How to Date an Alien (16 page)

“Wait, what alarms?" I asked as Jen placed a
new pair of glasses on my face. “What happened? And how do I get
this stuff off me?"

Jen laughed, putting her hand to my arm. She
pulled off a long strip of goop. It came off like wax, only less
painful, leaving only smooth skin underneath it. "It's like
paraffin wax, you know when you get a manicure and they dip your
hands in that stuff to make them all smooth?"

I shook my head and peeled another layer from
my skin, eager to get the goop off and get some clothes on. "But
back to my other question, what happened and how did I get
here?"

“I was hoping you could tell us that one."
The doctor edged in front of Jen. “An escape alarm went off, so a
group of guards headed for the cell block. That's where they found
you, lying unconscious, and Ace’s cell wide open and empty.”

“Wait, Ace is really gone?" I looked to each
of their questioning faces.

Jen and Malcolm looked at each other, then
back to me. “Yeah, we sort of figured that you helped him escape,”
Jen replied tentatively.

I carefully shook my head, standing up as
straight as I could without hurting myself. “No, a group of guys
with jet-black hair and black robes came in and took him. There was
a tall, slim guy with scars all over his face that put some sort of
a disc-like Taser on me that made me black out. That's the last
thing I remember.”

The doctor looked up at Jen and Malcolm.
“Sounds like Caltians to me.”

“Why would Caltians be here and what do they
want with Ace?" Malcolm asked, looking down at the doctor.

“Well, if that guy Alex said tasered her is
the same long-haired guy I’ve seen in pictures, then it’s pretty
serious if the queen would send Marsilo down." She blinked, looking
from the floor and back up to Malcolm and Jen.

“Hello?" I peeled the last layer of goop off
my face and reached for a temperature control suit that was hanging
on a rack near the tube. “Can someone clue me in as to what’s going
on?”

The doctor walked closer to me. “Marsilo is
the queen’s right-hand man. He’s the one she uses to take care of
business when she can’t handle it herself.” The doctor turned her
attention back to Malcolm and Jen. “So, it doesn’t make sense why
she would send him down just to retrieve Ace when she hasn’t even
seen him in decades.”

The three of them started rummaging through
theories as we headed out of the room and into the hallway. I
followed closely behind them, trying to pay attention to what they
were saying, but all I could think about was why anyone would come
and take Ace.

A crackling noise sounded as a small screen
popped out from each doorway. Everyone passing through the hall
grew silent. An olive-skinned woman with the bluest eyes I had ever
seen popped on the screen.

“Nerses is speaking; this is serious,” the
doctor mumbled.

“Who is Nerses?" I whispered to Jen, not
taking my eyes off of the screen.

“She’s the director of all of Circe,” she
whispered back.

“Good afternoon residents of Circe, it is
with great urgency that I address the recent security breaches at
our base." The woman’s voice was calm and cool despite the
alertness of her eyes and stiff stature. “Our Public Affairs
department has reached out to the queen of Caltia, but we have not
yet received comment from her communications department as to why
she would choose to breach our system. Twelve of our armed guards
were attacked and one of our inmates was taken.”

“She’s talking about Ace,” I whispered.

“But we assure you that we are on top of the
situation and that there is nothing to worry—"

Her voice was cut off and the screen started
to fade out.

“What’s happening to the screen?" Jen asked
and looked around to see that all the other screens were doing the
same thing.

Then the screen faded back to a woman. It was
the same woman from my nightmares with the white skin and long
black hair. I gasped as soon as I saw her haunting smile spread
across her pale face.

“Nothing to worry about Nerses? I think you
know me better than that." She laughed that poignant laugh that
instantly sent chills to every part of my body. “Now where was I?"
She smiled again, her hair fading into a shadowy background. “Oh,
yes.”

