Drenched: Elemental Warriors (A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Paranormal Romance) Page 12
He hummed again, and it rumbled in his chest. "You did, but I don't think that you did it because you're a bad person. I think you were unfulfilled."
"That's putting it mildly. But I was at fault, too. I tend to get...I don't know, unhappy I guess, when I can't have my way. And that makes me do silly things that hurt people. And then apparently I get snatched up by aliens before I can even apologize to those people. It's a hard life."
"You poor thing." Luther kissed the top of her head and sighed softly. "I don't think it would go like that, though. I think you would be surprised. I think I could make you happy."
"But would I make you happy?" Alanna asked, voice soft as she let his words wash over her.
"You already do," Luther said, and suddenly she wanted to cry. It just figured, didn't it, that when she found someone like this, who looked at her like she was a wonder and who talked to her like her thoughts were as important as his own, she would have to leave him.
It hurt to hear how he thought things would go, partly because she couldn't believe that she could ever be a part of anything that worked so well, and partly because she knew they couldn't have it, and even if they could, there was no guarantee that it would last, and then she’d just be stuck here on Lin-Vayel.
And changing her entire life for something that probably wouldn't work in the end just seemed too big a risk to take. No, she was better off going back home where she at least understood how things worked and already knew what she could expect.
They rose early that morning, before the sun was even up. Alanna hadn't slept much anyway, too jittery with nerves and heavy with sadness. She'd expected to feel at least a little bit of relief to be able to go home finally, but instead she just felt strangely hollow and unhappy.
She took one last look around at Luther's home, eyes lingering on all the spots that she had come to love and think of as a little bit her own, before Luther led her out the door.
There was no one else around really, as they made their way down to the docks to get to their shuttle. It was a quiet morning, the air cold and crisp and salty as usual. Alanna sighed softly and let him lead her onwards, wishing she had time to stop and try to capture everything to memory.
"Goodbye," she murmured as they passed places she'd been to before and places she hadn't been to alike.
The docks were a hive of activity, which was a large contrast to the rest of the city at this hour. To her surprise, Clio was leaning over one of the consoles, punching in numbers. She looked up when they entered, a bright smile on her face.
"So we're finally getting rid of you," Clio said, but Alanna could tell that she was teasing.
"Guess so," she said, shrugging a shoulder. "I'm sure you're all relieved."
"Not so," Clio replied. "We're going to miss you."
"What are you doing here?" Luther asked, coming over to them.
Clio gave him a look, hands on her hips. "My best friend and my new friend are going to Earth for a time, and you think I was going to miss this? I volunteered to help get you guys off world. Is that alright?"
She said it with her usual flippancy, but Alanna could tell that she was actually asking because she wanted to make sure it was okay.
Luther just looked at her for a long moment but then he folded her into a hug. "Of course that's alright. Thank you."
Clio laughed and then patted him awkwardly on the back. "You're welcome. Now get on board, so I can get you in the air."
Alanna hugged her next, and then they made their way onto the shuttle. It wasn't as large as the carrier that had brought her to this planet, but it was roomy enough for the two of them. There were three beds in the back, a little kitchen area, and a place to take care of daily ablutions.
According to Luther, unless they managed to hit a really good warp path (which he'd explained to be little pockets of space that had weird gravity and time fluctuations and could shave three days off travel time if you were lucky), it would take about a week to get to Earth in the shuttle they had.
That was fine with Alanna. More time to spend with Luther, and more time to figure out what she was going to tell everyone when she got back to Earth.
Of course, there was something exciting about this trip, mainly that even though she was on a different planet, she'd been unconscious for the take off from Earth, and kept in the back of a place with no windows for the trip to Lin-Vayel, so she hadn't gotten to see anything. At least now she would actually be present and alert for a trip through space.
They got on board and got themselves situated, and Luther looked over to her, taking her hand. "Are you nervous?" he asked.
"About the trip or about going home?"
"Either, I suppose," he said.
Alanna smiled. "Both, kinda."
"Well," he said. "I'll be with you. Don't worry."
And that made all the difference.
Part 2: Earth
Chapter Eight: Noise
The first thing Luther noted about Earth was that it was loud. Which wasn't to say that Lin-Vayel was ever really quiet, of course. There were the sounds of traffic and people going about their days. There were bugs and birds and water creatures making their noises. There was the sound of the wind whipping through the trees. It was a noisy place sometimes.
But it was downright silent compared to Earth. Everything on Earth made noise from the people right on down to the tech. Vehicles were honking and spluttering, people were yelling, machines were humming, and by the end of the first day, he had a headache.
"You get used to it," Alanna said, giving him a sympathetic smile.
It was kind of her to reassure him, especially considering how worked up she was over being back. Apparently being gone with no warning from one's home for weeks was a cause for alarm, and when she had called her friend to tell her she was back, there had been a lot of screaming.
They'd spent most of the ride to Earth trying to decide what they were going to tell people about her disappearance.
