Alien Salvation (6 page)

fixtures and one lonely clearance sign
remained. “Containment for radiation. We keep from spread until
evacuations complete.”

“Your people are trying to evacuate the
affected areas?”

Japohn glanced at her, his expression
softening briefly to one of pity. “Evacuate all Earth.”

Only knowing the danger of being out in
the open kept Lindsey from stopping in her tracks. “Why are you
evacuating the whole planet?”

“Can no stop most radiation.
Containment shields no permanent solution. Air, soil, water all
contaminate. Earth no support life two your years.”

Lindsey did stop for an instant, gaping
at him. “We were hit that bad?”

Japohn nodded and jerked his arm to
indicate she should get moving. She did, but she had to force
herself to pay attention to her surroundings. Shock tried to steal
her focus.

Japohn’s voice tried for sympathy,
attempting to soften his devastating news. “Clean up take decades.
Earth recover long time for life return.”

Lindsey tried to fathom the devastation
her planet faced. She’d known a lot of major cities had been hit,
but this was beyond her.

Dogged to the end, she asked, “How many
Earthers have died?”

It was Bacoj who delivered the blow.
“Estimate near 75 percent. More loss for sickness,
injure.”

Lindsey stopped again and stared at
him. He was talking billions of lives. Not thousands of men, women
and children. Not millions. Not hundreds of millions.

Billions.

The Kalquorians also halted, looking
back at her, their faces compassionate.

“Who did this?”

Bacoj struggled to find the words.
“Kalquor fleet invade Bermuda Triangle portal. Earth government
make trap nuclear for portal breach. Kalquor no know this. Kalquor
invasion detonate. Apology, Lindsey. Kalquor no want kill
Earth.”

Lindsey struggled to absorb his
explanation. If she understood the Kalquorian’s halting speech
correctly, Earth’s leaders had booby trapped the wormhole, setting
up their major cities for nuclear annihilation if breached by an
invading force. Rather than allowing the planet to be taken over,
her government had destroyed it and most of its innocent
inhabitants as well.

Rage at the insane loss of life choked
Lindsey. She could remember one sermon in the church the law
demanded she attend, one of the last before she’d gone into hiding.
War with Kalquor had seemed inevitable, and the priest had exhorted
the congregation that it was better to die pure and sinless than to
live forever in sin. That if the lustful Kalquorians, determined to
have Earth’s women as sex slaves, succeeded in capturing their
planet, righteous fathers should slit the throats of their wives
and daughters to save them from everlasting hell.

Apparently, the Church-run government
had agreed.

I knew it, she thought. I knew the
maniacs in power would do us all in. So why am I so
shocked?

* * * *

After a few moments in which Bacoj
watched pained rage suffuse Lindsey’s face, she turned on her heel
and resumed leading the Kalquorians to where her parents
hid.

He felt terrible and wished he spoke
her language better so he could express his feelings to her. It had
to be a shock to learn Lindsey’s leaders, those charged with the
wellbeing of the populace, had been the ones to visit such horror
upon her planet. The fact his people had had a hand in the demise
of Earth made him ashamed. In retrospect, Kalquor had not handled
its end of the conflict well either.

It had all started with a virus
centuries prior. The virus swept through the Kalquorian people,
cutting down their numbers and rendering most females infertile.
The few female children born after that time were reproductively
damaged, the virus’ effects written into their very DNA.

As fewer and fewer fertile women
reached adulthood, the males had been forced to cluster into clans.
Each clan consisted of one of each personality type: the Dramok, a
natural-born leader, the nurturing Imdiko, and the protective
Nobek. Three men to each woman still left many men unmated. Despite
these efforts, the species’ numbers dwindled until extinction had
loomed on Kalquor’s horizon.

It was then that Kalquor had looked to
Earth. The shocking similarities between the two races had been
remarked on. Theories abounded they might have a common ancestry,
theories the fanatically religious Earth government had repudiated.
Hostile, Earth refused to entertain Kalquor’s desperate pleas for
compatibility tests. With extinction estimated to be only 300 years
away, Kalquor had acted. They tested an Earther female without her
consent and discovered the two species were indeed compatible for
breeding.

