Page 66 of Alien's Love Child

In the kitchen, I tap the screen. The message opens:

'Remember the explosion that should've killed you? We saved you once. Time to return the favor. The bioweapon data is ours - we know you have it. Bring it to the coordinates below in 48 hours, or we'll finish what we started.'

My throat tightens. The Lightyear gang. The same ones who nursed me back to health, filled my head with lies about being Tyren. The same ones who turned me against Jesse.

Leo's giggle carries from the other room. "Again, again!"

"Through storm and meteor shower," the crew starts up another verse.

I grip the counter, my knuckles turning pale blue. The life we've built here - Leo's birthday parties, quiet mornings with Jesse, teaching my son to walk - it could all vanish in an instant.

The PerComm buzzes again. A second message appears:

'Don't try running this time. We're closer than you think.'

My fingers dance across the PerComm's interface, running every trace program I learned in the military. The encryption's unlike anything I've encountered - military grade, maybe better. Each attempt hits a dead end, bouncing through relays across three systems.

"Come on," I mutter, trying another backdoor approach.

ACCESS DENIED flashes across my screen.

The singing from the other room grows louder. "The space whale meets his friends..."

I switch tactics, attempting to isolate the transmission's origin point. The signal disperses into quantum noise, impossible to track. Whoever sent this knows their tech.

My PerComm chirps with another message: 'Trying to find us? Cute.'

A cold sweat breaks across my neck. They're monitoring my attempts in real-time. They must have gone out of their way to hire some tech nerd, they sure didn't have this capability when I was there. I shut down the trace programs, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Papa!" Leo calls from the living room. "More cake!"

"Be right there, buddy." My voice stays steady, practiced from years of ops gone sideways.

I take a deep breath, centering myself. The message could be coming from anywhere - the next system over or the café downthe street. The not knowing claws at my gut worse than any certainty would.

"Everything okay in here?" Jesse appears in the doorway, her green eyes searching my face. "You're missing the good part of the party."

"Yeah, just..." I gesture vaguely at my PerComm. "Work stuff."

She raises an eyebrow. "On Leo's birthday?"

"Sorry. I'm done now." I force a smile, but my mind races with contingency plans. We need options, escape routes, safe houses. But first, I need to get through this party without letting on that anything's wrong.

The smell of Paraxan's cooking fills the kitchen - a mix of spices and seared meat that makes my mouth water despite my churning stomach. Through the doorway, I watch Jesse and Rena playing some kind of hand-clapping game with Leo, his squeals of delight piercing through my dark thoughts.

"You've got that look," Taluk says, sidling up next to me. His scales catch the light as he leans against the counter.

"What look?"

"The one you had back on Jesse's ship. Right before everything went sideways with Xander."

My muscles tense. "Just tired. Leo's parties are exhausting."

"Sure." Taluk's eyes flick to my PerComm. "Lots of messages today?"

The hair on the back of my neck rises. His tone is too casual, too knowing. "Just work stuff."

"Right. Work." He drums his fingers on the counter. "Funny how it always comes up at the worst times."

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