutter motioned toward three black SUVs parked nearby. “We should probably get a move on before rush hour hits; otherwise it’ll be gridlock on the bridge.”

“I’d like to fly the shuttle to the penthouse,” Aelyx said. “Cloaked, of course, so I can keep it docked there.”

“Me, too,” Cara added.

“All right.” Rutter jutted his chin at Troy. “Sergeant Sweeney, go with them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“As for the rest of you,” Rutter continued, “no one sets foot outside that penthouse without an armed shadow. Understood?” He glanced around the group until he found Syrine, and then his no-nonsense tone went softer than a butterfly’s wing. “Why don’t you ride with me, hon? I’ve got a box for you in my car.”

Syrine darted a glance at Aelyx while she fidgeted with her pear-seed pendant. Colonel Rutter had been David’s commander, the one who’d assigned him as their bodyguard last winter. David hadn’t left any family behind, so the box probably contained his possessions.

Syrine managed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

Aelyx slid an arm around her. “I hope his deck of trick cards is in there. It was his favorite thing in the world, aside from you.”

“
Trick
deck?” she asked. “You mean …”

“Every time he guessed your card, he was cheating,” Aelyx finished with a grin. “I can’t believe you never noticed.” He leaned down and whispered, “Are you going to be okay? If not, you can ride with me in the shuttle.”

“I’m fine,” she whispered back. “I want to see what’s in the box.”

Colonel Rutter clapped his palms together. “All right, folks. Let’s roll.” He gestured at the shuttle. “Or fly, as the case may be.”

The shuttle arrived in Manhattan well ahead of the SUV caravan, and Aelyx began circling the penthouse building while searching the adjacent streets for the most secluded place to dock the craft. He eventually settled on an alleyway between two restaurants, then landed the shuttle in front of a Dumpster overflowing with black garbage bags.

As soon as Aelyx climbed out, the stench of rotting food assaulted his nostrils. Cara and Troy jogged away from the Dumpster while he stayed behind to finish the docking process. Holding his breath, he pushed a button on his key fob, and in response, the shuttle rose fifteen feet into the air and stopped, invisible and safely out of reach.

Two soldiers were already waiting at the sidewalk. They led the way to the penthouse building, and Aelyx took Cara’s hand and followed with Troy bringing up the rear. Aelyx kept his head down and his eyes trained on the pavement. He could almost pass for a human with his light brown skin and hair, but his silver irises gave him away every time. He wished he’d worn sunglasses for concealment. His fans meant well, but they didn’t always respect personal boundaries, and he was in no mood to dodge undergarments thrown at his face.

He’d nearly reached the building’s entrance when Cara stopped suddenly and dragged him to a halt. He glanced behind and found her gazing at a stack of magazines on a nearby newsstand. Arranged in rows, each copy was an identical edition of
Squee Teen
, featuring both of their faces on the cover and promising readers a look “Inside the Star Couple’s
Perfect Life
on the Colony!”

Cara let go of his hand and picked up a magazine. As she thumbed through the glossy pages, Aelyx recognized the pictures they’d posed for months ago, when she’d agreed to the exclusive interview to entice more immigrants to the colony. There was a wide-angle photo of their living room and another that showed them cuddled on the futon, gazing into each other’s eyes from above their mugs of spiced
h’ali
. She’d refused to allow the shoot in their bedroom, but the magazine’s centerfold oozed romance in a montage of couple shots—the two of them strolling hand-in-hand on the beach; wading in the ocean with their bodies silhouetted against the sunset; pausing beneath a canopy of trees to share a kiss in the rain.

Aelyx’s heart turned heavy. It truly had been a perfect life.

He caught himself using past tense.
Is
, he corrected.
It is a perfect life
.

The newsstand owner, an ebony-skinned man with spectacles perched on the end of his nose, glanced up from his cell phone, and his eyebrows twitched. He looked from Cara to the magazine and back again, then nearly dropped his phone in his haste to stand up from his stool and fish a pen from his pocket.

“Will you sign it to my daughter?” he asked, waving a black marker back and forth between them. “Her name is Talya. She’s your biggest fan. She’s going to die when she finds out I met you!”

When Cara couldn’t tear her gaze away from the magazine, Aelyx picked up another copy and took the man’s pen. He scrawled:
For Talya. Much l’ove, Aelyx and Cara
and then handed it back as the man snapped a picture with his phone.

From behind, Troy muttered, “We can’t stay here.”

Aelyx noticed they’d drawn the attention of several passersby, and he cupped Cara’s elbow to move her along. She patted herself down with one hand as if looking for money to buy the magazine. The man told her, “Take it—I insist.”

She thanked him, and they made their way to the penthouse building. No one spoke during the elevator ride to the top floor, but Aelyx knew Cara well enough to understand what she was thinking. Of all the obstacles they’d overcome to be together—prejudice, distance, violence, hate—this hurdle seemed nearly too high to jump. It chilled him to the marrow to imagine losing her now.

He squeezed her hand, as much to ground himself as to comfort her. When she raised her freckled face to his, he swore,
I won’t stop fighting for us. Not ever. That life is still ours.

She tucked the rolled-up magazine beneath the elevator handrail.
You’re right. I don’t need this
.