Alien Savior: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance (3 page)

Despite the fact that it had been completely decontaminated, scrubbed for days, and pronounced virus free, her fellow botanists still avoided it like the plague. So for almost two months, she’d worked under artificial light, carefully tending to plants that might one day provide the cure to an incurable disease.

She’d finally managed to pawn the duty off on one of the new hires – a young girl willing to do any and everything to impress her superiors – to return to the fresh air. She carried no guilt, knowing full well that there was nothing in the greenhouse that could harm her.

Lovingly, she pruned a number of hybrid tulips that she had planted the spring before. They bloomed every few months, showing their vibrant blue and yellow blossoms. Managing to lift her spirits, even when it seemed like they’d remain in the dark and gloom forever. Danielle was a simple person. The two things that brought her the most joy were her family and her flowers, and now, one of them had been taken from her.

She would have to find refuge in the other.

After eight weeks, the young woman was just beginning to adjust to the idea that she would live the rest of her life alone. Of course, her friends all tried to convince her to start dating – to find a man she loved who she could settle down with. Danielle, however, had never really been one for romantic encounters. She’d spent the entirety of her life watching families ripped apart by Ignacious and was now thoroughly put off starting a family of her own.

Why would she? Just to watch it end?

She didn’t think she could bear to go through that process all over again.

That wasn’t to say she didn’t have needs. The blonde was by no means a blushing virgin. She’d had her fair share of sexual encounters – usually with immune men who believed themselves on top of the world just because they got to watch it crash and burn. They, of course, barely sufficed to give her what she needed – and even if one could give her a child, there was no guarantee that it would be immune like its parents. Thanks to a cute little mutation in the virus, it wasn’t uncommon for immune parents to watch their children linger in pain before dying quite suddenly.

Sex, for Danielle, had become something methodical – like scratching an itch.

Men could start it, but she very often ended up finishing it herself, alone in her room, panting with the fever her desire had brought about.

She’d had quite enough of that, thank you very much. She didn’t think she could bring herself to pretend to be interested in a man who thought he was better than everyone else around him – who couldn’t come to terms with the fact that their world, as they knew it, was coming to an end.

Within a hundred years, there wouldn’t be a single human left – not unless some sort of miracle occurred – and she’d stopped believing in those when her brother had been taken from her. It hurt to think of him – to remember his easy smiles and laughter – and so she simply hadn’t. She’d shut that part of herself off until she was ready to deal with it, and now, she struggled to live in the present.

At least, to the best of her ability.

Now, she buried her nose in fragrant tulips to help clear her mind. She just needed peace – a few minutes, a few hours without thinking of what might occur in her future – what might happen to humanity. Neither subject involved many pleasant prospects, so all she could pray for was the fortitude to ignore it all and smile through her pain.

After she’d finished pruning a row of tulips, she moved onto the hybrid roses – her favorites. If her mourning for her brother had brought about one good thing; it was the inspiration to create the most unique plant she’d ever spliced – a beautiful deep purple rose with gold-edged petals that would bloom for a full three months, even in the harshest of conditions.

Of course, she’d been admonished for putting her strength into a plant that had nothing to do with medical research, but the lovely buds were the highlight of her day. She spent ten hours every day working on plants that were biologically fascinating. Leaves and roots that could cure cancer, banish HIV and even reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s disease – she could take a few moments to enjoy her pet project.

Just as she was lovingly untangling the stems of some of the faster-growing buds, a deafening roar rolled over her with enough force to make her stumble back in alarm. Immediately, the young woman turned her head to the brilliant blue sky to look for the source of the din – which wasn’t immediately apparent. She searched for a good minute or so before a tiny pinprick of silver caught her attention.

She squinted, straining her eyes against the sunlight to keep the tiny object in view. It seemed to be getting bigger, but there was no way it could be an airplane. She’d never heard an airplane make such a disturbance in her life. Besides, the closer this thing got, the more she realized it was shaped completely differently from an airplane. It appeared to be one long, flat, sleek capsule, curved into a boomerang like shape. Within seconds, it was as large as a Mac truck and still growing as it hurtled neared and nearer. All at once, it was streaking over her head – almost faster than the eye could see.

Danielle gaped after it.

What the hell was that thing?

It was eerily silent after the veritable sonic boom that had sounded when it had appeared, and within moments, it had disappeared in much the same fashion. Was it some new model of fighter jet the government was working on? She could only hope not. There was hardly any need for more warfare when humans were dying off at the speed of light anyway.

Danielle watched the sky for a long moment after the object had disappeared, a hundred questions racing through her mind. However, once the moment had passed, and the thrill had faded, she turned back to her roses. In a few hours, she would leave work to go home, methodically feed herself and collapse into bed, very probably suntanned from the tip of her nose to her ankles, and she would forget about all she’d just witnessed.

Or so she thought.

That evening, as Danielle was settling into bed, she happened to turn on her holocube. It was the first time she’d gotten the urge to watch something since her brother had died, and she didn’t think there could be any harm in watching the news. In a way, she had isolated herself from the world, and it was high time she returned herself to it.

Or at least kept herself informed about what went on outside the government run living post upon which she was stationed. When Danielle switched on her cube, the first image to catch her eye was a very familiar one.

It was none other than the flying craft she had seen earlier that afternoon.

