Worlds Collide Read online

  Within the sacred space of the restricted area, out of sight of the general population and among the other secret-keepers, the soldiers allowed themselves a more relaxed attitude.

  In an accent that made Velia think of the Midwest, Corporal Hudson drawled, “A moth to a flame, aren’t you, Farrah?”

  “And hoping the novelty never wears off,” she answered, letting her enthusiasm shine forth.

  Even Private Conner, who looked as if she’d never cracked a smile in her twenty-odd years, wore an aura of amusement. “Haven’t seen anyone lose their gusto for that room yet.”

  Hudson nodded his agreement as Velia peeked in the lounge, located next to the one he and Conner guarded. She waved to the four other Marines sitting at a table, playing poker. They waved back, glancing up only an instant from their game.

  Hudson reclaimed her attention. “You must be about done catching up. When are you going official? It’s about time they let you play with the big kids, isn’t it?”

  Velia’s cheeks hurt with the force of her grin. “Tomorrow. I’ve finished all my independent preliminary studies and gotten up to speed with the team’s reports. It’s sink or swim now.”

  “You’ll swim,” Hudson said with assurance. “Your buddies in the hangar are grieving pretty hard to have lost their hotshot wunderkind engineer to this project.”

  “Thanks, Hudson.” Velia flushed with pleasure over being recognized for her work, but her gaze went to the closed door. “I enjoyed my work on DIE, but this is the major leagues. It’s the kind of scenario I’ve wished to be a part of my entire life.”

  “I hope it’s everything it’s cracked up to be.”

  She ignored the undercurrent of darkness in his tone. Hudson was trained and paid to be suspicious. Military, government, and country. The only things worth swearing allegiance to. Velia knew the mindset better than most.

  Her passkey opened the door. Her pounding heart leapt as the lock clicked and she was allowed to step into the chamber, leaving Hudson, Conner, the Marines, and Camp Noname in the Middle of Nowhere behind.

  Chapter Three

  As the door shut and locked behind her, Velia stood in an enormous chamber, easily five times the size of the shack aboveground. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the last gate, the one that opened to the universe. Or so it was said. Only a few, the big boys like General Thomas and his consultants, had actually traveled through the portal, had journeyed the crease in the universe to visit an unnamed planet on the other side.

  Willing her pulse to calm, Velia gazed at the metal circle that bisected the huge room. It reminded her of a silver hoop earring, constructed of dozens of curved panels. Several of the panels glowed, turning the silver loop a soft, incandescent white. The ones not glowing were covered with what Velia thought of as alien graffiti; hieroglyphic-type symbols that seemed to have no purpose beyond decoration.

  Alien graffiti, indeed. The massive hoop had not been created by human hands. Its origins were otherworldly, from the very planet the portal linked Earth to.

  It wasn’t the first instance Velia felt dizzy at the sight of the portal access. She staggered to one of the half dozen chairs scattered around the computer-laden worktable and dropped into it.

  One of these days, it won’t be such a huge deal. But she didn’t believe that for a second. How could the portal not amaze her each and every time?

  Feeling steady again after a few seconds, Velia stood and wandered to the alien podium that waited on the right side of the portal ring, a few yards from its yawning mouth. The computer that made up the stand’s top was covered in brightly colored buttons, with more strange symbols etched on their surfaces.

  As part of the engineering team, Velia would be tasked with deciphering the commands in the technology. Noname’s extraterrestrial benefactors, the creatures that had given them the construction plans for the ship being built in Hangar 13 and other amazing devices, had not yet explained the workings of the portal or the transportation pods that used them. The humans were supposed to prove their abilities to handle alien technology by building the DIE. Only then would they be granted their own portal pod to traverse back and forth between Earth and the thus-far-unnamed planet on the other side.

  General Thomas was not so patient. He wanted the secrets of the portal access, but was leery of disappointing his intergalactic supporters. Engineers had been brought in to study the portal, to learn how it worked, in hopes of discovering its operation ahead of the as-yet-undetermined date when the aliens would share all the data that would make the United States invulnerable to hostile countries.

  A difficult task. The metal covering the podium was all a single piece, solid with no access to its internal workings, except for the colorful buttons. No one had dared to pull the buttons off, for fear of alerting the aliens, who occasionally visited General Thomas. Scanning the device with X-rays, magnetic resonance, and other methods had turned up nothing. The alloy, crafted from compounds identified and not, was impossible to see through.

  Despite the obstacles, the team was fairly certain it knew the flight commands that sent the saucer-shaped pod between Earth and the other planet. The engineers had figured out it was possible to manually punch in coordinates by latitude and longitude to reach different parts of Earth...if they possessed a pod of their own.

  In her work on DIE, Velia had gotten plenty of firsthand information about the computer systems and metal makeup used on the ship’s hull. It was because of her hands-on expertise that she’d been brought in on the portal team. She’d even deciphered some of the alien hieroglyphics that had led to unlocking a few of the secrets of the podium.

  Don’t forget the biggest thing that got you here: the influence of General Thomas.

  I earned my place. Maybe he got me in on the DIE project, but I worked my ass off after that. Nobody can say otherwise.

