Alien Tryst (7 page)

“He’ll be transferred once we know my mother’s trial was
successful,” Kane assured her. “Inject her with the essence.” He handed her the
duffle bag.

Eshe rummaged through the tubes and injectors and the other
mess she’d packed, muttering about stubborn fools and bad science.

“She loves me.” Kane grinned at his parents, forcing a
levity he didn’t feel, seeking to calm his anxious mate. His parents grinned
back, his father’s blue eyes sparkling with humor.

Eshe jammed a blue-and-red tube into an injector.

“You’ll soon see how much,” Kane shared. “Mom, roll up your
sleeve.” His father helped her, his expression loving. “You’ll experience
Eshe’s memories. It can be alarming…or boring,” he teased, doing everything he
could to ease his little scientist’s stress. “She spends too much time in the
lab.”

“I know how that is.” His father nodded. “My sympathies,
Son.” His mother elbowed him in the stomach and the three of them laughed,
Kane’s manufactured mirth sounding unnatural.

Eshe’s demeanor grew even more serious, her hands shaking as
she pushed the muzzle of the injector against his mother’s bare arm.

“I’ll help you, love.” Kane covered her fingers with his and
they pressed the trigger together, sharing the responsibility for the outcome.

“Please let this work,” Eshe whispered, stepping backward.
Kane wrapped his arms around her, giving her the contact she needed and he
craved.

His father held his mother as her eyes widened and her
normally keen gaze lost focus. Kane swallowed his alarm and maintained a stoic
military coldness. His loved ones were experiencing so much and they didn’t
need to deal with his fear also. He rested his chin on Eshe’s shoulder,
pressing his cheek against her neck as she slowly counted to ten.

“My Lord, Eshe.” His mother blinked. “The things you have
done, the places you’ve seen and the equipment you’ve used.” Her eyes glowed.
“You’ll have to show me how to use that examiner machine.” She clasped Eshe’s
hands. “And the sensor peeler and—”

Kane’s father chuckled. “Son, I hope they have fishing on
Orogone
’cause we’ve lost our girls to science.”

In the distance a rumble rolled through the morning air.
“Quiet.” Kane held up his hands and everyone froze. The noise stopped and he met
Eshe’s gaze.

“I heard it too,” she confirmed. “You have the gun.”

“It could have been traffic on the main road.” Kane drew his
weapon, not believing his own words. “Move away from Mom, Dad. We have to
transfer her now.”

His father pulled his mother into a hard, fast embrace,
kissed her thoroughly, whispered words into her ear and stepped aside. Kane
aimed his gun at his mother’s heart. Eshe removed another device from her bag.

“I love you, Mom.” He pressed the trigger. A brilliant blue
light shot out of the muzzle, surrounding his mother, and she shook. He tapped
the trigger again. She jolted and disappeared from view.

“Transfer well,” Eshe said.

Did she transfer well?
Kane looked at his woman, the
love of his life.
Or have I killed my own mother?
“Was the transfer
successful?”

Eshe fiddled with the device’s settings. “It’ll take a
couple of minutes to verify.” She turned her head, breathed deeply and her face
grew pale.

The warrior must be here. “Do we have a couple of minutes?”
Kane asked.

“No,” she confirmed. “The warrior has arrived.”

“I’ll prep your father.” Eshe’s fingers shook as she loaded
another tube of essence into the injector. The warrior was close. He’d find
her, transfer her before she could join with Kane and she’d die. She’d
calculated the odds and she knew her fate.

Eshe could change her One’s fate. Her actions could ensure
that Kane lived and his loved ones were safe, together on one planet. “Count
until ten before you transfer him,” she reminded Kane.

“We don’t have time to transfer my father.” Kane lifted his
chin, her male as stubborn as she was. “I’m going after the warrior.” He
sprinted in the wrong direction, his tread light, his speed inhumanly fast.

