Faer’s Command: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Science Fiction Alien Romance) (Survival Wars Book 3) (2 page)

            When the whipping wind of the aftershock
subsided, she stepped out from behind the tree to assess where it landed. It
was in the same field, further down and away from the hill in the opposite
direction from where she came, and really, she should just be grateful the
impact of it didn't harm her or set of her car's alarm, but she stood on trembling
legs and sprinted down to see what had fallen so far; the least that she could
do was say hello to whatever it was. A comet was the most likely culprit, and
she would be more than content with that – really, who wouldn't be jazzed about
witnessing a comet hurdle towards Earth when they were mere feet away – but a
small, insidious voice whispered,
'what if?'
in her mind, and a hope she
couldn't name fluttered in her chest.

            She started to pant a bit as she drew nearer to
the place of impact, and a part of her regretted not just taking her car
instead; in spite of her workouts, she was never one to focus on leg day. As
she neared the crater left by the impact, she slowed her running to a stop at
its edge. While she expected at least a bit of an orange glow – heat left over
from the speed of the impact would do that – she wasn't prepared for the
brilliant white light that shone from the crater, and she had to bring an arm
up to shield her eyes from the glow. Even as she tried to keep her excitement
in check, none of the elements that came to mind that could conceivably exist
in space had that kind of reaction to intense heat, and her mind raced to come
up with an explanation. The glow faded to a dull light, and as she lowered her
arm to take a better look at what was nestled in the crater, she found herself
breathless.

            Its design was unmistakably one akin to a ship,
but one that she had never seen in a fleet on Earth. It looked as though it was
carved out of some sort of material that looked a lot like crystal, and
appeared as though it was made as a part of something larger than itself, like
it was the key to something else's lock. Nestled in the center of the crystal,
and wrapped in the light it was emitting, was a decidedly
person
shaped
thing, floating in the nothingness around it. She felt vaguely proud of herself
for not jumping in alarm when said person shaped thing shifted, and opened its
eyes to greet her.

            How strange it was, to look into the eyes of
another and see unknown galaxies of stars swimming in the deep pools where
their soul resided, she thought. The being, whose more detailed traits were
still lost to her in the light haloing it, blinked its wide eyes at her, a
strange sense of curiosity clearly taking hold. With a hum akin to a mother
cooing her child to sleep, one of the facets of the crystal eased itself away
from the rest like a sliding door, creating an opening for the being to climb
out of the ship.

            Enraptured by this other worldly being, Anne
Claire could only watch as the creature twisted with the grace of a dancer from
its place in the ship, curled its surprisingly long fingers along the rim of
the newly created opening, and pulled itself out, the light from the ship
strangely dissolving with its host's absence, as if the ship was fully aware of
its lack of occupancy. Once her eyes had readjusted to the change in lighting,
she finally took in the full appearance of the newest entry to the Earth's
population.

            The newcomer stood tall and lithe, a full head
taller than Anne Claire, with a silhouette that appeared neither overtly
feminine nor masculine, the being simply...
was
, for lack of a better
term. Their skin was a soft lilac with a surface almost akin to an opal; it did
not glitter, but
shone
like it was made of polished marble. So smooth,
in fact, that there was scarcely a nose to speak of on their face, with only
the slightest of protrusions for narrow nostrils to peek out of. Completely
hairless, it left the figure looking like statue of somber beauty, a blank
slate waiting for details to be added and chiseled out of marble by a master of
the craft. But what had enraptured Anne Claire most was their eyes. Opalescent
and ever changing in their hue like the most precious of gems, they captivated
her, and she wondered if she could get a jewel appraiser to stare into those
orbs and find a quantifiable worth to them.

            Anne Claire was left in a state of awe, and
hadn't fully realized that she had yet to do much beyond gawk stupidly at the
newcomer until it tilted its head curiously. Catching herself acting like a
complete fool, she cleared her throat and tried to find where her voice had
gotten to.

            “Erm, hello,” she greeted with an uncertain
little wave of her hand. The being blinked slowly at her, as if it was trying
to ascertain what her intent was. Then, it opened its mouth and a low singing
emitted from it, ringing in her ears like the cry of a finger circling the rim
of a glass. The pitch changed rapidly, and she realized belatedly that it was
trying to communicate with her in its native tongue. She felt her tongue swell
in her throat with anxiety. “I, um, I have no idea what you're saying,” she
said with a shake of her head and a sad smile. “But I'm friendly! And I'm ever
so glad that you're here!” As she rambled, the creature walked toward her with
such a fluid motion to it it was as though it had simply floated over to where
she was. She hadn't even realized how close it was until it reached out a long,
pale hand toward her. “Ah, hah, that's alright! I don't know what a handshake
is where you're from, but-!” Her anxiety at an all-time high, she swore her
heart stopped beating when it laid a hand on her shoulder. It was strange – it
held no warmth, but was not cold. It was a feeling akin to drinking tea that
had been left out just long enough that it had lost most of its warmth.

