Alien Attachments (3 page)

Windows spanned the back wall, a perfect frame for the summer storm raging outside. Clouds swirled around like multi-colored paint in a mixer. They spun side by side but never blended, their chemical compositions too different to merge. Light from the tempest threw soft hues of purple and green across every surface. This time of year you could set your watch by their arrival, but in another month their chaos would hit randomly.

Ian reached out with his psi. His father wasn’t near or was blocking. He approached a large desk by the windows and activated the com with his psi. A holographic screen appeared in front of him.

“What can I help you with, your lordship?” a female computerized voice asked.

“I need to see my father.”

After a pause the voice continued, “I am unable to locate Lord Cavacent. I will connect you with the house staff.”

The screen flashed and Samuel, the head servant, appeared. The portly man stood in the kitchen, no doubt sampling the evening’s meal.

“Your lordship! What can I do for you?” He straightened his shirt, pausing when he took in Ian’s appearance.

“I need to speak to my father. Please locate him for me, Samuel. I’ll be here in his study.”

“Certainly, sir. Is everything all right, sir?”

“Everything is fine,” he lied. “Let me know if you have trouble finding him.” He disconnected before Samuel asked any more questions.

The clouds whirled in their violent dance outside. He found the storms energizing and missed them when he was on Earth. He sensed his father’s approach a moment before he entered the room.

Rucon Cavacent entered with an air of authority befitting a major lord on Sandaria. He raised a brow as he took in Ian’s attire. “What is it, son?” He walked over to the bar and poured them both an Oban. Ian had made sure to stock his father’s favorite whisky from Earth.

Rucon added ice and brought the drinks over. “Someone kick sand in your face?”

“More like psi.” Ian took the drink. His father’s psi brushed across his own.

“You’re a mess. What happened?”

“I was…exposed to very powerful and completely raw psi. No restraint whatsoever. It—”

“Raw psi?”

Ian held his father’s gaze. “From a human.”

Rucon’s glass halted halfway to his lips. An odd expression crossed his face. “That’s not possible, son.” His hand trembled when he took a drink.

Ian sensed his father’s conflicting emotions. They were far more powerful than he’d expected. “A friend of Jared’s showed up at the bar,” he continued. “She had some minor injuries, and Jared asked if I would help her with the pain.”

“Surely you didn’t?” His father’s tone said far more than his words.

Ian held his ground. “She means a great deal to him. He’s never asked for anything before. A moderate amount of healing wouldn’t hurt.”

“And just how did you explain this little hands-on event?”

“Chinese pressure points.”

Rucon made a grunting noise Ian couldn’t interpret.

“Regardless, it worked. I connected and sent a small amount of energy. I was almost done when it happened. Father, she possesses a massive psychic ability. Possibly stronger than my own.”

Rucon frowned. “I doubt that. You are the strongest in generations.”

Ian wasn’t so sure. “I’m fairly certain she’s not aware of it. It’s more of a subconscious thing. Which, come to think of it”—Ian nodded and paced by the window—“would explain a lot. That’s got to be how she wins.”

“Wins what?” Rucon asked, sounding distracted.

“Mixed fights. She wins all the time, but obviously has no training. She’s got to be using her psi.”

Rucon joined Ian at the window and watched the storm. “Nothing else happened? When you connected?” Rucon searched his son’s face.

“Nothing.” Ian didn’t know if his father bought it or not. Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Bonding with a human would be political, and ultimately, financial suicide for the Cavacent clan.

Rucon’s shoulders relaxed. “We need to step up our move to Earth. I think I’m close to getting the support of the Supreme Commander.”

This was news. “And our rights to the carnium?”

“We’re negotiating. I should be able to secure at least a percentage. When I have the go ahead, we’ll need to move quickly. Ian,”—his father looked pained—“life will be easier there. We will be further removed from politics, whatever they turn out to be.”

“I can’t imagine a worse political environment than this.”

“Agreed. In the meantime stay away from this woman. And don’t say anything. To anyone. If Councilman Prayda finds out humans have psi, he’ll have the emperor revoke our protectorship. We’ll lose everything before we break free. That cannot happen.”

