Close Encounters of the Alien Kind

A Nocturne Falls Universe Story

Fiona Roarke

Dear Reader,

Nocturne Falls has become a magical place for so many people, myself included. Over and over I’ve heard from you that it’s a town you’d love to visit and even live in! I can tell you that writing the books is just as much fun for me.

With your enthusiasm for the series in mind—and your many requests for more books—the Nocturne Falls Universe was born. It’s a project near and dear to my heart, and one I am very excited about.

I hope these new, guest-authored books will entertain and delight you. And best of all, I hope they allow you to discover some great new authors! (And if you like this book, be sure to check out the rest of the Nocturne Falls Universe offerings.)

For more information about the Nocturne Falls Universe, visit http://kristenpainter.com/sugar-skull-books/

In the meantime, happy reading!

Kristen Painter

Close Encounters of the Alien Kind

A Nocturne Falls Universe Story

Copyright © 2017 by Fiona Roarke

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction and was made possible by a special agreement with Sugar Skull Books, but hasn’t been reviewed or edited by Kristen Painter. All characters, events, scenes, plots and associated elements appearing in the original Nocturne Falls series remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Kristen Painter, Sugar Skull Books and their affiliates or licensors.

Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or Sugar Skull Books.

Published in the United States of America.

Close Encounters of the Alien Kind

Pilot. Guard. Prisoner.

All three are crashed in the Georgia woods, lost on a world where extraterrestrials are the stuff of science fiction. Blending into the human world is doable, if dangerous. But what if the locals are far from human themselves, with secrets of their own?

Former bounty hunter Stella Grey grew up an orphan on family-centric Alpha-Prime, so she knows the value of belonging. Leaving everything—and everyone—behind to join distant kin a galaxy away in Alienn, Arkansas, is a small price to pay. Heading up a retrieval operation following a spacecraft crash in rural Georgia is her chance to prove herself to them.

Her mission? Locate the ship’s occupants. Secure the prisoner. And, above all, keep the earthlings from discovering that aliens live and walk among them.

Draeken Phoenix is the bad boy from one of Alpha-Prime’s best families, known for getting in and out of scrapes with wit, charm and sheer bravado. He never expected to become an actual prisoner bound for a galactic gulag. Until now, the worst thing that had ever happened to him was losing the woman he loved.

But he has a plan.

He’s bet his life on it.

<^> <^> <^>

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To Kristen for giving me this truly premium opportunity.

And thanks so much for letting me crash a UFO in your world. It was really fun.

Prologue

<^> <^> <^>

Alienn, Arkansas – Mission Room in the basement facility below the Big Bang Truck Stop

Stella Grey had been summoned. Excitement filled her body and soul as she seated herself at the conference table. She’d checked the rotation chart three times before coming in here, confirming she was about to be in charge of her first mission.

Diesel Grey, her cousin and the facility’s Fearless Leader, sat at the head of the conference table. Stella and the other two members of her team sat to his left, filling one side of the table, all composed and professional, with pens in hand and ready to jot down important notes.

Seated between the other two, Stella did her best to maintain a nonchalant façade for the benefit of her team. It wouldn’t do for Elise Midori and Victoria Greene to see her lose her cool. She knew this was all business as usual for the team, but today was special for her.

“There has been a UFO crash just outside of a place called Nocturne Falls, Georgia. It’s about an eight-hour drive from here. There are three souls aboard the ship. You’ll be responsible for recovering all of them, hopefully alive.” Diesel consulted a sheet of gray paper, the color of the paper meant the message was of the highest priority. “There is a pilot, a guard and a prisoner.”

“Are their names available?” Stella asked.

“No. This was the first run of a new endeavor for our business. Since it was last minute, we only got bare information.”

“What new endeavor?” Elise asked.

Diesel lowered the paper to explain. “We’ve secured a contract to serve as a way station for the gulag transport system shuttling prisoners from Alpha-Prime to Galactic Gulag XkR-9. Normally this would be a monthly run, but there is a lucrative addendum on our contract for small runs between the scheduled ones.

“This flight happened to be an out-of-routine run to the gulag with a single prisoner. It’s due to that, unfortunately, we don’t have any detailed information.”

Stella regarded the Fearless Leader with some surprise as he outlined the known facts for the coming assignment. Typically, he was edgier during mission briefs.

This mission was obviously important because a possible alien sighting had to be controlled. Anytime a team was sent out, there was the potential threat of earthlings discovering their existence on Earth. That was always a big deal, but certainly nothing they hadn’t dealt with before.

Stella had never seen her cousin appear so…relaxed during a task assignment meeting. He was usually overly concerned about such things and that translated often to a more serious and gruff presentation. His odd demeanor was enough to put her senses on the alert.

“What do we know about the place we’re headed?” she asked.

“Not much. The crash site is a couple of miles from town in a wooded area, which is good for us.”

“Nocturne Falls. Farming community? One-industry town?” Stella asked, pen poised to note the details in her mission log.

“It seems to be a themed town.”

Elise voiced the question before Stella could. “A themed town? What’s that?”

Diesel read from his reference document. “Nocturne Falls is billed as the town that celebrates Halloween three hundred and sixty-five days a year.”

Stella and her teammates exchanged looks that said, “What?”

“Interesting.” Elise crossed her arms as she always did when she pondered new information. The fiery redhead was a warrior at heart, a loyal fighter and a great teammate. So was Victoria, who had long dark hair, a quiet, serious intelligence and had fooled many into thinking she was harmless as an opponent. She wasn’t. None of them were. Stella thought the three of them made an excellent team.

Diesel shrugged. “I figure it’s a little bit like our aboveground operation here. We run a truck stop with a spacey, galactic theme. They run their whole town with a Halloween theme.”

“What else do we know?” Stella asked.

“There has been no communication with the ship since we lost it over Georgia. A final garbled message came after they dropped off our sensor screens, reporting some sort of problem upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, and we briefly had a weak beacon signal once they were on the ground. That has since stopped transmitting, but at least we have the approximate location.”

“Is it a hot scene?” Elise asked, using the term that meant humans were either already involved in the crash site or at least knew about it.

“We don’t think so. It seems the camouflage held until they went down, but since the beacon has stopped, we don’t know exactly what you’re going to find. Best-case scenario, you get to the crash site before any humans do.” Diesel stared directly at Stella when he said the last part. She was being briefed not only as a member of the preliminary team, but also in her first role as commander of the personnel retrieval team.

Stella, Elise and Victoria had gone on several missions to check out other reports, but never anything as big or as vitally important as this.

Success with her in charge of such a critical assignment would, in Stella’s mind, go a long way to ensuring her inclusion in the extended family she’d found on Earth.

She wanted a home here in Alienn, Arkansas with a friendly and supportive family more than anything. Uncle Zeb, Aunt Xenia and their children had been friendly and supportive, but Stella wanted to contribute. She wanted to be valuable to them. She wanted to belong.

“You will leave immediately,” Diesel said in a low, controlled voice. “Each of you should take a Defender along with a full tactical equipment pack. Talk to Cam. He’ll see that you’re outfitted completely with whatever you may need for this important mission. I believe he has some brand-new gear he’d like you to try out in the field.”

Cam was one of Diesel’s younger brothers and primarily in charge of security at the Big Bang Truck Stop and the large alien facility below ground. He dabbled in creating and developing new technology to help keep humans from discovering their presence on Earth. The Defender was their latest and greatest weapon.

Diesel and Cam were two of the six boys and one girl in their immediate family. Stella often felt sorry for the youngest of their clan, who preferred to be called Valene. Stella thought the sound of the girl’s true name was beautiful, but apparently Valvoline was also the name of motor oil and automotive lubricants for vehicles and thus much hated by the youngest daughter—and only girl cousin—of her newfound family.

Valene made it seem like half a dozen older brothers were cruel and unusual punishment, but perhaps Stella’s early life as an only child and now an orphan in this galaxy, making her the last in her family line, influenced her attitude in the other direction. Still, she supported Valene. They were almost the same age, with Stella being not quite two years older, and had become fast friends since Stella arrived on Earth a year ago.

“Has there been any communication with the downed ship since they crashed?”

“No,” Diesel said. “But as the beacon worked for a short time afterward, it’s possible the ship is at least partially intact. With luck, you’re only providing transport back to Alienn for the trio.

“If the ship is in one piece, hide it or camouflage it. The vessel retrieval team will leave tomorrow morning and work independently to recover the wreckage and any equipment. Cam will provide camouflage tarps for you to use if the spacecraft can be seen by any humans before the other retrieval team gets there.”

Stella wondered if Diesel’s calm, collected, even patient manner was due to his new romance. Recently their Fearless Leader had become involved with an earthling. It wasn’t a scandal, exactly, but pretty close, even though everyone liked Juliana. While many secretly wondered at her appeal, Stella decided Diesel’s human girlfriend must be a good influence on his typical edginess.

As the eldest offspring in the Grey family, Diesel’s command had been mostly assured from the start, but now he seemed much more comfortable in his role as Fearless Leader of their people here on Earth. Before his romance with the earthling, he wore the command like a pair of space boots that didn’t quite fit; now, it seemed like his Fearless Leader footwear had finally been broken in. If that was the case, and Juliana was the reason, Stella was happy for them both.

She liked this calmer version of their Fearless Leader.

“Any more questions?” he asked, and genuinely seemed to want feedback.

“Should we stay together or split up once we get to Georgia?” Elise asked. She’d been the leader the last time the team went out.

Diesel narrowed his eyes. “That will be up to Stella, your mission’s team leader.”

Her teammates turned in unison to stare at her. “Stella is in charge?” they asked at the same time.

“Yes. I’m sorry that wasn’t clear up front. She is next in the rotation. Will that be a problem?”

“No,” they hastened to answer again at the very same time, although both cast another questioning look in her direction. So what if this was her first command? Everyone was afforded a chance to lead and this was her turn. That it was an important retrieval mission shouldn’t matter.

Diesel being her true-blood cousin should have no bearing on this. Everyone had a lot of cousins in Alienn, Arkansas. Anytime a new face popped up, the tried and true explanation was always, “Oh, that’s just a cousin, visiting.”

Along with being known as The Natural State, it was possible Arkansas could be considered the Cousin State. Even orphans like her had cousins. There was nothing wrong with that, in Stella’s possibly biased opinion.

“Thank you for this opportunity, Diesel,” Stella said. Even though it was her turn in the rotation, a single word from Diesel would have put a new team leader in charge, no questions asked. He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Stella turned slightly so she faced Diesel and her team on this clandestine mission to a place called Nocturne Falls, Georgia.

“We’ll assess the crash site when we get there to determine whether splitting up will be beneficial to the mission. If they are merely without communication ability, we’ll provide transport and help with any small salvage of critical equipment on their vessel before we hide it for the retrieval team.”

“Good plan,” Diesel said. “Check in on a regular basis. Set up the contact schedule with Cam before you go.”

“Yes, sir,” the women answered.

“Be vigilant in all you do during this mission. If the opportunity presents itself, do a full workup of the area. We’ve never explored this far beyond our watch photos of terrain. Also, work together, return safely and, above all else, keep on truckin’.”

The familiar phrase was something their people used when their kind went out into distant areas, much like earthlings said, “Hi and how’s it going? And safe travels.”

“Yes, sir,” they repeated.

“Dismissed.”

Stella exited, followed by the other two women. They’d get their Defenders and field equipment from Cam, including whatever new tech he’d invented. They’d also grab their pre-packed travel bags from the barracks hidden below the Big Bang Truck Stop.

Once geared up, they would sign out the appropriate vehicle, one large enough to carry six people. It was getting close to nightfall, which offered them the best advantage for this mission. Searching in the woods of Georgia for a crashed UFO was better accomplished under the cover of darkness.

The main mission would be easy if the craft was intact and the occupants were merely lacking communications equipment. It would be much more complicated if the team discovered fatalities, grievous injuries or had to recapture the prisoner who’d be loose in unfamiliar territory.

Keep on truckin’ was in fact the best Stella could do right now.

Chapter One

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken Phoenix opened his eyes, waking in a rush, the same as he did each and every day. The temporary holding cell on Alpha-Prime had been a paradise compared to XkR-9, the galactic gulag he was to be imprisoned on in the Andromeda galaxy.

The view as he lay on his back was unexpected. Strange noises came next, filtering into his brain confirming the realization that he was not where he thought he should be. Not in a holding cell. Not on Alpha-Prime. Towering trees filled his sight as the strange calls of alien wildlife sifted through his fuzzy awareness and into his mind. There was fading sunshine in the very oddly colored light blue sky, and he remembered where he was. Earth. Alpha-Prime also had blue skies, but the atmosphere had a much darker azure blue display in comparison.

Memories from the trip came next. His brother, Riker, guarded him and another good friend, Holden, piloted the ship through the Milky Way toward his final destination two galaxies away, the dangerous gulag XkR-9.

He didn’t take the time to dwell on the fact he hadn’t committed the crime that sent him to the gulag. Doing so would be useless. Besides, he’d made a tense situation better by making his own deal. He was still confident he’d come out on top.

Draeken put his mind to the issue at hand.

He pondered the loud, ugly-sounding noise that had come from the engine right before Holden lost control of their spacecraft and the sick feeling of falling before his friend did a dangerous reverse thruster maneuver to slow them and keep from crashing into the planet at warp speed. That last-second ploy likely saved them. Well, it had saved him anyway. He hoped his fellow travelers had survived. Regardless of what Riker and Holden were doing on this particular mission, he certainly didn’t wish them harmed.

Draeken lifted his head—the pain of that motion was bearable in the short term—looking for the spacecraft he’d come here in. The tree tops swayed in the wind. This was truly an alien planet. The trees on Alpha-Prime never got this tall. A tall tree on his homeworld was at best ten feet and nothing like the massively high trees of Earth. He’d studied many aspects of this planet over the past year before crashing on it. He wished he was here for a vacation instead of as a halfway point to imprisonment in a gulag.

A future Earth vacation was already on his mental to-do list, so Draeken sat up and took in his surroundings more fully. He pushed the hefty branch of a bush away from his face, inadvertently cracking and snapping smaller limbs in the process with his strength. The forested area was a sight to behold. He stood, using a large tree trunk for support. The landscape was beautiful, alien and quiet with the exception of the hidden wildlife and their strange noises.

Where was the ship? How far had he been thrown from it?

He was fortunate he wasn’t human. Alphas—slang for residents of Alpha-Prime—had superior humanoid bodies able to withstand much more physical stress than that of the average frail earthling. Alphas were taller on average, stronger, smarter and able to withstand heat and cold to a greater degree than Earth’s humanoids.

His first step didn’t cause any pain. Neither did the second. He took a moment to stretch, cataloging an ache in his shoulder and a pinch in his side. He stepped out of the brush at the base of the tree, realizing he’d been well concealed.

No one would have seen him during a cursory glance of the forested area. Then he noticed one of the manacles still attached to his forearm. Space potatoes! The iron circlet plainly marked him as a prisoner. Which he was, technically, but he hated that it was on display for this new world to see. His shirtsleeve didn’t cover the manacle entirely. He tugged on the cuff to no avail.

He took a few more steps forward and spotted the edge of the spacecraft. He moved closer. Holden had done an amazing job of landing the ship. The spacecraft was basically in one piece, although the top of the cabin area had ripped completely off, reminding him of peeling the lid off containers of dehydrated space camp food during summers in his youth.

The compartment that had held the three men for the trip was exposed to the earth and its tall, waving trees. The bulk of the chain used to shackle him hung limply from the rings on the seat he’d used. Interesting that the chain had released in the crash. Perhaps it was designed to do that as a safety precaution. Or perhaps his brother had released him in the last moments of their descent as a gesture of pity or compassion—Draeken could be free for half a second before crashing to his death.

Riker’s seat was a mangled mess. Draeken felt his stomach drop to his feet when he saw how much blood covered most of the seat and one armrest. The absence of his brother’s body gave him some hope. Maybe Riker had been thrown clear, too.

Draeken searched the immediate crash area for his brother and Holden. There was no sign of either man. He thought he could make out what looked like large space boot steps leading south through the woods. There were a few drops of blood on the pilot’s chair, and a slew of footprints that didn’t match the large space boots in the soft soil beside the far side of the ship. Had earthlings already come across the ship and carted off his fellow travelers?

He followed the footprints until they reached a path into the forest. He didn’t see any boot prints, but perhaps his friends had been carried out. Or perhaps the footsteps were there before they crashed. He couldn’t be sure.

Draeken turned back and followed the boot prints south, figuring they must belong to either Riker or Holden. He wouldn’t leave until he discovered his brother’s location.

The boot prints stopped when he came to a paved road winding through the trees. A sign several yards ahead said in one of the planet’s common scripts, Nocturne Falls—Where every day is Halloween, 2 miles. Great, a town. Hopefully he’d be able to find his fellow crash victims there. He tugged on his too-short sleeve again; it hid part of his prison manacle, but made his shirt fit uncomfortably.

Draeken walked along the side of the road, taking in the wonder of this land’s beautiful landscape. Alpha-Prime was rather desolate in comparison, even though it was considered the garden spot of their galaxy. It did have vegetation and short trees, but nothing as lush as what this planet had to offer.

He was halfway to Nocturne Falls before another thought occurred. Perhaps the telltale manacle wouldn’t mark him as a prisoner on this planet. Perhaps he could go into this Nocturne Falls place and blend in as a human. He’d say he was on vacation and hide out on this world for a while. What if no one ever found him? He’d want to ensure Riker knew he was okay. Draeken hadn’t committed the crime he was accused of. It was possible more time away from confinement would give others the ability to discover the true perpetrator.

As he walked closer to his first earthling community, Draeken talked himself out of hiding anywhere on Earth, no matter how much fun that would be. He’d struck a deal and planned to see it through to the end.

He had a plan, one that would ensure his future.

His first order of business was to locate his fellow passengers on the ill-fated trip to the gulag, especially his brother. He’d identify himself to Riker and Holden if necessary, but planned to do his best to ensure their safety from a distance and continue with his ultimate plan.

Influencing his decision was the fact he wouldn’t mind exploring Earth, and this might be his singular opportunity to do so for an undefined amount of time. All he needed to do was find a way to conceal his general prisoner-like appearance.

Once he got to the town, he’d assess if there was some way for him to hide out or change his appearance. He hoped Nocturne Falls wasn’t some sleepy town without any nightlife whatsoever. If it was, he was sure to be noticed.

<^> <^> <^>

Stella, Elise and Victoria reached the crash site exactly ten hours after the craft had gone down. While they could have flown a craft here faster, it wasn’t human-like and therefore too risky for a situation like this. They never fought harder to be human than when they were on the brink of possible discovery. So they’d come by way of a silver, mid-sized SUV they’d hidden in the woods half a mile away under a camouflage tarp.

It was very early in the morning, well before dawn. Using flashlights and alien scanning technology, they discovered fairly quickly what had happened in the hour directly after the crash. No humans were milling around the immediate area. That was good. However, the craft’s three occupants were missing. While not bad, exactly, that was very troublesome.

