Page 31 of Alien Rescue

She had to laugh and had the impression he was pleased. She had to stop ascribing emotions to him that he probably didn’t even feel. “I don’t look like that. So I suppose we are going to New York.”

“It would be the logical place to start. The scientists know where the weapons are.”

Rose stared at him and it suddenly all made sense. “It’s one of you that’s doing this. That’s why you can’t track the weapons with your ‘superior technology.’”

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“No, first tell me about the alien that wants to detonate the bomb.” It was the only explanation. One of the aliens who’d come to Earth with Zanr and the others wanted a bigger slice of the pie.

“That is information you do not need to know.”

“If we are going to work together, I need to know everything.”

“You only need to know what I tell you,” he said again. He stood and looked down at her.

She jumped up, as well. “Are you being serious?”

“Yes.”

She glared at him. “That was sarcasm, you ass. You sound like a broken record.”

“What is a broken record?”

“It’s an old saying. If you tell someone they sound like a broken record, it means they are repeating themselves. I have no idea what a broken record is exactly.” She waved her hand. “Never mind. You have to agree that we are partners or I’m not helping you.” She was proud of herself for sounding so assertive. As if she actually knew something that would help them in their search.

He cocked his head. “We will be partners in the search for the laboratories and the scientists. I am the warrior partner and will tell you what you need to know.”

Rose sighed; this was going in circles. But before this was over, she’d make him see her as an equal. Time to move onto a subject that made her skin crawl. “New York has had several epidemics these last few decades, and on top of that, most of the city is flooded. I don’t want to come down with some horrific illness while I’m looking for weapons.”

“I will keep you safe from any illness.” He put out the fire by holding his hand above it. Rose shook her head. She didn’t even want to know.

She walked toward the truck. “I won’t stop asking, you know. Sooner or later you will tell me about that alien who wants to bomb us.”

Could this mysterious alien be a potential ally? ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ and all that. Or maybe the enemy of my enemy is a worse enemy and even harder to defeat. She was only a trainee—how was she supposed to handle something this momentous? Where were the people that were supposed to step into Parnell’s shoes?

“We are looking for human scientists and weapons, not a Zyrgin,” he said.

She snorted her disbelief. Somehow she’d get to the true story. A wonderful thought occurred to her. “You said we will fly? In your spaceship? Can a spaceship fly inside Earth’s atmosphere?”

He flashed very sharp, very white teeth at her and grunted. The truck shimmered and changed until in its place stood a rectangular silver shuttle. Rose stumbled back, then had to suppress the urge to squeal. She’d never seen anything like it. She’d never admit it to him, but this was superior technology.

“How did you do that? How do I go inside?” The Zyrgin technology was wonderful, but the thought of battling such an advanced race with access to such technology scared her. If they’d only been a few aliens, maybe humanity stood a chance. But the clip he’d played had shown thousands upon thousands of aliens marching through the streets.

He grunted again, and a door slid open and a ramp appeared. “So, all the time I thought I was riding in a truck it was a spaceship?”

“Shuttle and yes.”

She didn’t know what intimidated her more: the fact that he had a small spaceship to fly around in, or that he’d been able to make her think it was a truck. “Can I go inside?”

“Yes.”

She ran to the ramp and then cautiously walked up and into the shuttle. Somehow, she was going to steal this shuttle. Maybe after this, she might get the superman crack case. Her heat sank. Except Parnell wasn’t around anymore to give her the case. And she was beginning to wonder if he ever meant to give it to her.

But if she managed to bring home some alien technology? If there was an afterwards? Maybe someone would award her the case, give her recognition for her efforts to fight the aliens. And from stopping the bombs from detonating.

It wasn’t very big inside and rather spartan. The seats were hard-looking metal benches. Remembering how soft his uniform was, she carefully sat down. The seat remained hard. At the front, there were two chairs that looked as if they could swivel. She went to sit down on the right, but he moved her over to the left, with gentle, warm hands, and sat down in the seat on the right.

“So where did the truck go? It was much bigger than this shuttle.”

---