            The moment that its hand rested lightly on her
shoulder, she felt...she wouldn't call it a jolt, nor horribly alarming –
although it certainly
should
have been – but if she had to place a
feeling to it, it was like that of a gentle rap of knuckles against a door: a
soft, polite request for permission to enter a space that was hers and not
theirs. Then, she heard that same, low singing again, but in her mind, as
though it was a thought that she had produced. She blinked, not knowing what
the being was trying to convey or do, but didn't sense any hostility from them,
so didn't fight against it.

            Unsure of what to do, she simply allowed
whatever was trying to happen, happen, and soon it felt as though there were
fingers, long and delicate, gently probing around the corners of her mind. They
seemed a little unsure, like the hand of someone reaching into a dark space for
something that fell where they couldn't see, feeling for something to grasp
onto, but clearly not wanting to be invasive or cause harm in the process. Anne
Claire watched the stranger's face as its...whatever it was, skimmed the
surface of her mind, fascinated with the brilliant blue and green tones their
eyes kept shifting between. She vaguely decided that their eyes were like
Alexandrite, ever shifting, and always a different color when viewed from
another angle.

            When the sensation ended and the being's long
hand left her shoulder, Anne Claire felt a rather strange sense of loss, as
though she wouldn't be warm without that touch again, and was left gasping at
the feeling of the figure parting from her on a physical and mental level all
at once. It felt akin to being tossed into a bath of ice water – it stole the
breath from her lungs, and all she wanted to do was seek out the source of her
warmth again.

            They blinked at each other a moment, and the
stranger's eyes changed color again with a tilt of their head, flecks of gold
swirling around in their pupiless pools. Anne Claire wondered what those
shifting colors meant, or if they meant anything at all.

            “Helloooo,” the being said slowly with the same,
small wave of its hand, as if to test her reaction to it. The motion on such a
tall and lithe figure struck her as odd, but Anne Claire didn't dare make that
comment, and opted to swallow.

            “Hello,” she rasped with another meek little
wave of her hand in greeting. That earned her a smile from the stranger, and
though it was something she had never seen before, nothing had ever put her
more at ease than seeing it. “Did you...learn English from...from that?” She
asked, tapping her finger lightly to the side of her head. It nodded, but
seemed to look almost pensive.

            “Your language- it is different than the one
that I learned when I last came to this planet,” the figure turned to look at
their surroundings. “Is this...is this the home of Doctor Anne Claire
Brahmsworth?” Her heart stopped when it said her name – what would an
interplanetary
creature
need with her? And how did it know her name?

            “You're,” she blinked stupidly, suddenly struck
by how odd it was that she was more comfortable talking to this literal being
of a different species than she probably should have been. Why wasn't she
panicking? She wasn't sure. “You're looking for me?”

            “
You
are Doctor Anne Claire Brahmsworth?”
It's already large eyes widened, their irises taking on a bright electric blue.
She could tell it was excited, but she couldn't divine
why
she was so
important to this being.

            “I am,” she said, making a point to pull her
shoulders back a little; it traveled all this way to find her, least she could
do was take a little pride in her name. “Though I'm not entirely sure why that
matters.” She shrugged, at a loss.

            “You are my mission,” it said as if that were
the most obvious thing in the world. “My people require your help.”

            “I assure you, I wouldn't know how to help
them,” Anne Claire said with a shake of her head.

            “You are Doctor Anne Claire Brahmsworth,” it
repeated. “Please, come with me. I need you. My people need you.”

            “I don't-” her head was reeling. Was this being
truly giving her the chance that she had been dreaming of her entire lifetime?
But...what about her life here? “I don't understand. Won't people worry where I
am? How long will I be gone?”

            “Those are things that my people can address,”
the being reassured her. “I am sorry. Time is of the essence.” It waved its
hand in front of her face, its long fingers caressing her forehead, and though
she was sure she opened her mouth to protest, she couldn't be sure that she
even spoke. Her vision blurred, and she soon knew no more.

            When she came to, Anne Claire tried desperately
to blink away the blur in her vision. She scrubbed at her eyes when blinking
wasn't good enough, wracking her brain to piece together when she had passed
out and why. She had gone stargazing, and found an alien. Then it talked to
her, and then she passed out.