There were established protocols for spacecraft flying into Earth’s atmosphere, but this was the first run of a new contract.

Their Fearless Leader had been clear. Recover the survivors. Hide any shred of alien evidence from the humans until the vessel retrieval team arrived. And, if possible, survey and investigate the general area and town for future reference.

It appeared the sound dampeners hadn’t been disabled as the craft came down hard in the forest. They were all in agreement of that since there weren’t any earthlings in the vicinity. If anyone in town had seen or heard the crash, they would have already investigated by now.

Stella noticed two sets of space boot-type footprints leading from the craft toward the south, the same direction as Nocturne Falls, where they celebrated Halloween all the time.

There were also several sets of non-space boot-type prints near the craft that were definitely not left there by the pilot, the guard or the prisoner. Stella’s heart raced searching the area, waiting to be startled by an earthling cleverly hiding behind something ready to jump out and scare her into an early grave. There was no one she could see. Just her two teammates. Inhaling a silent breath, she forced herself to calm down and do what she’d been sent here for.

The non-space boot prints led north along a narrow path in the woods into a deeper part of the forest and away from town. Had one of the survivors been captured and hauled away or, equally disturbing, had any parts from the craft been removed? Stella scanned the ship with her flashlight once more searching for anything obvious torn away or scavenged. Nothing looked like it had been ripped away or gouged out.

Stella was coming around to the idea that the footprints in question had already been on the ground before the space craft had crashed. She looked carefully one more time, but didn’t see anything obvious missing besides the three passengers, so perhaps they were in luck.

The communications equipment and armaments were damaged, but all accounted for. Stella breathed a silent sigh of relief, feeling more and more like they were the first to this site. Elise volunteered to follow the human tracks north and discover if one of the crash victims had been carted off. Just in case.

“I’ll also check for any souvenir parts snatched from the craft and confiscate them,” she added. “But maybe we got lucky and I won’t find a thing.”

Stella nodded. “Check in regularly if possible. If you can’t, we’ll meet by the road sign near the SUV at the scheduled time. Okay?”

They all had communicators to send messages, much like texting on human phones. There were only landline telephones available in Alienn, but Stella could message their compound directly using the communication device.

Cell phones were prohibited in Alienn, and it was a service dead zone anyway. It was all part of the security protocol designed to hide their vast underground complex and any spacecraft that might be landing and taking off.

She and Victoria explored the crash site a bit more and then pulled the camouflage tarp over most of the wreckage.

“Go ahead into town,” Stella told Victoria. “I’ll finish up here and then we can arrive in town at different times, so as not to rouse suspicions about why we’re truly here.”

“Will do,” Victoria said and headed out of the crash site area, her small backpack, with the gear Cam had insisted they take, slung over one shoulder.

Stella opened her gear bag, grabbed her Defender in hand and did one more perimeter check of the crash site for any small, overlooked pieces of wreckage. She moved deeper into the forest, making a larger circular route around the site, searching for anything out of the ordinary, but saw nothing.

Halfway into her wider search, she thought she heard a laugh echoing through the trees, but after remaining as still as a statue for five long minutes, listening for anything more, she decided it must have been the wind and her vivid imagination playing tricks. Satisfied the area in and around the crash was clean, she strolled back to where the broken ship waited for the vessel retrieval team.

The sun was up by now and shafts of morning light filtered down through the trees at an angle, making the area beautiful until she noticed part of the camouflage had torn away. Was someone here? Stella carefully searched the area, circling the ship once, but no one was around. She shook off her nervousness and chalked it up to the recent memories of a frightening incident in Alienn where a malevolent creature had gotten loose in the streets of Alienn and had caused fear and panic for an evening.

Granted, occurrences like that were very rare and she should stop freaking out about it. Stella came through a dense section of forest and saw that the nose of the ship had become visible. The tarp had come loose and was now flapping back and forth in the light breeze. Space potatoes. She needed to secure it better this time. She hooked her blue and white Defender—which looked a lot like a mini megaphone—to her belt and reached for the corner of the camouflage tarp.

Stella grabbed one edge of the loose fabric and resumed pulling the cover over the nose of the spacecraft securing it better this time. She was almost done when she heard a twig snap behind her. Her heart leapt to her throat, but she rolled her eyes at herself. She had just vowed not to be frightened by every little noise. Sheesh.

Even so, she stilled, counting to five, hoping it was an animal or some non-human entity. At the end of her count, she turned slowly, her hopes plummeting as she saw her audience. Three humans stared back at her as if in shock. Two young men flanked a taller, more muscular man.

“What are you covering up there?” asked the taller man. His vivid blue gaze pierced her deeply.

“Nothing.” Stella finished smoothing one palm over the nose cone as her fingers wrapped around the grip of her Defender in her other hand, silently pulling it from her belt.

One of the younger men said, “See? What did I tell you? Isn’t it rad, Sheriff?”

Before the older man could answer, Stella drew her Defender and fired.

As expected, the humans froze for a second as the invisible blast hit them. The two younger humans went blank faced and collapsed, leaving the tall “sheriff” standing alone. His stature reminded her of her own people. Maybe with his bigger size he’d need a second blast.

Stella lifted the Defender again. The sheriff watched her with growing hostility.

“What did you just do?” he asked, the ferocity in his tone clear.

“Nothing.” She pointed the weapon directly at him and pulled the trigger again. He didn’t fall down. He frowned and leapt forward with what seemed like superhuman speed, landing a foot from her. He grabbed her arm and wrenched the Defender from her hand. “Did you just shoot me again?”

“I don’t understand,” Stella said, not comprehending why the Defender—the Big D, as they’d nicknamed it—didn’t work on him. Was he alien? He couldn’t be. No other aliens were allowed on Earth. Alpha-Prime had jurisdiction of this planet.

“You aren’t from Alpha-Prime, are you?” she whispered more to herself than him. She could have bit her tongue. She shouldn’t have admitted out loud or even thought about her home planet in front of an earthling.

“What is Alpha-Prime?” The sheriff locked his free hand around her forearm. His grip felt unbreakable.

She gave an experimental tug against his hold. Nothing happened. She flattened her lips, realizing her superior strength was not fazing this man. “Who are you, then?”

“I’m Hank Merrow, the sheriff of Nocturne Falls. And you’re under arrest.”

“Arrest?” Stella almost let out a laugh. “For what?”

He looked at the two young men crumpled on the forest floor. “Murder and attempted murder.”

Chapter Two

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Draeken strolled down the crowded main street of this utterly enchanting and very amazing town. He’d never seen anything like it during his research of this planet, and he’d studied Earth quite a bit before this surprise arrival. Sure, he’d seen many of the various holiday customs of this planet, but typically each only came once a year.

To have a whole town devoted solely to the most interesting holiday of the year, Halloween… Well, he was in heaven. He marveled at the potential for fun he could have here. How had he never seen this place listed anywhere as a travel destination before? If it turned out to be as fun as it looked, he’d make a point to visit every chance he got. If his super-secret plan worked the way it was supposed to, that is.

He’d gotten to town after dark the night before and wandered around the very interesting town. His first destination had been the hospital. He managed to search the emergency area and discover it had been a quiet night by delving into the minds of the humans. No unidentified victims or aliens had been brought in recently. He left vowing to search every inch of the town, but his energy was wearing down. He couldn’t remember the last time he’s slept a full night. Probably back at Alpha-Prime.

At the center of Nocturne Falls was a fountain with a large carved gargoyle in attendance. Several humans clamored around the huge statue, posing and taking pictures. Draeken hadn’t wanted a picture, but got the feeling the gargoyle seemed oddly alive for a creature that was supposed to be inanimate. Perhaps he’d suffered a head injury in the crash and was off his game.

For quite a while he watched the large carved rock being carefully, expecting him to lunge forward after one too many pictures and crush the nearest camera that had flashed too brightly for the last time.

The gargoyle never moved or showed any signs of life, so Draeken left the area and wandered further into the park. He found a bench out of sight of the gargoyle fountain to plop down and get some rest, waiting until daylight to search the town further. With the dawn came an idea to check the sheriff’s station. If his brother was out and about searching for him, that’s likely the first place he’d go and one he’d check in to every so often for any new discoveries.

While on the lookout for Riker, Holder or the sheriff’s office, he traversed down the main street, looking at all the wonderful orange and black decorations. The streetlights had spider web designs on them. Marvelous. The next sign he saw was a place called Delaney’s Delectables. The scent of the place lured him closer.

Ducking into the chocolate shop that smelled divine even from the street, Draeken perused the various treats in the quaint shop. He didn’t have any Earth currency on him, but he could certainly look at everything.

“Can I help you?” The cheerful voice came from over his shoulder. He turned to see a pretty woman behind a counter. A pretty, very pregnant woman. He nervously hoped the baby didn’t decide today was his or her perfect birthday.

Her gaze went to his forearm and the hated manacle, but instead of pointing to him and shouting, “Escaped prisoner on the loose!” in a shrill, loud tone, she smiled and continued to sit quietly with her warm, fertile glow filling the space around her.

Perhaps earthlings didn’t know what a manacle signified. That would be an amazing boon right now. And the truth was, how could they possibly know? Aliens living and hiding on this planet was a highly guarded secret.

Today was turning out to be awesome.

Draeken returned her smile. “No thanks. Don’t get me wrong. Your shop is amazing. Unfortunately, I left my…” Space potatoes, what was the right word? “Oh…I left my wallet behind…you know, back at home.” No. Not home. I’m an idiot. “I mean the place I’m staying.” He sounded like an idiot.

Her smile endured, but her gaze lowered to the counter. She pointed to a platter with a selection of chocolate treats with small, spiky wooden spears in them. “That’s okay, happens all the time. You can always come back later. In the meantime, want to try a free sample?”

“A free sample?” Didn’t free mean no currency involved in the transaction? Since this place was all about Halloween, would he have to do a trick? Wasn’t that the way it worked, folks got treats for doing tricks? What could he do for a trick?

“Today’s free sample is chocolate pumpkin spice fudge.”

Draeken approached the counter, picked up a little spike, put the treat on his tongue and let pure delight melt in his mouth. He moaned a little and shut his eyes as the fabulous taste of whatever this confection was dissolved across his taste buds.

“That is amazing,” he said, eyeing the plate with desire.

“I’m so glad you liked it.”

Draeken wanted to do a great trick for such a wonderful treat. He wanted to ensure his trick was worthy of the treat he’d eaten. He would read her thoughts and make a comment about what she was thinking. That would be a fine trick.

He probed her mind and found a most unusual association. He’d never come up against anything like her before. It took a bit more effort on his part, but finally he broke through the resistance of her mind’s interesting guard and caught a glimpse of her thoughts.

This woman looked like a human, she sounded like a human. Before he could stop himself or curtail his exuberant reaction to the discovery, he said, “You used to be a human, but now you’re not anymore. How extraordinary.”

Her smile disappeared. “What are you talking about?”

He tilted his head and stared into her unwavering gaze. “You are a creature of the night.” He looked outside, seeing a shaft of sun peeking in from the windows.

Draeken’s mind-reading had given him not only a luscious treat, but had revealed an unexpected trick on her part.

“You’re a vampire, right? I’ve read about your kind. But how can you walk in the daylight? Isn’t there a rule against that or something?”

“I beg your pardon?” Her sudden switch from smiling and helpful proprietor to a glaring and distrustful woman with child was perplexing. Draeken took another look into her mind. Oh no. Being a vampire was a secret. Time to go. Now!

Without answering her question, he darted out of her shop, fleeing the delectable scent of chocolate and the scene of his horrendous gaffe. So foolish not to temper his thoughts before letting his mouth run amok. Oh, well. Nothing to be done about it now.

Draeken hurried down the street and crossed to the other side, hoping the chocolatier would forget him. Unlikely, given her expression, but he hadn’t meant any harm. He’d certainly never tell anyone what he knew, although he probably should have told the vampire that before bolting out of her shop. Space potatoes!

Cursing even in his own head didn’t really help much, except it did make him feel better.

He gradually slowed his pace to match that of other shoppers. Nothing got attention faster than someone running like a crazed lunatic down the street. He forced a lazy, slow stride even though he wanted to make a mad dash down the avenue.

At the end of the block, he saw a sign signifying the sheriff’s office. It was likely the first place Riker would go to find him. If Riker had been discovered or carted off or whatever scenario might have separated them, the sheriff’s office was also a good place for Draeken to continue his own search.

Hopefully, the trouble Draeken had unwittingly caused at the chocolate shop wouldn’t hamper his search for his brother.

As he approached the sheriff’s office, he noticed a car with the law enforcement emblem on its doors drive by. There was someone in the backseat. It was probably some local punk, getting arrested for some unforgivable Halloween offense. What was unforgivable in Nocturne Falls? Hating pumpkins? Not participating in the day-to-day festival-like atmosphere, perhaps?

Draeken glanced through the side window to see what Nocturne Falls’s most wanted looked like. The wretched expression on the backseat occupant’s face sent his pulse thumping with visceral recognition.

No. It wasn’t possible. Was it? The odds had to be astronomical.

He sped his steps, following the law enforcement vehicle off the main road and to a back ally parking area. Draeken watched as the prisoner was led into the back of the sheriff’s station in handcuffs.

As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, now he was going to have to break someone out of jail. Space potatoes!

<^> <^> <^>

Stella didn’t have to stress over the murder charge for long. The sheriff held tight to her arm as the two young men roused and sat up, rubbing their eyes like five-year-olds after a midafternoon nap.

The Big D wasn’t a killing device. The aim was to prevent humans from discovering aliens existed and walked among them. Anyone hit by a blast from the Defender would forget the last thirty minutes and be unconscious just long enough to make them believe they’d dozed off.

Surprise was obvious in the sheriff’s expression as he watched the two young men stand up.

“Are you boys okay?” he asked, giving her a puzzled look that seemed to say, “Now what have you done?”

Neither boy responded to the sheriff’s question. One said, “Let’s head home, dude. My belly is so empty I’m bordering on hangry.” The other young guy nodded and together they walked by, seemingly oblivious to everything around them as the older man cuffed Stella’s hands behind her back. The sheriff called after them, but they kept walking toward Nocturne Falls.

The sheriff grabbed her by the elbow and led her in the opposite direction of town. Out of the clearing, a few steps beyond some trees, they came to a dirt road. Stella spotted the police cruiser maybe a quarter mile to the north.

“I wasn’t trying to murder you,” she said, practically running to keep up with his long strides. It wasn’t easy with her hands cuffed at the small of her back.

He slowed a bit. “What were you trying to do then?”

She didn’t have a ready answer. She pressed her lips together to keep from spontaneously answering his questions under her breath.

“You’re just lucky those two kids woke up.” He picked up speed again and soon she was hustling across the primitive terrain toward his vehicle. She absolutely didn’t want to be held by an earthling authority for any length of time.

Stella wasn’t certain of the protocol that covered explaining the Big D to an earthling. The subject had never come up before. They fired it at humans and the humans didn’t remember anything. She’d blasted him twice, twice, and the sheriff had barley blinked. She’d certainly have something valuable to offer up at the next lessons learned session back in Alienn. If she ever made it home.

She took a deep breath. “It isn’t a weapon of destruction.”

“Oh?” Sarcasm was easily detectable regardless of species. He was still angry.

Stella calmed her tone, trying to see things from his side, while at the same time trying to come off as harmless. “I was only trying to…” she paused, not wanting to reveal even her non-hurtful intentions.

“What? Make me forget that you tried to shoot me? Nice try.” He then made a grunting noise that sounded a bit ferocious and pulled her arm harder.

She shot a glare in his direction, wishing she knew why he hadn’t been impacted by her memory loss weapon. Every other human it had been used on acted exactly like the two boys had, without fail. Curious.

“I have eyes and I’m not an idiot. I saw what that weapon did to the other two.” Had he forgotten the spacecraft? Maybe it had worked partially. That might be one success she could call up for the post-mission brief.

“Why didn’t it work on you then?” Her tone was a bit snarky, but she did try to temper it. “What’s different about you and those boys besides size and age?”

He opened his mouth then closed it. Instead, he returned her glare. “No comment.”

Interesting answer. What did he have to hide? She was about to ask, but they’d arrived at his vehicle. He either hadn’t seen or hadn’t bothered to scoop up her backpack with the rest of her gear. He searched her, taking her money, her ID and the Defender, but he hadn’t found her communicator. It was cleverly concealed on her belt.

He popped open the back door. “Get in. Watch your head.”

“Please don’t do this. I need to do something. It’s very important.”

“Too bad. There are consequences for aiming a weapon at a law enforcement officer and whatever you did to the other two young men, regardless of how temporary.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To a nice jail cell in Nocturne Falls where you can think about what you’ve done.”

Stella pushed out a sigh and ducked into the backseat. At least she was headed in the right direction for the next phase of her mission. She just hoped Nocturne Falls and the people therein were as easy to manipulate as the human visitors to Alienn, Arkansas. Given how the Big D had failed her, she suspected it was going to be trickier than planned.

The sheriff added, “I’ll be checking out your credentials, including a call to Alienn, Arkansas and the local law there to find out what your real story is. I suspect you won’t tell me what I want to know willingly.”

“Touché,” she said settling into the backseat, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on her cuffed hands. There was another worry. The ID he’d taken when he’d patted her down would check out, but this bothersome information about her arrest would also lead straight to her direct supervisor, Cam, and then to their Fearless Leader.

Luckily the sheriff couldn’t test the Defender’s capabilities out on anyone. It basically looked like a small blue and white plastic megaphone, seemingly harmless.

Much like her communicator, Stella was the only one keyed to use the Defender in her possession, a safety feature Cam had insisted on. Still, it was unlikely she’d be released any time soon unless a miracle occurred. It was quite possible she’d failed at being in charge of her first big mission out of town in the first few hours.

Not only that, the leadership at home would find out about it before she even had a chance to explain anything. At least the sheriff hadn’t mentioned the spacecraft again. Small comfort as the cruiser sped toward her imminent confinement. The irony of her being jailed while on a mission to find an escaped convict wasn’t lost on her.

The sheriff turned off the bumpy dirt road and onto the smoother blacktop. She saw the sign for Nocturne Falls.

Just as she started to relax, the sheriff said, “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about that spacecraft you were hiding in the woods either. Care to explain that?”

Space potatoes!

Chapter Three

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken watched as a blast from his past in the beautifully feminine form of Stella Grey was dragged into what was likely the back entrance of the sheriff’s station.

Stella Grey. Beautiful. Willful. Completely enchanting. Was Stella here searching for him? It was a good bet that she was. She’d found him before.

Not only had she captured his heart when they met, she’d literally captured him on a minor charge and brought him to justice on Alpha-Prime not long before she made Earth her permanent home.

She’d been a bounty hunter then. Once the charges were dropped, she released him. He asked her out, not expecting her to give him the time of day—and been shocked when she ruefully accepted. The desire in her eyes was more than a simple, let’s try dating a ne’er-do-well for a change. She liked him and he’d liked her pretty much at first sight. Miraculous.