Upon the discovery, Kalquorian clans
had kidnapped approximately 1500 Earther women and spirited them to
Kalquor. Kalquorian men worshipped their new Matara clanmates, and
for the most part, the repressed females had responded positively
to their change of status. Tipping the two worlds into full-fledged
war had been the Imperial Clan’s choice of an Earther Matara,
Jessica McInness. With one of their own on Kalquor’s throne, Earth
had responded with a declaration of war.

The battles had nearly finished off
Bacoj’s people. Despite Kalquor’s advanced technology, the hordes
of Earther troops had come close to overwhelming them. The
Kalquorians’ desperate last-resort invasion had resulted in Earth’s
leaders setting off stockpiles of nuclear warheads under many of
the major cities. They chose to kill themselves and most of their
hapless population rather than submit to Kalquorian
rule.

It had been a horrifying end to a
horrifying war. Kalquorians still reeled from the knowledge that
they had been instrumental in the decimation of the very people
they needed for salvation.

Now all that could be done was to
rescue as many Earthers as they could find, to take them away from
their dying planet to start new lives among their former enemies.
The hope was to forge a new species from the remains of the
two.

Lindsey led the group to a tall,
seemingly abandoned building. She picked her way carefully through
glass-daggered doors to enter an uncomfortably warm room. Little of
the refreshing salt-tinged breezes entered the rubble-strewn
environs.

She stopped to listen carefully, and
Bacoj’s ears strained for sound too. All he heard was the distant
roar of the ocean. “Mom and Dad must be on the roof,” Lindsey said,
her voice approving. “It’s too hot to be indoors.”

Bacoj agreed. He was starting to sweat
and wanted to be outside again.

“This way,” she encouraged them,
holstering her gun. Bacoj and Japohn kept theirs at the ready.
Lindsey led them to a flight of stairs and started up, then paused.
She turned to face them.

“Please don’t tell my parents what I
traded for the food.”

Under Earth’s old regime, sex outside
of Church-approved marriage had been a death penalty offense. The
government was gone, but not all the fears it had incited,
apparently. Bacoj nodded his agreement for the clan.

“No tell parents sex.”

Lindsey nodded and resumed climbing the
stairs. Bacoj followed her with Vax behind him and Japohn bringing
up the rear, keeping an eye on the floor below to make sure they
weren’t followed.

It grew hotter and hotter as they
reached the upper floors. The air seemed to gain in thickness,
making it hard to breathe. Fortunately, Lindsey soon swung open a
door at the top, letting in sunlight and the sea breeze. She smiled
at someone on the other side. Bacoj filled his gaze with the gentle
sight. She really was a pretty girl. Again he felt the urge to know
her better.

“Here I am, back safe and sound.” She
stepped onto the roof of the building.

Propping his laser rifle against his
shoulder, his fingers well away from the trigger to appear as
harmless to the Earthers as possible, Bacoj followed her out. Two
elder Earthers looked up at him, their eyes wide. Their gazes moved
to include Vax and Japohn as they joined the group.

Lindsey’s mother’s elfin features were
pinched with hunger, but she was lovely anyway. She looked to be
aged at about the middle of her life, much like a Kalquorian
slightly over 100 years of age. That meant she was probably near 50
Earther years. She and Lindsey didn’t resemble each other except
for the chestnut-colored hair. Her expression was open and kind,
and she stuck out one hand to him. “Hello Kalquorians.”

It took Bacoj only a moment to recall
the Earther custom of shaking hands. His paw swallowed her delicate
fingers, and he carefully pumped her hand once before letting her
go. She was so tiny! If Lindsey had been this small, he wouldn’t
have had sex with her, no matter how much he wanted to. He’d have
been afraid he’d break her.

“Do they speak English?” The mother
looked at Lindsey, and Bacoj realized belatedly he hadn’t greeted
her. He’d been too shaken by the woman’s insubstantial appearance.
She needed feeding, desperately.