Surely that alien and everything attached to it was a dream.

            Shaking her head, she opened her eyes again,
grateful that her vision was cleared but only more confused when she found
herself sitting on a cool, smooth surface with stars streaking past her at an
alarming rate. She frowned, wondering why the stars were moving so fast when it
felt like she was very much a stationary object relative to them.

And then she sat up.

            The being that she had sworn was just a dream
was seated in front of her with its back turned to her, piloting the ship that
it had crashed in. Wait, how was it flying after a crash like that? Wouldn't it
have sustained damage? Her confusion mounted.

            The stranger must have sensed her rousing, as it
turned to face her, its warm golden eyes blinking owlishly at her. She sat up
fully, leaning back on her hands and stared at it in kind, wondering if it
would be impolite to speak first. Was it smart to talk without being spoken to
when you've been kidnapped? They never covered this in med school.

            “I am sorry to have taken you like that,” it
said in that soft, tenor voice that it had. She was half tempted to inform him
that kidnapping was illegal where she was from, but wondered if something like
that would even remotely register with someone from another world – was that
something that they would even concern themselves with in the grand scheme of
things, when they lived in a completely different star system from the law that
they broke? “I wish I had been able to tell you sooner why I was sent for you.”

            “I mean,” she shrugged, wondering why she didn't
feel more uncomfortable with the whole situation. Maybe because she was
actually in a space ship flying through the stars just like she had always
dreamed of? She wasn't sure. Maybe it was just the shock. “I would have rather
had the choice.”

            “You still do,” the being nodded emphatically.
“I will show you why we need you. If you do not want to help, I will bring you
back home. You are not a prisoner. You are not going to be harmed, Doctor Anne
Clair Brahmsworth.”

            “Please, just Anne Claire. Or Anne. I'm
flexible, really,” she shrugged again. The knowledge that she could be taken
home any time she wished was a great comfort, so she relaxed around her new
pilot. “But I...um...” Anne Claire struggled with how to word it. “Do you have
a name? I don't know what to call you.” The being blinked at her, scrunching
its face up in thought.

            “I do not have one. At least.” It frowned.
“Not...in your tongue.” It paused to tilt its head again. “Should I make one?
Would that make communicating easier?”

            “Yes, please,” Anne Claire nodded. There, she
thought. Said politely enough that the chances of starting an intergalactic
incident were decreased somewhat. The being smiled.

            “I like calling you Anne Claire,” they said, as
though tasting the name on their tongue. “It sounds nice. It suits you,” they
concluded with a smile. “I am...a traveler of worlds. Do you have a name for
that, or just, 'Traveler?'”

            “Well,” it was stupid, borderline insulting
contextually, and she knew it, but it was the only thing that she could think
of. When she was a teenager, she had taken a shining to a bird that often came
to rest on a branch outside of her bedroom window a few times every day, so
much so that she named it. The name had meant, 'traveler,' so named because she
liked to think that it would soar to places that she would likely never go. But
this person didn't need to know that, not right now. “Faer is a nice name. It
means, 'traveler,' in a different language.” She paused as she thought of
something. “But that's a more masculine name. I...I don't know your gender. I
don't want to presume anything.” It seemed to contemplate the suggestion before
nodding its head.

            “I like it. Faer,” the being, Faer, decided
after testing the name on its tongue. “Call me Faer. We...we do not have,
'male,' and 'female,' where I come from.” Faer was clearly trying to make sure
they had their words right. “Those words are not even in my tongue. They
are...strange to say.”

            “I had wondered if that was a thing anywhere
else,” Anne Claire mumbled, mostly to herself. Faer shook its head.

            “Where I come from, you simply are who you are.
If you choose to carry a child, then you do so. It does not change who you
are.” Faer shrugged, and the gesture was so strangely human on such an
otherworldly being that Anne Claire vaguely wondered if it was something that
Faer had picked up on one of their visits to Earth, or if it was just a
universal motion that was shared among species.

            “That's...fascinating,” Ann Claire said
earnestly with a nod of her head before a thought occurred to her. “Shouldn't
you be piloting the ship?” She asked, pointing to the controls in front of
Faer's seat.

            “The ship knows where we are going,” they
shrugged. “I just like to observe the stars as we travel.” Anne Claire felt the
stirrings of kinship between the two of them, prompting her to stand and walk
over to where Faer was sitting. She noticed that there was a spare seat beside
them – probably for a copilot – and smiled.