Page 6 of Alien Haven

“A human girl instead of a Nobek? That’s new. What are you in for?” Tori wore a half-smirk.

“It doesn't matter. Treat her as you would your brothers…no, treat her respectfully,” Sara hurriedly amended.

Charity had her story ready, however. Having been a pre-teen not so long ago herself, she grinned at Tori. “I might have had a bad habit of pulling pranks on those who lacked senses of humor.”

“You got sent to Haven for pranking somebody?”

“The last stunt went kind of wrong. No permanent injuries, but…” Charity shrugged, as if to saywhat can you do?Then she assumed a penitent expression. “I didn’t mean to hurt my chemistry professor. It was only supposed to be alittleblast.”

Sara fell into her role. “The trouble when it comes to these situations is we rarely want to cause harm, but it happens quite easily. I’ve been informed you were warned this exile would happen if you kept up your practical jokes.”

Charity hung her head. She peeked through still-unfamiliar honey-blond strands to see what reaction their performance had won.

Adam gazed at her as if impressed, his blue eyes bright. Charity might have told him she’d scaled the galaxy’s tallest mountain in high heels and won less admiration.

Tori’s attention was pointed at her mother. She displayed a sort of world-weariness reserved for those of a certain age who couldn’t believe how uncool their parents were. Her tone was all sympathy when she said, “Accidents happen. Sounds to me like someone had it out for you, Jennifer.” Having dispensed her opinion, she headed to the house. “Lovely to meet you. Pop by my room to chat after dinner, if you want. Later, all. Stuff to do.”

“Stuffhad better include weeding the herb garden,” Sara called after her.

Meanwhile, James had discovered a large red bug trundling over the grass. He was busy setting sticks, leaves, and other debris in its way. If he’d taken any notice of Charity’s supposed sins, he’d forgotten them already.

Sara shooed the boys off to do their chores and start on their homework. “Dinner table at six. With hands washed, James.” She grinned at Charity as soon as they were out of earshot. “Pretty good cover story.”

“I wish I could take credit, but the Kalquorian powers-that-be concocted it.” Charity gazed at the front door, through which the children had disappeared.

All three were fully human, no doubt from an earlier relationship Sara had been in. Sometimes the hybrid offspring of Kalquorians and Earthers appeared to be solely of Kalquorian heritage, but even those possessing strong human traits had some hint of the other species in their appearances. She wondered why Clan Amgar had no hybrid children, but it wasn’t a polite question to ask. Especially not of a woman she’d met less than an hour ago.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” Sara suggested. “A cup of coffee or tea?”

“Coffee would be amazing,” Charity said gratefully. “But if you have work, I don’t want to hold you up—”

“Nothing too pressing. Claiming I’m behind on my work is what I say to the kids because it’s usually true.” Sara laughed. “The empire gave us a decent heads-up you were coming. I set aside time to get you settled.”

They were soon seated at a small table in what had to be the most technologically advanced kitchen Charity had ever seen. It made sense it would be, thanks to Utber being an honest-to-goodness chef. Because the farmhouse was so traditional from the outside, she’d expected a more rustic setting. She had to admit the modernity disappointed her a little.

Sara stirred real cream in her coffee from a nearby dairy farm. Charity sipped hers, enjoying the decadent richness as if she indulged in a particularly luscious dessert.

“I don’t mind answering most personal questions, especially considering your situation. You must wonder whom you can trust these days,” Sara told her. “You were wondering why I have only human children after eight years of clanship.”

“I was, but it’s none of my business. Seriously, if the people who sent me trust you, then I do too.”

“Thanks, but as I said, I don’t mind. James came earlier than expected due to a major pregnancy complication. When I say he came early, I mean on the kitchen floor of my first house here. I nearly died.”

“Wow. I bet you were terrified.”

“That’s putting it lightly. Having him left internal damage, which couldn’t be corrected. The doctors warned me against having more children. They couldn’t guarantee they or I would survive future pregnancies.

“My first husband had died a few months before James was born. I’d never farmed before coming to Haven. With two small children already to care for, I wasn’t doing so well. Clan Amgar swooped to the rescue and helped us. Hell, they saved us, me particularly. It was considered scandalous how quickly we fell in love.”

“Probably especially where your fellow Earthers were concerned,” Charity guessed.

“Don’t get me wrong; I loved my husband Jesse. He was a good man. Unfortunately, we’d married for the wrong reasons…to be grown up and escape from our small Midwestern town on Earth.”

“It reminds me of a romance movie or a book.”

“Wewereromantics, including pie-in-the-sky dreams. We even accomplished a couple. We earned college degrees despite working full time and having Adam and Tori early on. We were saving for a home. Then Armageddon hit and tore our lives out from under us. We counted ourselves lucky to get a chance tostart over on Haven.” Sara’s blue eyes gazed in the distance. Her sweet face was sad, and Charity saw the faint lines of care a tough life had etched in her pretty features.

“What happened to Jesse? How did he die?”

---