Page 14 of There’s an Alien Down My Chimney

“I will not sign those, ever,” I said to Ru, “I’d rather lose the cabin.” It was one of the hardest things, to lose that last link to my grandfather, but I knew I had no other choice. It wouldn’t be the same now anyway, once Ru was gone I think I wouldn’t like it here much, everything would remind me of him as much as my grandfather. Grandpa would definitely roll over in his grave if I did sign those papers, he’d been pissed as hell when I’d signed on with the Air Force.

In a final bid to convince him, I said, “I’ll wear a mask, they won’t recognize me.” There had to be a ski mask around here somewhere, I’d wear that and that would be the end of it. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him my best mutinous look. He held firm, and now I was in a staredown, but it didn’t last long, I saw the corner of his mouth twitch, and then he was outright smiling.

I think he would have leaned in and kissed me but Pike chose that moment to slap me on the shoulder. “There, problem solved, we’ll both wear masks, no biggie.” He grinned at Ru, then wandered away again, a mop in his hand, and while I hated that he just won the freaking argument, at least he was cleaning up the snow mess he’d made.

Chapter 9

Stella

Pike had headed out, saying he was getting some supplies from town, but really, it felt to me like he decided he’d had as much company as he could stand for a while and just needed to withdraw. Fine by me, I wasn’t done letting Ru know that he had no right keeping me out of this for my safety, I was a big girl, I could take care of myself.

As soon as Pike’s rusted old pickup had disappeared beyond the trees I swung around and pointed my finger at the big guy with his horns looming over me from only a few steps away. “Seriously Ru!” I started to say, but I was silenced when he grabbed my hand and yanked me into his chest, his mouth claiming mine as soon as I was within reach.

I meant to hold firm against that, I really did, but I just melted into a damn puddle in his arms, it was really unfair. Not that I was about to complain when he was kissing me like that, how was I ever going to get over him when he left? The more time I spent with him, the more I was convinced I’d be mopping up the pieces long after he was gone.

Maybe I should call Daria to whine about boy problems for a little while, wouldn’t even need to be over the untapped line. I wanted to berate her for telling me to leap when he was going to leave, but it wasn’t her idea, I had already leaped with my eyes closed by the time she urged me to do it.

“I just don’t like the thought of you in danger,” Ru murmured when he let me up for air at last. I was cradled in his arms, held up against the closed front door, with my legs wrapped around his hips. His tail had curled around my ankles and I felt safe, cherished, and toasty warm like this.

“I know you’re a capable woman, I know that, but I don’t want to ruin the rest of your life on this planet…” He swallowed roughly, shaking his head, his eyes dropping down to look at the floor, hiding his thoughts from me. I felt happy that he’d just acknowledged appreciation for my skills and that he cared for me was evident.

I was about to ask him if he wanted to go back to bed when he lifted his eyes back to mine. “There’s something you need to understand,” he said, and then he dropped the bomb, “I think I’m from the future too…” Somehow that news was more devastating than knowing he’d leave and just be out there, living his life in tangent with mine. If he was from the future… I’d be dead when he returned home.

He saw the stricken look in my eyes and gently pressed his forehead to mine, “I know, it’s worse knowing that, isn’t it?” I nodded, fighting down the urge to ask him if I could just go with him, fly off into the future together but I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be welcome, and it was just such a reckless decision, I should give it some thought first.

“These agents say they’re from the UAR. In the future, in this quadrant of the universe, the UAR rules pretty much everything. They’re the United Alliance of Races, and I’m pretty sure that means some part of the government has already struck deals with the two other races that are part of it.” Ru’s explanation was baffling, but somehow, it also struck me as true. I might have been in the Air Force but I hadn’t run missions that were out of the public eye, unlike Daria, but I knew enough from her line of work not to be surprised. Not every girl could boast of being friends with what amounted to a super spy, but I could.

“The Dragnell, they’re huge, capable warriors, and if that base has a few of them down there… This mission is going to be a lot harder than we expect. That’s why I hoped you’d stay here, pretend you don’t know anything. I just want you to be safe.” I was going to allow that statement, bypass my tough girl side, and let it sink straight into the romantic heart of me. Besides, hearing about huge alien warriors being a possibility wasn’t exactly making me jump for joy, it also wasn’t changing my mind.

We would have continued talking about it, possibly arguing even, but the sound of an engine disrupted the deep silence of the snow-covered woods. I froze, my eyes meeting Ru’s, “That’s not Pike is it?” I whispered and he shook his head. Dropping me silently back to my feet, the two of us hurried through the cabin, finally collecting scattered clothes and Ru’s bag of tricks and hiding them in the bedroom.

