They remained silent as they exited the building. He’d promised to walk her to her vehicle. Perhaps she could convince him to kiss her again. A dreamy goodbye kiss she could think about on her way home.
Her attention was drawn to movement on her right. She looked and saw something unexpected. She stared at something she couldn’t quite understand. Something she couldn’t explain. Something…not of this world. It wasn’t slimy or three-eyed, but it was also definitely not human. It was like a man on the bottom and a sea creature on top, complete with eight tentacles floating around his body. Was she dreaming? Was she crazy?
She turned toward Diesel and heard him curse under his breath. Oh no.
Was this a horrifying reboot of the Boogieman Affair? Was she about to become another victim of a disavowed dark conspiracy?
Chapter Four
As Diesel shepherded Juliana out through the employees-only door, he pondered the information Axel had given him, wondering why his brother had needed to take even five minutes to discuss what they’d already talked about regarding the new prison run deal. The transports would come at the first of the month, every month, even if they didn’t have prisoners on board because they also carried supplies from Alpha-Prime and retrieved prisoner-made items created during scheduled work time. Mostly lots of pea gravel, but occasionally artists and craftsmen were confined.
Axel especially wanted to take advantage of the special addendum option on the contract Diesel had just signed. The monthly stops would be the bread and butter of the deal, but the special runs could prove very lucrative. The ink on the deal wasn’t even dry yet and Axel had found an unscheduled run they could take on for their first use of the contract. He wanted Diesel’s okay for what he called, “A small trial run of this contract.” Only three people would be on the ship headed for the gulag: the pilot, the guard and one prisoner.
Axel felt it was a perfect test.
Diesel didn’t really care when UGG started running prison ships to Earth or how many occupants would be visiting. He’d already signed the paper without discussing it with the home planet or the council. It was his call on both counts anyway. Letting Alpha-Prime and the council of elders know about the contract was simply a courtesy on his part, tradition, because that’s the way it had always been done.
The entire time he’d been speaking with Axel, his mind had been on Juliana and the kiss and how he wanted to do it again. Maybe he could kiss her goodbye and then invite her back for a real date?
“So what do you think?”
He almost said, “About the kiss?” He stopped himself in time. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s talk about it later, okay?”
He headed back down the hallway, past the bathrooms toward the Maxwell the Martian booth, worried the whole way that she wouldn’t be waiting for him.
She was exactly where he’d left her.
He was surprised by her direct questions about kids and family, but maybe it was a human thing he’d never encountered before. Reluctantly, he led her to the employees-only door. He was an employee. Although he usually gave anyone else who worked in the truck stop endless grief for allowing civilians through the door, he was the Fearless Leader and he could mostly do what he wanted. Besides, he was escorting someone out, not sneaking someone into the building.
Outside, they’d have more privacy. Maybe he would have the opportunity to get an extra kiss goodbye and he’d definitely ask her to come back. Or out on a date.
If she didn’t want to return to the truck stop, perhaps on his day off he could visit her wherever she lived. Crazy, because he rarely left town on his day off. In fact, he rarely eventooka day off.
She’d been so excited to discover he had a huge family. Others were not so excited about that information and had looked down their noses at the idea of seven children. Juliana had been animated, excited and happy that he came from a large family, and that fact briefly stunned his senses. His focus was completely on her and not their current surroundings as he ushered Juliana out the employees-only door into the usually empty side alley. That was a mistake. A big one.
The moment he stepped onto the cement slab leading to the parking lot and the door closed with finality behind him, he looked up and saw a huge, inescapable problem.
The emergency basement doors leading to the underground facility that housed all their clandestine alien everything were standing wide open about thirty feet away. What the hell!
A Moogallian was just about to go down the stairs. The tourist lifted four of its eight tentacles, emitted a high, piercing scream and promptly fell down into a heap, apparently fainting at its first sight of a human.
What incredibly imperfect timing.
Juliana turned to Diesel with eyes as wide as the full moon scheduled for two nights from now. “You saw that, right?”
Diesel didn’t answer. He just stood there wondering what in the world he was going to do now. He knew what heshoulddo. He inhaled to explain, unsure of even what words would come out of his mouth courtesy of his flash-stunned brain.
He put an arm around her as she pointed at the being lying prostrate at the opening of their secret basement alien bunker leading into questions he absolutely could not answer.
“Please tell me you saw that,” she repeated in a quivery, frightened voice.
“Better not.”
Before he could say anything else—and his mind was blank as to any content—he caught movement out of the corner of his eye over her shoulder and his attention was drawn from her stunned expression to yet another potential problem.Now what?
Diesel recognized his brother, Cam, approaching at a fast clip. Relief rushed through his body.
Cam was in charge of security for not only the truck stop but also the secret underground bunker. He’d know what to do in this situation. He’d take care of this issue pronto.
