Page 52 of Alien in the Attic

“Maybe we should stay back here a bit,” he suggested. “Enjoy the view?” His eyes didn’t move from her figure.

Carmen rolled her eyes in a way that suggested she was just pretending to be inconvenienced by his stare. It had become a little game between them. He made his attraction to her as obvious as possible, and she played coy until they were alone and could fully engage in the passion compelling them together at all times. She liked feeling his gaze and told him so as often as possible.

“As much as I’d like to get my outfit all dirty here with you.” She stood with her back to the ravine. “Nature calls.”

With that, she tapped the emblem on her chest. The wings flipped out. She turned and dove into the emptiness below her. Just like her sisters before her, Carmen took flight as if she’d done this all her life.

Arccoo laughed. Wings already extended, he took a running leap.

The edges of the cliff face blurred past him. The passage of time was represented by the various shades of blue layering the rock all the way down. Turquoise gave way to berry, which became sapphire followed by cerulean until it was all one solid color, and he felt his body floating in freefall.

The wind picked up, barreling from the depths of the planet and out like a safe and wondrous volcanic eruption of oxygen. Leaning his body forward to catch the wind, he let it carry him out of the maw of the falls and into the sky high above. Unlike his new family, Arccoo had been doing this sort of thing his entirelife and could move through the wind like a leaf across the water. It came naturally and without obstacles.

Pointing himself downward, he saw Carmen up ahead, weaving her way through the wind currents. Her movements were a tad slow, meaning he could catch up to her at the speed of thought.

Trusting the homing beacon, he controlled the wings with his entire body, keeping his arms and legs tightly closed to become as aerodynamic as a bullet. Tilting himself to the left, he sped up beside his wife until they were traveling at the same speed.

She managed to turn her head and grin at him with all of her teeth. Her eyes danced with unrivaled excitement. She was flying.

He held out his hand. She took it and he guided her further into the ravine.

They descended past mile-wide plateaus. Arccoo thought he might have heard his wife squeal at the sight of a lohiik with its reflective scales and stunning wingspan. Had that flying serpent decided to chase them, their little excursion would have taken a terrifying turn. Arccoo had outrun one before, but he was not keen to try and do so again. Luckily, the beast was far too sleepy to give chase.

With the end in sight, Arccoo tilted his body upward, catching the wind and allowing it to push them up. Seconds later, they were back on the ground with Elena and Sofia, who excitedlyrecounted her flight as if she weren’t forced into it by a tractor beam.

The next two weeks saw the family traveling the entire circumference of Thryal. They sailed across the planet’s immense ocean. They spent time in the holy pillars of formation, where Carmen partook in the pyha ceremony, naming her as a child of Pa-Brell.

That was the night when the sky was so clear that one felt as though they might hop off the ground and gently float out into space with little effort. Arccoo was able to show her the Pa-Brell star idol, and judging by the intensity of her gasp, it took her breath away.

Elena and Sofia became curious about different aspects of the planet. Elena, of course, wanted to spend as much time as possible with the engineers and scientists who were diligently working to evolve Thryal technology. She told them that the idea of witnessing the cutting edge of alien technology was “too stimulating to pass up.” So she departed from their adventures.

Sofia wanted to visit more of the supernatural landmarks to learn their backstories and try to find “a Thryal ghost or two.” Arccoo set her up with a guide and a small band of guards to keep her safe, and his first sister-in-law went off exploring.

This left Arccoo and Carmen to themselves, a state of bliss he was eternally grateful for. When they weren’t reminiscing about the origins of their unlikely romance, they lived the way newlyweds do—in private for several hours of the day.

The relationship between Carmen and Arccoo’s parents improved with every new encounter. The queen loved to chat with Carmen about adjusting to life on a new planet and what things were like back on Earth. The king, always a man of few words, did his best to make it clear that he accepted her as part of the family and would be there to provide any assistance they needed. Their quiet dinners together were becoming one of the major highlights of Arccoo’s day.

During a walk along the veranda, the king spoke up one day. “You have taken a good wife. I am proud to call her daughter.”

Carmen also dedicated much of her time to the outreach programs she helped establish. She answered questions every afternoon and even shared some of her favorite Earth stories to a rapt audience. The tale of the farm girl who got carried away to a magical place was particularly popular. Arccoo enjoyed it because it reminded him of how she came to be on Thryal.

“There is a pretty large difference,” Carmen told him as they lay naked above the covers, their bodies cooling in the evening breeze.

“We have no wizards here,” Arccoo said, as if completing her thought.

She laughed against his chest. “Dorothy didn’t find any wizards, either,” she pointed out. “Did you even listen to the story?”

“We have no lions, tigers, or bears, then,” Arccoo suggested, smiling.

Carmen lightly jabbed his ribs.

“Sorry,” Arccoo said. “What’s the difference you were referring to?”

Carmen let out a long, contented sigh. “Dorothy just wanted to go home.” She lifted her head and kissed her husband on the lips. “But I found my home.”

Arccoo and Carmen were having lunch on the balcony of their personal chambers the afternoon that Sofia’s transport returned. To his surprise, Carmen was the one who noticed the vehicle coming in over the hills first. “I’m her older sister,” she said. “I memorized what the transport looked like so I would know it was here the second I saw it. That way, if it ever crashed and we needed to go looking for it, I could spot it anywhere.”

“Remarkable,” Arccoo said. “You’re remarkable.”

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