Page 26 of Possessed By the Alien Guard
A loud beep sounded.I hurried into the control room.The computer screen flashed red.I dropped into the chair and tapped to activate comms.“This is Lieutenant Jones checking in.”
“Hold for the Colonel,” a tense voice said.
I drummed my fingers on the hard plastic of the console.I was so tired I felt like I could drop, but anxiety also buzzed through my body.Just how bad could things be?Surely, we weren’t going to go to war with the Varool.
“Lieutenant Jones,” Colonel Roberts’ voice blasted from the computer speakers, her tone even more strident than normal.“You were out of contact.”
“Apologies, Colonel.I was out on patrol and fell.My tablet broke.”
“Things are heating up with the aliens.Has there been any suspicious movement from the Varool in your location?”
Suspicious?Does eating me out for a good half hour count?
I slapped a hand over my mouth, worried a nervous giggle would escape.Oh, god!What could I say of what had happened between me and Fin?
Nothing.I could say nothing.Not yet.
I cleared my throat and prayed my voice would remain steady.“Nothing, Colonel.Everything’s fine here.”
“Well, keep an eye out.And no more patrols too far from base.I want to be able to get a hold of you at a moment’s notice.We may need to evac.”
“Evac?”I echoed, a chill racing through me.I didn’t want to leave!
“I’ll give you as much warning as I can.Roberts out.”
I sat staring at the computer screen, which cleared to show Fin’s outpost.As if he knew I watched, he stepped outside, Billy running past his legs to trot across the ground.
Fin halted for a long while, staring in my direction, and I zoomed the camera in as far as it would go until his face smeared into a blob of pixilation.
But I knew what he looked like now—those green eyes, killer cheekbones, and lips I wanted to kiss.
I pressed my fingers to his image, missing him already.
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Over the next two anda half days, a storm raged outside, howling around the base and throwing sheets of rain across any of the camera views.
The situation in orbit hadn’t gotten any better.If anything, it had become worse.The top brass weren’t saying anything official, of course, but both Jonjon and Aiko had sent me comms texts in our old code from when we’d been rebellious teens.Everyone feared war but wouldn’t stop complaining about the Varool trying to take over.
I wrote three or four messages, both to my friends and to the military higher ups, saying maybe the aliensshouldbe in charge.But I erased all of them—how could I explain such a change of heart?
Fin stepped from his building that third morning, the sunlight of a beautiful day outlining his body.Billy gamboled around his feet, kicking up his hind legs, eager to be outside.My chest ached when Fin raised one arm high overhead and waved to me.
“I can’t take this anymore.”I shoved to my feet.Loneliness had me in its grip, but I had a solution—two of them.
I shoved the base’s spare tablet into the pocket of my jumpsuit and ran outside.
Fin saw me immediately, and I waved and pointed down into the valley, then took off in that direction.
It was a crazy descent, with me taking huge steps and letting gravity help me down the steeper sides of the mountain.When I got to the river, I barely paused to map my route across the raised rocks.I could see Fin and Billy on the other mountain coming down to meet me, and I couldn’t wait!
I hopped from rock to rock, ignoring the rushing of the water—so much water!—to just keep going, momentum carrying me forward and across.
With one last leap, my boots crunched into the gravel of the river bank.I teetered forward, my arms windmilling to keep me upright.Then black boots sprang into view and strong arms swept me up against a hard mass of muscle.
I hiccupped out a half-laugh, half-sob, and clung to Fin, my face buried in his chest.