Their passionate love affair lasted several months. Draeken stayed out of trouble and on the straight and narrow the entire time. The change had not gone unnoticed by his parents and brother, who all felt she was a good and stabilizing force. But then all of a sudden she wanted to move a galaxy away to live on planet Earth.

She asked him to go with her and eventually begged him to go. But he didn’t want to leave behind everything he knew. Draeken had been unable to convince her to stay with him on their planet. In fact, she refused to stay on Alpha-Prime. She left for Earth, and took his heart along for the ride.

Living at an outpost was a noble enough career. The work could be difficult and their kind—Alphas—had to hide their existence from the earthlings at all times. It wasn’t the life for him. He hated to hide, hated the thought of being something or someone he wasn’t.

Stella was an orphan. She didn’t know what it was like to have a close-knit family. She didn’t understand what she was asking him to give up. She wanted to go off and explore everything and everywhere. He was willing to travel to a point, certainly he’d be willing to visit anywhere for a short time, but ultimately Alpha-Prime was his home. At the time, he hadn’t understood her zeal to leave. Maybe now he could finally find out what had drawn her to Earth.

The obvious reason he’d come up with after her departure was she’d found some travel-loving space junkie to go with her on the ultimate adventure to live as Earthers, another term for those living on Alpha-Prime colonies. The thought of Stella with someone else put him in a foul mood. She was free to do what she wanted, but the idea hurt his soul.

He had to admit, blasting off Alpha-Prime, even on his way to a gulag a couple of galaxies away, had been exciting. It was easier to understand why Stella was so drawn to travel and exploration.

Stella Grey had changed his life. After spending copious amounts of time in her company, and being with her at an intimate level, then losing her to her ambitious life selection, he better understood grown-up choices.

Seeing his brother slip onto the prisoner ship at the last minute made him second-guess his plan, but only briefly. Draeken planned to reunite with Stella. He never wanted to be without her, whatever it took, even if he had to leave his family to do so.

Stella’s departure helped Draeken gain true clarity in the lessons of love. Losing someone you loved deeply was heart wrenching. He just hoped he wasn’t too late enacting this super-secret plan to change his life to be with the only woman he’d ever loved. Stella.

<^> <^> <^>

Stella and her team hadn’t had much time to study any aspects of Nocturne Falls and the local terrain until they were on the road. A look online as they drove revealed the town nestled in the northern part of Georgia to be quite fascinating.

The town celebrated Halloween all year, absolutely every single day. Stella hadn’t been able to fathom how it worked until riding through the quaint streets of Nocturne Falls in the back of a police cruiser. Sheriff Merrow’s radio crackled. “Hank, are you there?”

“Yes, Hugh. What’s up?” The sheriff’s tone seemed guarded, as if the call were completely unexpected.

“I’m on my way to the station. We have a bit of a situation. I need you to go with me to Delaney’s shop.” The voice over the radio sported an English accent, sounding very upscale and worldly. Stella leaned forward in her seat to hear it better.

The sheriff opened his mouth as if to speak, looked briefly at Stella in the rearview mirror—she was bent at the waist leaning close listening intently—and clamped his lips together. “I’m on my way back, too. Meet you there in ten minutes.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Hank.”

The sheriff wheeled the patrol car off the main road and down a plain, unadorned alley. He parked his vehicle in a small lot, got out and retrieved Stella from the backseat.

Stella nodded over her shoulder at her cuffed wrists. “I’m not truly a threat. You don’t need to leave me bound.” She tried to get close enough to attempt a mind nudge to bend him to her will and get him to release her from the restraints. This mental action, unfortunately, was not her strength. Not even close. As she’d half suspected, it didn’t work on him anyway.

“Nice try,” he said, referring, she assumed, to her verbal request. “I’ll take the cuffs off when you’re securely in a jail cell and not before. Come on.” He pulled on her elbow. She blew out a deep breath and allowed him to lead her through a back door and into a small place with three cells. He put her in the first barred cell he came to, not releasing her wrists from the thin shackles until she was locked inside.

Before leaving the forest, she’d been forced to empty her pockets, giving him her Arkansas driver’s license, a few dollars along with her semi-useless Defender. She’d left her bag of gear back at the crash site, grateful the sheriff hadn’t confiscated it, too.

He removed the handcuffs and left her alone in the cell. She waited a few minutes to ensure he wasn’t coming back. He made a phone call so she figured she was good for a few minutes. Resigned that she was going to have to send a message to one of her team members for aid in getting her out of jail.

She put her hand on her belt where the communicator was concealed and realized it wasn’t there. She slid her fingers all the way around her belt twice, searching for it unwilling to believe her only way out of this mess was missing. Even a third search did not yield her communicator. Space potatoes!

She’d have to think of another way out of this mess. Stella wished she had better mind-reading skills.

Her people could not read each other’s minds, which was great on many levels, but humans were often easy to read. Individuals had different levels of ability of course. Hers was only mid-to-low-range, and she often had to be within whispering distance for it to work. She had to be just as close to attempt drilling a nudge of suggestion into a human’s mind before he or she knew what hit them.

Even so, Stella’s only hope at this point was to come across a law enforcement officer who could be compelled by her very weak skills at mind nudging to release her. She’d practically have to kiss her intended victim to get close enough.

The very thought of kissing someone brought back a powerful memory. Draeken was the last man she’d kissed. The terrible truth was he was also the only man she ever wanted to kiss again. Unfortunately, he was a galaxy away on Alpha-Prime, likely getting into trouble in some form or another. A small smile shaped her lips in memory.

The last time she’d seen him, they hadn’t been kissing. They’d been arguing. Stella blinked that thought right out of her head and went back to picturing the first time they’d kissed. A nervous little ache in her belly surfaced as it had when she’d met him, the first time they’d kissed and pretty much every single time they’d touched each other during their short-lived, impossible courtship. He had such a unique zest for life and an interesting way of living it and the firmest, most appealing lips in existence.

She didn’t regret a single thing.

Well, she only regretted he hadn’t understood her eagerness to leave Alpha-Prime and start a new life on another planet. Yes, Alpha-Prime was a wonderful planet. Yes, it would always be her home. But she hadn’t had the same life experience he’d enjoyed. And moving away from him had been difficult. The hardest thing she’d ever done.

Draeken Phoenix, the black sheep of an upstanding family, had never known the solitude of an orphan’s life. She hadn’t a soul on the world who was blood-related to her or cared about her during her childhood.

Alpha-Prime was all about family, but she’d never been fortunate enough to be selected or put into one as a child. Not a traditional family, anyway. She’d spent her early life in a very nice, very perfunctory children’s home. Earth called them orphanages. There had been kind people at the children’s home, unlike many stories she’d heard about some orphanages on Earth.

Young Stella had several close friends, but as time went on, each had been selected and sent to a “real” family with a mom and dad and often siblings. She’d been excited for her friends, and wished every night for the same thing to happen to her. It was not to be.

She stopped making close friends after the fourth such adoption had sent her last two friends to the same home she was told she was under consideration for, but in the end, her friends had gone and she’d remained behind. All alone.

The nice workers at the children’s home were always quick to pat her on the head and tell her it just wasn’t her time yet. By the time she was twelve, she faced the reality of spending her entire youth in the children’s home. There were worse things. There were also better things. She stopped wishing for the impossible and a practical side had grown strong within her soul.

She only wished the singular contact she had remaining at the children’s home had shared a vital secret long ago. Stella did have a family. A distant family.

Distant, as in they lived on another planet in another galaxy. Earth.

She had an uncle much older than her father. He was technically a half-sibling. By the time Stella had been placed in the children’s home, her uncle Zebulon, his wife Xenia and their children were in charge of an operation on Earth. Uncle Zeb put his large brood to work not only on retrieving and shipping Bauxite, which was in high demand on Alpha-Prime as a fuel source, but also running a local fueling enterprise.

Zeb filed a request to have her join his family on Earth as soon as he learned of her parents’ demise, a year after their deaths. The children’s home denied his request. And continued to deny his yearly applications as if by habit until she came of age at twenty-one.

The director of the children’s home hadn’t been trying to be cruel. She just had very strict ideas regarding space exploration and how it wasn’t in the best interest of any child. She’d not wanted her ward, Stella, to live her young life on a wild, alien planet a galaxy away.

Stella only learned the truth well after she started her work as a bounty hunter. A job she was well suited for from the start. She enjoyed the camaraderie and being a good citizen for Alpha-Prime. She also liked looking for people.

Three years after leaving the children’s home the director there retired and a dog-eared envelope had been forwarded to her filled with the annual requests and a copy of the denials the director had sent back to Earth for years.

The moment Stella learned she had family out there, she knew she had to do everything in her power to get to them, even if it meant leaving Draeken behind.

It had been another cruel turn to finally find someone she loved only to be forced to choose between him and a family she’d longed for her whole life.

The choice of family or a ne’er-do-well bad boy had made her decision to leave Alpha-Prime very difficult. Draeken had been nearly irresistible, but resist she had for the chance of having at long last a family. That which she’d wanted for so long.

She’d been on Earth for almost a year and had never once second-guessed her decision. On occasion she did drift back to the memory of Draeken’s amazing lips and his amazing kisses that had nearly cost her the family she’d always dreamed of.

If only he hadn’t been so adamant about not leaving his family behind to be with her. She understood his position completely, even if the mere memory of it made her miserable. She didn’t have any reason to be sad. She had her own family now.

That hadn’t kept her from thinking about what might have been if he’d been willing to come to Earth.

Chapter Four

<^> <^> <^>

The sound of a door being forcefully shut brought Stella out of her daydream about her lost love. She heard voices in the outer office, but stopped woolgathering and came alert when a woman said something unexpected.

Someone named Hugh had called Sheriff Merrow over the radio. She recognized his English accent the moment he stepped into the sheriff’s office. He was now in the outer area with the sheriff and a woman named Delaney, who was apparently Hugh’s wife.

“I truly believe that this man read my mind,” the woman said.

“Tell me what happened before he allegedly read your mind,” Sheriff Merrow said in a soothing tone. “And also what did he look like?”

“Tall, rugged, handsome.”

Someone made an unhappy, scoffing noise.

“Well, he was, Hugh,” Delaney continued. She briefly described a man who could fit a number of identities, even alien ones. After she offered him a sample of the chocolate in her shop, the man told her she was a creature of the night, blabbed that she was a vampire out loud and then asked how she could be out in the daylight.

“What did you say?” Hugh asked.

“Nothing,” the woman said exasperatedly. “My mouth was still hanging open in shock.”

“I find that difficult to believe,” her husband said. “I’m surprised you didn’t at least spout out a trivial statistic about stock market sugar futures in the Western Hemisphere or something.”

“Okay, maybe I said holy chocolate balls under my breath and there might have been a statistic regarding dark chocolate producers increasing in the world at large on the tip of my tongue.”

“That sounds about right.”

Delaney continued as if her husband hadn’t spoken. “But the man seemed to realize his little trick wasn’t going over well and he ran right out of the store. Honestly, I think he was trying to impress me with his mind-reading skills. I was shocked not impressed, and by the time I was able to scramble slowly and carefully from behind the counter to look out on the street, I couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“I know being pregnant slows you down, but I appreciate that you didn’t race out of the store like an Olympic track star ready to leap over hurdles in a single bound,” Hugh said.

Stella heard his accented tone soften as he talked about his wife being pregnant. A pang of regret slid down Stella’s spine. She wanted to have children. Lots of them. She wanted a huge family just like the one she’d found in Alienn, Arkansas.

“He could be a supernatural that we haven’t identified,” Sheriff Merrow said. “I can sense shifters because I am one, but—”

Supernatural. Stella leaned forward, keeping silent to ensure she heard every single word.

“He wasn’t a super,” Delaney said. “I’m certain of it. He didn’t give off the same, you know, aura as one of us, but I don’t think he was quite human either.”

“Or he is a supernatural and has some sort of stealth ability that will be troubling to deal with in the future,” Sheriff Merrow added, sounding displeased.

Hugh spoke in a low tone—almost a whisper—and Stella pushed her head against the open bars as hard as she could to catch any words. All she got for the effort was light bruising on her temple and jaw. The sheriff responded with a whisper of his own and Stella didn’t catch a single word. Space potatoes!

“Okay,” the sheriff said. “Let’s do that. I’ll call ahead and meet you there.”

Where were they going? At least now she had some insight into possibly why her Big D hadn’t worked on the sheriff. He said he was a shifter. If Stella had to guess what he shifted into, she’d say gray timber wolf or possibly grizzly bear.

The town’s Halloween theme made more sense, too.

If the townsfolk were all supernatural beings, perhaps they were immune to her people’s technology. Add another interesting note for the lessons learned portion of the post-mission brief, if she ever got back to Alienn.

She wondered which of the three Alphas from the downed ship had bumbled into the chocolate shop. It had to be the prisoner. The guard would be looking for his escapee, not perusing a chocolate shop. The same went for the pilot.

Stella wished she had names to go with the titles. All she’d gotten was pilot, guard and prisoner; alas any detailed information hadn’t been provided.

The contract was so bright, shiny and new they hadn’t had anything but the bare bones of information. The nature of this being the first test run of a coming regular prison waystation visit had prompted more secrecy.

Too bad the first test had resulted in a crash. Stella had heard vague rumors that Axel Grey, the brother in charge of communications in Alienn, had pushed Diesel to start this prison run endeavor. It was entirely possible that they could lose the contract altogether if Stella didn’t salvage the mission.

Looking at the solid iron bars of her incarceration space, Stella felt as helpless of controlling the situation as she had when all her childhood friends went to new families while she got left behind like a broken doll at the bottom of the toy box.

Before complete devastation could overtake her senses, Stella heard someone enter the building from the main street. By the sound of the quiet conversation that ensued, she guessed the newcomer was a deputy. Soon after, the sheriff and the parents-to-be left, destination unknown.

Perhaps she could get the deputy to come back to the cells so she could mind-nudge him for information about where the sheriff had gone. Before she could even call out to him, she heard a noise from the back hallway leading to the rear parking lot.

A man she thought she’d never see again strolled into view.

Draeken.

Did I just conjure him up out of my dreams?

Staring through the bars of a jail cell had been the first time she’d ever truly looked at him on Alpha-Prime. She’d brought him in while working as a bounty hunter.

However, this time their roles were reversed. She was locked up and he stood outside, free. She couldn’t fathom how he was even here. Maybe she’d fallen and hit her head and was unconscious and dreaming.

“Stella Grey in jail while I roam free? This seems backward,” Draeken said. “I can’t say that I don’t enjoy the switch up, though.”

“Am I dreaming or are you truly here?”

Draeken tilted his head slightly and his expression softened. “Do you often dream about me, Stella? If so, that’s great news for me.”

Hearing him say her name made her a little soft in the head. She stared at him without speaking, taking in his beautiful face. He moved closer to the bars, but stayed just out of her reach. They heard a noise from the outer room. Stella realized they’d been speaking in low enough tones that the deputy hadn’t heard them, shockingly enough.

“What are you doing here on Earth?” she whispered.

“We crashed here.”

She knew he wasn’t a pilot. He also wasn’t a guard. That meant he was the prisoner. Still, they’d loved each other once, hadn’t they? Did he hold a grudge after the way she left him on Alpha-Prime?

“Are you going to help me get out of here?”

His expression shifted to one of mock horror. “That would be against the law here on Earth, wouldn’t it?” Oh, he was so enjoying this.

“Draeken,” she said in an oft-used tone of reproach.

His eyes lowered. “I’d forgotten how much I’ve missed hearing you say my name, even when you’re scolding me.”

The phone in the other room rang. The jangle stopped mid-ring and the deputy started speaking.

“Please help me get free, Draeken.”

“Of course, love.” He headed toward the open doorway.

“Wait. Where are you going?” she whispered furiously.

“Trust me.” Draeken moved quickly and quietly. The deputy was still on the phone, talking to someone who’d found a stranger lost in the woods. Could it be one of the survivors of the crash? And if so, was it the pilot or the guard?

Draeken winked at her and disappeared through the door into the other room.

How did he still have the power to make her insides feel like jelly?

And more importantly, how could she turn him over to her leaders for a one-way trip to Galactic Gulag XkR-9 once they returned to Alienn?

Chapter Five

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken tiptoed into the next room at the sheriff’s office in Nocturne Falls, ensuring the deputy talking on the phone wouldn’t see him until it was too late.

Despite the unexpected crash and resulting loss of Riker and Holden, Draeken was delighted to have discovered Stella in a jail cell in this intriguing Halloween town.

She must be part of the team sent to recover him. He’d known it might be a possibility. She did have skills as a bounty hunter and had certainly caught him on more than one occasion back on Alpha-Prime. Mind you, only the first time was business. So it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that she’d have a similar job here on Earth.

After seeing Nocturne Falls, Draeken certainly understood more clearly why she’d wanted to come to Earth. This place was delightful.

He couldn’t wait to see Alienn, Arkansas, although he might not be there long enough or enjoy his freedom long enough to explore much this trip. He was a prisoner after all. He was on his way to a prolonged stay in Galactic Gulag XkR-9. At least that was what everyone thought. Including his brother.

Draeken had wanted to see Earth. No, that wasn’t the complete truth. He’d desperately wanted to see Stella and she’d relocated to Earth. Seeing her for only a few moments confirmed in his mind all he’d done in the name of changing his life along with the super-secret plan he’d enacted.

Stella was worth everything he could do to change things for the better.

The deputy was taking extensive notes on a pad by the phone, writing furiously as someone fed him information through the phone line. Draeken got only close enough to see into the deputy’s mind, nudging him to hurry and finish the call.

The man straightened in his seat and said, “Okay. I’ve got all I need now. I’ve got to go.” He placed the handset in the cradle as the party at the other end of the call continued to shout.

Draeken pushed a thought inside the deputy’s head, urging him to handcuff himself to the file cabinet next to the desk “for safety’s sake.” The deputy complied, clamping one cuff around his wrist. He was about to snap the other around the drawer handle when then the phone let out a strident ring. Draeken sent a harder nudge.

The deputy looked at the cuffs for several seconds before looping the second cuff through the drawer handle and closing it. Draeken walked toward the desk and the key ring that held several keys. He scooped up the key ring. The deputy stood up as soon as he noticed Draeken, only to be brought up short. He realized he was attached to the file cabinet.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you doing?”

Draeken sent another nudge for the man to sit down and a calming thought to settle his anxiety. The deputy’s eyes glazed over and he sat back in his chair. Draeken picked up the keys and exited the room without another comment or look from the deputy.

Stella was pressed against the bars. Her lovely figure distracted him for a moment and he paused halfway in his step before shaking it off and proceeding to release her. He had to try three out of seven keys before finding the one that released the lock on her door.