Luther had of course suggested just telling people the truth, but that had resulted in Alanna giving him a look so dry that he could feel it sucking the remaining moisture out of him.
"Oh yes," she'd said. "I'll just come back and tell them that some people I never even really got a good look at took me to another planet and I had to stay there for weeks before I could come back. I'll introduce you as one of my friends from this other planet and we can tell them all about how your people commune with water."
Luther gave her a blank look. "What's wrong with that?"
"No one will ever believe it," Alanna said. "It's ridiculous. I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to me. Sometimes I'm still convinced that this is an elaborate dream. Maybe I'm in a coma somewhere."
She was nervous, Luther could tell that much, and he'd pulled her into his lap and spend a while distracting her from her worries.
In the end, they'd come up with a story that Alanna was sure at least a few people would believe.
"What is a nervous breakdown?" Luther wanted to know.
"It's when you get overly stressed out and just can't deal with it anymore. You just stop going to work or eating properly or talking to your friends. I'll just say that breaking up with Alex on top of how much work I was doing made me snap, and I ran away."
"And you think your friends will believe this?"
She'd sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. But it's the best I've got. I can't tell them the truth, and anything else would be too elaborate."
"And what's my role in this?" he'd wanted to know.
"You're a friend that I met where I ended up, and you offered to escort me home when I was ready to come back. It's simple, and it's close enough to the truth that we don't have to spend a lot of time trying to remember cover stories or whatever."
She had a point there, of course. But Luther was stuck on something else. "Just a friend?" he asked.
Alanna made a face at him. "Do you want me to go around calling you my boyfriend?"
"It's what people call their male significant others here. I know it sounds stupid, which is why I would prefer not to say it."
"Hm," was all Luther had said to that, and they'd let the matter drop.
According to Alanna, not much had changed here on Earth. Her car wasn't where she'd left it, but her house was still in one piece. She had to make some calls to get the power and everything turned back on, and there was no food in the place, but it was still standing and still hers.
She'd called someone named Shannon, and there had been a lot of screaming over the phone.
Shannon came over the next day, and there was even more screaming and crying, which made Luther glad that he was hiding in the bedroom until he was summoned.
"What do you mean you had a nervous breakdown?" Shannon demanded. "You just disappeared! No one could get a hold of you, and no one knew where you were!"
"I know, Shan," Alanna said. "I just. I'd had enough. After everything that happened with Alex--"
"I still can't believe you were cheating on him, by the way," Shannon interjected.
Alanna sighed heavily. "I know, it was dumb. I'm not proud of it. The point is that after everything that happened with that and how much stress I was under, I just. I couldn't be here."
"You just left your car at the studio. How did you even get to wherever it is you ended up?"
"I took the bus," she said. "It was a snap decision. I just needed to be somewhere else, so I got on a bus to the first place I saw."
Now, apparently, it was Shannon's turn to sigh. "I just wish you would have said something. To me at least. I thought...I thought something terrible had happened to you. I went to Alex's place and demanded to know what he knew, which was apparently nothing. He was still mad because of what happened with you and that other guy, but he was worried, too. Although while I thought you were just murdered or something, he was concerned that you'd been taken by aliens."
In the bedroom, Luther arched an eyebrow. Alanna laughed out in the other room. "Aliens? He's such a weirdo. There were no aliens, Shannon. Just me making bad decisions."
"Well, that's good, I guess. At least it's not connected to all the other weird stuff that's been happening lately."
"What kind of weird stuff?"
"I don't know, just. People have been seeing stuff. Lights in the sky, random craters in places that happen overnight. And a lot of people have gone missing."
Now Luther was sitting bolt upright, paying attention. It could just be regular Earth crime, or it could be the lead he'd been looking for ever since Alanna had crashed onto his planet.
"How many people?"
"I think something like twelve at last count?" Shannon said. "No one's saying they're all connected, I mean, people disappear every day, but there's no trace of them. From this area and the next three counties over, too, just...gone."
"That is weird," Alanna said, and Luther didn't have to see her to know that she was thinking the same thing he was.
"I'm glad you're alright, at least," Shannon said. "I was really worried."
"I'm sorry," Alanna said again.
They chatted for a bit longer about the strange things that were happening, and then Luther couldn't wait anymore. He pushed the bedroom door open the rest of the way and made his way to the living room where the ladies were.
"Alanna, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear—”
"Oh my god."
Shannon cut him off with her gasped outburst, and Luther and Alanna both turned to look at her. "Sorry," she said. "Just. Who is that?"
She was staring at him, which had him feeling ill at ease, and he hoped that he didn't look too odd.
Alanna sighed, making a face at him. "This is Luther," she said.
"Her boyfriend," Luther added.
Alanna huffed. "Sure. My boyfriend."
"Since when do you have a new boyfriend?" Shannon wanted to know.
"We met while I was away. He took me in when I didn't know anyone else, and he made sure I was okay. And then when I was ready to come back here, he came with me."