Eshe didn’t stop him as the warrior wanted her, not Kane.
“Roll up your sleeve,” she instructed. Kane’s father silently complied, furrows
forming between his eyebrows. “Tell your son I love him and have no regrets.”
She pushed the injector against his skin and pressed the trigger. “I’m proud
he’s my One. He is strong and noble and worthy. This time with him—” Her voice
broke.

“What have you done, Eshe?” Kane’s father asked.

She didn’t answer. There was no need for a reply as the
older human male’s eyes glazed over, his brain replaying a lifetime of her
memories.

The best memories were missing. Her essence had been taken
before the road trip with Kane, before he’d loved her, touched her, filled her
two souls with such joy.

Eshe placed the injector on the ground and searched through
her bag. She hadn’t packed another transfer gun. She blew out her breath,
disappointed. Kane would have to transfer his father later, after. She palmed
the verifier.

Kane’s father blinked, his stupor dissipating. “I knew the
galaxy was too large to be devoid of life but I never imagined there’d be so
many beings.”

“I’ve visited many galaxies.” She’d surveyed the
laboratories in many galaxies. Kane had been correct about her seclusion. She’d
never toured any planet…except Earth. A cow mooed, the sound foreign,
alien
as the humans would say. She’d seen a bit of her One’s planet and she was glad
she had, was glad they’d had that time together.

She wished she could explore
Orogone
with him. Eshe
checked the verifier and excitement filled her, her musings temporarily
eclipsed by a stunning reality. “It worked,” she whispered, unable to trust her
eyes.

She reset the verifier and ran the device once more. The
results were the same. “It worked,” she repeated louder, clapping her hands,
wishing to laugh, to cry, to shout with joy. Her long days spent alone, working
in the lab had yielded results. She’d saved a life and perhaps changed the
future of an entire species. She’d proven herself worthy.

“What worked?” Kane’s father stared at her, his forehead
furrowed. He didn’t know what she was talking about because she hadn’t told
him, too wrapped up in the thrill of an experiment gone right.

“Your wife, Kane’s mother, transferred well.” She
transferred a human, a half human. Eshe sat with a thump on the wooden steps of
their whitewashed farmhouse, her legs wobbly. “I did it.” She gazed around her.
Kane’s faith in her had been justified. She set the verifier on a lower stair
tread.

“That’s a relief.” His father smiled, lines creasing the
skin around his eyes. “Eshe—”

“That doesn’t mean you’ll transfer well,” she cautioned, not
wanting to talk about her fate, to face her impending death. “Your wife was
half
Orogone
. You’re one hundred percent human.”

Kane’s father sat beside her on the steps, the boards
creaking under his weight. “Death is easier to accept, knowing the woman and
son I love are safe.”

The male I love is safe and that does make death easier
to accept.
The red hen returned to the yard, clucking, her chicks trailing
behind her. Eshe watched them, savoring the moment. The solitary Earth sun
shone down on her shoulders, heating her already overheated body. The air
smelled of hay and cows and rich, moist earth.

“I didn’t want to transfer you,” she confessed.

“I understand why you’re hesitant.” Kane’s father smiled.
“My son insisted because he knows I’ll die without his mother. We’ve never been
apart for more than a day. She is my everything.”

“She is your One.” Eshe studied him. Humans were notoriously
fickle but Kane’s father appeared to be the exception. Could Kane be an
exception also? “
Orogones
can’t bear to be parted from our Ones either.”

“You won’t be parted from Kane.” His father placed one of
his arms around her shoulders. He told the truth. A piece of Kane was with her,
reflected in his father’s strong face, and a piece of herself was with her also,
her essence injected into the older man. Her lips curled into a small smile.
They were one, merely not in the way she’d envisioned.

“I saw or experienced what you sacrificed for us, how much
you suffered to save my wife,” Kane’s father shared. “We won’t let anything
happen to you.”

He was as honorable as his son. Eshe tilted her head upward,
gazing at the white, fluffy clouds floating in the blue sky, and she blinked
back tears, wishing she had more time. “A warrior is hunting me.”