“Now that my son is safe on my ship, I have a
message for the populace of Circe, especially the little tart who
is after my son’s heart." She closed in on the screen; her dark
eyes were locked right on me. “Yes, you, the girl with the big hips
and awful glasses." She looked to her side and nodded before
looking back at the screen. “Alexandra Bianchi, a colonel’s
daughter no less. You really should have known better, my
dear.”

She shook her head, letting out that
witch-like cackle. “You really think that a human girl, from the
slums of the universe, a girl who can’t even get into a decent
college, deserves my son?”

She lifted her long, gloved fingers and
pointed to the screen. “The citizens of Calta will not stand for
this disrespect and pollution of our kind, and therefore—" She
stood up, her long body coming into full view. “—we declare war on
the pathetic creatures of Earth, starting first with your lovely
Circe Operations Center.”

Gasps and screams came from the other people
in the hallway while they stared at the screens. Hushed questions
were whispered back and forth as they waited for the screen to fade
out. The queen’s eyes focused back onto me. “Do you have anything
to say for yourself, you pathetic human harlot?”

Everyone's eyes were glued to me. I turned
toward the queen's dark eyes and stared right at the screen, but
was caught off guard when I heard a high-pitched scream from my
left. I turned to see Riley with a Circe-issued gun in her hand
pointed right at my temple.

"Uh, Riley?" I'd admit that she was one of
the last people that I wanted to see. Especially since I knew she
was the one that reported me in the first place and got Ace locked
in the cell. But this wasn't the same Riley that I knew. Her hair
was disheveled and the dark rings around her eyes made it look like
she hadn't slept in days.

"Shut up, just shut up!" she screeched,
pushing the cold barrel of the gun to my forehead. A silent crowd
had gathered, their eyes wide, waiting for Riley's next move.

"You're the reason all this is happening. If
you would have just followed the rules, I could have gotten out of
this hell hole by now and wouldn't have to worry about some slimy
bug destroying humanity!"

Some of the aliens started whispering as
Riley spoke, questioning why she wasn't locked up somewhere. I
looked away from her narrowed eyes, hoping that a guard or someone
would come to help me, but I couldn't see anyone rushing in. All
the guards were probably busy after hearing Nerses and the queen's
message.

"Riley, you don't want to do this."

"You don't know what I want! All you've cared
about this summer is your precious alien boyfriend and you haven't
thought about how it affects us humans!" Her voice and hands shook.
She swallowed hard before she pushed the gun harder against my
temple. "And that is why it's time to end this. If I kill you the
queen will show me mercy and I can go back to living my happy,
alien-free life back in Philly."

"But what if that doesn't work, Riley? What
if you kill me and she still attacks?" I asked, trying to remain as
calm as a girl with a gun to her forehead could.

"Then I'm just going to have to show the
world that aliens exist. Shout it from the rooftops and make
everyone listen. Tell them that they are all in danger because of
some stupid high school chick and her alien boy toy. They can't
ignore an environmental scientist!"

I waited to hear the sound of the gun cock,
thinking of the quickest way I could release it from Riley's grip,
when a rush of blond hair came from my right, knocking the gun away
from Riley and tackling her down in the process.

"No, you can't do this!" Riley screeched. Jen
secured Riley's arms behind her back and edged her up from the
floor just as two guards came barreling down the hallway. "You all
know the rules! She's the cause of all of this!"

"And I'm sure you running around with a
weapon and threatening to expose Circe is going to help?" Jen
smirked.

"I think it's time for Riley to visit the
memory detoxification room in the psych ward," one of the guards
remarked as they picked her up and dragged her down the hall. I
watched as her flailing body disappeared, thinking that one crazed
human was only the beginning of my problems.

"What's your plan now?" Jen rotated her neck
in a circle. "I hope we're not just going to stand around here and
wait for another crazy anti-alien person to come."

"I'm sure the board is meeting right now to
think of something." Malcolm tried to keep his tone neutral, but it
wavered on the edge of babbling.

I was still staring down the hallway while
everyone around me started going into full panic mode. Some of them
were running and screaming and others were reaching for whatever
weapons they could, ready for war.