  Velia swallowed against the moment of uncertainty. At twenty-six, she wasn’t the most experienced of the engineering corps assigned to the myriad facets of the Project. She knew she’d been brought to the front of a long line of brilliant people through General Thomas’s friendship and loyalty to her deceased father.

  Unfair to have used her connections, though the general had made the offer. Velia hadn’t asked, but she’d grabbed the opportunity fast enough when the call came. Unfair or not, it was all she’d wanted. Everything she’d dreamed of from that moment she’d set eyes on an unexplained craft in the night sky seventeen years before.

  It was her enthusiasm that had driven her to excel, perhaps even more than the rigorous dictates set by her father. The exultation of having proof of alien life had made her the most dedicated of Noname’s engineers, the person most intent on discovering all she could parse from the clues handed to her. It had won her the spot on the portal team, the most exclusive of all the Project’s assignments.

  She caressed the podium with her fingertips, a lover’s touch. Someday she would meet the extraterrestrials in the flesh. She would be granted her heart’s desire...to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that there was more out there than her tiny existence. It had been a protracted journey from that fateful night when she was nine years old, staring into the sky at the ship hovering close to her home.

  “Almost there, Father,” she whispered. “Just as you told me I should be. I hope you’re proud at last.”

  She’d barely gotten the words out when a roaring sound answered them, as if the storm outside had somehow found its way in and underground. The inside of the portal ring, which had been empty, burst into red-tinged golden flames. A sizzling sound, like bacon on a hot pan, joined the bellow of the device. Velia stared in shock as an alarm went off.

  As noise blared, an improbable object burst through the flames and settled on the platform beyond the ring. If Velia’s father hadn’t described it to her before his death, she wouldn’t have believed her eyes.

&nb
sp; The dull-gray object really did resemble the old movie versions of a flying saucer. A large, upside-down saucer was exactly how it appeared—with the familiar hieroglyphics impressed around its protruding rim.

  A hatch, its boundaries invisible upon the seamless hull until it began to open, swung wide. The aliens had come. As if in answer to Velia’s cherished dream, she was about to meet them. She gripped the edges of the control podium hard, afraid she’d go light-headed at this most momentous of occasions.

  One creature stepped out. Velia had been warned the beings were unsettling. She had to agree the warnings had been correct, though not in the way she’d expected. This was not a four-foot-tall, black-eyed, expressionless Gray. Not by a long shot.

  Holy shit. It was the only coherent thought her brain could come up with.

  The entity staring about his surroundings was gorgeous. Inhuman, but gorgeous. He was at least six-and-a-half feet tall. Golden with white stripes. Pointed white-tipped ears, like a fox, with a brushy zebra-type mane between them, continuing down to between his shoulder blades. And beefcake muscled, a fact Velia couldn’t miss because the enormous alien was naked. Naked! Or at least she thought he was, until her wicked eyes looked down and saw nothing that should have been present on a nude male.

  Horrified she’d dared to glance down at the alien’s groin for even a moment, Velia jerked her gaze up to meet his. Oh, his eyes are silver! The pupils have points. Focus, Farrah. What are you waiting for? Say hello to him!

  No more than two seconds had passed since the portal flamed to life and the alarms outside had gone off. With only moments before Hudson and the rest came bursting into the room—from the sounds of the alarms, the visit had not been expected—Velia took her opportunity in hand, ignoring the swimming feeling in her head.

  She stepped out from behind the podium control and rushed forward, coming within arm’s length of the creature. Face to face! I made it! “Hello. I’m Velia Farrah—”

  The alien’s fox ears flattened with menace and he snarled at her. She was sure he said words, but they weren’t in English. The way he jabbed one of his two fingers in the direction of the exit interpreted his meaning perfectly. Get out.

  Velia didn’t have an instant to react. The door to the corridor opened and six Marines raced in, guns at the ready. Hudson yelled, “Hostile extraterrestrial! Farrah, get back!”

  Something curled around Velia’s wrist and yanked her toward the striped intruder, pulling her against his body.

  Was that a tail? Did he grab me with a tail?

  Velia was so stunned she initially didn’t realize the alien was dragging her toward the saucer, curling his enormous frame around her. All she noticed, beyond the tail, was that he seemed to think he needed to shield her from the soldiers.

  Then she figured out what was happening. The alien was drawing her toward the open hatch of the saucer. Conner’s shout rang loud.

  “Hostage situation!”

  Hudson shouted, “Call General Thomas! Does anyone know how to talk to this creature?”

  Velia belatedly started to struggle, but the striped man’s tail and muscled arm held her helpless against him. He hauled her inexorably to the hatch.

  “Hey, wait! Let go! Let me go! Help!” she screamed, shoving against the striped man. Kicking did no good. Her hiking boots bounced off legs as solid as concrete.

  The soldiers didn’t dare fire. The alien held Velia close, snarling his sibilant-laced language the whole time as he pulled her into the saucer. He tugged her behind a podium identical to that which stood in the portal chamber. He slapped a green button and the hatch closed quickly, shutting out the frantic yells of the Marines who could not save her.

  The alien shoved her aside, sending her staggering a few steps. He punched another couple of buttons. There was the sensation of lifting, much like an elevator.