“A warrior has found you,” a male quipped. She turned her
head. A warrior wearing a three-piece, black, pinstriped suit stood by the
Hummer, sunglasses covering his
Orogone
eyes, a gun in his left hand.

“You can’t have her.” Kane’s father tightened his grip on
Eshe’s shoulders, his defense warming her heart.

The warrior’s lips twitched. “Step away from the fragile
human, darling. You’ve already destroyed my shoes.” He waved his long, slender
fingers. His leather shoes were caked with a brown substance she suspected
wasn’t mud, the stench making her eyes water. “We don’t want more casualties,
do we?”

Eshe didn’t obey his order. He wasn’t Kane, he didn’t have
her best interests at heart and she knew protocol. The warrior couldn’t
transfer her while she touched another being. The risk of molecules mixing was
too great.

“I’m not leaving until I transfer you.” The warrior plucked
at the white cuffs of his dress shirt. The sunlight reflected off his onyx
cufflinks. “Delaying this won’t change anything.”

“Won’t it?” A movement to the left caught Eshe’s attention.
Kane
is here.
“I’ve met my One, the male I love more than anything.” She gazed
at the warrior, giving no indication she’d seen anything. “I have to join with
him or I’ll die.”

“Argue your case with the council.” The warrior’s face
hardened. “I’m given assignments. I find the targets and transfer them.” He
removed his sunglasses and clipped them to his vest. The flames in his eyes
raged, revealing his inner turmoil. “I don’t question my assignments and I
don’t judge each case. I follow protocol.” His fingers tapped on the handle of
his gun. “Move away from the human. I—”

His gaze flicked to the left and Eshe’s palms moistened.
He’s
spotted my One. He’ll transfer Kane then transfer me. Kane’s father will be
trapped on Earth alone, separated from the woman he loved, the son he adores.
My One will blame himself.

I’ll blame myself also. I can’t be happy, knowing I
destroyed another couple’s bond.
Eshe coiled her muscles. The warrior swung
his gun toward the left and she sprang forward, easily breaking free of the
grip Kane’s father had on her shoulders, her
Orogone
strength too great
for his human arms to hold.

Kane’s father yelled her name. The warrior pivoted toward
her and Kane roared, the animalistic sound thrilling Eshe. He was savage and
magnificent and, for one moment longer, hers.

A blast of energy smacked into Eshe, the impact driving her
backward. She pressed her lips together, smothering her scream. Her bones bent,
the force crushing her, and her souls tore away from her physical form.

Eshe floated, weightless for three heartbeats. Her gaze met
Kane’s. He hurtled toward her at an impressive speed, his arms outstretched,
his biceps bulging, his eyes blazing with fierce emotion.

He’d be too late. She’d be transferred, parted from her One
and die. Eshe knew that, accepted that. She smiled serenely at him, the male
she loved more than life. A heavy weight flattened her and she fell down, down,
down into a blackness rivaling the vast expanses of space.

Kane rushed toward his woman, his life, and grabbed air.
Eshe had disappeared as though she’d never existed, fading into nothing. He
fell to the ground, a soul-deep agony, a sense of unbearable loss, bringing him
to his knees.
I failed her.
He hollered his grief into the blue sky.

The suit-clad warrior shuffled his feet and Kane turned his
head toward him. “Transfer me.” He leapt to his feet, stones crunching under
his boots.

The warrior’s lips thinned, refusal written all over his
face. “Protocol—”

“I don’t give a shit about your protocol.” Kane drew his
gun, aiming it at the man. “I’m her One. Eshe, an
Orogone
, one of your
own, will die without me.”

“If your Eshe had followed protocol you’d be joined and
she’d live.” The warrior leisurely unbuttoned his jacket and placed his gun in
an inside pocket. “Why didn’t you join with her?” He narrowed his flame-filled
eyes. “Was it because you were unwilling to commit to one female?”

“I’m committed.” Kane stalked toward him. “I love her.”

“Human love is fleeting.” The warrior wrinkled his nose, communicating
his distaste for humans. “You’re a fickle species, incapable of lasting love.”

