Page 10 of Her Alien Matchmaker
I turned onto Mesa Ridge Road.Myra’s small home sat at the end of the road, only about ten blocks away.“XVU tells all recruits and civilian workers you guys incited the tensions when they caught you spying on us and shot you out of the sky in 1947.”
Jet lowered the visor.One stray look from a passerby and they’d be calling the police.“The only truth to that story is the part where they caused us to crash.Everything else is a lie.We rarely abduct humans, and when we do, they we return them with no injuries whatsoever and their memories wiped.”
“You admit to abducting people?Why?”My suspicions about XVU’s motives had never been much of a concern before, because I believed in our cause.We needed to protect ourselves not just from alien invasion, but also from enemy countries.Creating super soldiers went a long way toward protecting our people.
“We have been stranded on Earth for thousands of years.Our mother ship lost its ability to return home.Voldera is many, many light years away.My ancestor’s primary mission was to save our race.A mutation in our DNA occurred which cannot be repaired without human DNA.Still, we searched the planet for eons, looking for the one rogue gene that could save our people, knowing once we found that savior, a new, better ship could take us home.Finally, we found her seven months ago.”
We passed a convenience store sitting in the bright afternoon sun.Kids of various ages played in the front yards of several adobe-style homes.
“And what did you do to her after extracting what you needed?”This is the part where he’ll admit to performing the same experiments onmypeople.Maybe I was looking for justification for my actions, but I needed to know.
“One of our commanders married her.”
“What?”I almost slammed on my brakes.“Was it against her will?”Anger boiled in my veins.
He laughed, the sound throaty and deep.“I do not think anyone could force Lilly to do anything against her will.”Jet shook his head.“If you knew Voren, you would understandheis the one taken against his will.”He let out another chuckle.“But no.We do not abscond with humans, torture them, then kill them.”His eyes flashed at me, and I tried to ignore the underlying subtext.“We have saved many of your people from XVU’s experiments.We even recently awakened many of those your government experimented on and had been keeping in cryogenics.”
“Th-that’s impossible.We don’t do that to our people.”Although there had been unfortunate accidents, those soldiers and civilians had signed up for it and the families paid handsomely for their silence.
He shrugged, turning his attention to the houses as we passed.“I would be happy to take you to Atlantis so you can meet them, hear it from their mouths.There are several groups from every decade of the 20thcentury.We have even recruited a professor and former XVU soldier to help with their reintegration.”
A headache began to form in my temples.His words sounded truthful, yet I had to be wary.If he had an ulterior motive to turning me to his side, I couldn’t figure it out.
Right now, I need to get Aaron and figure out our next move.If he’s trying to weasel his way my mind, I won’t let him.
Arriving at a thrift store namedNew Beginnings, I stopped the car and looked around.No military or unmarked vehicles lurked nearby I could see.Pointing at the shop, I used my other hand and dug around in the console, grabbing a twenty-dollar bill I kept inside for emergencies.“This should be enough to get whatever you need.”I glanced at his forehead.“Not sure how you’re going to explain your horns and lack of a shirt.”
He tapped the lifecord, and his horns disappeared.A smile formed on his mouth as I continued to stare.His sharp teeth now appeared blunt, like most human teeth.“It is a disguise we use when we are on the planet.”
“Why didn’t you use it as soon as you got the lifecord back?”
“The power supply is limited by the damage.Teleporting us out of the facility drained a huge amount, hence not activating the disguise until I absolutely must.De-cloaking, which you could think of asun-creating, requires a full charge, which is why I need what is in that shop.”
“Got it.”I made myself look away.Seeing him without any of the things that made him different stirred a deep sense of guilt in my heart.“I need to get Aaron, but I’ll be over on the next block at that house.”I nodded my chin toward the small brown home.“Hurry.I don’t know how long we have until XVU decides to show up on Myra’s doorstep.”
He opened the door, stepped out, and slammed it shut.Turning toward me, he leaned down to look through the window.
I pulled away before he could say anything.The important thing to focus on is my kid.Whatever happens afterwards, at least I’ll have Aaron with me.
Standing on the concrete step, I pushed the doorbell and smiled at the camera.I threw a quick glance behind me, fighting the sensation of eyes on my back.It’s anxiety from being in danger if XVU knows I’m no longer a hostage.
The heavy wooden door opened, and Myra unlocked the outer glass door and cracked it open.“Hey there.You’re early.Is everything okay?Nelly said there’s some type of lockdown where you work?”
“Mommy!”Aaron, holding his favorite stuffed animal—a green crocodile with a saddle on its back—hopped to my leg and hugged my thigh.
I ruffled his hair and gave Myra a forced smile.“Nothing too major.Just security training or something.I was already on the way out for lunch and decided this would be a great time to take the rest of the day off with Aaron.Lockdowns sometimes last for hours.”
Myra handed over Aaron’s backpack.“Well, no worries.He’s already had lunch, and we were already laying down for a nap when Nelly called.”
I shouldered his pack and took his small hand.“Thanks so much.I’ll see you…”WouldI see her again?Probably not.Even if XVU decided my innocence, could I ever work for them again?Leaving that place with Jet had terrified me, but it had also felt like a one-hundred-pound rock lifting from my shoulders.Plus, I had to admit: the appeal of healing again sparked something I’d thought long dead in my heart.
To be someone Aaron can be proud of when he gets older means more than any amount of money.Besides, his safety concerned me more than anything.I wouldn’t let them take me away from him, even if it meant leaving everything I’d ever known to start fresh.
Myra continued staring at my face, as if waiting for me to say something.
“I’ll see you Monday.”I started down the steps, scanning every tree and bush, every person walking or jogging on the sidewalk.
“Bye!Enjoy your weekend.”The door clicked shut behind me.