“They can talk a little. Bacoj, Japohn
and Vax, this is my mother and father, Tara and Aaron.”

Bacoj bowed. “Honor for meet you Tara
and Aaron.”

He looked at the father. Lindsey had
gotten her larger frame from Aaron, along with his broader
features. They shared the same rounded nose, the same strong chin.
Aaron looked markedly older than Tara, his handsome face lined with
worry, his once-dark hair more gray than not. He was slightly
stooped, no doubt from the injury to his back Lindsey had told them
about. Right now, Aaron stared at each Kalquorian in turn, the
suspicion in his expression obvious. His arm curled protectively
around Tara, and he took Lindsey’s hand to tug her
close.

Bacoj was impressed. Injured, wasted
from hunger, and outnumbered by men twice his heft, Aaron still
left no doubt he’d defend his family with his last breath. Bacoj
bowed again, according him the respect he deserved.

Vax spoke, stepping forward. “Food. You
eat.”

Tara bestowed her sweet smile on him,
and Bacoj was amused to see Vax blush. “We’re very hungry. Thank
you for your kindness in bringing us food.” Her forehead crinkled
in concern, and she gently touched the brace encasing his arm. “You
are hurt, Vax.”

Vax set the food container down,
ducking his head so his long hair hid his embarrassed face. “No
bad. Find doctor in search party.” He straightened and nodded at
Lindsey’s father. “Search party doctor help Aaron injury when we
tell. Send to you.”

Lindsey cocked an eyebrow. “Search
party? Who did you lose?”

Tara waved her daughter’s curiosity
off. “Let’s have some of this good food our new friends have so
kindly supplied. We can talk while we eat. I’ll get some plates.”
She left the rooftop, disappearing into the darkened
stairwell.

Aaron finally spoke, his voice
grudging. “Thank you for your help. I wasn’t sure what to expect
from your kind. It’s rumored you bombed our cities.”

Lindsey answered for Bacoj, much to his
relief. Their language was so complicated, and Aaron’s demeanor let
the Dramok know he would be quick to react to any
misunderstanding.

“No Dad, their invasion prompted our
psychotic government to blow us up themselves. I hate to say I told
you so, but there you have it.”

“That’s their account.” His bushy brows
beetled.

“I’ve talked enough with them to
believe what they say, and they are very generous men, giving more
than expected.” Lindsey turned an enchanting shade of pink. “I
mean, just look how Vax cooked us an actual meal. Mass murderers
don’t treat their victims so well.”

Tara came back to the rooftop, her arms
cradling round discs decorated with pictures of purple flowers.
Silver-colored rounded and pronged utensils rattled on top of the
discs. She sat down on the ground next to the food container and
handed each person one of each. “So much terrible loss, but that is
the nature of our suffering. Sit everyone. Let’s eat.”

They sat in a circle with the food
container in the middle. Vax opened it, and the Earthers inhaled
the aroma that wafted from the dishes inside. Naked eagerness
suffused their faces. Vax took the round platters from Tara and
dished out the meal.

Tara’s voice was whisper-thin. “What
have you brought us?”

“Roasted ronka, Matara Tara. Boiled
gusasp in wedi herbs.” He served everyone quickly, heaping the
Earther’s plates high with chunks of meat and seasoned
vegetables.

It hurt Bacoj’s heart to see how
Lindsey and her parents shook with suppressed excitement to be fed.
The effort to eat like civilized people instead of shoveling huge
mouthfuls down their throats was obvious. He exchanged a look with
Vax, noting the unnatural brightness in the Imdiko’s eyes. Vax
blinked hard, refusing to humiliate the Earthers by weeping for
their deprivation. Even Japohn looked upset, holding his hand up
when Vax filled his plate only halfway to indicate the bulk of the
food should be saved for Lindsey’s family.

Aaron’s voice was garbled as he spoke
around a mouthful of ronka meat, his hand held over his lips. “This
is delicious. Thank you so much for sharing with us.” Whatever
trepidations he felt had disappeared from his voice for the
moment.