“I spoke to him. Turns out he drank too much Gatorade and got disoriented. The exit was the only place he remembered he could get below.”
“You mean he was drunk on his butt on a beverage known to alter his species’ mental capabilities and he popped open an inappropriate door at the exact wrong time.”
“Yes. That, too. Could have been worse. At least we contained the situation.” He patted the Defender again as if it had been the perfect solution. It hadn’t. Diesel had lost time with Juliana. Important time. Time he dearly wished he could get back.
“She’s never going to remember the first time we met. For me, that is worse.”
Cam leaned over and planted his palms flat on Diesel’s desk. “She’s also never going to remember that she saw a non-humanoid alien at the Big Bang Truck Stop in Alienn, Arkansas. She’s never going to write about that incident in her article or travel book or whatever. That’s the more important fact, Diesel.That’swhat you should be thinking about.”
“Is it?”
“What is up with you?”
Diesel pushed out a sigh. “I really like her.”
“I’m aware. But you should get used to the idea that you absolutely cannot keep her.”
“She’s not some stray pet I took in, Cam.”
“She’s an earthling and not meant for you, Diesel.”
“There isn’t a law against—”
“Well, there should be.”
“Why?”
A distant look came over his brother’s face. Diesel had never seen Cam display emotion like this before. “Maybe I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Didyouget hurt?”
Cam was very private about everything, but until a couple of years ago, he’d been much less uptight about absolutely everything. At the time, Diesel had thought Cam was merely stepping up to make a name for himself in his new position as Security Officer. Perhaps his brother had been burned by love and buried himself in his work.
“No comment.” Cam scooped the Defender up, executed a perfect about-face and exited the office without another word. Diesel would have to inquire about Cam’s issues later; it was time to get ready for his trip tomorrow.
The intercom on his desk buzzed. Nova’s voice came through the small speaker. “There’s a call for you on line one.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s Juliana Masters,” she said in an amused tone of voice, like she was tattling on someone.
Diesel locked his eyes on a festively colored piece of paper on his desk to keep from rolling them. “Thank you.” He clicked off and pushed the line one button, hoping Juliana wasn’t about to call off their meeting after so much drama had been attached to his merely taking a day off.
“Hello.” He tried to sound nonchalant, as if he didn’t care one iota if she canceled last minute.
“Hi, Diesel. It’s Juliana. I wanted to make sure we were still on for tomorrow.”
“Yes. I’ll be there at eleven as you requested.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.” She hung up quickly. Was she having second thoughts? Was he about to be disappointed in their meeting tomorrow?
Diesel inhaled deeply and exhaled as much stress out of his body as he could. He didn’t know what to expect, but decided to be prepared for anything and do his best not to get too attached.
Cam was right about one thing—if Diesel got too involved with Juliana, he’d have to be very careful. The largest reason earthlings and Alphas were discouraged from marrying was because the ruling party did not want any indigenous people to have knowledge of their operation. He hadn’t heard it lately, but the phraseloose lips, sink shipshad been used in relation to any earthlings discovering they were here.
The few Alpha-human relationships he’d ever heard of had been allowed because the couple in question went back to Alpha-Prime. Diesel wanted to live on Earth. He wanted to be near his family.
Alpha-Prime was a good place to live, but he’d spent the bulk of his life on Earth. It was more his home than the planet his family had come from. His parents had come as newlyweds with dreams of making Earth their permanent residence. Diesel had been born on Earth, making him technically an earthling, except that he was one hundred percent Alpha-Prime alien.
