Page 30 of Alien Rescue

He cocked his head to the left and grunted for a few seconds. The grunting was a little disturbing. He focused on her. “I agree.”

She stared at him. She had the oddest feeling there was something she missed. Did he just talk to someone? That grunting had been awfully long and oddly pitched. “I have no idea where to start,” she admitted.

“You can start by telling me why we are going to New York.”

Rose forced herself to calm down. To think, for the sake of her family.

“At the rubble, my colleague, Morgan, left the symbol for New York. Unfortunately I have no idea where in New York he wanted me to go.” She wouldn’t put it past Morgan to make her search for days, before he revealed himself. And in the meantime her family was running out of time.

“Does this Morgan know where the secret labs and the scientists are?”

“I think he might. He was one of Parnell’s most trusted men.” He didn’t have to nearly kill himself to prove himself worthy of being in the inner circle.

Those piercing eyes seemed to look into her soul. “We will fly to New York and do a search.”

“Fly?” She couldn’t help the excited bounce that wobbled the camp chair beneath her. She’d get to fly. Even the worry for her family couldn’t dampen her excitement over that prospect.

“Yes.” He reached out and took her hands in his and brought her clenched fists to his lips. Rose thought his lips would be slimy and wet or dry and scurvy or something. The one time he’d pressed his lips to her, he’d pinched them tightly together. His lips touched her knuckles and they were warm and soft. And they belonged to one of the aliens that captured Parnell. So why was her heart melting at his gesture? “We will prevent the bomb in Portland from detonating.”

She pulled her hand back and glared at him. So much for tender gestures. “You knew all along my family lives there?”

“Yes.”

What else did he know? “And you said nothing about it until it suited you?”

“I found you entertaining. Your family does not interest me. Why would I say anything about them?”

Entertaining? She’d show him entertaining once they found that bomb. “All right then. How do we find this bomb? Maybe we should go to Portland first.” Would her father be willing to see her? Maybe her brother would be willing to get to know her now. It had been years since she’d trashed his room. She’d been so angry then; at her mother’s death; her father blaming her and pretending she didn’t exist, lavishing all his love and attention on her little brother who’d never known their mother.

“No, we will start in New York with the human who wrote that symbol for your attention.”

“Don’t you have some superior alien gadgets that can help us find the missing scientists? How else can we find a bomb or the scientists in such a large city?” Fear skittered over her flesh, it seemed so impossible. Where would they even start?

“Normally we would send out probes to find the bombs, but the signal is blocked. We are also blocked when we do DNA searches.”

She frowned. She’d been facetious when she’d asked about their gadgets. “You have machines sophisticated enough to track DNA?” The news about the alien occupation just kept getting better and better.

“Yes.”

“Then how come we lowly humans can block you tracking us? After all, your equipment is superior. What aren’t you telling me?”

“I told you everything you need to know,” he said with such arrogance, Rose clenched her fists, but then forced herself to relax. She needed to stay focused, for the sake of her family. For humanity. “If we’re going to work together, we have to trust each other and share information.”

His sharp teeth flashed bright in the light of the fire. “You can trust me and I will tell you what you need to know.”

His sheer stubborn arrogance made her want to thump him on the head. But she was getting nowhere with this argument, and they had to work together to save her family from that bomb. For now. “I need to warn my family.”

He pinned her with a sharp stare. “They said if anyone leaves Portland, they will detonate the bomb.”

Rose doubted she could get through to talk to her father or Benjamin anyway. And if she did manage it, chances were good they wouldn’t believe her. “What are we going to do?” No matter what, she wouldn’t allow her family to be harmed.

“No need to make that facial expression; we have some swords hidden in our shields.”

She very much doubted that. They wouldn’t have let her escape to get her help if they had any other options. What exactly were they dealing with here?

“What facial expression?”

He demonstrated, pulling his face in an exaggerated grimace. His skin wasn’t as pliable as hers and he ended up looking odd with his lips curling and his eyes wide.

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