Many factions within the empire wanted to get their hands on Earth’s resources, and protecting its inhabitants wouldn’t be a priority. The Cavacents’ biggest advantage was they had protected the planet for over two hundred years, and kept humans largely safe and ignorant of their mining operations. Their history on Earth gave them a reasonable claim to residency. But they couldn’t move until the emperor was taken down, or it would be seen as treason. They walked a fine line as they readied for a new order in the galaxy.

Rucon returned to business, but was still pale. “Any further activity with Torogs?”

“Not since last night.”

“Keep your eyes open. Let me know if you need more agents.”

“I will.”

“How’s the new recruit working out?”

“Surprisingly well, given her size.”

“Which is?”

“Small.”

“So is your mother and I wouldn’t mess with her. Speaking of your mother, you’d best go clean up and say hello before you return to Earth. I’ll inform her you’re here.”

Ian rubbed his neck and nodded. It had been a few weeks since he’d been back. If his mother found he’d come home without seeing her, there would be hell to pay. “All right.” He turned to go, but Rucon stopped him.

“Remember, don’t mention this. Not even to her. She’s rather fond of that blue planet of yours. I don’t want to upset her.”

Dani looked up at the sound of the door scraping across the sandy floor. For a split second she thought it might be Ian. She shifted her weight on the barstool and threw a quick smile at the two men who entered. The smile faded fast. They were the ugliest dudes she’d ever seen and they moved…wrong. Leather criss-crossed their torsos over pasty gray skin.

Leather? Who wears leather in the Bahamas?
The hair at the back of her neck prickled, and she had an overwhelming urge to run. They stood there and stared at her. She stared back.

“Hey Jared, you’ve got customers,” she called out.

Her voice startled them. Without taking their eyes off her, weird clicks and croaks came out of their bulbous lips.

What the hell?

Jared came out of the back room clutching a tissue. He froze as the two men came around the bar into full view.

No way
. The two had decidedly round torsos and were dressed identically. Under the leather straps, a matching leather skirt fell just above the knee. Or where the knee should be. Instead, they had some sort of ball joint. Reality did a strange shift to the left when she noticed that below the joint were fleshy stumps, slightly padded on the bottom.
No feet
. Her head spun.
Handicapped?
She tried to figure the odds of two people having the same mutation when Jared reached behind the bar, pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, and fired. One shot each, to the center of their chest.

“Jared!” She flew off her seat. “Oh my God, what did you do?”

“Get in the back, Dani, now. Move!” Jared shouted.

Dani bolted the short distance around the bar.

The two guys lay on the floor but weren’t dead. They oozed blue goo and stank like nothing she’d ever smelled before, a combination of skunk and sweetness.
Ewww.
They struggled to get up, screeching and clicking.

She backed away and Jared shoved her through the door to the storeroom.
He stepped next to her and slapped the side of the doorframe. A faint click and the opening was gone, replaced by what looked to be solid metal.

“
Holy shit, what just happened?” Dani touched the cool metal surface. She turned around, not sure where to go or what to do. The shelves were lined with bottles of liquor and bags of pretzels and peanuts. A small fan in the corner stirred the humid air.

“What happened to the door? Did you see the legs on those guys? They have no feet, Jared. And those knees? And you shot them.” She struggled to make sense of it all.

Jared faced the far wall, hands flat on the wood paneling. He worked his hands up, then back down again along the surface.

Dani frowned. “Jared?”

He continued his strange behavior.

“What”—Dani took a few steps forward—“are you doing?”

“Sorry Dani, no time to explain. Those two are gonna be pissed. We need to get to the villa. I don’t think they can get in here, but I’m not hanging around to find out.”

“Pissed? Dude, they’re gonna be dead.” She rubbed her face. “We should call 911. Except, wait. You shot them for no reason. Oh, this is so not good. Those have to be some kind of prosthetic legs. Why’d you shoot them Jared?” She kept replaying the scene over and over in her head. Images flashed back and forth from the way the guys were shaped to the fact Jared shot them.
Oh my God.
They bleed blue goo
. Nothing made sense.

“They’re fine, Dani, trust me. This is a normal gun. Won’t do much but slow ’em down and piss ’em off.”

“A normal gun? As opposed to what? An abnormal gun? Do you know those guys?” Dani grabbed fists full of hair and pulled. The pain helped to clear her head.

