1
Maelis
Aliens were idiots. They came here all high and mighty, expecting us to bow to their superior technology, but deep down, they were idiots.
I waved at the back of the alien who'd interrupted my work to ask where Paul, the resort manager, was. Everyone knew that Tuesday was Paul's day off. And even if someone didn't, they could have asked someone in the central part of the island, not walk all the way out to my diving shack. As I said. Idiots.
I bet the alien had wanted to see if I was the unlucky woman to be his mate. They could tell by scent, or so I'd heard. I shuddered. Yuck. I didn't even want to think about the possibility. I wasn't racist – speciest? I just didn't want the complications of being with an alien from another galaxy.
The finmen were only the second species of alien I'd encountered, but they hadn't changed my mind about extraterrestrials. Not one bit. The excitement of working in a super-secret location, signing NDAs by the dozen, meeting men from other planets - it had quickly dissipated when it had turned into everyday life. This island was probably the most unusual place on Earth, yet to me, it was home, work and all I'd known for the past two years.
It was a crazy place. Bringing humans and aliens together wasn't a good idea, if you asked me, but nobody ever did. I was just here to entertain them with dives to the coral reefs or snorkelling trips along the coastline. It was the best-paid job I'd ever had, don't get me wrong, but some days, I would have given anything for a normal nine to five office job that didn't involve UFOs and multi-dicked aliens.
Maybe that was the reason for their superiority complex. Too much testosterone. If aliens had the same hormones as us. Despite being surrounded by them, I knew surprisingly little about their anatomy - except for the two dicks. That had filtered through the grapevine rather quickly. Although I wasn't sure if the current aliens, the finmen, were built that way. Only one human woman had been matched with one and she'd refused to tell.
Elise and her beau, a finman warrior called Fionn, had set off for Scotland last night. She wanted to show him where she'd grown up. I didn't know how she'd hide a seven foot, green-skinned hulk of a man who preferred walking around half-naked and who had growths that looked like seaweed all over his body. Paul said that some aliens had camouflage technology that enabled them to blend in among humans, but I'd not seen the finmen use that.
There were about twenty of them on the island, all of them huge, gorgeous and arrogant as fuck. At first, they'd stayed in their spaceship, with only four of them walking around freely. But that had changed when they'd all joined the Hot Tatties Dating Agency. They'd submitted their DNA profiles and questionnaires and were now waiting desperately to be matched to human women. But even though they were free to explore the island, they were under strict instructions to avoid all contact with female staff. One of them, their leader, had abducted Elise, which had left a constant fear with everyone that it might happen again. It was accepted that it was almost impossible for them to not be around human women at all – more than half the resort staff was female – but they weren’t allowed to be alone with one of us.
I was happy with that arrangement. But soon, there would be new women brought here by the dating agency and everything would change.
Poor girls. I couldn't see the attraction myself. Yes, the finmen were pretty to look at, but they were aliens. This island was a safe place for them to stroll around like they owned this planet, but who'd want to stay here forever? Human-alien couples would have to find somewhere to live where they weren't stared at - and where neither of them would end up being experimented on by the authorities. It all seemed very complicated.
There was only one finman who'd caught my eye. I didn't know his name, didn't know why he'd stood out to me, but whenever I saw him walk along the shore, water pearling on his pale green skin, I couldn't help but ogle.
And I had a good excuse to watch the beach. When I didn't have clients for diving or snorkelling lessons, I was the resident lifeguard. Right now, there were no human guests on the island. A group of women had landed on a neighbouring island, but instead of bringing them here as planned, Hot Tatties had decided to keep them there until they'd been matched with a finman - or another alien. Or maybe none at all. There was never a guarantee when it came to finding love. I knew all about that.
I focused back on my task of checking the diving equipment. I had one of my most random playlists blaring from the little Bluetooth speaker behind me. I should have turned it off; it kept distracting me. I'd been dancing to one of the songs earlier before I'd even realised that I'd stood up. Sometimes, music just took hold of me like that. But I should focus. I didn't know when I'd have my next guests to guide to my favourite place in the entire world: the ocean.
That was the best thing about living on the island. I was constantly surrounded by the smell and sound of the sea. It was in my blood.
It didn't take long to finish labelling all the equipment. A few items ended up on a pile for repairs, but most of it was in top condition. Hot Tatties had poured a shitload of money into this resort, and everything was high quality, including my diving shack. No matter how much I disliked the aliens, this job was the best I'd ever had. And the pay was more than I could spend.
It wasn't even midday, and I was more or less done with my work for the day. Technically, Paul was my boss, but he gave me free rein as long as everything got done. He wouldn't mind if I went for a dive during work hours. It was practice, I supposed. And I'd found mentions of an underwater cave on an old map of the island that I wanted to explore. I'd thought I'd seen all the caves in the island's vicinity, but I almost hoped I'd missed one. I loved the thrill of diving to a place very few had ever seen before.
I examined the map one last time, then put on my wetsuit and grabbed my equipment. For a moment, I wondered whether to take the camera, but at the last moment I took it with me. Yes, I’d filmed hundreds of hours of diving along the reef, but you never knew when you’d see a rare species of fish or something unpredictable below the waves.
When I stepped outside, I crashed into a wall of green alien. I jumped back with a shriek, almost dropping the diving cylinder. Green skin. Muscles as far as the eye could see. No clothes except for a leather wrap around his waist. Short black hair with an emerald tinge. Algae hanging from his shoulders, hips, legs. Webbing between his toes. And, strangest of all, gills at the side of his neck.
It was him. The guy I'd been ogling from afar. And he seemed even taller this close.
"I apologise," he said in a deep voice that reminded me of the depths of the ocean.
"No... I should have been more careful."
I almost had to crane my head to look up at him. He was smiling at me, exposing rows of sharp, pointy teeth. Definitely not human. His gaze swept down my body as if he was seeing me for the first time. Maybe he was. This was the closest we'd ever been to each other. I wished I hadn't put my wetsuit on. It didn't leave anything to the imagination. My hips were wide at the best of times, but in the wetsuit, they looked humongous.
I turned away from him, suddenly very self-conscious. "I have to go."
"What is that sound? Is that music?"
I had to focus hard to ignore the sound of my heart beating in my chest and instead listen to the song that had started playing on my little speaker. And of course it had to be a song that needed some explanation.
"Yes, it's music," I said simply, facing him again.
The alien smirked, as if aware that I was purposely taciturn. "If all Earth music is like this, I will start listening to it myself. She is singing strong words. Finding a new home. Readying to fight. Leading others. Tell me about it."
I sighed. I should have just left. But I couldn't. "It's called 'Stand up' by Cynthia Erivo. It features in a movie called Harriet about the Underground Railroad. She was an amazing person. A hero. But I don't have time to explain. Look it up if you want. I'm sure you can access our internet."
