Chapter 1
Earth Dome
Drastan Commander Devlon Estro entered the conference room where he was meeting with the leaders of Earth. The meeting place was in what once was a city known as Boston. There were representatives from countries all over the planet, and he was grateful to have a translator implant to help with the discussions. Ten males and five females stood as he entered. He shook hands with one, thinking how strange the custom was to him. It wasn’t something done on his home world of Drasta. There were many differences between his people and the humans. After being there almost a year, he was still discovering new things.
He commanded the Drastan fleet, which was comprised of five large spaceships. They had been on their way back to their home world after a long mission in deep space when they received a distress call from an unknown planet called Earth. Their computers had to translate the message, which had been sent out over five years before. The distress call only said that the entire planet had suffered from a nuclear disaster. He wasn’t sure what they would find when they arrived—if anything.
They made first contact with the human survivors in the part of the world called the United States of America. The survivors were living in government-owned and military-run domes, which lay mostly underground but were accessed from the surface of the planet. Each dome was managed by a dome leader who was from a military background.
Devlon discovered that the nuclear disaster had not been caused by an alien attack, but by the Earthlings themselves. They’d built weapons of mass destruction, and by accident one country had set off their own weapons. This triggered a chain reaction worldwide as other countries who had similar weapons believed themselves to be threatened. At the last minute, in desperation, the United States leader had sent a distress call out into space, hoping that someone would answer.
The Drastans’ arrival was a welcome surprise. What no one expected to find—not even the Earth’s leaders—was that there were human living in Earth’s old subway tunnels.
His son Liam found a human, Maggie James, living there with others in groups that they called tribes. Maggie was now his daughter-in-law, mated to Liam, and they’d just had the first human-Drastan offspring. Not everyone, human or Drastan, was happy with the mixing of the species.
There were a few humans who feared that the Drastans would take over Earth. These fearful humans secretly organized an effort against the Drastans, calling themselves rebels, and constantly sabotaging whenever the Drastans visited. Conflict was still brewing, and the Rebels were making conditions dangerous for Drastans to remain on the surface for any length of time.
Devlon’s people had offered medical treatment and supplies. Now, he had to make sure that the domes and the tribes were able to connect and rebuild their world when the Drastans left. Unfortunately, it would be many decades more before the humans could attempt to live aboveground again. The other concern Devlon had was ensuring that while the humans continued to thrive underground, they were not vulnerable to attack by any alien force.
That was his purpose today: to discuss rebuilding efforts between the Earthlings who lived within the government-run domes and the Earthlings who lived in the subway tunnels. He needed to devise an exit plan for his own people to withdraw from Earth and return to their own home world.
Devlon took a seat and asked, “Are we ready to start discussions?”
Dome Leader Lt. Colonel David James—Maggie’s father—shook his head. “We’re waiting for the representative for Boston’s tribe leaders to arrive.”
Devlon was frustrated with these humans. Did they not appreciate being on time for anything? The door opened and he looked up, only to feel his heart stop for a second before starting back up.No, not her.
Devlon looked at the exasperating female as she sat down across from him. “Mrs. Bates, what are you doing here?”
“It’s good seeing you, too, Devlon. And everyone calls me Heather. I’m representing the Boston tribe leaders during these negotiations.”
He didn’t respond, but his heart rate picked up speed and his palms were actually starting to get a bit sweaty. He hadn’t reacted to a female like this since his youth. That was one more reason he didn’t like the female; she made him lose his self-control.
“Who assigned you this position?” He wanted to know who he was going to have to kill.
She gave him an evil smile. “I volunteered. Looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”
“Great.” Devlon knew he was in what the humans called Hell. This would end with one of them killing the other. Not good—not good at all.
*****
Tribe Leader Heather Bates took her seat, ignoring the Drastan commander’s glare. She knew Devlon didn’t like her, and to be honest, she had some major problems with his chauvinistic attitude as well. She didn’t understand it-the other Drastans were protective, but they had female warriors too. Maybe Devlon just had it in for her.
The first time she laid eyes on the brisk, emotionless man, she knew he was trouble. He bothered her on pretty much every level, but if she had to name the thing she disliked most, it was the way he attracted her to him without even trying to.
Devlon was taller than anyone she had met, close to seven feet, with wide shoulders and a muscular chest. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his body anywhere. If it weren’t for the distinguished streaks of silver near his temples, he could easily pass for a man in his thirties.
Heather was there to do a job: to ensure that the tribes were treated fairly. She didn’t have time to deal with this attraction between them. She brushed a hand over her hair, which she had pulled back in a ponytail. She felt all eyes on her as she settled in her seat. She’d never been a vain type of person who cared about her looks, especially after the nuclear disaster happened. She was too busy staying alive. Then she became tribe leader, and was swamped with the responsibility of keeping her tribe alive as well.
She looked up and caught Devlon’s eyes on her hands, specifically her left ring finger. She no longer wore her wedding band, but she kept her engagement ring because she’d been the one to work extra hours waiting tables to afford it. Though she’d been separated for years from her husband and no longer considered herself married, it was one of the issues the commander wouldn’t let go. He saw the ring, which to humans represented a union between males and females. Devlon didn’t understand why she would separate herself from her mate—husband— who still lived. Drastans evidently mated for life.
Heather had married at the young age of seventeen, having quit high school without graduating. Her parents had disapproved the relationship from the beginning, because Mark Bates was a twenty-five-year-old man still in college, who pursued her despite her family’s objections. He sweet-talked her and convinced her to run off with him to another state where they could marry.
Fifteen fucking long years she was married to Mark. After the first two years, he began to show her his true colors. He was controlling, abusive, and unfaithful. She left him five times in in those fifteen years. Each time he would promise that he’d changed, she would take him back, and then three months later he’d revert to his old ways. They’d tried couples’ counselling multiple times. The one good thing was that they hadn’t involved children in all that craziness. She filed for separation, and he’d left her alone for three years while she was trying to get a permanent situation.
Right before the disaster hit, she was traveling to court to finalize her divorce. Mark had surprised her by waiting for her at the subway stop to try to talk her out of it. The tunnel shook with the impact of the first bomb. There was so much confusion afterward that she went along with staying by Mark’s side for survival. He became tribe leader and began sleeping with all the women, of course. Finally she couldn’t take his crap one more day, and left.
Heather found a different tribe and became the second for the tribe leader when his current second, a man named Leonard, had gotten sick. She served her tribe well, but Leonard wasn’t happy to have to share his position with her. She would’ve stepped down rather than cause trouble, but the tribe leader insisted she remain. When the leader was dying, he named her as his successor. The rest of the tribe was trilled, but not Leonard. To try to appease him, she kept him as her second. She found herself in a new position that she wasn’t sure she was completely prepared for, but she was determined to not fail at it.
