CJ
One year later
CJ shifted from foot to foot, nervous energy shooting through her as she stared at the blank view screen mounted on the wall. In an hour, it would all be over.
Please let it be over. Finally.
She ran a hand over her head, mussing the blond pixie cut that she still wore, and turned her back on the viewscreen to pace. Back and forth, she walked over the thick cream-colored living room carpet in the home she shared with Domik. They had only moved in a few weeks before.
The dwelling was modest, but it had a yard big enough for a dog. When she had expressed the desire to have a pet, Domik had promptly brought home a squirming greyhound puppy, and she had immediately fallen in love. She had named the puppy Marsh, short for marshmallow, as one pleading look from his enormous eyes had Domik turn as soft as the sugary treat. CJ had found the two of them sprawled out on the large couch in the living room many times, much to her amusement.
The sound of the front door opening had CJ turning to see Domik walk inside, her breath catching at the sight of him still after all this time. His hair was neatly braided, falling past his broad shoulders. He was wearing a tight-fitting tee-shirt that clung appealingly to his chest and arms. He had taken to wearing jeans when he wasn’t at work, and as he turned to usher the dog inside, CJ admired his firm backside.
CJ bent to greet Marsh, who trotted up to her with his usual bouncy gait and pressed his face forward for a scratch behind the ears. She dropped to her knees and sighed, burying her face in the dog's neck.
“Everything all right?” Domik asked.
CJ broke away, letting the now squirming dog go to rush over to his bed in the room's corner and settle in, watching with gigantic eyes.
“Yes… no. I don’t know.” She stood, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “It’s just been so long and I want it to be over.”
“It will. Come here,” he said, crossing the space between her in long strides and gathering her to his chest.
She sighed, closing her eyes as a calm spread through her. In the months since the Xakul attack on Earth, a lot had changed. The main Xakul attack had been dealt with quickly, but some soldiers had landed and gone to ground. A combined force of human and Taurean troops had hunted them down, one by one, until the Xakul no longer posed a threat to Earth. That had taken months.
Domik had accepted a position on Taurus, not working with weaponry but in medical technology. He’d decided that he was more interested in helping people and now led a team of engineers who were refining the midi-scanning technology to better suit other races. CJ had accompanied him and now worked in a clinic on Taurus alongside Amelia. The clinic had become the place to seek medical treatment for the many humans who now lived on the planet as part of increased Taurean-human relations.
T’arq and Krystal were now working to upgrade and test various cloaking technologies for the Taurean military. The last time they spoke, Krystal told CJ that she was interested in making the teleporting technology more accurate. CJ knew there would be news about that sometime soon.
That left Zac, Laila, and Oren, who were kept busy hunting down Taurean Purists. The Taureans had quickly identified the splinter group that had instigated the attack on the Taurean fleet and delayed their arrival at Earth, and they had been found guilty of treason. The trial had been conducted on Taurus, concluding a few months earlier, and the convicted were sent to Garveli V, a prison planet on the outskirts of Taurean space.
Dealing with the human “resistance” had taken a little longer. There had been no laws on Earth that considered aliens and extraterrestrial politics, so it had been one hell of a mess. But today, finally, the verdict would be delivered.
CJ lifted her head and met his lips with hers briefly before pulling away to give him a small smile. “I just worry that they won’t be found guilty.”
“Why don’t you sit down? It won’t be long until they get started. Want a coffee?” Domik waved at the low couch that took up most of the space in front of the viewscreen.
“Thank you,” CJ said. She sat on the couch, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet underneath her.
He smoothed a hand over her hair and smiled, that dimple that had teased her so many months ago making an appearance. “It’s going to be fine.”
Yes, it really will be.
Marsh jumped up from his bed and bounded over to join her on the couch, curling up next to her and putting his head in her lap. CJ smiled and patted his slick coat.
Domik walked back into the room with two cups of coffee in time to see the view screen that took up almost the entire far well flicker into life. He sat on the couch next to CJ, the dog on the other side of her, and draped an arm over her shoulders.
It had taken months to track down all the offenders. The human resistance fighters had been much easier to find than the Taurean Purists. Many of the Purists had gone to ground on the outer reach planets. The humans had to be tried on Earth in a court of their peers. The Taureans had to be tried on Taurus.
CJ and Domik had both been required to give evidence, as had many of the team. Oren figured prominently, as he had been key in interrupting the Purist’s attempts to disrupt the attack on the Taurean fleet.
And today, the humans would have the verdict passed down. The viewscreen crackled into life, a man in a suit holding a microphone appeared.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today, we will hear the verdict of the human resistance fighters." The crowd behind the man jostled him slightly, and he took a step slightly off camera. "As you can see, the crowd today is a little agitated."
CJ turned to Dominic with a wry smile. "I wonder why they’re agitated?"
The camera zoomed to a man who appeared at the top of the broad set of stairs, the crowd below him jostling backward and forth, only held back by security guards. CJ squinted, realizing that this was General Russell, this time looking a little more put together than the time she had seen him after the Xakul attack on Earth. The general held his arms up and was facing the crowd, seeking silence.