He eased the cell door open quietly. She bolted out of the barred room to freedom. She skidded to a halt, facing the opening to the next room where the deputy was hopefully still having calm thoughts. Draeken closed the door, wincing at the loud squeal of a hinge when the cell door remained a few inches ajar. He stopped and set the keys on the floor outside the cell. Time to go.

Draeken passed Stella, breathing in her unique scent and allowing the memories of them together to flood his brain.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her focus torn from the doorway. He blinked away the sensual recall to see she hadn’t moved an inch.

He tried not to sound sarcastic when he said, “Well, I’ve just set you free. And now we should leave before anyone discovers it. Come on, Stella. Let’s go.” Draeken pointed toward the back door.

She shook her head and took two steps toward the outer office. He knew it was a matter of moments before a soon-to-be-angry deputy clamored for release. He grabbed her arm and pointed to the door they needed to leave through.

Stella whispered, “They have my ID, all my cash and my Defender. I must get them back. Also, I lost my communicator somewhere.”

“Defender? Communicator?” he asked as if he’d never heard the terms before. She’d already turned away, moving closer to the other room. Draeken bounded ahead of her before she crossed the threshold. He needed to reestablish his nudge to the deputy or the man would wake up from the short trance he’d left him in.

Draeken directed his weakening power at the deputy.

The man stood up again. “Hey! Who are you? Where did you come from?”

Draeken noticed the name on his uniform. Rosemont.

Stella sprinted around him toward the desk and began searching it.

“Where is my Defender? Where is the small blue and white plastic megaphone?” she asked the deputy. The man tried to cross his arms in defiance, but couldn’t and frowned.

Stella reached across the desk and opened the top drawer halfway as the deputy lunged for her. Draeken sent a hard nudge to the deputy for him to sit down and take a nap.

Stella, meanwhile, had come around the side of the desk to open the drawer further, rummaging around and apparently not finding what she wanted.

“Hurry up,” Draeken said. “I don’t have much power left.”

“Losing your touch?”

“What?” He turned his focus from the deputy as she pulled open two more drawers. Thankfully, she found what she was looking for in the third one. “Ah-ha!” She grabbed what he guessed was the small megaphone, a wad of Earth cash and a plastic card.

But he’d lost his control over the deputy. Deputy Rosemont stood, towering over Stella, and grabbed her arm.

“Let go,” she said.

“Not a chance.”

Stella stopped fighting, slid the plastic card in her back pocket, the money in her front pocket and motioned the deputy to come closer as if she planned to whisper something important into his ear. Surprisingly, the man leaned down. Draeken thought she was about to kiss him. A swell of jealousy overrode his good sense and he took a step toward them.

The deputy’s eyes glazed and he slowly sat back down. Stella backed away, turned and Draeken was right there. They crashed into each other, her soft body slamming against the front of his. His arms moved of their own accord and for the first time since the last time they’d been together, Draeken had the woman he loved in his ready embrace. He breathed in her luscious scent, sparking another flood of visceral memories in his head.

They needed to leave immediately, but he was unable to move until he got just one small taste. Draeken lowered his lips to hers for a brief kiss, one he’d been dreaming about for months. The moment his lips touched hers, a rush of warmth hit his system all the way to his bones. Best of all, she responded as if she, too, had been anticipating this unexpected connection and wanted it as much as he did.

Each of them made a subtle noise of appreciation, hers a moan, his more of an ill-mannered grunt.

That was the moment the office phone started ringing again, breaking the sultry mood. It also woke the deputy from whatever trance he’d been in. He stood, yanked his tethered arm violently and the file drawer he was attached to cleared the cabinet with the loud pop of metal breaking. It clattered to the floor. Folders slid in several directions in a colorful avalanche of black ink, white paper and manila files with the pop of a colorful photo here and there dotting the big mess.

Draeken staggered back, pulling Stella along with him as their legs tangled in an effort to get away from the angry Deputy Rosemont. They managed to get to the rear door, the deputy in hot pursuit. Draeken pulled the door open, pushed Stella through and turned to send a final nudge at the deputy as the man leaped forward on a clear trajectory to grab him.

Chapter Six

<^> <^> <^>

Stella launched out of the back door she’d recently been shuttled through by Sheriff Merrow, cuffed and mortified. Now she was escaping like a criminal and unsure this was any better.

In this moment she was grateful to be free, surprised at the identity of her rescuer and fearful they were not going to get away from the deputy who was determined to catch them.

Guilt warred with her need to be free.

Technically, she was about to be on the run after a dubious arrest with the very prisoner she was supposed to take into custody and haul back to Alienn.

Instead, Draeken was her accomplice in her first foray into a felonious escape and all she could think about was how his kisses had once lovingly melted her soul and still did even after the brief lip-lock back in the sheriff’s station.

She cast a gaze at Draeken’s lips, unable to stop herself. He hadn’t changed a single bit. Even his familiar scent drove memories of their intimate time together deeply into her soul. She’d missed him. In this place and time, he felt a little like home, or at least the home she’d carved out for herself on Alpha-Prime before joining her blood relatives on Earth.

Draeken’s arm still circled her waist halfway as he faced the advancing threat of the very angry Deputy Rosemont. The man had a feral look on his face, and was still dragging the metal file drawer along, scuffing the floor deeply as he got ever closer.

Just before the deputy clamped his free hand around Draeken’s forearm, the man went completely stiff, as if all his muscles had been zapped by a lightning strike. His eyes closed and he went loose and boneless, falling to the floor just inside the door. The empty metal file drawer—still attached to his abraded wrist by the handcuffs—rested at his side upside-down and battered from the trip through the office.

Draeken closed the back door hard, tightened his arm around her waist and hustled her across the parking lot to the alley leading to the street.

“Slow down,” she said after several swift steps. “We don’t want to look like we’re criminals running away.”

“You’re right.” Draeken slowed, but kept his arm around her. They turned onto the main street and headed away from the sheriff’s office. “Besides, only one of us is a criminal here,” he said with a chuckle. She glared at him. “A local criminal, anyway.”

She continued to glare, but he only smiled. She felt her expression slip as she realized he did have a point. “Oh, I don’t know about that. A criminal is a criminal wherever they escape, even on Earth.”

“Trust me, Stella. I was framed for this current trip to the gulag.” She sensed he was telling the truth, but she could also tell he was holding something back. Maybe he’d been involved in the crime, but someone had fingered him as the sole offender.

“Really? If I could read the transcript details of the most recent crime bringing you here, would I say, ‘this sounds exactly like something you’d do’?”

His grin made her tummy clench sensually. “Perhaps, but I swear I didn’t do it.”

“Maybe so, but you were the one in the chocolate shop earlier causing ‘local’ trouble, right?” she asked, thinking of the overheard conversation between Sheriff Merrow, Hugh and Delaney.

“Wait.” He paused mid-step, almost tripping. “How did you hear about that?”

Without missing a beat she said, “I have skills.”

A large grin shaped his mouth. “You always did have the very best skills, Stella.” He leaned closer.

She let him get close, then turned away. “Stop it, Drae.” She used the endearment he’d loved because she was the only one who used it.

He didn’t press her, perhaps hoping to stop the general decline of their unspoken truce. Instead, he asked, “Are you hungry?”

She pushed out a loud sigh and lied. “No. But I have no doubt that you are. I don’t know how you eat so much and stay so trim.”

“Me either, but I’m dying to try out some Earth food in this unique place.”

Stella looked around at the black and orange decorations, the shops with distinctive and funny names extolling the Halloween spirit—if there even was such a thing—and the generally festive theme this town seemed to thrive under.

“I could eat.”

“Excellent.” He frowned. “We’ll have to use your wad of cash, though. I’ll owe you.”

Stella glanced down at the manacle on his arm. “I guess no one here recognizes that you’re an escaped prisoner from another planet.”

“I honestly don’t think they’d care even if they did know.”

“They might.”

“Only if they discovered I’m an alien with powers of persuasion. But then, so are you.”

“I’m not nearly as persuasive as you. Seriously, I’m not even in the same league.”

“You managed to put a baby nudge into that deputy’s mind and save us that first time out of the gate. We’d have been in the clear if the phone hadn’t startled him. That’s why you won’t tattle on me. For once we’re in similar circumstances. Admit it: you must be a little bit guilty of something. Otherwise, why did the sheriff detain you?”

“No comment at this time.” Stella didn’t see the point in arguing. They slipped into the next small restaurant they saw. Mummy’s Diner served food that was supposedly “to die for,” if the sign could be counted on for accuracy.

The comforting scent of blueberry pancakes hit her in the face the moment they stepped inside. Her stomach made an undignified noise. Draeken didn’t say anything, but he smiled. The diner was fairly busy this morning, giving them the sense that they’d easily blend in and stay hidden in plain sight.

Once they’d each plowed through more than half of their generous servings of blueberry pancakes with syrup, Stella said, “We need to get going. I have to take you to the rendezvous point and send a message to my team.”

“Sorry. I need to find—” he stopped talking, stared deeply into her eyes and added, “someone from the ship.”

A quick streak of anger raced down her spine. She wondered if it was a woman he wanted to find. “Who is it?” she said, a bit more forcefully than initially intended.

He looked at his plate, shoveling a large amount of food onto his fork, saying only, “The guard,” before filling his mouth.

She watched as he chewed, contemplating why on earth he wanted to find the guard, who was presumably the person who most wanted to catch him and ensure he made it to the gulag in the most expedient time available.

“Why?”

He shrugged.

“Tell me.”

Draeken said in a quiet voice, “It’s Riker.”

Riker! His brother! The guard!

<^> <^> <^>

“Are you telling me your brother was the guard assigned to bring you to the gulag? How did that happen?”

He shrugged. “All I know is he was a last-minute replacement and I was grateful to see him when he boarded the ship.”

“Why do you think he was on your flight to the gulag?”

Draeken looked over her shoulder, staring at seemingly nothing before whispering, “I don’t know. Maybe to make sure I made it there safely. He didn’t say much on the flight. He and Holden mostly talked through their headsets, so I wasn’t privy to their discussions at first.”

“What changed?”

His eyes widened as if she should already know. “Well, the looming crash on Earth was the biggest shift in regular protocols, I think. The headsets came off and they started shouting at each other over the many loud alarms going off. Holden was barking orders at Riker and my brother growled back answers until—”

“Until what?”

Draeken blinked. “Until the engines cut out completely and we started our dive toward Earth’s surface. Holden eventually got at least one engine back online to engage the reverse thrusters, but I blacked out before we hit the ground.”

“That was likely a blessing. Do you know what happened? Was it a malfunction or something else? And how did you survive, do you think?”

Draeken looked away from her intense gaze. “I heard Holden say the word sabotage at one point, but I don’t know if he was saying he suspected someone had tampered with the ship or just answering a question from Riker.” He shook his head as if the memory made him uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry. What happened next?”

“As I said, by the time we went down, there was a multitude of alarms going off from the pilot’s console that masked any further conversation. Holden and Riker stopped screaming questions and answers at each other. But I know Holden did something that softened our landing. Riker said he hoped it worked, which was the last thing I heard him say. Holden probably saved our lives. If the other two are still alive, that is.”

“Did you see the others when you woke up? Did you hide?”

“No. I’d been thrown into some bushes and completely covered up. When I woke I was alone at the crash site as the sun was going down. I saw a set of space boot prints and followed them toward town. I figured Riker would go to the local law enforcement station to see if I’d been found, but instead I found you there.”

“I haven’t seen any of the others. The team wasn’t given names. Honestly, I was completely shocked to see you.”

“You didn’t know I was on the flight?” Draeken drilled another seductive gaze her way, smiling as if he enjoyed the idea of her being surprised by his unexpected arrival.

“No. We only had titles on the flight manifest. Pilot, guard and prisoner.”

“Interesting. So who came with you on your team?”

“No one you know.”

His expression shifted to boastful awareness. “I know people.”

“They are Earthers, like me.”

Earther was what Alphas called the folks who volunteered to settle on this particular colonized planet. It wasn’t exactly a tribute or an offensive slang. It was, however, a label.

His demeanor changed. He stared into her face as if studying her closely, and put his chin on one palm. “I like what you did with your hair. It’s much shorter than the last time we were together. Still, I’m glad you didn’t change the ice-blonde color.”

Her hand absently stroked the recently changed hairstyle. It had been Valene’s idea, but Stella also liked it and now so did Draeken. Great. She pulled her hand away, resisting the urge to shake her head at the girly display. This wasn’t a date. She needed to keep that in the forefront of her brain.

But then he said, “I’ve missed you, Stella.”

“Oh?” Her tone wasn’t as harsh as she intended. Her single word reply had come out softer and more reasonable.

“One of the reasons I wasn’t averse to this trip was that I was hoping to see you when we stopped at Earth’s way station.”

“How did you even know you were coming to Earth?”

He grinned. “Well, I guess you’ve got me there. I didn’t find out until shortly before we crashed. But I immediately thought of you. That’s the truth.”

He was likely blowing smoke up her skirt, but he’d always been charming. She’d never doubted his love and affection for her, but they had different ideas about their future, mostly because he wanted to live on Alpha-Prime and she didn’t. Neither could convince the other to change their viewpoint.

They’d actually broken up the day before she told him she was headed for Earth and wasn’t ever coming back. He told her his plan was to kiss her senseless until she changed her mind. He’d certainly given it his all. But in the end, she wanted to live with her distant family. She wanted to live with people who considered her one of them.

Stella wanted to immerse herself in Earth’s culture and belong somewhere. She hadn’t told Draeken about her family. She’d wanted him to understand her unspoken need and simply go with her without a reason. That had been foolish. She should have told him. Perhaps then he would have understood. Her single-minded intent to belong somewhere overrode everything and everyone else at the time. She’d just wanted to go. If he didn’t trust her unspoken desire, then she’d leave without him. And she had.

To be fair though, his kisses had been very persuasive.

“Were you going to try to kiss me senseless again?” she asked.

“Think it would work this time?”

She leveled an intense gaze into his beautiful eyes. “Not if you expect me to accompany you to the gulag.”

He frowned. “No. Of course I don’t want you there. My sentence is ten years, maybe seven with good behavior.”

“And?”

“And after I fulfill the requirements of this confinement—however long it winds up being—I want to stop here and maybe stay for a bit. Learn why you like it so much.”

“Because my family is here.”

His brows furrowed. “Your family? You have family on Earth?”

“My uncle.”

“You have an uncle?”

“Yes. My father’s older half-brother has lived here most of his life. His wife, my aunt Xenia, and their children, my cousins, are also here. There is quite an extended family living in Alienn. A family I knew nothing about until I moved out of the orphanage.”

“I see. It’s good to be around family.”

“Yes. It is.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had family here?”

I was a coward. She shrugged, unwilling to admit that in the quiet moment. “Would it have changed your mind?”

His open expression closed up quickly. “Possibly. I would have at least understood your desire to leave.”

“Or possibly not. Besides, there wasn’t only one reason.”

“What else?”

“We wanted different things.”

“What different things? I wanted you. You wanted me…”

“You wanted every day to be a lark. You expected an amusing adventure with never a dull moment and I wanted a more solid existence where rules and laws were followed always not just when it was convenient.”

“Ironic that you ended up being the adventurer, moving across a galaxy to Earth for your new hopefully solid life.”

“My life is rock solid.”

“Moving a galaxy away grounded you?”

“Yes.” And she’d grown up. Being part of a family for the first time ever had been rather an adventure this past year. And she’d also missed Draeken desperately, never more so than when she saw him come into the Nocturne Falls Sheriff’s Office to rescue her an hour ago.

“I would have been willing to settle down, you know.”

“Maybe, but I didn’t want you to change for me.”

“I wouldn’t have done it for anyone but you.”

They sat side-by-side in the booth, hunkered together as if lovers on a special day out. Draeken leaned closer. Was he about to kiss her?

The bell above the diner’s door signaled the arrival of a new customer. Stella glanced in that direction briefly before closing her eyes as Draeken’s lips pressed against hers in a sweet kiss.

She startled and broke the lip lock as the freeze frame of the new arrival registered in her brain.

Sheriff Hank Merrow.

Chapter Seven

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken was lost to Stella’s kiss. She tasted just as he remembered and he wanted to rekindle this romance more than he wanted anything, even though he was in the middle of being sent to a gulag. She’d moved here for a connection with family and he understood that a little better than he used to. The ten-year sentence handed down to him in the Royal Magistrate’s Court had certainly woken him up.

She broke the kiss, sucked in a breath and stared toward the entrance.

“Oh my gosh! It’s the sheriff,” she whispered, lowering her head.

“Maybe we should keep kissing then. He’s never seen me.”

“No. Let’s get out of here.”

“We still have to pay the bill. I’d imagine this place frowns on the practice of any dine and dash maneuvers, yes?”

Stella narrowed her eyes. “How do you know what a dine and dash is?”

“I read quite a bit about Earth after you left Alpha-Prime. Even if you didn’t have family here, it’s a pretty interesting place to live. I understand the appeal. And this town is great. I’d never heard about it before.”

“Me neither.” She scanned the room again, likely looking to see where the sheriff was. “Wait until you see Alienn, Arkansas. It’s another place not to be missed.”

“Tell me about it.” A small smile formed on her lovely mouth, but then dropped. Her eyes widened and she lowered her head. The bell over the door tinkled again. Draeken looked over one shoulder to see a tall man exit the diner. “He’s leaving.”

“Let’s hope he didn’t put a wanted poster up with my picture.”

“I doubt it.” The waitress arrived with a small slip of paper in her hand and asked if they wanted anything else. She placed the bill face down on the table when they both shook their heads.

“See? The waitress didn’t even notice us. Relax.”

Stella reached into her pocket and pulled out her money. “I won’t relax until we get out of town.”

“But we can’t leave yet.”

“Oh, yes we can. Come on, let’s go.” She stood, but kept her back to the front door. She peeled a bill from her stash and put it on the table.

Draeken grabbed her forearm. “Sorry, Stella. Not until I find out what happened to Riker.”

She leaned down. “Don’t worry. My teammate is already looking for him.”

“I appreciate that, but I need to see him with my own eyes.”

Stella pushed out a long sigh, sounding annoyed.

Draeken persisted, “If he was a member of your family, you’d insist on finding him yourself. Right?”

“Maybe. However, your immediate circumstances are different than mine.”

“How so?” He knew, but he loved it when she got wound up and righteous.

“I’m not on my way to a gulag, having recently crashed on a strange new planet.”

“You are the local criminal on the run, though, not me.”

“Exactly, which is another great reason why I need to get out of town pronto with you. I have a mission to fulfill and many challenges right now.”

So do I. But Riker first, everything else later. Draeken didn’t want to fight with her. He understood her reasoning and feelings and couldn’t argue with her motives for wanting to leave immediately, but he wouldn’t leave town without finding Riker. He couldn’t.

He stood and slipped his manacled arm around her waist. “Please, Stella. Please understand.”

She looked into his face. He saw her uncertainty.

Stella let out a little sigh and he knew he’d won. “Where do you want to look? If he’s not at the sheriff’s office, where else would he go?”

