Intergalactic Desire (8 page)

Chapter 2

Sia emerged into a narrow alley behind the diner at 15:15.

She wedged herself into a grimy telephone booth and inserted a quarter.

“
You’ve reached Kelsey. I’m not home right now because my boss is a total brownie-hound. Leave a message after the beep.”

“Kelsey, it’s me. Listen, me and my dad got into it again. I can’t take this shit anymore. Can I crash with you while I figure stuff out? I’m headed to the bus station now. I’ll wait for you outside your place.”

She hung up the phone and stepped back into the balmy late afternoon sun. The year was 1993 when it was common enough to find the local bank situated right next to an adult video store. The town started off as a rock in the middle of the Nevada desert; in the early 1950s, NASA attempted to build a launch complex but discarded the idea when the intensity of frequent sandstorms made launching space shuttles virtually impossible.

A decade after, a North Carolina millionaire in search of gold purchased the land from the government and called the new town “Halley’s Peak”, after the comet. He soon installed modern infrastructure amidst the vultures and coyote carcasses. Halley’s Peak was infamous for its alien conspiracies surpassing even Roswell’s legends of the ‘40s.

Sia both loved and hated Halley’s Peak.

She loved it because it was the only place she knew that still carried untainted vestiges of her mother’s memory. And she hated it because of her father and the suffocating small-town mentality.

Halley’s Peak was too small and familiar; nothing interesting ever happened there.

She’d sworn that when she’d saved up more than $1,000, she’d leave Halley’s Peak forever and head somewhere new. Vegas was closer and cheaper, but Sia found all its magic disappeared the moment the sun came up. 

Sia shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her leather jacket and trudged along, hoping the bus ticket wouldn’t be too expensive.

Suddenly a hand clenched her arm and swiveled her around. She was faced with none other than Q.

His non-existent jawline had suddenly emerged, rigid with tension, while his eyes scanned the streets.

“You have to come with me, now.”

“Uh, hello to you too.” Sia hid her annoyance at his brisk manner. “I’m sure you’d probably rock my world, but I’m going somewhere—”

“Sia, I don’t have time to explain right now. You just have to trust me.”

She clicked her tongue impatiently and shrugged out of his grasp. “The fuck I do! Look, I think you misjudged what was going on between us in the diner. You’re just a customer—I was being polite to you, that’s all! Now you’re acting like a total creep. Get out of my way, or you’ll be sorry.”

Q made the mistake of reaching for her again, hissing “I’m sorry I have to do this,” but she was ready for him this time, kicking him sharply in the chest and then in the groin.

He toppled to his knees, groaning in pain. Sia took this opportunity and sprinted back down the alley. She bumped into a trashcan, knocking it over as she turned right and slipped out of sight. Sia finally stopped when she could no longer hear any pursuing footsteps behind her, clutching a stitch forming in her side. Disbelief dawned—some creeper had tried to kidnap her! Her whole body pulsed with rage when she heard stealthy footsteps behind her. In one fluid movement, she grabbed an empty beer bottle, broke it, and whipped around waving it in front of her, a crazy glint in her eye.

“Whoa, whoa! Chill out! Like, everything’s cool!”

Sia’s
stance wavered ever so slightly when she saw the handsome stranger she’d served coffee to earlier. He was holding his hands up in surrender, a disarming smile on his flawless face. “You!”

“I heard somebody goin’ postal down here, so I came to check it out. Are you ok?” Even though his voice was soothing, Sia didn’t release her grip on her chosen weapon. “Yo, no need to get salty, chica. I’m not some kind of lurker. Honest. Why don’t you put the glass teeth down?”

Slowly, Sia’s
senses came back to her and she chucked the bottle into the trash. Her knees buckled and the handsome stranger caught her in his arms before she could keel over. “Whoa, take it easy. What happened to you?”

“This guy totally tried to…j-j-jack me!”

“For real? Where’s the fool now?” Her savior even made a show of glancing all around him, as if he really expected her less-than-friendly accoster to jump out from behind a trashcan with a ski mask and a switchblade.

