Page 79 of An Alien for the Future

As I’m sweeping the floor in the front room, movement outside the window catches my eye. My heart nearly stops as I see three vehicles pulling up to the farm. They’re sleek and look fast. Definitely not Xarion, Arnak, or any of my other friends.

When the first vehicles stop and a tall figure hops out, my heart does a big wallop in my chest. Even from this distance, I can see the glint of the metal mask, those piercing green eyes scanning the surroundings. Urgmental. He’s found us, just as Tovan said he would.

And he’s brought friends?

My first instinct is to run and get Tovan, but before I can move, I see him striding out to meet the bounty hunter. They stand facing each other in silence, an unspoken tension crackling in the air between them.

Grabbing the gun from where it’s strapped up, hidden underneath the table, I hide it in my skirt as I step out behind him.

There’s a slight cool breeze, one that only highlights the tension but doesn’t give me any idea as to what’s about to happen. I step outside to stand beside Tovan when the bounty hunter’s eyes meet mine. I feel a chill. I’m about to tell Tovan we should head back inside when movement from the vehicle catches my eye again.

This time, I freeze. Because a young Black woman hops out after Urgmental. She’s human, unmistakably so, and in her arms is a small, wiggling blue child. As blue as the alien in the metal mask. After the woman comes another child of a different species with little antennae atop her head.

The bounty hunter. He brought…he brought his family?

Before I can process this unexpected sight, the doors of the other vehicles open. From one emerges another couple—a blonde woman holding another blue baby, accompanied by a tall, scowling alien. From the last vehicle, a redheaded woman steps out, her hand clasped tightly in that of yet another big, blue dude.

My mind reels, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. Humans. Aliens. Babies that look like a blend of both. It’s like something out of a dream—or perhaps a vision of a future I never dared to imagine.

I step forward without even realizing. All my attention is focused on the gathering in front of my home. Tovan steps upbeside me, his arm sliding around my waist with a touch that grounds me.

The Black woman smiles at me, bouncing the infant in her arms before her smile freezes on her lips when she takes me and Tovan in. Her gaze slides to the bounty hunter. “Ka’Cit, I told you not to scare them!” Her whisper is low but loud enough that we hear anyway.

The bounty hunter tilts his head her way. “I didn’t. I promise. I was quite friendly.”

She laughs and steps forward. “Hi, you probably didn’t expect to see so many of us, but after Ka’Cit told us there are other humans out here, we had to come visit. I’m Nia.” She grins, still bouncing the infant who takes that moment to coo. He’s a big boy, well-fed, strong, with his momma’s face and his father’s green eyes. He stretches for me with a coo and I have no choice but to release the gun in my skirt as I reach for him.

The weapon drops and they don’t even flinch.

“Oh hello!” I say to the baby, my mind still struggling to catch up with all this.

He clutches my cheeks in his little palms and coos.

Behind Nia, the bounty hunter, Ka’Cit, comes closer. Crouching, he lifts the other child, who smiles at me, too.

“So,” he says, his voice just as gravelly as it was over the comm, “you’re the one with the beautiful melodies.”

My mouth falls open. Damn, Donna Johnson is speechless. “How did you…”

I glance over at Tovan. “Did you send him…”

Tovan is glaring at the bounty hunter. “He hacked my comm.”

Nia grimaces before she jams an elbow into the bounty hunter’s side. “Ka’Citttt.”

“I had to be sure it was safe to bring you here,” he says to her before he shrugs, unapologetic. “I heard the melody herecorded.” His gaze meets mine. “It will be well received. There are already orders for more of your recordings.”

“Wh…what?”

My eyebrows are high on my forehead as the other two couples come closer.

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Lauren.”

I nod, not trusting my voice just yet.

Lauren gestures to the male at her back. “This is Riv. Don’t mind him,” she says, jerking her thumb towards the male. “He’s always grumpy at first.”

As if to stop himself from scowling, Riv gives me a smile that looks like a grimace.

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