Page 14 of The Alien I Fell in Love with on Walpurgis Night

I obediently follow the large grey officer called Officer Sem out of the hanger bay and into the base. I must admit to myself all of this looks real. I touch a wall as we pass and it’s cold and actually feels like steel. Then there’s a smell of perfume in the air, not unlike the smell of rain, but more pleasant. And there’s a lot of men all colored grey and with matching uniforms. It makes me wonder if I’m in a computer simulation now. That if I hold my hand out to some of the passing grey men, my hand will pass right through them like a hologram. I hold my hand out and try it.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I touch a man’s abdomen. He looks at me as if I was going to say something else for touching him unnecessarily. I don’t say, ‘I just wanted to see if you were real.’ I simply apologize again and let him think I’m very weird.

Officer Sem, who had stopped to witness my faux pas, begins walking and leads me into a small sitting room with black leather sofas. He asks me to take a seat. I’m surprised by the comfort of the room. He sits across from me and opens a 3D computer between us which looks very impressive. “Madame Georgiana, I’m going to ask you some questions about your and Commander Axl’s relationship. I will be monitoring your answers for truthfulness. Please don’t lie, that’ll only waste your time and my own.”

“I understand,” I say, preparing myself. Axl and I went over this so many times, Even I’m beginning to believe our story like it’s gospel. And I doubt they’ve a real lie detector test here so I’m not worried.

“First question, how did you leave Earth the first time?”

9

Axl

I had not expected my old friend Fox to be here. This changes everything. No doubt he will see us through to the Empire. “Thank the goddesses,” I say as I enter his office. “I had no idea you were here, Fox! I thought you were still on the Jion.”

Fox takes a bottle of zota and two black ceramic cups while explaining, “When this opportunity came up, I took Sem and we made our oaths to protect the Lost People.” He pours the liquid and offers me one. “To old friendships.”

We make eye contact. “To enduring friendships.” Then we drink. It’s been six months since I’ve tasted the alcohol native to the Empire and it burns my throat, but the familiarity of it feels divine.

“Now tell me about your wife. How did you meet her and how the devil did you keep her hidden away from everyone including us? You’re still listed as a bachelor and there are rumors your mother is trying to marry you off to Aru before you become permanently unavailable.”

“Well, it’s a long romantic story, and I’ll spare you too many of the details. The gist of it is, old friend, I rescued Madame Georgiana from a few criminal Octopods at Gala. I had no intention of marrying her at the time, she was just a young human woman caught in a tough situation.”

“When was this?”

I give him the date that Georgiana and I had both memorized.

“And did you officially buy her at Gala? Do you have the receipt of sale?”

“It was a spur of the moment decision made out of empathy.”

“So, no receipt?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“I see. It happens a lot. Almost all the human women we see pass through here have also been through Gala at one point or another. No doubt we can dig up those records with our connections there. But tell me, what happened next? Did you plan to keep her as a pet? That would’ve been difficult considering your line of work and your need for secrecy.”

“At the time, I didn’t know what I was going to do with her, but she was feisty, so I knew she wouldn’t make a good pet. So, I followed my mother’s advice.”

“I see, so your mother knew. I have no doubt she wanted this to remain a secret. What was her advice?”

“To take her to the Empire and leave her in House Zu. And then my mother found work for her with the accountants.” I assume that Fox will conclude my mother was longing for grandchildren to continue the imperial family line, even if they would have been illegitimate and only half Alliance.

“Extraordinary.”

I nod.

“And when did you decide to marry Madame Georgiana?”

“After a few years, every time I visited, Madame Georgiana and I grew closer to one another and it was after about my tenth trip home, I realized that she was my true other half. When I secretly returned Madame Georgiana to Earth, my mother assumed she was dead to me, and the marriage dissolved. But as soon as the laws changed regarding human women, I came back to Earth to retrieve Georgiana. As the goddesses are my witnesses, I don’t want to be in an arranged marriage with Aru. I’m already married to the woman I want.”

“How romantic,” Fox says. “I myself have yet to meet a human woman I’d consider marrying, let alone my true other half. But like you must have felt, our time to marry is ticking away, we are nearing 50 years old.”

“Exactly.”

“Who were the witnesses at your marriage ceremony?”

I name the people Georgiana and I had agreed on from House Zu.

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