“He’d probably look for me wherever he thinks I’d go.”

“And that is?”

He shrugged, embarrassed by what his own brother likely thought of him. “Nearest pub or bar, I’d imagine.”

“Okay. We’ll take a stroll down the street on our way out of town. If we see a pub or bar, we’ll pop in quickly for a looksee.”

Draeken nodded. “Thanks, Stella.” He was sincere in his gratitude, but he also knew he’d keep looking, even if he had to ditch her before they got to the edge of town. He’d scouted the area some before settling onto the park bench last night. He’d rather go with her, but would go without her if he had to.

They exited the diner, Draeken in the lead, shielding Stella—who was deliciously buried completely into the back of him—in case the sheriff was hanging around nearby, ready to pounce once they left the crowded diner.

“I don’t see him. I think we’re safe,” Draeken said. Stella disengaged, moving to walk beside him as they ambled down the street, darting her gaze left and right and occasionally over one shoulder with every other step.

It was painfully obvious Stella was uncomfortable in the role of criminal on the run. She’d always been a straight arrow, even during their short romance.

Draeken hadn’t been with anyone since Stella left Alpha-Prime almost a year ago. Any female he saw, spoke to or spent time around hadn’t measured up to Stella. Maybe because none of them had her unique scent to begin with, thereby making him disinterested in tasting them.

Stella tasted amazing. He’d known when they were together she was special and different and one of a kind.

He should have never let her go.

He should have followed her to Earth on the first available transport.

He was surely a fool to have let so much time go by without contacting her.

He’d spent a considerable amount of time since her departure contemplating the difficulties of moving to Earth. The largest barrier was, of course, his family.

Even now that was still his largest issue. Once he was able to leave the gulag, his parents would want him to return to Alpha-Prime.

Draeken had different plans. He wouldn’t be at the gulag for ten years, whether his behavior there was good, bad or indifferent. He cast that thought away for fear of giving away his greatest secret.

Yes. His parents expected him to settle down on Alpha-Prime to run some aspect of the family business or at least not get into trouble ever again.

A single morning spent in one small town on a planet with vast and boundless possibilities and Draeken already wanted to stay forever. He wished he could talk to Riker about it. Maybe once they were on the way to the gulag again, he’d bring it up.

His brother might understand. Draeken knew he’d once contemplated a move to Earth. Draeken didn’t know how or why, since Riker had stopped mentioning it. Perhaps their parents had a hand in that changed decision as well.

It was natural for parents to want their children to stay close, but Draeken had never thought about leaving Alpha-Prime until Stella decided to do so. He’d never planned on living on any other planet, and the gulag definitely wasn’t his first choice.

Riker had been the one with pie in the sky dreams about space travel and visiting other planets. Likely their parents had curtailed his dreams in that regard. Draeken couldn’t imagine what Riker would say when he told him his ultimate plans.

He hoped his brother would understand. Deep down he expected him to get it better than anyone else.

Draeken and Stella had traveled quite a ways down the main street of Nocturne Falls before she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.

“What?” he asked gruffly after being pulled sharply to the present situation.

“Howlers. The place looks like a bar or a pub, right?”

Draeken eyed the front of the building and nodded. “Right.” He glanced over one shoulder, noticing that they’d covered quite a distance as he’d contemplated both his past without her and the future he wanted…with her.

Would Stella even consider a future with him? Was being sentenced to a gulag a huge deal breaker for a rekindled romance once he was free?

“Let’s go in.” Draeken didn’t actually expect to find his brother here. It wasn’t like he would belly up to the bar, suck down drink after drink and wait for Draeken to walk in. What would he do?

Draeken stopped Stella from opening the door. “Hold up. Maybe he’s not inside. Maybe he’s just watching the place to see if I show up.” He casually looked around, first one side and then the next as if he were stretching and getting ready to get his drink on before entering the bar.

Stella yanked on his arm. “You said pubs and bars. This is definitely a bar. Let’s take a look around and then we leave. Right?”

“Right.” Sorry, Stella. I’ll have to ditch you after this quick look inside.

Chapter Eight

<^> <^> <^>

The moment Draeken stepped inside Howlers, he heard the distinct sounds of earthlings playing pool. It was a game he’d wanted to try as soon as he’d seen it. He’d researched Earth and many of its eccentricities at length even before the super-secret plan had presented itself.

That research was what had gotten him into his most recent trouble. There were rumors some famous missing art pieces from Earth had ended up on Alpha-Prime. The rumors were false, but they were serious enough to land him in big, fat trouble. The authorities thought he knew the identities of both parties involved. He hadn’t.

However, it had been a great cover to engineer a trip to speak to the Royal Magistrate’s Court on Alpha-Prime and his subsequent journey to XkR-9 on the other side of the universe. With a nice little unexpected stop on Earth’s way station for a break along the way or, in his case, a rather brutal crash landing.

As time wore on, his worry for his brother grew.

Stella walked through the bar, her head scanning to the left and then the right efficiently as she marched forward, systematically searching the premises. When they got to the back room where the pool tables were, Draeken itched to pick up a pool cue and give it a go, but Stella didn’t stop or slow down.

She knew what Riker looked like. His brother had caught them canoodling once before their epic breakup. He hadn’t expected his brother to like Stella, but they seemed to click. Not in a romantic way, but in the way those in certain professions always seemed to know and understand each other. She was a bounty hunter and Riker was a guard, so their paths had crossed on occasion professionally and they shared mutual respect.

Riker had said something like, “Good. Maybe you can keep him out of trouble.”

She’d nodded in a knowing way, and replied, “I’ll do my best. He doesn’t always make it easy.”

“I’d wager he never makes it easy, at least he didn’t for me.” Riker winked at Draeken. At that point, Draeken had steered Stella out of the room and away from his overly understanding brother. She’d remarked soon after that she had a lot of respect for a Royal Magistrate Guard and his brother was considered the best of the best in many circles.

Stella stopped moving all of a sudden and Draeken—daydreaming again—ran right into her back, almost knocking her down. She managed to keep them both on their feet, but said very harshly, “Whatever happens next, please do not speak a single word. Do you understand? Don’t answer. Just nod once if you do.”

Draeken nodded a single time and watched as a girl with long dark hair and dressed very similarly to Stella approached them.

“Victoria,” Stella said, an edge noticeable in her voice. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I just tracked down some vital information on my quarry. What are you doing here?” The woman shot a gaze in his direction.

“This is the prisoner from the crash, Draeken.” Stella gave Draeken a stern look that he assumed meant keep your mouth shut. I’m not introducing you. Victoria studied him carefully from head to boots, but didn’t say anything to him.

Stella motioned to Victoria and the three of them moved to a quiet corner near the hallway leading to the bathrooms.

“I ran into a problem before leaving the crash site,” Stella admitted in a low tone. “And then I had a run-in with local law enforcement because it turns out that the Defender doesn’t work on some of the people in this town.”

Victoria’s eyes widened. “Doesn’t work? What do you mean?”

“I mean I pointed it at three people at the crash site who snuck up on me as I was covering up the ship with the camouflage tarp, and the blast only worked on two of them. The third was rather incensed, insisting that I’d tried to murder him.”

“Who didn’t it work on?”

Stella pushed out a long sigh. “The sheriff of Nocturne Falls. His name is Hank Merrow. I have a doozy of a story to tell you, but not now. Later.” She glanced at Draeken and said, “I’m headed to the rendezvous point.”

Victoria’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, thanks for the information.”

“Where are you in your search?”

“I just got a solid lead on the pilot. He was injured and brought into town or maybe he found his way into town on his own, I’ll find out more when I get there. I’m headed over to pick him up. I don’t foresee any issues. I should be at the rendezvous point directly after you.”

Draeken had gone by the hospital the night before. He’d specifically been searching for Riker, but hadn’t found anyone out of the ordinary or anyone having come from the crash site of an alien spacecraft. Information like that would certainly be hard to contain. If Holden was at the hospital now, he must have wandered there after Draeken’s cursory visit.

“Where is the guard?” Stella asked. “Do you know? Have you heard from Elise?” Draeken was about to chew the inside of his cheek. He desperately wanted to ask what Victoria knew about his brother.

“No. Sorry. Our first communicator check-in isn’t for another hour or so. But I always figure no news is good news. And I haven’t come across her in town. I expect she’s still following the footprints in the woods.”

“Right. No news is good news.” Stella leaned forward, almost out of Draeken’s hearing. Almost. Draeken had exceptional hearing when he wanted to eavesdrop.

“If you do run across her before I do, tell her about the possible limited use of the Defender and also tell her the guard is Riker Phoenix.”

“Riker Phoenix!” Victoria said it loud enough for the patrons at a nearby table to stare at them. Victoria’s gaze shifted to Draeken as if in accusation.

“Please lower your voice,” Stella whispered between clenched teeth.

“Sorry,” Victoria said, looking at him again.

“As you may or may not know, Draeken is Riker’s brother.”

“So you were able to speak to Draeken before—”

“That’s right,” Stella said quickly, before Victoria could finish her sentence.

Victoria seemed to settle down. Nodding, she said, “Okay. I’ll be on my way. Meet you at the rendezvous.”

“Great. Keep on truckin’, Victoria.”

“You, too, now.”

Stella grabbed Draeken by the arm and hauled him through the opening leading to the bathrooms. She’d shoved him several steps before he said, “Are we leaving already?”

“Yes. We know he’s not here. He’s probably in the woods and Elise will find him and check in with information in an hour.”

“But that’s not confirmed yet.”

“I’ll check in with Elise in an hour and then we’ll know for certain.”

“Why was it such a shock that Riker is the guard? And why did I have to not say a single word?”

“Your brother is very high up the food chain on Alpha-Prime and he’s the most famous Royal Magistrate’s Guard on the planet. Don’t you know that?”

“I guess so, but to me he’s just my brother. And what’s a food chain?”

“Earther expression.”

“I need to learn so much about this planet,” he said and then wanted to bite his tongue. As far as she knew, he’d be at the most notorious gulag in three galaxies for the next ten years, seven with good behavior.

With one hand gripping his sleeve, she reached out and pulled the back exit door open, taking them into yet another alley. “How many more alleys will we see in Nocturne Falls, I wonder?”

“This is the last one, I’m afraid.” Stella bent down and pulled something out of the top of her right boot. “I’m really sorry to do this to you, Draeken, but I should have done it earlier.” He was about to ask why she was apologizing when she stuck something small against his inner wrist near the manacle. It looked like a clear plastic sticker.

The moment the adhesive stuck to his skin, a helpless feeling came over him. He could still walk and move, although he was slow. The biggest problem was he couldn’t speak.

Draeken tried to tell Stella he’d been stricken with palsy or a stroke or something, but her sad smile told him she already knew. She’d done this to him on purpose. The clear sticker was some sort of shackle. He’d heard about this sort of tool for security work and the handling of inebriated or wayward aliens cutting loose on Earth. The device had been developed on Earth and shared with Alpha-Prime as a possible way to subdue angry felons and criminals without physical violence.

The prototype had been used when a malevolent being had gotten loose at the way station in Arkansas. Riker had mentioned it once in passing. At the time Draeken had been more concerned about Stella’s safety or being anywhere near a malevolent alien on the loose. He’d asked all sorts of questions about how malevolent the being had been and whether any Earthers had been hurt and not the tools of Riker’s trade.

Presently, Draeken wished he’d paid better attention to how the new shackle tool device worked instead of finding out the hard way.

Chapter Nine

<^> <^> <^>

Stella hated to put the chemical shackle on Draeken when they’d been getting along so nicely. Plus, he’d been perfectly silent in front of Victoria not saying a word as if he had been shackled already, but she should have put the device on him immediately. Then again, he’d been breaking her out of jail at the time, so that seemed like bad timing.

Each of the team carried a shackle device as part of the tactical gear Cam felt necessary for an offsite situation such as this one. They hadn’t known which of the three crash victims they’d encounter when they split up to search.

The only good news was no one knew about her previous relationship with Draeken. She wanted to keep it that way around her Earther friends and co-workers.

She looked into Draeken’s eyes. She saw all manner of emotions, starting with the sting of betrayal and ending with the shock of the device keeping him subdued in both voice and motor skills.

“I’m sorry. I truly am,” she said in her most sincere voice.

His eyes widened a bit, but his expression didn’t otherwise change. Stella had only seen this used on a monstrous beast loose in Alienn several months ago. It had worked perfectly to end the terror of a mindless animal loose on the streets.

Cam had been the one to attach the device to that creature. She didn’t know if he’d lost a bet or simply been driven to discover a solution to the big problem. Either way, he’d been victorious and heroic that day. And now they had a new device to use on aliens on Earth to subdue and make them obey.

Draeken wasn’t a monstrous beast and she was sympathetic to his need to discover what happened to his brother, but she had a job to do.

“Let’s go. Walk with me,” Stella said, hooking her hand around his elbow and leading him out of the ally and down the sidewalk.

They passed a Christmas-themed toy store. It looked like it was actually snowing inside. She stopped to look in the front window. Draeken seemed equally taken with the place, if the zeal in his eyes was any indication. She scolded herself out of that supposition. He was likely wild eyed because he was shackled, not because supernatural folks could likely make weather do what they wanted. They moved on down the street.

Stella had to check in soon. She reached for the communicator on her belt out of habit, but it was gone. She stopped, patting her body down as if she’d find it stuck to her clothing. Then she remembered she’d noted its absence at the sheriff’s office. Foolish. She looked around to ensure no one was paying them any attention and moved Draeken into a shallow alley between two buildings attached at the back.

Stella tried to remember the last time she knew it had been in her possession. She’d had the communicator when the three of them had been at the crash site. They’d all set a timer together for a check-in that was fast approaching. She also had another check-in with Alienn soon after that. Where could it be?

She’d had it in the backseat of Sheriff Merrow’s car because she remembered it digging into her hand at one point on the journey, the corner of the metal device cold against her wrist as she tried to get comfortable with handcuffs on. Either Sheriff Merrow hadn’t seen the device cleverly attached to her belt—and it had been developed that way as a safety measure—or he’d ignored it thinking it was only a phone, which is exactly what it looked like, a tiny slender phone.

She obviously didn’t have it when she’d been put in the jail cell. Along with the Big D already in his possession, the sheriff had taken her ID and cash before locking her up. Hopefully he hadn’t had a chance to call Alienn and rat her out yet. Another worry for a later time.

She must have dropped it in the back of his car. Any human who found it would likely assume it was a cellular phone, but the device wouldn’t turn on unless she was holding it. They were set only to operate for the assigned user. Even so, she needed to get it back, desperately. Cam would freak out if she didn’t return from the field with it.

She looked at Draeken. His expression was neutral. Not wide-eyed anymore. That was somewhat of a relief.

“I’ve lost my communicator,” she said. “I must find it.”

He nodded.

“I think it might be in the back of the sheriff’s vehicle.”

His brows furrowed, but that was all. She couldn’t determine his meaning. Maybe he was sympathetic. Maybe he thought she was foolish. Maybe he didn’t want to be shackled anymore so they could have a regular conversation. Not happening. She’d already gone off the rails too much with this assignment. From now on she’d be by the book regarding the prisoner, even if it was Draeken.

Stella looked around to get her bearings and noticed the sheriff’s office just ahead. She led Draeken in that direction. Half a block from the front door, she ducked down another alley, hoping to find the back parking lot where the sheriff had left his vehicle.

If the car was unlocked and her device was inside, she could call in with her success story of finding Draeken, the prisoner, and then make her way to the rendezvous point.

She found the parking lot. There was no one around. She walked over to the sheriff’s vehicle. It was parked in the same place as when she’d been taken from it hours before.

“Keep watch,” Stella said to Draeken. “You’re allowed to warn me verbally if you see anyone coming.” He nodded.

Stella put a hand up to her brows to block the sun and put her nose against the glass of the backseat. Searching the floors and then the whole expanse of the backseat area, a thrill rode up her spine when she saw her communicator. It was on the seat, half wedged between the back and seat cushions.

“Animal,” Draeken said. “There’s an animal coming toward us.”

Stella looked over one shoulder. A small black cat trotted toward them—maybe black was the only color of cat allowed in a town that celebrated Halloween 365 days a year.

“I appreciate you wanted to talk and everything, but I hardly think a tiny cat is a threat.”

Draeken gave her a sideways glance. “Cat is coming closer. I’m warning you, as requested.” He didn’t sound cranky or disgruntled, when he certainly had the right to do so, but that had never been Draeken’s way. He was happy-go-lucky even during what she considered dire circumstances. And that was also part of the problem for any promising future for the two of them. He didn’t often take things seriously, even possibly calamitous things. She took everything seriously.

Opposites might attract, but she didn’t want to always be the grown-up. She wanted a partner, not a juvenile she’d have to mind or explain things to. Even so, she didn’t want Draeken to change for her. He was a good guy. He may have had a colorful past that involved minor scrapes with the law, but they were never instigated by him and there was certainly never any nefarious intent on his part.

The small fluffy cat trotted by without a second look in their direction, seemingly on the hunt for something else. Stella heard purring as the animal moved behind them. She could have sworn she heard words coming from the creature, knowing that was absurd. Still, it sounded like, “Hun-gry. Hun-gry. Hun-gry,” with each trotting step the little black cat took on its journey.

She shook her head, certain she was hearing things, and turned back to the task at hand.

“What’s the best way to break into a police car?” she asked herself out loud.

“Quickly,” Draeken said. “Definitely without getting caught.”

“Very funny.” She glared at him and he gave her a look of such love and devotion she was momentarily blinded. They were standing very close together. Stella leaned closer.

“Kiss me,” she said. And he did. Boy howdy. The kiss was equal parts love and concern and the wish she’d once had for their possible future. At least on her side. From his side, she realized she hadn’t given him much of a choice. He had to do what she said. The thought shamed her.

Stella broke the sultry kiss, scanning his face for any hint he didn’t want to kiss her. His expression seemed puzzled.

“Did you want to kiss me?” she asked in a whisper. “Or did the shackle make you do it? Tell me the truth.” You have to tell me the truth anyway. I want to know for certain your feelings.

“I always want to kiss you Stella, with or without a shackle. That’s the truth.”

She lifted onto her tippy toes and kissed him again, letting herself fall into the short moment of feeling safe and loved and protected. When she ended it this time, his expression was a bit dark and filled with something new. Desire? Regret? Both?

Stella shook off the urge to free him and turned her attention back to the sheriff’s vehicle.

“What should I do first?” she asked as if the air around her would tell her what to do. Secretly she hoped Draeken would help her. Then again, he had to, didn’t he?

“Check to see if the vehicle is already unlocked,” Draeken said. He flashed his signature mischievous and engaging—and, for her, dangerous—smile.

She reached for the back door handle, pulled and lifted. It opened without a hitch. Relief poured through her. Stella snatched up her communicator and quickly closed the door. The break-in took only seconds, but she was so relieved it was over.

“I can’t believe how easy that was,” she murmured.

