Page 18 of Alien Haven

Assistant Chief Wilkes sauntered past the bakery where an unfamiliar Kalquorian clan was taking measurements of the walls and counter spaces. They held little interest for him, but his gaze nonetheless lingered on the Kalquorian woman. The alien females were so rare as to be remarkable. This particular Matara had impressive muscle, similar to the men of her species, but she was curvy tending toward plumpness. Her face was pleasant as she spoke to the men.

The Nobek, scarred as his breed tended to be, started to turn in Wilkes’ direction. The enforcement officer nodded acknowledgment when their gazes met and moved on.

He waited until he was past the bakery’s big glass windows to aim his gaze across the shuttle lane at the woman he was interested in. She sat next to the large window in the coffee shop, accompanied by a young Kalquorian male. He was someone else Wilkes didn’t recognize. Jennifer Seng laughed hard at something her companion said. In spite of her mouth being stretched wide open, she was pretty in a vivacious fashion.

Wilkes paused to take a longer look when he’d ensured no one witnessed him watching his subject. Again, he couldn’t verify she might be Charity Nath, though he’d examined every picture and vid of the vanished woman he’d been able to unearth. Most had been taken when she’d been in her childhood and early teens, before Armageddon.

He moved on. After checking his surroundings again, he pulled his com unit from a pocket and told it to connect to Devin’s Building Supply.

“Is it her?” a voice asked by way of greeting. The man who’d answered and spoke in Wilke’s earpiece wasn’t named Devin, and he owned no supply company.

“I can’t tell. I’ll have to get a voice recording and do an analysis. A DNA sample would be better to be absolutely certain. It could take time.”

“Time is what I don’t have. I had to sleep overnight in the bunker again, thanks to these asshole rebels. The sooner you find out if she’s the traitor’s daughter, the sooner we can get some answers about her father’s and Browning Copeland’s supposed death.”

“I’m working on it, but I have to move carefully. She’s lodging at the home of Haven’s Kalquorian head of security, which complicates the situation.”

He could practically see Governor John McCarthy of Mercy seething despite it being an audio-only connection. “You want to talk complicated situations? Come out here, and I’ll show you complicated. Half the damn planet’s sick from Dark Death, and the other half is trying to stage a coup against my government. I need proof the Holy Leader lives and the Kalquorian Empire is holding him illegally to bring these assholes in line!”

“You’ll have it once I can get close to the girl and verify she’s our target. If my agenda is exposed, we get nothing. I have to go.” He clicked off and smiled at the woman pushing a hover stroller in his direction. “Good morning, Anna! How are the twins?”

He pretended to admire the hybrid children the cheerful brunette paused to show off. Wilkes could admit McCarthy had it bad on virus- and insurgent-plagued Mercy, but much of it had been his own damned fault. His ruse to undermine those who opposed him had set his constituents against him and threatened his hold on the government.

Deadly pandemic and unrest aside, at least the stupid bastard wasn’t surrounded by ungodly whores, degenerate aliens, and their unnatural offspring. Wilkes was up to his neck in Haven’s mire, reporting on its sins to support the traditional-leaning Earther governments of Mercy and New Bethlehem. He couldn’t indulge in the solace of hauling in the smugly beaming Anna of Clan Wyto before a jury of her peers to answer for her sins. All he could do was allow her to walk off while cooing toher unnatural offspring. His sole function over the years had been to catalog the travesties he lived alongside of and hope his superiors found a way to capitalize on the endless reports he sent.

If Jennifer Seng was Charity Nath, he’d score a greater victory. The Galactic Council, now so firmly set against Kalquor, could recover the Holy Leader once it was proven he lived. If Copeland were restored to the true believers of old Earth, if it were proved God’s will couldn’t be denied in the end, Wilkes’ people would have direction again.

“Let me be the instrument of our salvation,” he breathed as he continued through the Sodom and Gomorrah known as Haven.

Chapter Five

Charity changed from the casual clothes she’d worn to shop in Sunrise. She selected a pretty blue dress she hoped wouldn’t be too upscale for Bar, Bowl, and Barrel. Once she was satisfied by her appearance, she stepped from her bedroom to find Sara and Groteg waiting for her in the hall.

She groaned inwardly. A flash of her usual stubbornness and angst eagerly rose to the occasion of questioning authority. She quashed it, determined to do the right thing for a change.

She beamed at her hosts. “Let me guess. I’m failing to play disgraced college student Jennifer Seng as I should be. No night out in the company of the cutie waiting for me downstairs.”

To her great relief, Sara waved off her concerns. “On the contrary. I think a rebel would be determined to escape her sentence, so it’ll look perfectly normal for you to go out.”

“Thank you.” Charity tried to contain the rush of exuberance, but she caught herself wiggling in anticipation.

Sara chuckled. “By all means, be young and foolish while you can. You and Ilid have fun tonight. Responsibility will come calling soon enough.”

“Don’t be too foolish,” Groteg countered. Despite the warning, his expression was as gentle as his fierce features allowed. “A resident member of the Kalquorian spy division here on Haven commed me earlier today.”

“Dolgra, right?” She’d heard his name mentioned by her warders on Alpha Space Station. She had yet to meet him.

Groteg’s features tightened, as if she wasn’t supposed to know the spy’s identity, but he made no mention of it. “There were a couple of transmissions to Mercy this afternoon from the area.”

“You think Earthtiques found me? Already?” An unpleasant jolt shot through her system.

“Probably not. Plenty of our residents have relatives on Mercy. They’re constantly trying to check on them since the issues that planet’s had. Damned few transmissions get through since the rebels against the government have seized so many com stations, but occasionally, they get lucky.”

“The coms could be something or nothing, in other words.” Charity managed to keep sarcasm from her tone.Don’t be a bitch. Let the man do his job.

“Keep an eye on your surroundings. Com me if anything looks odd. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

“Okay. I’ll have Ilid on hand until you come riding to the rescue. Maybe Detodev too. He told me he likes to go to Bar, Bowl, and Barrel on occasion.”

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