Ru was cursing in that deep bass of his when he looked out the window and spotted the silver SUV that belonged to agents Mervin and Lauren. Looks like it was time for another round, they needed me to be out of here by tomorrow, but I wasn’t leaving until we’d liberated Ru’s ship. I’m sure they were going to threaten me again, hoping to scare me away from here. If they’d done their research they would know I was made of sterner stuff than that, and I was already grabbing for the shotgun by the time they parked their stupid car.

“I’ll hide, but you call out if you need help, you hear me?” Ru demanded quietly from the bedroom doorway. I gave him a nod, not in the least worried at this point at what these two could dish out, they were just bureaucrats. I peeked out of the window to look at whether they’d made their way up the slippery path to my porch yet in their silly loafers.

They weren’t there and I frantically scanned the snow to figure out where they’d gone. With Pike, Ru, and myself having trampled the snow around the cabin, it was impossible to tell. Ice slithered down my spine, I’d assumed it was the two agents because of the car, but what if it wasn’t?

I started to open the front door, my shotgun in one arm, while I pressed my back against the door jamb to the left. As the portal swung open, I heard a creak just as I moved to get a better look. Reflexes kicked in, and I dropped to the ground, not quite fast enough, a hand shot out and closed around the tip of the barrel, the shotgun wrenching from my hands.

Instinctively I tried to hold on to the weapon which caused me to stumble forward, and into the range of the two men standing on either side of my door. Letting go, I made myself drop to the ground and roll out of range as one of them reached down to grab for me. I’d gone across the porch, thudding down the three slippery steps, and was now in what remained of my grandfather’s frozen pumpkin patch.

A bad spot to be, everything was icy and slippery, so I had to be really careful. At least there was now enough distance between me and the two agents that I could get a good look at them. They weren’t in their silly suits and trench coats, they were kitted out in tactical gear and proper shoes for this kind of weather. They looked almost entirely like different men, especially with their mundane brown hair hidden beneath a black cap.

Taught me not to underestimate a pair of suits, they were exactly what I should have expected, wolves in sheep clothes. Agent Mervin had my shotgun in his hands and he casually unloaded it, dropping the casings into the snow at his feet. While Agent Lauren, definitely not the more sympathetic one, was approaching, his hands curled in fists inside black leather gloves.

“Good morning Miss Zvezda, how lovely to see you today, shall we make it our last meeting?” he said cheerfully. He was smart enough not to step into range just yet and dropped into a squat to look down at me with a smile on his boring face, twisting it into something wholly malicious. I got my knees under me, the ice and snow melting into my thermal leggings, at least I’d had the foresight to put on my boots.

“What do you want from me!” I said angrily, “You’re already taking my land and my home.” Getting to my feet, I held my hands out at my sides in a relaxed pose, keeping myself ready for action should I need it. They hadn’t pulled any guns on me, Mervin had disarmed mine, so they didn’t seem to want to threaten me with those. I had a feeling Agent Lauren here, was ready to do some intimidating with his fists.

He rose along with me and I watched those hands carefully, hoping he’d telegraph his moves before he made them. Because Agent Mervin with his nasal voice had done most of the talking during our previous meetings, I had assumed he was the senior officer. Bad assumption yet again. Lauren gave his partner a nod, and the agent stepped into my home, my stomach clenching painfully with worry for Ru. They were searching my place!

“You are leaving, today Miss Zvezda,” Lauren said while he studied my expression with shrewd eyes. I had a feeling he’d seen the worry on my face and I strove to keep my emotions hidden, my face as blank as I could. “We’re done being nice about it. You get your pretty ass into that car,” he jabbed his thumb at my station wagon, “And then you drive back to the city and cash that money from the offer.”

“Sure, tomorrow,” I said, “When I’m supposed to leave. I still have some packing to do.” He frowned at me, shaking his head and making a tsking noise between his teeth. From my home, I heard the sounds of crashing and saw through the windows how the lights on my Christmas tree flickered and turned off. This wasn’t just a search, Mervin in there was causing mayhem and destruction. Ru wasn’t going to tolerate that, he was going to come through that door at any second now and start busting heads.

“The fuck? He can’t be doing that!” I said, stepping to the side and moving to go around Agent Lauren. I tried acting like I was just a distressed, lone woman, but my moves with the gun had put this guy on his toes. He slid between me and the door, a hand shooting out to grab my bicep to stop me.

“Not so fast Miss Zvezda, my partner is just making sure you’re not hiding anything illegal,” he drawled with a smirk. I dodged his grabbing hands, spun in closer to him with the move, and so done with playing nice, I jabbed my heel down hard on his instep. I followed that with a jab of the elbow into his sternum and a good kick to the side of his knee.