Page 2 of Stealing Samantha

Jaess released Akithe’s arm with a forced smile. If only his task were so simple. If he were somehow able to reach Earth, he suspected that the journey would be the easiest part. Getting Sam to consider him as a mate? That would be the challenge of a lifetime.

2

“So,the main tasks of the position would include answering voice and vid-comms and replying to any written inquiries. Winter is a little slow here, especially now that the holiday season is over, but work picks up as soon as the growing season starts again.”

Sam nodded along and tried to look interested. The last place she’d ever wanted to work was at the cherry packing plant, but she needed to do something, and the options in town were limited. If she ever wanted to leave home again, she needed credits, and that meant a steady job. Maybe it’d be good for her to do something a little more stable. She’d attempted to live a less structured life before—one that left time for her music—but she’d never been able to do more than cover the bare necessities. If she wanted to move to Seattle one day, she’d need to be able to save up and get some more reliable sounding work experience under her belt.

“So, can you tell me what would make you a good candidate for this position?” the man in the slightly creased khaki pants asked, giving her a look as if she’d already dallied too long in replying.

“I like being busy and talking to people. I think I’d thrive in this position, and that it would be a good fit for my high energy personality.” That sounded like a load of horse shit, but what other kind of reply did these people expect? Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers.

“Well,” the man said with a heavy sigh and a glance at her outfit, “thank you for coming in today, Ms. Chang. We’ll be in touch soon.”

He held out his hand, and she reached out to shake it with a tight smile. “Thank you for speaking with me. I look forward to hearing from you,” she replied. As she brought her hand back and turned to head down the hall that’d take her back to the plant’s customer facing entrance, she focused on keeping her back straight and her walk steady. It wouldn’t do to run out of there like the place was on fire, even if she wanted to hurry.

It’d really come to this. She was here praying she’d get an offer for a job she’d never wanted, all so she could move out of her mom’s house. Uvaess’ narrow face flashed before her eyes. Could she have learned to love him like he’d said?No. She held back a shudder. She’d tried. At first, she’d put her all into it, even though the moment she’d seen him towering over her in person had left her scared shitless. Kayla had been right. Knowing a person through comms wasn’t at all the same as being with them for real. Not for the first time, she wished her little sis had been wrong. It would’ve all been so much easier if she could’ve stayed.

She nodded to the woman sitting at the reception desk—a desk she might be gracing from time to time herself if Jerry with the pit-stained shirt saw fit to offer her the position. Sam opened one of the outer doors and wrapped her coat tighter around her chest. She should’ve buttoned it before she stepped out, but she’d been too eager to leave to stop and mess with it. Now the cold wind burned against her skin and sent its chill beneath her blouse like it’d ripped right through the delicate fabric.

The transport was parked a few blocks away in the free lot downtown. Despite the cold, she didn’t mind the short walk, so she didn’t bother calling the vehicle to her current location. At least it gave her more time away from home.

She headed down the sidewalk and almost tripped when her wrist-comm vibrated against her skin. She pushed back her coat sleeve to see who was contacting her and saw her sister’s smiling face on the screen. Sam hit accept and watched as a small hologram formed above the screen. She wouldn’t be able to talk long. Walking with one hand holding back her sleeve the whole time wouldn’t be easy, and the last thing she needed was to fall and break her leg. Then she’d be stuck even longer with her mom and Aunt Emily.

“Kayla, hi!” she said cheerily, hoping her agitation didn’t show on her face.

“Oh, wow—you’re outside. What are you up to? That doesn’t look like the section of town you’d choose for an afternoon stroll,” Kayla said with a faint frown.

“I’m by the cherry processing plant. I just had an interview.”

Kayla’s face fell. “Oh, Sam. Really?”

“Yes, really,” she replied, her voice coming out clipped and a bit too sharp. She was doing what she had to do, after all. Her sister didn’t need to sound so disappointed. “I need a job if I want to reach any of my goals. Sitting around the house isn’t going to get me where I want to go.”

“Of course, that makes sense,” Kayla rushed to reply with a bright smile. “I was just a little surprised, but I shouldn’t have been. You’ll be in that apartment in Seattle before we know it, and then it will be even easier to visit you when T’xith and I stop by your region.”

Sam raised her eyebrows. “My region?” she asked playfully. “You’ve only been living aboard the ship for a month now. Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself, or have you renounced your lower northwest quadrant NAA heritage already?”

“I haven’t renounced anything,” Kayla replied with an exasperated little head shake. “I’m just trying to communicate clearly. The North American Alliance—and Earth—will always be my first home, but the truth is, I’m really settling in here. I never thought I’d like Xithilene so much either, but I’ve been loving our leave time in Verkissat. Maybe next time we stop in Seattle, we can get permission to bring you aboard and we can spend a little time together. K’avith won’t like it, but T’xith’s the one in charge. If he can convince—”

“Don’t worry about it, Kay,” Sam interrupted. Her sister wasn’t going to stop talking otherwise. “I can’t wait to see you next time you’re in the area, but don’t go asking for special favors for me. You have to work with K’avith now, Miss Interspecies Relations Coordinator. I’m good. You’ll see—next time you’re here, you’ll see I’m doing just fine.” Sam shivered as another especially icy gust of wind snapped her jacket apart. She really should’ve buttoned it.

Kayla gave her a sad puppy face and sighed loudly. “Okay. I’m looking forward to it—and I won’t let you weasel out of it. Next time we land in Seattle, I’m dragging T’xith off of that ship, and we’re going to have a great time together in the city, just like we always used to talk about.”

“Sounds good, Kay. I’ve got to let you go. I’m almost to the transport and it’s pretty cold out here.” She stretched her thumb back to turn off the comm device, but her sister spoke again first.

“You’d let me know if there was something wrong, right?” Kayla asked, her eyes flashing with concern.

Sam gave her a brittle smile in return. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m freezing my butt off out here, that’s all. Talk to you soon, Kay!” Her thumb flicked across the screen, shutting down the comm.

Sam released a heavy sigh and let her chin dip towards her chest as her sleeve fell back over her wrist. She didn’t like lying, but she didn’t need her sister to worry about her. The last time Kayla had thought something was wrong, she’d hitched a ride on a Xithilene warship and crossed the galaxy to check on her. Suffice it to say, her sister was prone to rather extreme reactions. In that case, it’d been warranted, but not today. No one could rescue her from a case of the winter blues. The only person who could fix what ailed her was Sam herself.

She shrugged her shoulders as she crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her gloveless hands between them. There was no point in bothering with the buttons on her coat. She was already back to the transport.

* * *

Jaess cautiously openedthe flyer’s hatch and immediately winced at the lights striking against him from seemingly every direction. He’d never been somewhere so bright in his entire life, and he’d not even taken a single step out of the flyer. Something like excitement had hummed through his body as he’d traveled north that afternoon, but now that he was here, an unfamiliar, uncomfortable emotion was making his feathers lift instead—fear.

The air smelled all wrong. Artificial, stale, unnatural. He clutched a hand more tightly around the strap of his game bag. It was sliding back, resting uncomfortably beneath his right wing. If he didn’t exit the flyer soon, someone might come to investigate. He didn’t want strange northerners gawking at him, hissing softly at his foolishness.

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