"Aw, that's really nice," Shannon said, still staring at him. "He's...well. He's huge."
"He works out," Alanna said. "A lot. A swimmer, you know."
Luther couldn't help the amused look on his face. "It's very nice to meet you," he said to Shannon, bowing at the waist. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh. Wow," Shannon said. "I...it's nice to meet you, too. And can I just say that you are a huge trade up from her last boyfriend, oh my god."
"Shannon," Alanna said sharply.
"What? He is. He's gorgeous."
"He's also standing right there."
Shannon flapped a hand at her. "He'll be fine. Won't you, Luther? You can handle a little fawning, right? You're probably used to it, with the way you look."
Luther was bewildered, but he just smiled at her. "Of course. I actually wanted to ask you more about what you were saying about people disappearing and all."
"Oh, yeah. It's really scary."
"I'm sure. Do you know when it all started?"
"Right after Alanna left, honestly. Or at least that's when I heard about it for the first time. I remember I was really scared because she was just gone, and there were these reports of other people just being gone, and I thought there was like a serial killer or something on the loose and that he'd taken and killed my best friend."
"That does sounds scary," Luther agreed. "Have any of the others been found?"
Shannon shook her head. “Not yet. Not dead or alive, so people are trying to be optimistic, I guess. But it’s just really strange.”
Once Shannon had gone, Alanna let out a slow breath. “God, I didn’t think she was going to buy that. She’s known me for a long time, and can usually tell when I’m lying.”
“I suppose there was just enough truth in it to keep her from noticing,” Luther said, distracted.
“You’re thinking about what she told us, aren’t you? About the missing people?”
“And the rest of it. It doesn’t sound like that’s something that happens here often.”
“Happens every once in a while. Usually people are good at ignoring it or explaining it away, but I guess it’s different now.”
“Do you think it’s actually connected to what happened to you?”
She sighed and sat down next to him. “If it’s not, it’s a hell of a coincidence. Weird stuff happened here and on Lin-Vayel, too, remember? Your supply ship went missing, and all. It seems fair to assume that it’s all connected.”
That was what Luther thought, as well. It was too much of a coincidence, and he didn’t believe in those, anyway. “I should tell the queen,” he said. “She’ll want to know of this.”
“Is there anything she can do about it?”
“She can make inquiries,” Luther said. “Try to figure out if any other planets had humans mysteriously crash land there.”
“And where do we go from there?” Alanna wanted to know.
Luther wished he had an answer for her, but he honestly didn’t know himself. He’d expected that there would be something going on here, or at least something that would lead them to find out why Alanna had been kidnapped, but he wasn’t expecting something on this scale.
“The queen will know what to do,” he said. He hoped.
Luther talked to Varen about all of it. She didn’t seem surprised, but she did seem agitated by the news. It didn’t surprise Luther that it was her reaction, either. She hated feeling toyed with, and he couldn’t say that he was enjoying the sensation himself. They had information, and more pieces of this strange puzzle were coming together, but there was still so much that they didn’t know, and the parts that eluded them were so irritating.
The queen said she would see what she could find out using her connections, and then Luther didn’t hear from her for a day or so.
He was in Alanna’s home by himself, when in his pocket,
his communicator buzzed insistently. It had only done that once since they'd landed on Earth, with a message from the queen saying that their tracker had indicated that they'd arrived, and it would be nice if he could confirm that so she knew they hadn't been hijacked or crashed.
When Luther pulled the device out and checked the signal that it was receiving, it was from the queen. As expected.
"Your Majesty," he said, inclining his head as he accepted the call. The small screen resolved itself to a view of the queen's receiving room with Queen Varen herself sitting in the middle of it. Talking via one of her screens, no doubt.
"Luther," she said. "There has...been a development."
"What sort of development?" Luther asked, already wary. It hadn't even been three days since they'd touched down on this planet, and already it had been nearly non-stop issues. Clearly, all they'd needed to do to find out what was happening, or at the very least find some clues about what was happening, was come to Earth.
"A not very good one, I'm afraid. Although I do suppose that depends on how you look at it."
And now he was really worried. It wasn't like Queen Varen to dance around her point. She was abrupt, usually, and Luther and Clio had the theory that she just liked putting people off their guard.
Sometimes she would intentionally be vague about things, for much the same reason, but this wasn't intentional, Luther could tell that much.
"What's happened?" he asked.
She sighed. "I received a message this morning. From someone I've never seen before, but he seems to know quite a bit about us."
"What does that mean?" He didn't want to get sharp with the queen, that wouldn't end well, but he needed to know what she was going on about.
Varen opened her mouth and then closed it with a sigh. "I should just show you. Prinna." She turned her head to look behind her. "Patch the message through."
For a moment there was just static and the slight sound of the communicator's light plastic casing creaking from how tightly Luther was holding it. Then it cleared and the face of a man could be seen.