Page 6 of Rebirth

“Allllrighty then, I think that’s enough introductions for you, big guy.” Mina chuckles, but her laughter doesn’t transfer to any of us.

I am enraptured, staring at the impossible, while the men at my back stand afraid.

“He wanted to mate with you,” the alien growls.

“San’ten, that’s not what he meant.” Mina gives us an apologetic grin before turning and bracing both hands against the alien’s chest. “Please forgive him. As you will notice with the other Vullan, they might speak our language, but sometimes things still get mistranslated.” Her grin widens. “Come, there’s food being served.”

Bracing both hands against the alien’s chest, she pushes it backward. With her size compared to the beast, she shouldn’t be able to move it an inch. Yet, it obeys. It watches us…or rather, it watches the men at my back, but it obeys her.

It takes a few moments for the men I traveled with to gather their bearings.

“Fuck, what do we do now?” one speaks. “Do we cut our losses and leave?”

Another scratches his head, inhaling through his teeth with indecision. “Man, I don’t even know, dude. That thing’s fucking scary, and there’s more of them. Did you see its teeth?”

They continue to mumble together, trying to decide what to do, before I suddenly grip my pack and throw it over my shoulders. I follow in the wake of the human, Mina, and her…friend, San’ten. And the indecisive chatter behind me suddenly halts.

“Hey, lady, you sure about this?” one of them calls.

A huffed laugh brushes through my nose as I glance over my shoulder and shrug, my legs taking me into what feels like a new era of my life.

Every step that I take pushes me further into the unknown.

“Fucking crazy,” one of them says, and I turn toward the camp at my front, a surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins as I take my first steps into the unknown.

CHAPTER THREE

SOPHIE

Onboarding wasn’t what I expected it to be.

I sit in a circular area at the center of the camp. Children playing around me, and humans chatting together.

The mug of hot chocolate in my hands feels like some sort of treasure.

Never thought I’d be drinking something so luxurious again.

The people around me talk and chatter as if they’re long-time friends. Gone is the strain of what’s happened to us, our planet. It’s all in our nearby past.

Gone is their fear.

And still, I wonder if this is the place I should be. If I should have followed those men who brought me here. Take my chances of surviving somewhere else and leave.

I don’t know those men, but we came here together.

And I’m the only one who stayed.

“Hey, it’s Sophie, right?” The woman who plops down on the seat beside me grins at me as she offers her hand for a shake. Mina.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I am.” I return her smile, not sure if it reaches my eyes, as something moves under my hand the moment her suit touches my fingers.

She’s dressed in that same dark suit as before and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s some kind of tactical gear from the government or something the aliens brought with them.

There are soldiers here. A few. And among their ranks, working alongside them, going over strategy maps and the like, are the Vullan. Like dark, towering gods, I see them whenever the wind blows a tent flap and reveals one of their forms.

Silent, dark shadows. I swear each time I spot one, his gaze is locked on mine.

“We’ve set up a bed for you in Tent B. We’re busy drawing up the plans for the apartments and we’ll get those built and set up soon, but the tents seem to be okay for now.” She smiles at me.

---