“Not personally. But I know their kind. Not very bright but wicked strong.”

“Their kind?”

Jared moved faster and cussed like a sailor as he slapped the wall harder. An opening appeared so fast he almost fell into the void. “Gotcha,” he said, and turned back to her.

“Oh, this just keeps getting better and better. Why don’t I have my camera?” She inched closer to the opening, craning her neck to get a better view.

Dim, gray walls, about twenty feet across with a fourteen-foot ceiling. She took another step and peered around the corner. Light from the storeroom showed a large, slightly oval tunnel leading off to the right.
Jared stepped in and Dani caught his sigh of relief as a row of lights came on overhead. More rows switched on farther along the tunnel, one after another, until they curved up and out of sight.

“What is this? The Bat Cave?”

Jared motioned for her to follow.

She looked over her shoulder at the metal door. “So...long creepy tunnel or two creepy whatever they are back in the bar. Any other options?”

“Not unless you know how to summon an EP,” Jared replied. He nodded toward the tunnel while fiddling with his phone.

She was about to ask what an EP was when a muffled bang from the door made her jump.

The adage “Better the devil you know, than the one you don’t” didn’t give her any warm fuzzies. Jared waited for her. He may not be who she thought he was, but he had to be better than the two in the bar. She motioned toward the opening. “You sure this thing isn’t going to close on me? Slice me in half?”

“No, but it might leave you behind if you don’t get moving.”

Dani scowled at him. “Excuse me, what happened to nice Jared?” She held her breath and stepped into the tunnel.

“He’s busy keeping us alive.” Jared slapped the side of the opening a few times before finding the right spot. She winced a little when the door flashed closed.

“You think those guys were going to kill us? Why?” The air smelled fresh and slightly metallic, not dank and stale like she’d expected.

Jared continued tapping the screen on his cell phone. “Because it’s what they do.”

“Don’t think you’re going to get much of a signal in here.”

“Signals fine, he’s just not answering.”

“He?” Dani scanned the empty space they stood in.

“Ian.”

“Ian Cavacent?”

“Yes Dani, Ian.”

Jared tried the number again. “Shit. Right, well either something is wrong at the villa or he’s gone”—Jared glanced at her—“out.”

“Out?”

“Yes, out.” He pocketed the phone, crossed the tunnel and started slapping the far wall.

She knew the routine by now.

“Can I help?”

“No. Won’t open for you.”

“Seriously? Another secret door? Where’s this one go to? Oz?”

“Nowhere, it’s what’s inside I’m after.”

“You ever heard of ‘X marks the spot’? Given the trouble you had getting into this place, I think an X would come in real handy.” Dani wondered if now would be a good time to panic, when, once again, a door flashed into existence and a room appeared. Not a room, a garage. She really should have been more surprised. Maybe she’d used up all her shock for the day. A rectangular shape glided out of the space. Like a pontoon boat without the pontoons, it stopped a few feet in front of her. A larger vehicle remained parked inside. She backed up a few steps. Disbelief trickled down her spine as she inspected the hovering vehicle. No wheels and no noise. Not really a car—no roof, only inward facing seats around the edges.

She raised her right hand. The swelling was gone. She twisted her wrist back and forth. No pain.
Maybe the Chinese voodoo Ian did to me is causing me to hallucinate. I’m probably still floating in the frickin’ pool right now.

“Hover craft, I presume?” she asked, deciding the science fiction theme worked as good as any.

“They call them cruisers.”

“Of course they do. Who’s they? And why is this tunnel connected to your bar?” Her voice echoed around them.

“Hold on a sec,” Jared replied. He placed his hand on the wall again and found the spot on the third try. The door to the garage disappeared.

Dani’s gaze followed the lights into the distance and up to who knew where. She turned back to the cruiser.

Jared hurried around the vehicle and held a door open for her.

“Thanks, but, after you.”

He hopped inside and took a seat. The craft barely moved. She stepped forward, put her hands on either side of the opening and jumped in, landing as hard as possible. Her flip-flops slapped against the metal surface. Still, virtually no motion registered in the cruiser. She grabbed hold of the rail and flung her weight from side to side. Although it didn’t feel as if they were sitting on the ground, it was more stable than free floating.