“I-I-I don’t know…” Sia stammered. This was turning into one hell of a weird day.

She barely objected when her gallant rescuer began rubbing her shoulders gently. “It’s ok. Do you wanna go to the cops or something?”

“Yeah, I should probably do that.”

“Cool. I can walk you, if you like.”

Sia felt like slapping herself for being so weak. She tried her best to smile even though her teeth were chattering like crazy. “It’s cool. I can find my own way. But thanks.”

The handsome stranger smirked. “Actually, I should be the one thanking you.”

“Huh?” Without warning, Sia
felt cold, steely hands wrap around her throat and she was shoved against a brick wall. The stone and cement cut into her back as she struggled wildly to free herself but his grip was so strong he lifted her clean off the ground.

Gone was the disarming smile, replaced by a wicked grin at her writhing form. “I bet you didn’t see this coming, little girl.”

His eyes burned bright purple while he attempted to choke the life out of her.

“You should’ve kept running.”

Before Sia could defend herself, he knocked her head against the brick wall. The swift and savage movement made her cranium crack dully and her eyes rolled back as the darkness overcame her.

With an air of disgust he released her and watched as she slid to the ground in a crumpled heap.

“That was almost too easy.”

Without flinching, he took hold of Sia’s bony wrists and began dragging her unconscious body down the alley.

Chapter 3

When Sia woke, it felt like whole decades had marched on without her.

Blinking repeatedly, she tried to make sense of the swimming colors and odd scents assaulting her nostrils.

She took in her surroundings: a spacious room with a tall ceiling and skylights but little light. The floors and walls were covered with graffiti and strange symbols from a language Sia didn’t recognize.

On the shelves lining the walls were glass jars filled with grotesque creatures floating in bright green liquid. The slow burble of oxygen bubbles floating to the tops of the jars made Sia’s stomach clench painfully around the bagel she’d had for breakfast.

“Good, you’re finally awake.”

That voice made her blood rage fiercely through her veins as she struggled to get up. But she was bound at the wrists, legs and neck with tight, plastic cords and strapped to a hospital bed. All around her he’d positioned an array of instruments and devices, as if she were being prepped for surgery. But something told her this wasn’t a medical facility:
at least not a human one.

He strolled forward. And in that moment, Sia hated him.

“I bet you’re totally buggin’ right now. I was super nice to you right before I kidnapped you earlier–awkward!” He gloated.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Sia’s voice shook.

The handsome stranger began pacing around Sia’s bed, the rhythmic footfall of his sneakers thumping in her ears.

“My name is Crev Mort—‘Crev’ for short. I am a Stratan.” He declared.

“O-k… Is that like some fancy-ass frat? Sigma Stratan maybe?”

Crev grinned appreciatively at the retort. “The Stratans are not of your world, Sia Dodge.”

Sia let out a hoarse chuckle.

“Alrighty then… Someone’s jazzed for April Fool—” her sarcasm was cut short when Crev suddenly grabbed her by the hair from behind and yanked back until her throat was restricted around her vocal cords. She could see two glowing, purple eyes glaring down at her, turning her blood to ice.

“You dare mock me, human girl? You need only look around to know the truth of your situation. I have searched high and low for you and I will not be denied. Turk! Bring me the provan! It is time for the humans to prove their worth to us.”

Another man emerged, shorter than Crev and barefoot, carrying a device in his hands.

He undid Sia’s blouse so that her bra-clad chest was now exposed.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Sia’s eyes fixated on the strange instrument.

Crev grinned and clasped the device.

“I’m going to get inside you.”

Sia was powerless as Crev placed the device on her prostrate body. It didn’t pierce her, but latched onto the skin from the top of her rib cage to navel. It was hewn from a blackened metal and its serrated edges closely resembled a fish skeleton. It felt nothing like metal, but rather a slimy tentacle.

The device glowed a violent orange, then blue intermittently.

Sia’s heart dropped into her stomach as it croaked, like a living, breathing predator that relished in her nauseating fear.

“Now this is very interesting,” Crev’s
eyes skimmed over Sia’s flesh. “The provan says you’ve been holding out on us, human girl.”

