Page 41 of Alien in the Attic

He brusquely walked out of the room, Elena jogging to keep up. “What do we do next?” she asked.

He stopped short, and with a yelp, Elena ran into him. Turning around, he caught her by the shoulders before she fell. “You’re going to do nothing. You, Carmen, and Sofia will stay here and out of danger.”

Her features darkened. “I think I speak for myself and my sisters when I say fuck that. We’re coming with you.”

For a moment, amusement pounded through him. This is why he started to fall for her in the first place.

But he couldn’t risk her getting hurt.

He shook his head. “No, you’re not. This is too big for me to be distracted worrying about you. I can’t have you, any of you, getting hurt. If it all goes wrong, Carmen would never forgive me, and I’d never forgive myself.”

“And she’d never forgive you for leaving her out.” Elena sighed. “I’m not the most experienced when it comes to relationships, but from what I understand, the strongest ones are the ones where you and your partner are equals. Carmen, Sofia, and I are adults. We can make our own decisions and don’t appreciate being treated like things to be protected.”

“I’ll take that into consideration.” He knew she had a point. If Carmen and her sisters were determined enough to repair a spaceship and fly all the way to his home planet, they would finda way to join him on the mission. “Meet me in the training room in two hours. Tell your sisters to do the same.”

Elena’s face lit up, and she scurried down the hall.

Carmen arrived earlier than her sisters, likely to have some alone time with Arccoo. “Elena told me you found him.”

“I did,” Arccoo replied. He tossed her a blaster staff. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you three to come on this mission, but I also know you. If I say no, you’ll come anyway, so I want to make sure you’re at least a little prepared for a confrontation.”

“Seems reasonable enough.” Her fingers grazed a button on the staff. “I’m guessing this is the trigger. Is it on?”

“I didn’t want you to accidentally hurt yourself or someone else, so no.”

“So it’s like a regular bo staff,” she replied, spinning it. With surprising grace, she began a martial art form he didn’t recognize. It must have been an Earth fighting style. She grinned when she finished. “I still got it.”

Arccoo gaped. Would this woman ever cease to surprise him? “I didn’t realize you already had combat experience.”

She shook her head. “My parents wanted us to learn how to defend ourselves, so they made us sign up for Taekwondo classes. We learned martial arts in a controlled setting, whichyou and I both know is not the same as facing a combat situation.”

Sofia and Elena arrived a few minutes later, and after a couple lessons in sparring, he gave them a tutorial on how to work the blaster portion of the staff and how to use the smaller blasters they would keep at their hips.

They weren’t soldiers, but for a few human women, their skills were impressive. The fact that they had different fighting styles could work to their benefit. Many who are trained in a specific martial art become rigid if they only study that fighting style. They don’t know what to do if a trained opponent fights differently than they do, making it easier for even a less skilled enemy to beat them.

After about an hour, he ended the session. “Rest and eat. If you want to come with me tomorrow, be at the air dock five hours after moonpeak.”

Sofia slung an arm around Elena’s shoulder. “Whew! I haven’t worked out like that in a while.”

“Clearly,” the youngest replied, ducking under her sister’s grip. “So please don’t force my nose so close to your armpit.”

“Like you’re much better.”

Carmen lingered behind as her sisters bickered their way out the door. She took both his hands. “You doing okay?”

“I’m fine.” He couldn’t meet her brown eyes. If he did, he might spill everything.

“It’s okay if you’re not. I wouldn’t be fine if one of my sisters went to the dark side.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think you understand. I have to be fine. If he sees any weakness tomorrow, I’ll have already lost.”

“But your brother isn’t here right now. It’s just the two of us. You don’t have to pretend around me.” She guided him to sit against the wall and then curled underneath his arm. “Whatever you’re feeling, I won’t judge.”

He sighed, tightening his grip around her shoulders. How did he end up with someone so gentle and understanding? “I keep going back to our childhood. I used to admire him so much. He was my brave, strong, big brother. Now, I’m wondering if the signs were always there and I was simply too blind to see it.”

She shook her head. “No one likes to see the worst in others, especially their family. But the people you admire most are just human at the end of the day…er, in a manner of speaking.”

“I’ll admit that I’m a little envious of the bond that you and your sisters have. It feels foolish, but…”

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