“Woman,” Draeken said. Stella thought he was making a snide remark about her actions, but that wasn’t like him.

“What?”

“Woman entering parking lot.” Stella looked across the small lot and indeed saw a woman coming toward them with what looked like a picnic basket on one arm.

The moment the newcomer saw them, she frowned and hurried her step. Stella didn’t want to have to subdue anyone else. And with her Defender not working on everyone in this town, she wasn’t certain she should even pull it from her belt.

Space potatoes!

Chapter Ten

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken had been bouncing from one extreme emotion to another since Stella had put the device on him. It amazed him that such a small clear sticker could have such a profound impact. But it did. Overall, it had a dulling effect on his entire brain. His motor skills were fine, but his mind felt fuzzy. At least until she told him to kiss her.

That had been a sharp command that reverberated from the center of his body outward. He was compelled by a force not entirely his own to do as she commanded, but it certainly hadn’t been a chore. He’d wanted to kiss Stella every time he looked in her eyes, looked at her face, or spent two seconds in her company.

The kissing had certainly not been a problem, but at first merely being under someone else’s control left him feeling a bit…freaked out was the Earther term, he believed. But not as much as seeing danger approach and not being fully able to act as he might have. Like grabbing Stella and running far, far away.

The woman he’d warned Stella about was approaching at a fast clip. Stella slapped a hand on her belt, likely trying to locate and procure her Defender.

“Hey,” the girl said. The closer she came, the younger she looked. “Is Deputy Rosemont inside? Do you know?”

“I beg your pardon?” Stella said. Her arm stopped moving frantically at her waist.

The girl nodded at the vehicle. “I’m pretty sure that’s the sheriff’s car, but I was hoping to bring a surprise lunch to Deputy Rosemont, if he’s alone, I mean.” A blush grew in her round cheeks, adding meaning to the word “surprise” in her previous statement.

Draeken remembered Deputy Rosemont all right. Did Stella? She’d been the one to deliver that last nudge to him.

The girl glanced at Stella, then at the back door of the sheriff’s office and then back at them. “Do you happen to know if Deputy Rosemont is in there alone or if the sheriff is also there?”

Draeken tried to give Stella a poke with his elbow, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.

Stella finally looked up as if all the girl’s words finally processed through her brain. “Honestly,” she said. “I don’t have any idea.” A meaningful look came his way from Stella’s beautiful eyes.

She put a hand on Draeken’s forearm and added, “We just slipped back here for a quiet moment together. You know what I mean?”

The girl’s cheeks turned an even deeper shade of crimson and she nodded. “I sort of figured. You two are a very cute couple.”

“Thanks,” Stella said, grabbing his arm again. “We’d better get going, sweetie.”

Draeken smiled at the girl, striving to project the air of the strong, silent type, since he couldn’t speak. He liked the endearment, sweetie. If he could have spoken, he would have responded with, “Of course, sugar pie, honeybunch. Let’s go kiss ourselves silly somewhere.” But he remained silent in the moment, because he was forced to behave.

“Good luck with your surprise picnic lunch,” Stella said to the girl and promptly hustled him back out the way they’d come.

She led them down the busy main thoroughfare and into the park he’d spent quality time in last night. They were seated on the very bench where he’d catnapped. Many trees surrounded them. While they remained in view of the main street and there were some grassy spots, this area of the park was fairly secluded.

Stella faced him, one knee connecting with his, and whispered something about trusting him to behave while she sent messages to her team and back home.

Back home to Alpha-Prime? No. She has a new home on Earth now, with a new family. Not him.

Draeken succumbed for a moment to the relaxing effect of the shackle. Despite it, he was electrically aware every time Stella barely touched him. It made him a little crazed. Even fully clothed with only their bent, boney knees connecting was enough to put his mind into sexy past moments with her. It also generated the recent memories of what he’d done to change his life for the better, so that he could find her again with more than his love and a ne’er-do-well past always haunting him like a souvenir shadow of a youthful, foolish past.

He wanted to break free of this haze-inducing shackle, take her into his arms and tell her how much he loved her, how much he’d always loved her, what he’d done to change things for his future and finish with the huge secret he’d been harboring since leaving Alpha-Prime.

No one knew this secret, not the original guard, not his parents, not even his own brother, who’d obviously inserted himself into the journey to help Draeken. The magistrate, the prosecutor and his own personal barrister were the only other three who knew why he had a ten-year sentence and why only he could go to the gulag and get them what they wanted.

Stella put her soft palm on his cheek, stared into his half-closed eyes and said, “Tell me the truth, Draeken. What happened to bring you here to Earth?”

Space potatoes. That information was a big fat secret. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Not a soul. Not even the love of his life.

He hadn’t said a single word to Riker on the trip before crash-landing on Earth, and hoped his brother wouldn’t figure out he was lying by omission. Riker had given him every opportunity to explain.

His brother had railed against a system that would give Draeken the maximum ten years even if he had been guilty, which Riker was not convinced was true. He’d been quick to point out he didn’t believe for a second Draeken was guilty of the crime he was accused of and certainly didn’t deserve the maximum sentence even if he might have known the true criminals at one time. Draeken loved his brother and his willingness to help.

Once Riker had seen him safely into the gulag with a few well-placed words on his behalf to the guard staff there, he planned to do his utmost to see this travesty of a conviction turned around. His brother would never stop.

Draeken had thanked him and said nothing else, fearful he’d give away the gig.

No way could he tell Stella the huge secret he harbored, just because she asked. He’d agreed to retrieve some highly difficult to obtain information from a former classmate, John Stillwell, who was serving a life sentence at Galactic Gulag XkR-9. Draeken hadn’t known until that moment that Stillwell’s first name was John.

Stillwell was from a rich, upstanding family, a bored ne’er-do-well with a list of offenses three times the size and brevity of Draeken’s. His family had been much more prestigious than the Phoenixes, but even their name couldn’t save him in the end. He’d caused the deaths of eight people in five instances due to being too intoxicated to function in public. And those were only the instances that had been exposed.

To Draeken’s mind, Stillwell more than deserved to rot in the gulag for years to come. However, Stillwell was a fountain of knowledge regarding other bad actors and ne’er-do-wells from his elevated class. Sometimes he liked to rat others out; sometimes not.

Draeken couldn’t tell Stella, no matter how sweetly she asked, that the magistrate and Draeken’s barrister agreed Stillwell might be more willing to part with candid information if he thought Draeken would be incarcerated in the gulag for a ten-year stretch of his own.

There was a specific piece of information the magistrate and prosecutor required Draeken to get from Stillwell. Doing so would not only release him from what was a bogus charge and resulting sentence, but cleanse his entire record. He could start fresh with a clean slate.

More importantly for his ultimate purposes, he could pursue his love, Stella, with more to offer than his hat in hand, a foolish criminal record and no discernable skills to make a living. He wished he could tell her that in addition to studying Earth history, he’d watched videos and learned how Bauxite was mined. He didn’t have any practical experience, as there was almost no Bauxite left to mine on Alpha-Prime, but he was eager to work hard. Stella was worth any and all effort he’d have to do.

Stella’s voice came into his muzzy-feeling head as she asked a question about his brother. He fought through the fog in his brain to focus on what she was saying. He opened his eyes to her beautiful face, her understanding expression, the woman he loved with all his heart and soul. She asked him something again about his brother, but he was so relaxed he didn’t speak. He could only nod in contentment.

She smiled, grabbed his arm and shockingly peeled the shackle sticker from his wrist. The moment the device was off his skin, he blacked out.

Chapter Eleven

<^> <^> <^>

“Draeken,” Stella said loudly. She was still reeling from what he’d revealed. When she finally asked him if he wanted to speak to his brother, he’d nodded and seemed to drift back into the haze of submission.

Stella made a decision. Even if she released Draeken from the shackle, of course he wouldn’t want to leave Nocturne Falls until he knew his brother was safe. She didn’t even have a brother and she knew she’d do nothing less for any of her cousins or extended family back in Arkansas.

The moment she removed the shackle device, his sleepy-looking, half-open eyelids shut completely.

“Are you even awake?”

“What?” His eyes popped open seconds later. “Yes. I’m awake.” Draeken seemed to shake off the pacifying effects of the shackle fairly quickly. She hadn’t seen the prototype device taken off of the monster back in Alienn, but she’d heard it had subdued the beast right away upon application. After removal, the beast had woken quietly and been very passive. She hoped for the same response from Draeken. So far so good.

“I got a message from my teammate Elise. She found Riker. Do you want to talk to him or not?”

Draeken straightened. “Yes. Of course. Are we going to meet up with them at the rendezvous?”

Stella didn’t respond right away. She’d sent a message to Alienn barely in time for the regular check-in. Okay, two minutes late. Regardless, there had been a change in plans.

An express ship was en route to the gulag via Earth and the way station here. She needed to bring Draeken to Alienn sooner rather than later. She’d have to leave Victoria and Elise behind to make it in time. She would also have to take the silver SUV she and her team had brought to Georgia. Victoria and Elise would need to find their own way home, possibly from the spacecraft retrieval team. They should be arriving soon, if they hadn’t already, but she didn’t have time to worry about them.

She messaged her teammates to fill them in on her new directive, let them know they’d have to get back to Alienn on their own and, most importantly, get their current status.

Victoria was in the greater township of Nocturne Falls and had a good lead on where Holden was located. She said she’d likely be a few days, but didn’t go into detail. Stella trusted her to do what was needed, check in regularly and return to Alienn as soon as possible with the pilot in tow.

Her message to Elise resulted in more good news. She’d found Riker Phoenix. Hurt in the crash and left unconscious, he’d been carried off by so far unidentified folks from the woods, and abandoned in a cabin.

They were leaving a note of thanks to his rescuers and planned to rendezvous with the spacecraft retrieval team for a faster lift back to Alienn and immediate medical help of the alien kind.

Stella agreed, but also asked Elise if Riker wanted to speak with Draeken. Not only did he want to, he demanded it. She connected to the other device for voice and handed it to Draeken.

“Riker? Are you okay?”

Stella gleaned from Draeken’s side of the conversation that even the painfully few short-worded sentences between the two brothers was enough to soothe and calm them until they could meet in person.

Draeken said, “I appreciate what you were willing to do for me on the trip to the gulag. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

He listened, nodding here and there to whatever Riker said in return. After a minute or so, Draeken held the communicator out to Stella. “Riker would like a few words with you.”

Stella took the communicator. “Hello?”

Riker’s raspy voice came over the line. “What is the plan for Draeken?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.” Stella didn’t want to play hardball, but her instructions from Alienn had been very specific. Bring him back pronto because there is a special express spacecraft on the way to collect him. And also, do not share this information with anyone!

“Please tell me. I got myself put on that ship as his guard to ensure the gulag staff knew he was my brother. Now it looks like he’s facing a ten-year sentence without someone to speak for him.”

Stella had a bit of information on that score, but absolutely could not share it with Riker. “Listen. I understand, I truly do, and I’m not without personal feelings in this matter, as you well know. However, I’ve been specifically tasked with getting Draeken back to Alienn in time for another express spacecraft bound for the gulag. My mission is time sensitive and I can’t wait for you. I’m sorry. I promise to ensure he’s safely delivered.”

“Will you also deliver a message to the guards taking him to the gulag?”

“Yes.”

“Mention my name. In fact, make sure they know who I am, and that I personally request my brother be treated fairly while incarcerated.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best to ensure that message is delivered.”

“Thank you.”

She closed the connection.

Draeken looked around the small section of park they’d claimed as if he didn’t quite understand where they were.

“Will you come along peacefully without being restrained? Or do I need to put the shackle back on you?”

“Shackle?” he said, as if he’d never heard the word before. “No need to bind me, Stella. I’ll come with you.” He gave her a sleepy-looking smile. She had a sudden visceral memory of waking up next to Draeken. He was, in her opinion, irresistible all the time, but especially first thing in the morning.

She shook off that memory and started calculating the best way to get back to the team’s SUV. Another glance at Draeken sent her mind diving back in for another lap around the memory pool. He was without a doubt a man she had never fully been able to forget or fall out of love with.

He still looked out of sorts, but she attributed it to the effects of the shackle and his recent grand confession. Stella was still cataloging all the things he’d told her in that quiet, intense whisper. His love for her, his super-secret plan, what would happen once he got to the gulag and, best of all, his earnest desire to visit Earth, checking it out with the intention of making a future with her.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t want that, but she wasn’t certain how he’d feel about leaving his family on Alpha-Prime in practice. The idea of sharing her life with Draeken became something she wanted as much as she wanted to continue the life she’d built with her long-lost family in Alienn.

“What do you think of Earth?” Stella asked. She thought it was a wondrous place. She’d only been out of Arkansas a few times, but everywhere she’d gone had been varied but no less interesting than her own backyard. She loved Earth and hoped Draeken would feel the same way.

He gestured toward the town. “I love this place. I could spend a month in Nocturne Falls and likely not see everything it has to offer, but I’m also anxious to see where you’re from.”

Stella smiled thinking about her home in Arkansas. She loved it in Alienn so much that most times she didn’t miss Alpha-Prime. No part of it had seemed like a welcoming home, with the singular exception of Draeken. She had truly missed him and seeing him again made her realize how much.

“You don’t have to say a word. I can see from your expression that you’re very happy here on Earth.” Draeken sat up, appearing more alert.

“You could be, too.” Would he consider living on Earth with her forever?

His eyes narrowed. “Except that I’m headed to a gulag for the next decade.”

So, he didn’t want to admit out loud that she knew his secret. Stella could play along. “Well, maybe when you get out for good behavior,” she said, grinning.

“You’d really wait for me?” Draeken seemed surprised. “For ten years?”

She leaned in close. “It likely won’t be ten years, so sure. I’ll wait for you. I’m very fond of you, Draeken. Seeing you again has made me realize how much.”

He overlooked her declaration and asked, “What makes you think it won’t be ten years?” The growing concern in his tone was not difficult to fathom. Obviously, he didn’t want to discuss his super-secret plan and perhaps he was testing her to ensure she wouldn’t give him away. Again, she understood and vowed to be more thoughtful.

Stella shrugged. “Let’s just say I have a good feeling. Your brother is certainly going to continue to argue on your behalf. Perhaps he’ll come up with a way to free you early. If I know Riker, he won’t stop until every possible way to get you out of the gulag has been exhausted. He’s well regarded on Alpha-Prime. So don’t give up. He’s ready to fight for you. I know it.”

“I guess that’s still possible, but I really shouldn’t count on it.” Draeken acted like he fully expected to spend ten years in the worst gulag in three galaxies.

Stella was so intent on Draeken’s strange behavior that she didn’t notice they had company. She and Draeken stood from the bench, but there was nowhere to go.

Besides Sheriff Merrow towering over her, a couple she suspected were Hugh and Delaney—the woman’s large belly was the giveaway—and a handful of strangers had them surrounded. There was no chance for escape even if they could outrun the supernaturals, and likely they couldn’t.

Stella put a hand on her Defender, but Sheriff Merrow gazed sternly, brows furrowing in displeasure. “Don’t do it. You know it won’t work anyway, right?”

Stella pushed out a long sigh, pulled her hand away from the Big D and resisted the urge to grab Draeken’s arm and run away as fast as possible.

The only trouble, she knew in fact that the sheriff could move very fast in his human form. They likely wouldn’t get three paces away before he shifted into a grizzly bear or whatever he was, and pounced on them.

Sheriff Merrow motioned them toward his official vehicle parked nearby, but didn’t make a move to handcuff them. Even so, the hour at which she needed to leave and get Draeken back to Alienn was ticking ever closer.

Space Potatoes! Stella didn’t have time for this.

Chapter Twelve

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken sat at the expansive table and remained quiet. Stella was seated next to him and hadn’t said a single word since being brought to this lovely home. He’d overheard it was Hugh and Delaney Ellingham’s house. There had even been a manservant named Stanhill who had led them to this room. It was lovely and unexpected. The sheriff, the candy store woman and her big, serious husband sat across from them.

The sheriff spoke first. “You escaped from custody,” he said to Stella. The fact he and Stella were not cooling their heels in a jail cell made Draeken think perhaps this might turn out better than expected.

Stella, on the other hand looked angry, uncooperative and not at all in the mood to negotiate. “You didn’t take me back there when you caught me,” she said in response.

Or maybe they’d be sent right back to jail.

“Since you stole back all the evidence I took from you, I couldn’t check your driver’s license in any official capacity,” the sheriff continued as if she hadn’t said anything snarky.

“I’m broken-hearted for you,” she grumbled even as she seemed to relax slightly.

The sheriff again seemed to ignore her sarcastic tone. “Lucky for me I have a really great memory and I did some checking on the town you come from. Alienn, Arkansas, right?”

Stella’s spine went rigid. “That’s not a crime that I’m aware of,” she said as if her teeth were clenched so tight they were seconds from cracking into splinters.

“As it turns out, Alienn, Arkansas is a fairly well known place with a prominent business close by.”

Stella didn’t comment.

Sheriff Merrow said, “So I put in a phone call to that largest and most famous business to see if anyone knew who you were and if you’d caused trouble there.”

Draeken sat straighter in his chair. Stella was still seated with her back as straight as an iron fence post and her expression had turned wary.

Sheriff Merrow chuckled as if genuinely amused. “After being forwarded to several different people, eventually I talked to a guy by the name of Diesel Grey, who claimed to be the Fearless Leader of an enterprise called the Big Bang Truck Stop.”

“Your last name is also Grey. At least that’s what your Arkansas driver’s license said. So, are you related to this Diesel Grey?”

Draeken didn’t know who that was, but given Stella’s reaction, she sure did. The minute Diesel’s name was uttered, she visibly slumped, falling against the back of the chair as if someone had unplugged her. Was Diesel Grey a cousin?

“What did this Diesel say?” Draeken felt he needed to ask the question, since it didn’t look like Stella would ever speak again. Part of him wondered if Stella had some sort of romantic relationship with this Diesel person despite the fact they both were named Grey.

“He stood up for you. Especially when I told him I’d arrested you for attempted murder.”

Draeken laughed out loud. “What? Stella? Arrested for attempted murder? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” Stella straightened back up again and gave him a stern look.

Sheriff Merrow said, “Laugh it up, but you also have your own issues to explain, Mr. Mind Reader.”

Draeken stopped smiling, cleared his throat and remained silent.

“So, I’ll ask again. Is this Diesel Grey related to you?” the sheriff asked.

A wan smile appeared on Stella lips. “Yes. He’s my cousin,” she said in a slightly amused tone. Draeken was glad she’d cheered up and even gladder to find out Diesel wasn’t a love interest.

“Yeah,” Sheriff Merrow said. “Lots of cousins in Arkansas, huh?”

Stella shrugged, but the amused—and slightly superior—expression remained.

“Bottom line, why are you here?” Sheriff Merrow looked like he was ready to slap her in handcuffs again and throw her into the nearest dungeon if she didn’t confess all. Did they even have dungeons here on Earth?