  The saucer was leaving the portal chamber. Leaving Earth. Velia ran for the closed hatch and pounded on it.

  “No! Let me out!”

  The floor shifted again. It was too late. The porthole windows dotting the side of the ship showed the blazing portal passage. Velia stepped from the hatch and turned to her abductor.

  * * *

  “Damn you, Earthling. What were you doing in there? You ruined everything,” Jape muttered under his breath.

  He’d expected the guards to come charging into the chamber. Not a problem. He’d required only a few seconds to enact his plan. Based on what he knew of the species, the time of day should have ensured the room would be deserted of active personnel.

  Arrive. Keep the portal active. Toss the charger into it. Then try to make it home before he was blown to bits. And if he couldn’t? Small price to pay. In fact, he’d be paying the debt that was due.

  Except someone had been in the chamber, derailing his scheme. A female, no less, unarmed and vulnerable.

  Jape pulled in the tendril of flesh he’d formed to grab the woman. It disappeared into his spine, and he hardened that portion of his skin. He ignored her gasp.

  He could ease up. He had no need to be armored, not now. He was sure the wide-eyed female posed no real threat to him, armored or not. Not with that ridiculously tender skin.

  She’s an Earthling from a hostile military facility. Treacherous. Let’s not forget she’s part of the threat to Risnar.

  The whisper in his head brought forward the faces of the lost. Those he’d let down. Jape’s lips pressed tight together. I will not lose more.

  If he’d not been so surprised by her presence, thrown off balance enough that he’d hesitated at the worst possible time, he’d have run back into the collection pod and hightailed it to Risnar. Instead, instinct had kicked in when the Earthling warriors had burst into the room. Seeing their weapons raised, pointed in his direction and likewise putting the female in danger, had set his protective instincts in motion.

  They wouldn’t have attacked him, not with her in the way. Nonetheless, getting her out of the line of fire had been automatic. An intuitive urge, with no room to argue.

  Jape should have set her free once he got in the pod. That’s what he would have done, if he’d been thinking straight. It would have been as reflexive as trying to protect her in the first place.

  His innate drives had been subverted. Jape had been ready for hostility. Even a fight. But not her. That smile. That scent of her that makes me think of the first heat of summer.

  Stupid to have been stunned by the tender, open expression on a pretty Earthling face. Her eyes alight with some joy, her face filled with the delight of a child given a wonderful surprise. For an insane moment after his attempt to order her out of the room, Jape had regretted destroying that shining instant.

  She wasn’t smiling any longer. She stared at Jape in shock. Her eyes were the same shade of gold-flecked brown as her gently waved, silky hair.

  The astonishment in her expression was replaced by growing fear. No woman had ever looked at Jape with fright before. He was a bolep, an enforcer and warrior, charged with keeping others safe. Although he’d failed in that task spectacularly three months before, he still saw himself as the kind of man who defended the vulnerable. That this delicate creature thought he would consider harming her was a blow to his pride.

  Why do you care if she fears you? Most Earthlings have proven themselves to be untrustworthy. She doesn’t know you. She’s projecting what she herself could be guilty of.

  Still, he couldn’t cope with the failure of his mission and her cringing at the same time. The pod would take care of itself now that it was on its way to its destination, allowing Jape to ignore the vessel’s workings. He could focus on his unintended passenger.

  He folded his arms over his chest and snorted at the Earthling. He spoke loud enough for the ship’s translator program to decipher for her. “I will not harm you. I will return you to your planet as soon as I can.”<
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  She blinked to hear her language spoken in his deep, carrying voice. Her alarm edged down a notch, and she spoke in a husky alto that thrummed through Jape’s gut. “Why did you kidnap me in the first place?”

  The golden flecks in her eyes were a match for the portal passage’s flickers in the windows. They flashed brighter as she spoke. Fires of her spirit, strong despite her uncertainty. Jape swallowed.

  “You weren’t supposed to be there.”

  “And you were?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “What are you? Are you among our allies? Those I was told about?”

  Allies. The word curdled his guts, made her less entrancing. “Your allies from my world are monstrous. It says little of your kind that they would work with creatures like the Monsuda.”

  “This isn’t your craft? You didn’t build it?”

  “My people took it.” At a high cost. Far too high. Jape could name each of the dead, could see the faces in his mind. Lan, Duhon, Serek, Mun...

  And more. Too many more.

  “You took it from those who wish to help my people against our enemies?”

  “The Monsuda help only themselves. Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool.”

  The Earthling’s eyes sparked with fresh anger. Golden fire.

  No, don’t let that distract you. She names the Monsuda as allies. She is either treacherous or stupid. Nothing like Anneliese.

  Though for a moment, this female reminded him of Anneliese, the woman warrior. Such a thing was a contradiction in terms, but it was accurate. Anneliese was a true fighter, a former soldier on her world. A warrior on his now. Anneliese had proven herself to him. Brave, determined, and not one to put herself above the emotion-driven men of his planet, she had earned Jape’s respect. She had also admitted her species’s error in colluding with the Monsuda, the enemy of the Risnarish for untold millennia.