Page 21 of The Alien's Major Dilemma

“You heard what I said. No, no, you want to go back so that’s what we’ll do. Grab your bags, take all your stuff with you, I won’t stop you from throwing yourself back into work after meeting your perfect match. I must admire your dedication to your job, though. I don’t think I’d be so ready to head back after that orgasm but I don’t have your strength.”

Marissa kicked his shin and he let her go, hopping back to rub at it while she felt back for the divider to lean against while she laughed.

“You are such an asshole,” she told him. “I didn’t know pre-surrender nookie was an option.”

“Well, it’s not now,” he said.

“What if I apologized?”

“For what?” he asked, curious to see what she’d say.

“For kicking you,” she suggested and he humphed at her.

“Nope, not good enough, we must away with all due haste. As soon as I locate my phone and turn it back on so I can tell whoever is sending stuff after us I’m taking you back.”

“Do you want me to call it?” she asked.

“No cell service,” he said. “And that’s only part of why I needed the device. No, I’m sure it’s around here somewhere. You go find your stuff and we’ll head back.”

“I’m wearing everything I brought with me,” she reminded him. “Because you kidnapped me on my way to lunch and I didn't have much to begin with. But I would like to use the bathroom if you have one.”

He waved vaguely at the closed door next to the open one that went to his rest area. It could hardly be called a bedroom, and the cushion that folded out of the wall was barely a bed, but it was where he was supposed to sleep when he wasn’t watchingthe controls. “Push the square light on the door,” he said. “It works mostly like a human bathroom but if you need help with the controls, let me know.”

When she’d disappeared through the door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone with the alien device attached. It didn’t look like something from the Orvax but he hadn’t seen any of their equipment in years and that had all been badly out of date. He’d never expected to see them all the way out here.

The Chelions had trained to mimic and infiltrate all their neighbors and several other planets that were close enough to be considered a threat. What kind of threat, was left to the imagination, especially with some of the more peaceful ones. Corruption of the young and an affront to their leaders was usually enough to be worth a visit.

The Orvax were considered a threat but they tended to be so insular and xenophobic that nobody had managed to get more than a token infiltration for centuries. Plans were laid a very long time ago to change that but they’d only managed to force them into a population replacement crisis. There had been rumors about earlier plans but nobody had any ideas about the details except to say they were still getting periodic updates from their agents that had been left on the planet.

If the Orvax that had come to Earth had any idea that some of their problems had been caused by the Chelions, they’d be upset. And he couldn’t blame them. If it were his people, he’d be upset about being controlled by an alien species.

Cooper turned his phone back on and waited for it to boot. If the Orvax were looking for this signal, or if they’d given the humans a way to track it, he was taking a huge risk. As it was, he had no idea where he’d actually sent his message from. It certainly hadn’t used any of the systems he’d known about to bounce the signal in the right direction.

Hopefully, the Orvax would chase the hidden communications relay that he’d found rather than the signal booster he’d borrowed. That had been a bit of luck he hadn’t anticipated but he wasn’t about to turn it down.

Marissa came out to join him while he was scrolling through the cat pictures.

“Do any of these mean anything to you?” he asked, when she leaned against his arm to look at them with him.

“That one’s a meme,” she said, pointing to the cat with the crazy hair. “And she looks familiar but I don’t know who she is. I think whoever sent these was trying to confuse you.”

“It worked,” Cooper said with a laugh. “Do you think they mean anything beyond that?”

“Not that I can think of but I’m not a bored teenager who’s looking to cause trouble.”

“Do you think I should message him? Or should I try for one of your commanders?”

“Reply to the kid,” Marissa said. “It can’t hurt. Then try one of the commanders. I can get you a number to call, I think.”

No missiles yet but you can tell the people sending them I’m willing to talk.

Major Ozark had her official contact list pulled up with a sour face for the complete lack of cell signal in his ship. She held her hand out for his phone, typed in the number and started a video call. Cooper grasped her shoulders and turned her so the only thing behind her was a bare metal wall. It wasn’t great but he didn’t want to give them a view of the inside of his ship.

She waited a long time for someone to answer the call but the look on her face when she finally got someone spoke volumes. The anxiety that flooded into his brain from hers spoke more.

“Major Ozark, I’m surprised to see you looking so well,” the officer said from the other end of the line.

“Yes, General, thank you, sir,” she said, her voice clipped.

---