Stella didn’t even blink. “Did you ask Diesel that question?”

“I did.”

“And what did he say?”

“When I explained the situation regarding why I’d arrested you for attempted murder, he was very interested in why the unique device you used hadn’t worked on me.”

“I’ll bet he was. So am I.” This time she spoke only under her breath.

“He also had a few suggestions as to why. So we initiated what I’ll call a private discussion with the idea that there will be future phone conversations and likely an actual real-life meeting between the leaders of our respective towns to discuss…a few delicate things.”

Draeken thought it sounded like some kind of truce would be forthcoming. He only hoped Stella would cooperate.

Cooperation was apparently not in Stella’s repertoire today. “That means you are not human and we know it. Just as you admit to seeing what I was trying to hide in the woods. I suspect the future meeting will be one with the singular topic of, ‘We won’t tell your secrets, if you don’t tell ours.’ Have I got that right?”

Sheriff Merrow grunted once, but it sounded like a semi-happy neutral grunt, or at least not one that would put them back in a cell. Stella was forthright, but the sheriff didn’t seem to hold it against her.

“I’d say that is accurate. I would never have suspected you were not born on this planet.”

“I would never have guessed you were supernatural,” Stella said in a more reasonable tone.

She glanced at the wall clock and her posture stiffened again. “I appreciate and laud the new understanding between the leaders of our two respective towns. I also hope you’ll help and not hinder my two teammates, who are searching for two more crash victims. I am, however, under a bit of a time crunch. So, in the spirit of getting along in the future, are we free to go?”

Sheriff Merrow, Hugh and Delaney exchanged looks and slight shrugs before he said, “Yes.”

Stella stood up, put her hand out and shook with the sheriff and the other two. “It’s been very interesting meeting you. Thank you for being open-minded about this unusual and delicate situation.”

Draeken stood up and extended a hand to Delaney Ellingham. “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize sincerely for outing you in your chocolate shop. You’d given me such a great treat that I wanted to give you a great trick in return. I didn’t realize my disgraceful mistake until too late.”

Delaney said, “I forgive you. And since it was just the two of us in the shop, there was no harm done.” She reached her hand out to him.

He continued, “Even so, I should have said I was sorry instead of racing out of your shop like a streak of greased lightning.” Draeken had read that phrase in a book on Earther slang.

Delaney shook his extended hand, but her husband didn’t look too happy about it. In fact, Hugh Ellingham gave him such a wrathful and scornful stare Draeken quickly released her grip, expecting the man to devour him whole if he so much as looked at Delaney for a second longer.

The sheriff was even affable enough to give them a ride. Stella had insisted on having him drop them in town. Soon, Draeken and Stella were back walking along Nocturne Falls’s main thoroughfare.

“Before we leave, maybe we should take one last look around for Riker.”

“Sorry, you have a date in Arkansas with a spacecraft that’s already been dispatched and after a quick way station stop will be on its way straight to the gulag.” She looked at a timepiece on her wrist. “We’re barely going to make it as it is. Come on.”

“You seem to be in a big hurry to get me to prison. Why didn’t you have the sheriff take us to where your vehicle is?”

“I didn’t want him to know where the hiding place was with my camouflage SUV cover.” She shot a quick look in his direction. “And I’m in a hurry to get you on your way to the gulag because I don’t want your deal to dissolve.”

“What deal?”

She looked all around them as if to ensure no one could hear them. They’d reached the edge of town and there were fewer buildings and people here. Her paranoia touched his mind and Draeken also took a quick look around. “The super-secret deal that will not keep you in prison very long,” she whispered. She kept moving even as, stunned, he lost his gait.

Draeken grabbed hold of her arm to stop her. “How do you know about that?”

She pulled him along. “I know what you told me,” she whispered and rolled her eyes. She acted like she knew something, but that was impossible. He hadn’t told her a thing. He’d only thought about it right before talking to Riker on her communication device. Did she read his mind? No. Their species couldn’t read each other’s minds, only alien minds.

“Stella. I didn’t tell you anything. I couldn’t have. If anyone gets a single hint about that secret or even an inkling that anything out of the ordinary is going on with my prison sentence, then the deal is off. Even Riker doesn’t know. Do you realize how hard that was? How could you possibly have any clue about this secret?”

Stella looked puzzled. Her gaze dropped to his wrist where he still wore the manacle from the spacecraft, the same one she’d put the sticker that made him cooperate. Oh no! The shackle! He felt cold.

“Did that shackle device make me tell you something?”

“You don’t remember?”

Draeken was on the edge of freaking out again. “Are you really going to answer my question with a question?”

Stella pushed out a sigh. “I thought you were telling me a secret because of the shackle. But I swear, I didn’t know you wouldn’t remember telling me.”

“The guards on the spacecraft sending me to the gulag will ask you to tell them every word I said while I was in your custody when you turn me over. And trust me, they will know if you’re telling the truth or not.”

Stella nodded, but said, “Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out.” She sounded confident, but he was not convinced she’d be able to lie to the next prison ship sent specifically to taxi him to the gulag.

“Great.” Draeken had worked so hard and jumped through so many hoops, it was disheartening to learn he might lose it all at this late date. He didn’t say another word as she led him out of town to her hidden vehicle.

Once inside the SUV, Stella said, “Why don’t I tell you something no one else knows?”

Draeken didn’t respond. She started talking anyway.

“This is the first mission I’ve been in charge of. I want to do a good job. And I want to impress Diesel. Like the sheriff said, he’s Alienn’s Fearless Leader. I answer to him and a couple of others.” Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the steering wheel. “I hate that I’m bringing you in to face a gulag sentence, but I also don’t want to fail in my mission.”

Draeken simply looked out the front windshield as the tree-lined, winding roads took them ever closer to his ultimate destiny—a fate he wasn’t certain would end the way he’d planned or expected. He remained silent feeling quite morose.

“Are we going to spend the next eight hours not talking to each other?” she asked after a long quiet space.

Draeken shrugged and said nothing. It was childish, but clearly she didn’t understand the lengths he’d gone to in order to facilitate this deal. One word, one wrong gaze at the wrong person at the wrong time could ruin this one and only chance for him, for them.

Maybe that was the point.

Maybe she didn’t want him to make a grand gesture.

Maybe she’d rather spend her life alone on Earth.

Or worse, maybe she’d found another to share her life with.

Diesel might be her boss and Fearless Leader and also her cousin, but he’d heard of kissing cousins being common, especially in Arkansas.

That fact alone sent him into a depressing spiral of negative thoughts. This was an unfamiliar place for him. He usually made the best of every bad situation. Stella was his weakness. She alone held the key to his future happiness.

She’d said she would wait for him, but perhaps she only wanted him to be her friend on Earth. That foolish notion depressed him even further.

Maybe he needed to rethink his future plans.

Maybe Stella was only trying to get him to cooperate so she could get him out of Nocturne Falls without grief.

Seated and belted into the car’s front passenger seat, Draeken turned away and pretended to sleep for the long journey to Alienn, Arkansas.

Chapter Thirteen

<^> <^> <^>

Stella drove toward Arkansas with mixed feelings. Draeken had turned away and fallen asleep, making her journey home lonely and filled with speculation regarding what she’d do to keep from giving away his big secret. She did have an idea. After eight hours of driving and only one stop to gas up, she decided it was her best option. She’d have to trust someone else to turn him over to the ship bound for the gulag. She could control what was said to that person and no one would ever learn what she knew. There was only one choice. Diesel.

When they got within ten miles of their destination, Stella’s favorite part of the trip began. She absolutely loved the billboards that lined the highway approaching the Big Bang Truck Stop and the secret underground way station in the Milky Way galaxy. The earthlings also loved the signs and often commented on them when they visited the truck stop. Hiding in plain sight had been a very successful strategy for the extraterrestrials living in Alienn and it had been so for decades.

Maxwell the Martian led them sign by sign toward the truck stop near where she now resided. Draeken was turned away from her, but she could see him smile each time they passed a billboard. Stella pulled over to the side of the road in front of the billboard that stated, “The Big Bang Truck Stop, only five miles ahead where you’ll always get a big bang for your buck!”

“Why are you stopping?” Draeken said without looking at her.

“Because I don’t want your sullen attitude to be the final thing between us before you go to jail.”

He turned toward her and she could see his original anger—whatever it had been about—had dissipated during the silence of their long travel.

“I’m not sullen,” he said in a sullen tone.

“Oh? You could have fooled me.”

Heat crept into his voice. “Okay, then here it is. I love you, Stella. I’ve always loved you. There is no one else for me. There has been no one else in my life since you left. Can you say the same thing?”

“Do you really want to know if there have been any other men in my life since we broke up?”

“No. Not really.”

Stella took a moment to collect her thoughts. She’d had eight hours to mentally practice what she wanted to say, but worried she might sound like some sort of diva in a soap opera. “Draeken, listen to me. I’m very sorry about the shackle. I didn’t understand how it worked or that it would force you to tell me a secret you didn’t want revealed.

“I’m sorry you were compelled to tell me something so important. But I love you, too. I’ve loved you since I left Alpha-Prime. There hasn’t been any other man in my life since I came here with the exception of my male relatives and they don’t count. While I’ve been basking in my newfound family, I still missed you.

“When you came strolling into the Nocturne Falls jail, I couldn’t believe it was you. I thought I was dreaming. And yet, I didn’t want to fall for you again because of the vast divide between where we live. But one kiss and I’m helpless to stop my feelings. I do love you, Draeken. But I don’t want to leave my family or go back to Alpha-Prime.

“I also don’t expect you to give up your family and live with me on Earth. So I’ve avoided my feelings all this time. I just don’t see a way that works for us both where one of us doesn’t have to give up something personally important.”

Draeken gave her a look of love so intense it would be branded in her memory forever. With her dying breath she’d remember his expression displaying his exuberant love for her.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to say anything.

A loud siren went off and flashing lights spiraled down from the sky, lighting up the road and their vehicle in an ultra-bright circle.

Stella didn’t need to see the markings as it landed in front of the SUV to know it was the second spacecraft that had been sent from Alpha-Prime to retrieve the lone prisoner. Three guards in full tactical gear leapt from the ship and surrounded the SUV.

Their doors were snatched open and Stella and Draeken unceremoniously pulled from the vehicle. Two guards shoved Draeken to his knees, immediately put him in fresh manacles and led him off without so much as a chance for Stella to say goodbye.

The man who’d yanked Stella from the SUV wore a name tag that read Thorne. He led her—by pulling on her arm—into the waiting ship. Inside, there was no sign of the two other guards.

Stella also didn’t see Draeken once she was on board. She didn’t even see where he might be. Thorne had taken her to the flight deck. She guessed they had taken Draeken directly to the on-board brig. He would probably spend the duration of the voyage to the gulag there.

They were likely headed to the landing pad near the underground way station in Alienn, leaving her SUV behind by the side of the road, like trash thrown from a car window. Thorne had parked Stella beside him in a flight seat behind the pilot’s console.

“Why wasn’t the prisoner in manacles?” Thorne asked unemotionally.

“I wasn’t issued any manacles. They are too difficult to explain to the indigenous population here on Earth. Our number one rule is to keep the earthlings from learning about aliens.”

“Why wasn’t the shackle in place?” he asked in the same monotone voice.

Stella used a considerable amount of nudging in her own brain to keep from saying the exact truth.

“It came off.” Because I peeled it off. “I didn’t have another to replace it.” Unless I had taken the time to reach into my boot for another, which I didn’t. Not exactly the truth, but the guard didn’t ask the question again. Hopefully he couldn’t detect that she wasn’t being completely truthful.

“What did the prisoner say to you?” Thorne asked, pulling a small gray rectangular device from his front uniform pocket. It was a recording device.

“He didn’t talk very much,” Stella said. Except about how much he loves me.

“Is it true that you were closely acquainted with the prisoner when you lived on Alpha-Prime?” Space potatoes! Thorne could probably read every one of her self-libelous thoughts from her expression alone.

“Yes,” Stella said and quickly added, “I also know his brother, Riker Phoenix, the original guard assigned to bring him to the gulag.” She tried her best to change the subject from her relationship with Draeken and any whisper of the secret he’d told her. “In fact, I was instructed by Riker Phoenix to pass along a message to the guard taking Draeken to the gulag. Is that you?”

“Yes,” Thorne said. He was big and tall and rigid and fierce, just like a guard should be. She didn’t expect him to care one whit about Riker’s message or the prisoner. He obviously didn’t believe she’d handled Draeken exactly by the book on the way back to Alienn.

“Riker said to ensure the guards at the gulag know he is Draeken’s brother.”

Thorne looked confused and said, “I don’t believe that is relevant information to pass along.”

Stella looked at him unflinchingly. “But you’ll pass the information along anyway, since it’s in deference to the man who is Draeken’s brother. Do you not know him?”

“Yes. I know him,” Thorne said. He didn’t sound awed or angry or anything. He was like a robot. Like the Maxwell the Martian fortune teller box set up in the gift shop at the Big Bang Truck Stop. Put a hand over the big red button and a robotic Maxwell the Martian would give you a small business-sized card with a fortune on one side and a coupon for the truck stop on the other.

Thorne didn’t look at her as he spoke. He just faced the wall of the spacecraft in his visual path, dispassionately asking questions as if she were the one headed for a long stay at the gulag.

“Do you have anything else to report? Is there anything else the prisoner said while in your custody that you would like to repeat at this time?”

“No.” I love him. He loves me. Everything else we discussed is personal. And I’ll never reveal what he told me in secret.

Thorne nodded, but didn’t look satisfied. Maybe he never would. She didn’t care. He could just…keep on truckin’.

The pilot said, “We’re landing at the way station in three minutes.”

Thorne said, “Fine. I only have one more task.”

Stella was about to tell him he needed the remove the stick that was lodged too far up his backside, but Thorne’s final task was unjustified, despicable and heartrending.

He placed a shackle sticker on her wrist and said, “Tell me everything the prisoner told you.”

Chapter Fourteen

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken was manacled and led to a very small cell that had only enough space for a padded chair. He was then left alone for the short trip to Alienn. Once the spacecraft had landed and stopped moving, he expected to be released or fed or at least walked around the block for some exercise. He wanted a chance to see Alienn after talking to Stella about it.

Alas, no. After a few hours of yelling for attention failed to attract any, Draeken settled into his not terribly uncomfortable chair to ponder what could be going on.

Dozing on and off, thinking of Stella and the last things she’d said to him, he smiled remembering her impassioned words.

She loved him. She always had. There weren’t any other romantic connections in her life here on Earth. He was so grateful and elated he’d simply looked at her with as much love and devotion as he could muster.

Her greatest worry had to do with asking him to give up his family for her or being asked to give up her own newfound family for him. He understood completely. But it wasn’t a problem. He’d initially thought his family might be snobbish about him living on another planet to possibly work at a manual job, but also because of the girl he loved.

His parents had surprised him with their support. They liked Stella. His brother had also backed him. But then the unexpected tussle with the magistrate had come up. He’d been framed by the lying testimony of another criminal trying to make a deal.

Luckily, his barrister worked with the magistrate to make a much better deal in Draeken’s favor. All he had to do was go to a far-off gulag, get some tidbit of information, say a special code word and, voilà, he’d be released free and clear with his previous records also wiped clean.

Except in the meantime he’d gotten a chance to hang out with the love of his life and realize he loved her even more. Finding out she loved him made whatever came next bearable.

Draeken had been about to propose to Stella when their unexpected express ride dropped in. Even without the special ring he’d picked out for her, even on a lonely road five miles from Alienn, it would have been perfect.

He wanted to let her know he was ready to move to Earth with the blessings of his family to become a Bauxite miner so they could be together.

Now he was apparently going to have to postpone the proposal, get to the gulag as scheduled, find his old schoolmate and once and for all get the information that was his ticket to a life on Earth with Stella.

Draeken continued to doze and wake for some undetermined length of time as he waited for whatever came next. He was sort of hoping it involved a small tour of Alienn. Even if it was only the truck stop.

The two guards finally returned, pushed some buttons and his cell door swung open.

He swiveled in the seat and stood up. He felt woozy, as if he’d been asleep longer than he’d thought. “Will I get a chance to visit the underground way station on Earth before we launch towards the gulag?” He hoped Stella would find a way to at least wave him off on his journey. He planned to be stoic in the face of prison, but they both knew he wouldn’t be there long. If all went well, less than a month at the very outside.

A third guard he hadn’t noticed, obviously the one in charge, said, “No.” He moved past the other two guards, put his gloved hand on Draeken’s connected manacles and pulled him along.

“Why not?” Draeken asked. He noted the surly guard’s name was Thorne. He’d remember it easily by association. The man seemed like he was a big thorn in everyone’s side.

“Because we’ve already landed at the gulag.”

“What? How? I only dozed off for a few minutes.” Draeken stopped, yanking his bound hands from Thorne’s constant tug.

Thorne grabbed his bonds again and said, “We put you in a suspended sleep for the week-long journey here. Makes our lives easier on the trip. Welcome to Galactic Gulag XkR-9.”

Draeken barely had time to get his feet moving before Thorne dragged him off balance. Suspended sleep? Really? He’d been gone from Stella for a week and hadn’t even known it.

How unsporting of them.

The four men exited the ship, Thorne in the lead dragging Draeken as he stumbled along on legs gone weak from lack of muscle movement. The two other guards stayed behind him, weapons drawn, and didn’t help whenever he faltered or stumbled. They all moved down a steep ramp towards a black, cavernous-looking door at the front of a foreboding building.

Draeken forced himself to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other so as to stop his drunken-looking walk. He didn’t want to appear weak in front of any prisoners. That was a death sentence. Everyone knew that.

To his left were ice covered, snowcapped mountains across a rugged, icy, blueish, snow covered terrain; to his right was a sweltering reddish orange and black landscape that looked like hell had spewed its guts everywhere. The planet’s rotation was such that only one side got heat from the nearby sun.

Strategically placed between the two, the facility was the only livable structure on the planet. Well, the only official one, anyway. There had been escapes and just as many rumors of folks living along the equator of this unique planet.

Unfortunately, the average temperatures were unable to support humanoid life for very long. On one side the sun burned so intently anyone who stepped into the light would be standing there one minutes, the next, whoosh!, tinder for the flame. Meanwhile, the other side of the planet got no sunshine. The frigid temperature was the opposite side of the spectrum and just as unable to support any sustainable existence for humanoids.

Draeken tried to put all other things out of his mind with the exception of what he’d been brought here to do. The magistrate and barrister had given him their best advice about how to proceed.

He’d hoped to get right into the prison yard so as to begin his secret plan, but all new prisoners were put into solitary confinement for the first ten days of their sentence for a variety of reasons all of which annoyed him. He hadn’t known about the protocol. He truly hated surprises sometimes.

After pacing back and forth and also in circles for a week and a half as he was observed by not only the prison staff, but also Thorne and his crew, for only they knew what reason, he was finally released into the general population of the prison.