"Alex?" The doctor tugged at my leg.

I let my eyes drift around the hallway. Some
aliens were staring at me with fear in their eyes and others looked
like they were ready to attack.

"I think we should probably get you out of
here," she whispered. "We don't want another repeat incident."

I looked back in her direction, nodding.
"Sounds like a good idea to me."

I wanted to thank Jen for knocking Riley out
of the way, but my mind was jumbled with so many thoughts that I
couldn't think straight.

After only a few seconds of walking, mass
chaos ensued. Entire alien families ran down the halls; parents
yelled at their children to hurry up or they would miss their ship.
Guards were everywhere, guiding people and trying to get everyone
to remain calm.

"You want us to remain calm and orderly?" a
small green woman screamed. "One of the most powerful queens in the
universe just said that she is going to attack this base, and you
expect us to remain calm?"

I gulped, looking around at the faces of the
scared alien children. They reminded me of my little brother and
the way he would look at me when there were storm warnings, crying
with those big blue eyes and begging to stay in bed with me until
the thunder stopped. It was my turn to be the big sister again, but
this time it had to be for an entire planet.

"Where is my dad?" I looked over at the
doctor, who was perched on Malcolm's shoulder as the four of us
made our way down the crowded hallways.

"He was scheduled to be in the board meeting
this morning, so I'm sure they're still meeting to discuss what
happens next." Her voice was calm, almost soothing. Despite all the
chaos she still maintained a clear head.

I stopped and turned toward the three of
them. People around me were startled by my sudden halt and mumbled
things under their breath as they hurried around me.

"Can you take me to him?" I stared right into
the depths of the doctor's tiny little eyes. She nervously fiddled
her fingers in her palms and looked from Malcolm to Jen to see if
they would answer the question for her.

"Well, it's a confidential meeting. They
usually don't let anyone in unless it's a matter of life and
death," she replied weakly.

I snorted. "Well, I think that a queen
kidnapping my boyfriend and then threatening to wipe out the entire
planet qualifies as a life and death situation."

Malcolm shrugged. "The girl's right and if we
don't help her find the board meeting she'll probably just find a
way to do it anyway. She's kind of stubborn like that."

Jen and the doctor nodded. "I know," they
practically said in unison before staring at each other.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, now that you've all
figured out that I'm stubborn and determined, let's get to my dad
before that grubby little ice queen can do anything to Ace."

People stared at me. Some of them gasped or
walked by with their eyes widening to the fact that I would dare
say anything against one of the most powerful intergalactic queens.
I figured if she could say those things about me and would rather
have her son miserable than happy, then she definitely wasn't
someone who deserved my respect.

The doctor sighed. "The meetings are usually
held up in the E tower near Nerses' office."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I backed
down the hallway, holding my arms out to the side.

"Do you even know where we are going?"
Malcolm asked as they quickened their pace to keep up with me.

"Nope." I turned around and started walking
faster. "Just tell me where to go, where to turn and I'll be
fine."

We walked down long hallway after long
hallway until we approached the elevator that would take us to E
tower.

"Are you really sure that you want to do
this?" Jen asked as we stepped into the elevator.

I pushed the button for the top floor,
watching the doors close behind us. "I really don't think that me
interrupting a board meeting is going to hurt anything. I'm already
the target for some sort of an intergalactic war, so I probably
should know what the plan of attack is."

We stepped off the elevator where three Circe
guards greeted us.

"Is there something we can help you with?" A
tall guard with a horrible gray crew cut looked down at me, smiling
like I was a little kid asking for a piece of candy.

"Maybe we should just—"

I cut Jen off before she could say any more.
"I'm here to speak to Nerses and Colonel Bianchi." I narrowed my
eyes, staring right at the guard.

"Well, Miss Bianchi, they are in a board
meeting, which is closed to the public, but I'll be sure to leave
them a message." He smiled an all-too-smug smile at me.