Eshe sacrificed herself, thinking I’ll forget her, forget
our love.
Kane stared at the warrior, his agony and panic escalating.
I
have to see her, tell her, save her.

His father stepped forward. “I’ve loved his mother for four
decades.”

“Four decades is nothing. We live for thousands of your
Earth years.” The warrior shook his head. “You weren’t my assignment, human.
Your Eshe was.” He turned.

“Stop,” Kane barked and the warrior hesitated. “If you don’t
transfer me I’ll shoot you.”

The warrior looked over his left shoulder and met his gaze.
“Then shoot me.” He shrugged. “Because I won’t violate protocol.”

“I’ll torture you, force you to transfer me,” Kane warned.

The warrior smiled. “You could try to torture me but you
won’t succeed.
Orogones
heal quickly.”

Kane healed quickly also and his threshold for pain was
inhumanly high. He’d felt the suffering Eshe had tolerated. It surpassed any
agony he could inflict on another being.

“This is out of my control.” The warrior raised his finely
manicured hands, his countenance reflecting his resignation. He wouldn’t help
them. Kane was merely wasting time. “Protocol—”

“Fuck your protocol.” Kane pulled the trigger twice,
freezing the warrior during the slight delay between shots. Blue energy swirled
around his form. He shook, respect reflecting in his alien eyes, and he
disappeared.

Now what?
Kane looked around him. The duffle bag was
open, some of Eshe’s mess contained inside the black leather. Her injecting
device lay on the ground, the tube empty. His gaze lifted. His father stared at
him, his face lined with concern, the sleeves of his checkered shirt rolled up.
“She injected you?”

His father nodded. “She said your mother’s transfer worked.”
He shuffled his feet. “I’m a good shot, Son, and that space gun looks simple. I
could transfer you.”

“You’ll be left here alone.” Kane glanced at the injecting
device.
Is this why she sacrificed herself? So my parents could be together?

“Your Eshe is dying,” his father spoke softly.

Kane was very much aware the woman he loved was dying. “I’ll
transfer you first.” He aimed the gun at his father. “And then I’ll shoot
myself.”

His father inclined his head, agreeing with his plan. A
car’s engine rumbled behind Kane. He didn’t know who drove the vehicle, what
the being wanted, and he wouldn’t delay his transfer long enough to find out.

“I love you, Dad.” He pressed the trigger twice.

Twice. Shit.
As his father vanished Kane stared down
at the gun.
I can’t shoot myself twice. I’ll be immobilized after the second
shot.

He tried to slide the lever on the gun forward. It wouldn’t
move. He hit it with the heel of his hand, putting more force into the action.
The metal bent yet didn’t budge.

“There must be a locking mechanism,” Kane muttered, studying
the gun.

“There is,” a male commented, his voice familiar. Kane
glanced upward. Raff stood before him, his feet braced apart, his arms folded.
His trademark grin was missing, his expression deathly serious. “I didn’t show
Essie where it is because she’d fiddle with it and accidentally transfer half
of the native population home.”

Kane didn’t have time for cute Eshe stories. His woman was
in pain, dying, alone, thinking herself unloved. He swallowed his pride. “I
need your help, Raff.”

Her brother removed his short black leather coat, folded the
garment and set it carefully on the hood of his shiny red sports car. “And why
would I give you any help?” He rolled up the sleeves of his blue silk shirt,
the color matching one of the flames in his eyes, in Eshe’s eyes. “You valued
your life more than my sister’s.”

“That’s not true. Your sister is my life, my entire world.”
Kane glared. “If I’d known what she’d mean to me, what she planned to do, I
would have joined with her back at the compound. We would have found another
way to save my mother.”

“You would have been safe.” Raff cracked his knuckles.

“I don’t care about me,” Kane yelled. “Eshe is in pain. The
woman I love is in pain. She might be dying and I’m here, helpless to prevent
it.” He looked away, emotion choking his words. “Transfer me.” He held out the
gun. “Please.” Kane had never begged for anything in his life but he begged
now.