Page 33 of Alien Rescue

“The humans cannot see or hear us,” he said as if talking to a small child who wasn’t very bright.

Something about the camouflage tugged at her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp what.

“If you are to remain safe, you have to follow my command exactly,” he said.

She pressed her nose against the shuttle wall to see more of the city beneath them. “If you say so,” Rose said, not really listening as she stared down at the city. He was taking them to one of the tallest buildings whose pavements were under water. It was difficult to judge from up here, but it looked as if she’d have water up to her ankles if she walked down there.

The aliens fixed the roads and buildings in Washington, and as Zanr had said, when he still pretended to be human, they were going to fix the other cities. But none of the highways she driven on had been repaired.

She turned away from staring at the view and glared at him. “I know what you’re doing. You’re repairing the cities, but not the roads leading to them. You’re going to isolate us in the cities.”

It was diabolically clever—make the cities a good place to live in and traveling difficult, and they had humans nicely cooped up. If they’d made a decree that no one was allowed to leave the cities, most people would’ve rebelled. This way they got to contain humans without putting up with rebellion. What else did they plan for humanity?

He set them down on top of a tall building and then turned to face her. “We cannot allow humans to move around freely.”

“Who do you think you are to allow us anything?” she screeched. She really wanted to punch him. Who the hell did they think they were, moving in and trying to take over? And trying was all it would be in the end. She wouldn’t rest until she stopped them.

He touched his ear, a brief movement, and then stood and helped her up out of the seat. “Do not make that noise. And why would I not admit to isolating humans in the cities? We are doing it.”

“Unbelievable.” His arrogance was going to be his downfall. She’d make sure of it. “Are all Zyrgins this arrogant?”

“We are not arrogant. Warriors are superior, hardworking, humble people.”

Rose gaped at him, open-mouthed. Did he hear himself? She shrugged and went to the door, or tried to. The alien held her in place with that gentle hand on her upper arm. It really galled her that he could do it without hurting her, while she would have to hurt him to detain him, and she doubted she could even do that.

He pinned her with that evil red gaze. “You will wear a uniform while we are here. I brought one for you. I will make it fit you in a loose way, to hide your extreme beauty from other males. We cannot lose time if I have to fight them for you. Even weak humans.”

For a moment she forgot her desperate need to be out in the open. Extreme beauty? Her? The woman they’d called a scrawny runt in school? She knew her hair was her best feature, and enough men wanted to date her, so she didn’t have any problems with her own appearance. But extreme beauty?

“All right, I’ll do my best to hide my stunning looks.” It would be no hardship to ditch the jeans and sweater she’d been wearing long enough now. He got up and went over to the wall of the shuttle, and it opened exactly the way the door in his house did. He pulled something soft and silver out and handed it to her.

She held it up, and a pair of pants and a shirt, that looked like his uniform, unfolded and hung from her hands. Rose looked around. “Where can I change?”

He grunted and a door opened to reveal a miniscule bathroom with a shower. She went in and quickly took off her jeans and shirt and pulled on the oversized uniform. Like before, she nearly screamed when it shrank to fit her body like a second skin. No wonder Zanr’s uniform looked melded onto him. She got out of the small room as fast as she could manage.

She went to join Zanr, feeling a little self-conscious. She was still underweight from the frequent provings—probably more than sixteen times in the last eight months. His eyes blazed red and he looked her over with blatant interest. Then he grunted and the uniform loosened. “I have boots for you.” He threw down two strips of silver and they landed in front of her feet with a dull thud.

He grunted again, and the strip of silver metal expanded in front of her eyes and changed into calf-length boots. “You will wear this. It will protect your feet from the water.”

Remembering how he stepped in and out of his, she place her foot over the boot. It gulped up her foot. Rose screeched and jumped back.

She would’ve fallen if he didn’t grab her and steady her. He looked her over for wounds. “What is wrong?”

Rose stared down at her booted foot, feeling foolish. “Nothing.” The alien material shaped around her foot seamlessly and it was so comfortable, she barely felt the material next to her skin. Gingerly, she placed her right toe on top of the other piece of pliable metal and it smoothly slithered onto her foot and ankle and calves.

She walked up and down. “Wow, these are really comfortable.” And made from the alien silver material they used for everything. When she escaped from him, she’d take it somewhere where they could analyze it. Imagine the technological strides her country could make with knowledge of how this worked. Her father admired anyone with good business sense—men and women who saw an opportunity and grabbed it. If she could pull this off, he’d have to accept a call from her.

They left the shuttle and she nearly fell to her knees. She clutched her stomach and gagged. In her life she’d never smelled as foul a place as New York. “We’re too close to the water.”

“It is the best place to set up camp. I will set the equipment to filter the air.”

“Yes please, I can’t function if I have to smell this the whole time.”

He grunted and the awful smell of wet rotting things was replaced by filtered air.

“We will acquaint ourselves with this part of the city,” Zanr said.

“We should come back before dark.” It was a bad idea to be out after dark in most big cities. Only the spots reserved for the extremely wealthy were safe.

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