Sia’s
eyes swam with frightened tears as Crev’s
lips curled into an ominous smile that chilled her to the bone. “Please, I don’t know what’s going on here, but you have to let me go. I-I-I’m just a waitress who gets paid $6 an hour. I’m a nobody!” 

Crev
caressed the provan and the glowing stopped.

But to Sia’s horror, a thin blade protruded from the end pressed to her midriff. She watched in revulsion as the provan partially lifted its clammy tentacles from her body, providing a perfect angle to plunge the scalpel deep into her chest.

“We’ll be the judge of that, human. Now brace yourself, this is going to hurt…a lot.”

Sia emitted a bloodcurdling scream the second the blade pricked her quivering skin, drawing out ruby red blood.

Then she felt a gust of wind sail past her as Crev
was suddenly lifted off his feet and thrown against the wall. Turk rushed forward, confusion etched all over his face; a figure loomed over him, smashing a luminous green jar over his head, slimy fluid seeping from its confines onto the floor.

The provan was ripped from her body and Sia’s
skin crawled at the rattling whimper that escaped the crude device when it was broken under a sneaker-clad foot. Sia’s gaze fell in amazement on none other than Q as he leaned over her and sought to untie her.

“It’s ok, we’re getting out of here.”

“How did you…”

“I’ll explain later. Right now I need you to shut up and do your fucking window trick. Capiche?”

Even though still reeling, new courage awoke deep inside her.

“Hell yeah!”

They started to run. Sia wasn’t out of shape, but Q still outstripped her by a few steps.

He grabbed her hand, pulling her forward with him.

A jet of heat zipped past her ear and hit a pillar ahead, dissolving graffiti and plaster with acid fluidity.

She glanced behind her and saw Crev giving chase, clutching some sort of pistol. Q forced her head down as more lasers narrowly missed them, dissolving a few more glass jars and part of their exit. As they reached the threshold, her savior spun, lifting his hands and sending a stream of purple lightning at the door, causing it to crackle with pulsing electricity.

He and Sia surged toward a large window overlooking the alleyway she had been abducted from. Without thinking twice, Sia grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and made forceful contact with the stubborn glass. It gave way and before she could blink, Q scooped her into his arms and jumped through the broken window. He landed gracefully before transferring Sia onto his back and sprinting toward the main road.

“You’re giving me a piggy-back ride! How are you even doing this?!”

Purple lightning and incredible speed and strength? Unless Sia was mistaken, Q was in fact also an alien.

“It’s an alien thing, but you probably already guessed that,” he craned his neck and grinned.

The sidewalks were littered with dozens of people outside the diner.

Most cried out sharply as a red BMW 325i was suddenly launched into the air and flew into a hot dog vendor’s stand. The proprietor cursed and shook his fist as his business turned to kindling.

Crev sprinted manically across the road, expertly jumping onto the hood of a Jeep Grand Cherokee V-8 barreling down on him before somersaulting over it just to sidestep a city bus and land on its door; he used his own center of gravity to sprint sideways just underneath the windows with passengers staring aghast at his antics. If it had been a different situation, Sia certainly would’ve given the evil alien points for style alone. Her eyes widened in horror when Crev landed on the road and transformed the gravel beneath his feet to black pebbles that flew every which way as he rode the ground like his own personal wave. Q came to a stop and put Sia on her feet as he stood ready to face Crev.

“He’s getting closer!” Sia yelled.

Q brought his left foot down sharply on the ground. The gravel and concrete shook violently and ripped open, showering the stationary cars adjacent from them with black pebbles. Then the road propelled Sia high into the air before dragging her off on a concrete wave like Crev’s. She watched in a mesh of terror and amazement as Q thrust his hands forward in a violent gesture and the gravel wave beneath Crev suddenly collapsed, sending him flying forward. Another wave of concrete caught him full in the face and catapulted him backward until he soared through a
sixth floor window of Halley’s Peak National Bank. Sia felt the wave beneath her collapse too, but gently, and Q scooped her back into his arms as they took off again, leaving piles of desolation in their wake.