Page 14 of Holiday with the Aliens

“I think she’s my mate.”

“Youthink?”

Dash’s shoulders drew up. “I haven’t had a chance to shift, have I? You know how tiny my ship is. And I’m not going to risk discovery and freak out my passengers. I was bringing a kid here, do you know how bad that could have gone? No way I could risk it. But Ro’s not like any person I’ve ever met before. And when we’re together—” he wasn’t going to explain himself to Ettie. He knew what he felt. That was enough for him.

And his cousin grinned brightly, eyes sparkling. “I can feel the cheer rolling off you, Dash. You know how difficult it is for us to feel it from each other. Yeah, this person has to be special. What’s their name?”

“Her name is Ro. Rowan Lambert. She’s trying to get back to her sister’s place in time for the holidays. She lost her seat on a shuttle leaving Mars and I promised I’d get her there. I need to do this.” He couldn’t fail his mate, he wouldn’t.

“Does she know who she is to you?” Ettie raised an eyebrow.

Dash had to look away. “Not exactly. We haven’t had time to discuss it.” And he didn’t know how she’d react. She had her whole life back on Mars. Would she really want to link it to a shuttle pilot who occasionally grew antlers?

“It could go bad if you let that truth sit out to rot,” Ettie warned.

“Iknow.” There were dozens of stories of reilendeer who lost their mates because they spooked, or refused to share the truth until it was too late. Dash didn’t want to become one of them. He didn’t know how he’d be able to fulfill his calling if he lost Ro and all she made him feel.

“Meet us at Dock 13 in three hours. We leave at 1600 and we can’t afford to delay.”

“We’ll be there.”

The minutes ticked down as he ran back to find Ro. Only as he sprinted did he realize he didn’t have a way to contact her by communicator. This whole thing could have been a lot simpler if he did. That was a matter for another time.

With only a handful of minutes to spare, he burst into the terminal and found the woman sitting right where he’d left her, staring at the clock with a concerned look on her face. Then she seemed to sense him and her head turned, her gaze falling on him. She didn’t smile, but her shoulders lifted as if she were no longer being pulled down by the weight of the world.

“Did I?—”

“I got?—”

They spoke at the same time before pausing and smiled at each other. Dash answered the question he was pretty sure Ro was asking. “We’ve got a flight out in a few hours. My cousin operates out of an office here and she can fit us on her ship. She’s taking us to Florida, and we’ll figure out how to get you the rest of the way once we’re planetside.”

“You’re coming with.” It was halfway between a question and a statement.

“If you want me, I’m with you all the way.” All the way and beyond, as far as Dash was concerned. “But Ettie will get you there alone,” he forced himself to add. “If that’s what you want.”

“No,” she spoke over the end of his sentence, eager to get the denial out. “I’d like you to come with me. We’ve made it this far.”

Technically she didn’t need Dash anymore. He’d provided her ride to the moon, and he’d found her transport off of it, but it wasn’t his ship and they’d have to find their own ways off the planet once they made it there. But that didn’t matter.

They were together for now, and for now they were staying that way.

Chapter Seven

Dash’s cousin’s ship was bigger than his, but not by much, and the crew made it feel a bit cramped. But Ro wasn’t complaining. Ettie said she could get them to Earth in a day. That put them ahead of schedule. And if Ro arrived early, May was going to faint. Maybe it was a bit uncharitable to look forward to seeing the gob-smacked look on her sister’s face, but Ro was busting her ass to get to Earth, and she needed to find her little pleasures somewhere.

Or her big ones.

But Dash had disappeared deep into the ship and Ettie had taken custody of her, showing her the galley, the cockpit, and the common area, and introducing her to the crew. Xefyrn and Jeero were green aliens from a system that Ro’s translator valiantly tried to tackle and failed. They each had four arms and three eyes, and Xefyrn had antennae coming out of their head that twitched like a bug’s. It was a little disturbing, but Ro had seen weirder things, and while her translator couldn’t quite pronounce their planet of origin, it had no problem deciphering their speech. It turned out she and Jeero had a friend incommon, a woman named Mindy who worked for the Sol Intelligence Agency and was based on Earth.

They couldn’t talk for long since Jeero was in charge of flying the ship and had to get them clear of lunar space before their flight window closed. A few minutes later, Xefyrn disappeared as well to go do… whatever they did. That left her alone with Ettie, since Dash was still making himself scarce for some reason.

“We’ll have a meal in an hour or so, once we’re well on our way,” Ettie said. They were both strapped into safety seats in the common area as the ship rocked from takeoff. “The food’s nothing special, but it’s a nice way to start the journey. And Jeero’s actually pretty good at making protein paste into something resembling food.”

“Sounds… not terrible.” She wasn’t going to add that Dash had been able to provide fresh food, even some fruit and vegetables. She got the idea that Ettie did more long haul flights, and it wasn’t always possible to store that kind of fare. And the aliens on board might not have been able to eat it. Protein paste was edible, even if the texture usually sucked, and Ro could manage for one day.

Ettie laughed. “Not terrible. It’s what I strive for. How did you like flying with Dash?”

The subject change caught Ro by surprise. “He’s a great pilot. And a very conscientious host. Maybe even too conscientious. I think he would have bought Kiki a pony if she wanted one.” Ro couldn’t help but smile as she thought of her lover with the little girl. He was great with kids. Hell, he was great with everybody. How could a person resist him?

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