After his ten day solitary confinement was completed, Thorne got him processed into XkR-9 at what some of the staff whispered was a record pace. Soon Draeken was strolling across the open space of a prison filled with the worst criminal riff-raff three galaxies had to offer. The facility didn’t provide matching clothing or private rooms, but he did still have manacles. At least they’d been unchained.

The new manacles featured a running countdown clock that showed the time in years, months, days and minutes that he had left to spend here.

Stillwell would easily be able to see how long Draeken was slated to be incarcerated and hopefully make his chore easier. Even so, Draeken planned to find him as fast as possible and get on with his secret mission.

This facility had an inside and an outside. The prisoners spent half their time daily in each place. They were afforded two meals, both served inside. The first was served right before being released to spend the day outside. The second modest meal was handed to them in a box as they came in from the yard to select their quarters for each night.

After the food was consumed, it was time to bed down. As in most places like this, there was a strict pecking order in deciding who got the best rooms, meaning the ones with beds with sheets and pillows. Then the cells with simple cots and no bedding were filled. And finally, empty rooms where the occupants were lucky to have dry rocks to sleep on—rather than wet surfaces—or, worse, puddles. If Draeken had to sleep in a puddle tonight, he’d rather sleep standing up.

Draeken was aware that as the most recent prisoner brought in, he’d likely be sleeping without a bed, cot or chair and likely a half frozen puddle as his mattress until he left the facility.

While there was plenty of time to seek out Stillwell, Draeken wanted to get on his old schoolmate’s radar as quickly as possible. The sooner he got the information, the sooner he could leave. He walked slowly across the airy, freezing expanse, head down, looking up only now and again to keep his bearings as he tried to appear miserable.

It was not a difficult task.

The dark gray sky with roiling, foreboding clouds could be seen through the invisible force field above. The temperature in the protected gulag kept the prisoners alive, but not particularly comfortable.

There were no fences, but merely a few posts along the yard signifying where the livable environment ended. If any of the population stepped beyond the fence line, they’d last between five and thirty minutes before hypothermia set in and killed them.

Draeken didn’t plan to cross the fence line, but he did skirt the edges of it as he moved around searching for John Stillwell. He figured his classmate would be easy to spot, but he was mistaken, remembering he’d had a distinctive appearance. He walked right past him in a small group.

“Draeken?” When he turned toward the voice, Draeken didn’t see anyone he recognized until Stillwell stood from his seated position on a low wall. “Is that really you, Draeken?”

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken stared at his old schoolmate, trying not to let his mouth fall open in shock. Back in school, Stillwell had been a tall, painfully skinny guy with curly, electric-red hair a person could spot from a distance.

The gulag version of Stillwell was still tall, but had a shaved head and bulked-up muscles that made him look like a cage match wrestler. He was huge. He might have tripled his weight in upper body musculature alone.

“Stillwell?” Draeken said.

The other man glanced down at the display on Draeken’s manacle. “Ten years? What’d you do to get that much time?”

“Nothing. I was framed,” Draeken said with a wan smile meant to imply the opposite. Everyone in Stillwell’s gulag group laughed and nodded. That was an encouraging sign. Maybe his short time here would not be as horrifying as he expected.

Stillwell moved closer and clapped him on the back, harder than necessary to deliver a friendly welcome. “Seriously, though, what happened, old friend?”

Old friend was a stretch to Draeken’s thinking, but he was glad Stillwell had that opinion of their former relationship. He didn’t do anything for or against Stillwell and his personal distaste of the man was something he’d always hidden.

If you can’t say something nice, keep quiet, was his personal motto regarding people he didn’t like.

Draeken turned and continued walking along the fence line. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve exhausted every possible way to keep from being brought to any gulag. Looks like I’m here for the duration.”

Stillwell held his manacle up. “Well, at least you can spend your time with an old friend.” He still had just under half of a twenty-five-year sentence remaining for the deaths he’d caused by being foolish, rich and unconcerned with the lives of people he considered to be of lesser social standing.

Draeken shivered at the reminder of why his schoolmate was here. The final death indirectly attributed to Stillwell’s hand had been the one to put him away for so long. The elderly mother of a magistrate had been killed, and being rich and unapologetic hadn’t helped Stillwell’s case. He had been the person most surprised by the lengthy sentence. He probably expected to get a court pass for a fifth time in as many years.

“What’s it like here?” Draeken was just making conversation, but hoped it might lead to the information he sought.

“Boring as hell most days, but sometimes there is a riot, which is lots of screaming and running around. Or someone will go over the edge and cross the fence line to have five minutes of frozen freedom before they drop into a heap and a crew has to go fetch them.”

Draeken looked out between two posts at the desolation of nothingness. He wouldn’t ever surrender to madness. Then again, he didn’t have to stay here very long. Speaking of which, maybe he could get what he wanted, find a guard to give over his secret code to and leave on the same spacecraft he’d come in on.

The magistrate wanted Draeken to find out the nickname of Stillwell’s first pet. The pet had a formal name and then one that Stillwell had used. Apparently, Stillwell’s pet’s nickname was a code to open a treasure-trove of stolen currency hidden in a very strict bank on Alpha-Prime.

The trove belonged to a former neighbor of the Stillwell family. The man had given over the account number in exchange for his own freedom due to some shady dealings, then had the audacity to die before sharing the passcode. All he’d hinted was it was the very amusing nickname of a pet belonging to his neighbor’s spoiled rotten kid.

Stillwell’s parents died soon after their only son had been sent to the gulag—one soon after the other, some said of shame—having exhausted the bulk of their riches in a bid to free him. The only servants remaining from the Stillwell home all these years later had only known the pet’s real name not the nickname.

The magistrate in Draeken’s case just needed the amusing nickname that Stillwell had used for his first pet and then Draeken could have his clean slate.

“This place makes me think of my first canine pet,” Draeken said. “His name was Dragon. He was a miniature white pooch, so not really the best name. If he got lost in blizzard terrain like this he’d never be found.”

Stillwell laughed, “My first pet was a stupid bird. I wanted a canine of any kind, but my parents thought a bird would be less trouble. Boy, were they wrong.”

Draeken added, “I had to clean up after Dragon, but he was so little, it wasn’t a big deal.”

“The housekeeping staff had to clean up after the stupid bird. When he got loose, he’d fly all over the house and poop on everything. Servants would be chasing him everywhere and cursing his real name under their breaths. But I had a private nickname for him.” Stillwell laughed as though the memory made him nostalgically happy. Draeken tried not to look horrified by his unchanged attitude toward those who were less financially capable.

“Was that his nickname? Stupid Bird?”

Stillwell laughed again. “No. His real name was Reginald, but I called him Jingle Sass.”

Draeken couldn’t believe Stillwell had given him what he needed already. Had he even been out in the gulag exercise yard for an hour yet? Maybe he really could catch a ride back with Thorne and the gang. They’d waited around while he was in solitary according to the guard who’d brought his meals. Also some sort of protocol he hadn’t been aware of. Draeken would bet the three guards had better rooms and food though.

“Jingle Sass? That’s an interesting name. Did you think of it?”

Stillwell laughed. “Yes and no. My father said, ‘let’s put a bell on his butt and call the bird Jingle His Ass.’ My mother was appalled and insisted the bird’s name was Reginald, but I was eight and I thought my father’s name for the stupid bird was hilarious. I pronounced it Jingle Sass and it stuck as his nickname.”

Draeken was trying to think up more inane conversation to see him through until he could locate a guard to give his coded release message and get out of here. This was probably a gulag record of some sort. Maybe he could get a prize.

A loud klaxon sounded and everyone in the yard started moving toward a large door that was opening in the side of the long, dark building opposite the fence line.

“What’s that?” Draeken asked, although he knew because he’d been told on the way in.

“The dinner bell. Come on. I’ll help you get a better room.”

“Thanks.”

Steps from the door, Draeken saw a guard, but Stillwell yanked him away to one side before he could approach the man. “Gotta let the long timers and bigwigs of this place go first.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks,” Draeken said, stumbling away from the guard as Stillwell jerked him in a different direction.

All of a sudden he was in a crush of prisoners, surrounded by men who were much taller, much heavier and not willing to move.

Draeken looked in Stillwell’s direction. He’d moved just out of Draeken’s circle of immobility. His expression was odd. “Sorry, dude,” he yelled over the din. “I have to do what the long-timers say to survive in here. Good luck.” The moment he stepped out of sight, Draeken tilted his head back and screamed, “Oh, the weather outside is frightful!” over and over and over again.

A fist from someone he couldn’t see punched him in the face, maybe to get him to shut up. Draeken saw stars and blacked out cold. No pun intended.

<^> <^> <^>

Draeken woke flat on his back in a very dark, very cold place. He couldn’t feel his body, but cracking his eyes open, he saw the thin mist of his breath when he exhaled. The stench of the gulag filled his lungs. Was he okay? Had he been trampled in the rush to the dinner bell or simply beaten to a pulp in the yard before ever getting close to any food or a cell? He listened, hearing people nearby whispering, but not what they said.

“Am I dead?” he asked the air above him. He knew he wasn’t, but it seemed like a good ice breaker for whatever came next.

The whispering stopped. Heavy boot heels echoed on the stone as someone approached. Maybe a guard. Perhaps he could summon another breath and try his secret code again.

“Did you get what you needed, hotshot? Or was that screamed phrase just a way out of a difficult situation for your first hour in the gulag’s general population outside?”

Draeken recognized Thorne’s voice before the man came into view, hovering over him like an avenging angel come to collect a hefty debt.

“How do you know about that?” Draeken whispered.

Thorne leaned closer. “Did your brother ever tell you about his good friend Bubba?”

Draeken’s brows scrunched in memory. Bubba and Riker had been the best of friends all through guard school and even kept in touch years later. “Yes. Why?”

“That’s me. I was sent here as a backup to ensure you weren’t killed in the first five minutes during this…endeavor of yours.”

Draeken pushed out a long sigh of relief. “I got what I needed. Can I go now?”

Bubba Thorne’s mouth quirked into half a smile and he nodded. “Gotta put you in restraints for the trip out of the gulag, but once we’re on board, I’ll remove them.”

Draeken didn’t say it out loud, but figured he’d be delighted to be bound for the duration of any trip that took him away from Galactic Gulag XkR-9.

Chapter Fifteen

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Alienn, Arkansas – almost a month later

Stella waited by the landing pad in the woods a hundred yards from the Big Bang Truck Stop where an incoming spacecraft touched down.

Soon after the engines were shut down, the vehicle was basically pulled down and into the hidden way station below the truck stop for any maintenance and to refuel. The occupants were offered the chance to disembark and walk to the facility. It was the biggest reason no cell towers were available for a signal within a ten-mile radius; the towers hampered their ability to hide a spacecraft from earthling technology during launches and landings.

Stella had been rather difficult all the way up to and including the hour before the ship carrying Draeken had departed. She couldn’t remember what she’d told Thorne after he put the shackle on her wrist.

She’d pulled her Big D out, knowing it wouldn’t impact him, and considered beating him with it—which she threatened to do with glee—until he told her what she’d revealed about Draeken and his intentions.

Thorne had taken Stella aside right before he left Earth for XkR-9 to tell her he was Riker’s backup. Her relief had been profound and immediate, but Thorne warned her not to give anything away. “You never know who’s listening in or their level of reliability.”

Stella had nodded in Thorne’s direction before removing herself from the area to do a quiet dance of joy. Three and a half weeks later, Axel had brought her a message that a spacecraft from XkR-9 was returning to the way station and due to land late the next day.

“Is Draeken on board?”

Axel shrugged. “I don’t know, but Thorne is. Maybe he’ll have information for you.”

Stella contemplated all the things she wanted to say to Draeken, including a corny old Earth tradition in his honor. Regardless of how many ships from XkR-9 landed, she planned to recreate the old tradition each time a ship stopped.

A horn sounded, echoing across the area behind the truck stop as it signaled a spacecraft was about to land.

Stella straightened in anticipation as she waited at the edge of the platform, hoping Thorne would exit so she could grill him about Draeken and when she could expect him to return.

The door to the spacecraft opened, but Thorne didn’t emerge.

Stella squealed in surprise. “Draeken?” Before she finished asking the question, her legs were moving toward him. He grinned and opened his arms wide.

She practically toppled him over when she landed against him, pushing him instead into Thorne, who was exiting just behind Draeken.

Her lips landed on Draeken’s. Nearby, she heard Thorne say, “Good gravy. Aren’t there rules about public displays of affection here?”

“No. It’s a regular love fest here all the time on Earth,” Stella said, breaking her initial lip lock. “Better get used to it.” Then she planted her mouth on Draeken’s again until Thorne walked away, shaking his head in mock disgust.

“I can’t believe you’re already back.”

“I can’t either. Turns out I didn’t like the gulag as much as I expected. XkR-9 is a particularly filthy, cold and a very unjust place.”

She turned and pointed to a tree next to the platform. “I did that just for you. It’s a corny old Earth tradition based on an even older song.”

Draeken squinted. “You tied a huge yellow ribbon around a tree for me?” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Because of an Earth song?”

“Yes. Do you like it?”

“I love it. Will you always do that when I leave and come back?”

“Only when you come back from the gulag.”

“Then I’ll enjoy this one and only time I’ll be seeing it. I’m not ever going back to a gulag.”

“Actually, that’s good. Do you know how difficult it is to get a big ribbon of any color around a tree?”

“I can only imagine.” Draeken looked toward the Big Bang Truck Stop. “Can I meet Maxwell the Martian?”

“That’s who you want to meet? Maxwell?” Stella had planned to introduce him to her extended family, starting with Diesel and going all the way through Axel, Cam, Gage, Wheeler and Jack, and then the only girl cousin she had, Valvoline, or rather Valene as she preferred to be called.

Uncle Zebulon and Aunt Xenia were on an RV road trip across the country on their way to California so they could pan for gold like the miner forty-niners. Draeken could meet them when they came back.

“Yes. The last thing I saw before leaving Earth for the gulag was the billboard with Maxwell. I really do want to get a big bang for my buck. I just have to earn a buck first.”

“Speaking of that, have you decided what job you’d like to do here on Earth?”

“I want to be a Bauxite miner, of course. I’ve even watched Earth videos to see how it’s done.”

“Videos? How old were they?”

Draeken shrugged. Stella was fairly certain that these days Bauxite was mined by machines, quite different from years ago when the first settlers from Alpha-Prime arrived.

“I don’t know. I just wanted you to understand that I will work hard and be worthy of you. The last time we spoke, you were worried about me giving up my family, but you can stop. They never expected me to stay on Alpha-Prime if I didn’t want to. They just want me to be happy wherever I end up. You make me happy. My parents and Riker think very highly of you. Of course we’ll live on Earth and explore it fully.”

“Really? Are you certain?” She was stunned, resisting the urge to jump up and down like on a television gameshow.

“Of course I’m certain. I love you, Stella.” He kissed her softly. “And it’s not like we can’t ever visit Alpha-Prime, right?”

“Right.”

She hugged him tight. “Thank you, Draeken. Thank you for understanding.”

Draeken released her, but grabbed her hand. “I don’t have the ring I selected with me, but I want to marry you, Stella. Please say you will.”

Stella teared up. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you.”

“I’d planned to ask you before leaving for the gulag, but we got interrupted.” Draeken glared at Thorne, who stood several paces away talking to someone she didn’t know.

“Yes. But Thorne turned out to be a secret weapon for you, didn’t he?”

Draeken nodded. “One last thing I’d like to propose.”

“What’s that?”

“We should spend our honeymoon in Nocturne Falls. What do you say?”

Stella laughed. “I say yes. It’s the perfect place.”

He kissed her again and Stella knew they’d be together forever and deliriously happy for just as long. They would definitely keep on truckin’ alongside each other.

Epilogue

<^> <^> <^>

Alienn, Arkansas – The Big Bang Truck Stop conference room

Diesel Grey pushed the button on the speakerphone and connected to a special number he’d been given to speak to the leaders and representatives of Nocturne Falls.

“Hello.” The call was answered by a man with an English accent.

“This is Diesel Grey. I operate and manage the Big Bang Truck Stop in Alienn, Arkansas. You’re expecting my call, yes?”

“Yes.”

Diesel had spoken to Hank Merrow when his cousin had been sent to retrieve the occupants of the ship that had crashed near Nocturne Falls. He knew the sheriff didn’t have an English accent.

“I’m here with my two of my brothers, Cam and Axel. Cam is our security officer here in Alienn, and Axel is our communications officer. We’d like to extend an opening expression of good faith regarding our two towns and their unique place in this world.”

“Good to meet you, Diesel,” the man said. “My name is Hugh Ellingham. I’m here with the sheriff of Nocturne Falls, Hank Merrow.”

Diesel thought of the vivid account Stella had given him regarding the sheriff. “When I first met him I thought he was big and tall with icy blue eyes and a mean streak, but he turned out to be decent. He did let me and Draeken go after speaking with you.”

“Good to talk to you again, Sheriff Merrow. My cousin Stella sends her regards.”

Diesel heard a grunt, then whispering. The sheriff said, “Please return my heartfelt regards to her. I hope she was able to meet her time-crunch deadline.”

“She was, thanks to your understanding in the matter. Let me start by saying we’d like to outline a mutually beneficial plan to keep the details of our respective towns private and out of the public light.”

“Great start,” Hugh said. “We’d also like to discuss a collaboration of technology, with a special slant toward the device used to make humans forget what they’ve seen regarding your presence on Earth.”

Diesel glanced at Cam. Technology was his department. His brother frowned, but didn’t scream, “No!” either. Diesel viewed it as a positive step in the right direction.

“That would be great. I’m assuming you also have such technology in place for your purposes.”

Hugh said, “Yes. But I’d say it’s a quite different method than you might be accustomed to.”

“Even so, I believe it wouldn’t hurt to combine our efforts at some future date.”

“Agreed. Let’s set up a regular monthly phone call to discuss plans to collaborate, meet and further combine our resources. Would the first day of every month at this same hour work to get us started?”

“Yes. That is acceptable.” His brothers made faces at his use of the more formal wording. He was just an Arkansas boy most days, but with Hugh Ellingham’s polished English accent he felt like he should use his best grammar.

“Excellent. Next time we’ll initiate the call.”

“Perfect,” Diesel said, then added, “I look forward to speaking with you next time. Until then, keep on truckin’.”

The End

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Next up, look for NFU #2

Invasion of the Alien Snatchers

(The Guard) in May 2017

And also NFU #3

The Alien Who Fell to Earth

(The Pilot) in September 2017

About Fiona Roarke

Fiona Roarke is a multi-published author who lives a quiet life with the exception of the characters and stories roaming around in her head. She writes about sexy alpha heroes, using them to launch her first series, Bad Boys in Big Trouble. Next up, a new sci-fi contemporary romance series. When she’s not curled on the sofa reading a great book or at the movie theater watching the latest action film, Fiona spends her time writing about the next bad boy (or bad boy alien) who needs his story told.

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