For a moment, she merely gaped, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. The damn thing was on every single channel. Every major news network, every entertainment channel, all anyone could talk about was the mysterious silver boomerang that had entered earth’s atmosphere at roughly three o’clock that afternoon. It was currently parked off the coast of what had once been Italy, bobbing gently in the Mediterranean waves.

The entire world was in an uproar.

Where had the craft come from? Was there anyone inside? What did they want? Those of the religious variety were convinced that it was the end of days. Scientists were drooling all over themselves, trying to convince the government to attempt to make contact with whoever was inside. The word’s leaders were torn between blowing the thing to kingdom come and trying to act civil, and everyone else was watching their television sets, somewhere between abject terror and total obsession.

Danielle herself couldn’t tear her eyes away from the TV screen. She had seen it. She had seen the craft not more than a few hours ago and now it was everywhere, all over the world.

It had been inevitable, really, and everyone had always said the day would come. Someone had come from far beyond their reach to make contact with them. God knew that humans had been far too occupied with their own problems on Earth to make many expeditions beyond the solar system. Light-speed travel was still beyond them, so even if they could manage to get very far, they would expire before they could find anything of consequence.

But none of that mattered anymore. Something of consequence had found them.

Danielle watched the world watching the unidentified craft for hours; long into the small hours of the morning, and even when she was on the edge of exhaustion. Thusly, she was one of the few still watching when the seemingly pore less shape opened, a small, rectangular door appearing in its starboard hull.

Though the young woman had been half asleep, she immediately started upright. She, and the fraction of the world’s population still awake watched four figures emerge from what could only be a foreign space ship.

They were tall – it was the first thing that popped into the young woman’s head as she got her first, fuzzy look at them. Of course, the cameras were afraid to move very close for fear of complete annihilation; but they were close enough to provide their first, very broad view of the foreign visitors. They were pale with dark hair and dark eyes and looked surprisingly humanoid. No extra arms, legs, or tentacles – at least from the camera’s vantage point.

Then, the image angle changed and the world was greeted with the image of a small boat speeding along the waves. It had come from the Amalfi coast, and, according to the current news report, on the boat was a member of the European Coalition. Along with a slew of armed guards, one or two scientists, and an internationally acclaimed astronomer. No doubt all of them would have copious questions for whoever it was who had come to visit Earth.

Danielle was fairly biting her fingernails in anticipation as the boat moved closer and closer to the craft. At the end of a ramp that had extended from the side of the ship stood the four ridiculously tall beings, waiting for them to approach.

Then, all at once, the image crackled, distorted, and went completely out of focus.

For what had to be at least a minute, Danielle stared at the screen in disbelief. They had to be kidding her. The biggest scientific, social and astrological moment of mankind and she had to have a TV glitch? Leaping up, she raced for the power mechanism, jigging it to see if she could get the image back.

To no avail.

The 3D projection was distorted beyond all recognition, and, after a moment, a news reporter popped back onto the screen to explain that they were having technical difficulties and would keep trying to repair the image reception. On her knees – ungodly close to the image on her device, Danielle just stared at the impeccably made up reporter.

When she regained her common sense, she changed the channel to see if another news station had more comprehensive coverage. Oddly, it seemed that every station was having the exact same technical difficulties. No one could get a clear image of what was going on off the Italian coast.

Completely disheartened, Danielle flipped through a few more channels before giving up her search. With a low sound of disappointment, she slunk back to the couch to collapse atop the blanket she’d brought in from her bedroom. She turned back to her original news channel where anchors were begging for their viewers’ patience.

Danielle snorted. She was sure this was the highest rated their programming would ever be, and here they were, unable to provide the information that everyone craved. Half the world must have their faces glued to the television, hanging on some hosts’ every word. If only for one moment, they had forgotten the suffering and strife – forgotten they were dying by the thousands – and come together to share one integral moment in their history.

Jordan would have loved it.

The young woman smiled faintly as she imagined how he would have reacted. Probably with wild speculation about where the aliens had come from – speculating about intergalactic peace and super heroes. He had always loved comic books.

She found her eyes, heavy from a long day, closing – and she promised she’d only rest for a moment as she waited for the news to regain the image they’d lost. Just a few minutes, and then she’d check back in…

The next thing she knew, Danielle was clawing her way blearily from the depths of a deep slumber, her entire body leaden and heavy. She’d crashed – and she’d crashed hard. She’d never have thought she’d been able to sleep with all of the excitement, but she had. The clock on her wrist told her that it was well past seven – time for her to be getting ready for work. The blonde fumbled slightly, not fully awake as she dragged herself into a sitting position. She was on the cusp of trying to drag herself to the bathroom when a loud pounding sounded from her entryway.

With a yawn that nearly dislocated her jaw, the young woman struggled to her feet and went for the door. She was sure she looked a mess, clad in her sweatpants and t-shirt, hair in absolute disarray, but whoever had the gall to come calling at seven thirty in the morning deserved everything they got and more.

When the loud knocking came again, she yanked the door open to glare at her visitor, only to be immediately jolted awake by the sight of military men on her doorstep. There were no less than three of them, all clad in black with the International Alliance Force insignia on their berets. The tallest of their number – an imposing, hugely muscular man with his head shaved hairless – glowered down at her.

“Danielle Bowery?”

“That‘s me.” Her voice came out raspy from fatigue. “What’s going on? Am I under arrest?”