Destiny's Shift (4 page)

Henry, gave him a job busing tables and a room to rent. Now, nineteen years later, Blake

had worked hard, studied harder, and wore an FBI jacket.

As he once again recalled the envelope he had received about a year ago, he

remembered that there were black smudges on the papers, almost as if someone had

dipped their fingers in . . . ash.

Blake looked up at another camera and stopped, knowing one thing for certain:

somehow, he was tied to these people . . . beings . . . aliens . . . whatever.

The black ash on the envelope that spoke of aliens and the black ash that his

father produced was somehow related. It was flimsy, but in his gut he knew the

connection meant something. He had never before told anyone anything about his father,

as he did his best not to think of his childhood. However, sometimes late at night when

sleep eluded him, fear made him sweat and shake. He didn’t want to be his father’s son,

he didn’t want to be cruel, but sometimes, especially when he was angry, he could feel it

just below the surface: a little voice urging him to kill. He had never acted on it, but it

was there.

As far as he was concerned, his mission was twofold. Number one was to find out

exactly what his father had been, and what that made Blake. And second: if he could, he

wanted to help those poor aliens in Area 2 because that shit was just flat out wrong.

Chapter 5

Jovan and Liberty drove in silence; the only noise in the car was the maddening

voice of the GPS telling Jovan when to turn.

Turn left in one hundred feet and continue for five miles.

He hated the damn thing, but the GPS seemed to know where to go, and he didn’t,

so he was going to put up with it.

He glanced over at Liberty. Her head rested against the window, her eyes closed,

and her breathing shallow. She had fallen asleep.

Bringing his eyes back to the road, he couldn’t believe he was sitting next to an

SR44 female.

He had so many questions, but there was a distinct feeling that he wasn’t going to

like the answers.

As they drove, his thoughts returned to his home planet.

Jovan had been the son of a member of the Royal Congress, which meant he

would serve his time in the SR44 military. Always a little bit of a wild child, Jovan didn’t

think he would like the structure the military offered, but found himself adapting to it,

and even excelling. He worked hard to learn the fighting skills and to master the use of

weapons, waiting for a war that never happened.

The people of SR44 lived in cohesive peace, so there was never any fighting

among them as there was on Earth. If there was a war, it would most likely come from

outside, but for thousands upon thousands of years there hadn’t even been a hint of a

threat from any of the other planets within the SR44 solar system.

The Royal Congress believed in being prepared just in case, and their military was

strong.

Jovan had moved quickly through their military ranks, and soon found himself in

the elite group of Warriors called the Battle Squad with Noah, Rayner, Talin, Cohen, and

Hudson, among others. When the Colonists escaped the Colony, the six of them had been

handpicked by the Royal Congress to go after them and hunt them down, and the Six

Saviors had been born.

His first hundred years on Earth, he was terribly homesick for the lush forests and

high golden buildings of SR44. Then one day he woke, and it was like a switch had been

turned off within him. Yes, he missed home, but maybe this Earth place wasn’t so bad. It

wasn’t as pretty, there was a lot of infighting among its inhabitants, but it really wasn’t a

bad place to be.

He looked over a Liberty again. What was life on SR44 like now? Had much

changed, or had it stayed the same as it had for thousands of years? Were the Forest

Dwellers still constantly fighting the little dinosaur-like creatures they shared the land

with? Did the golden buildings still shine in the twilight hours? Did it still look like a

living, breathing rainbow when the cities were crowded with the smoky-colored forms of

its inhabitants?

So many questions.

And Liberty. What the hell was he going to do with her? He figured he would

babysit her until tomorrow, then turn her over to the females in the silo. Then he could go

back to living on the fringes of life where he had as little interaction with people as

possible.

After he heard her story, of course.

Turn right in a half mile.

Got it.

Turn right in a quarter mile.

Shut up.

Turn right in one hundred feet, and your destination will be on the left.

He hit the power button on the GPS, thankful he didn’t have to listen to the

robotic voice anymore.

Pulling up into the driveway, he double-checked the address and let out a low

whistle. The safe house Noah had bought wasn’t any house. It was a mansion.

He turned off the car and looked over at Liberty. He couldn’t let her sleep out

here, and he needed to wake her. But he didn’t want to touch her. He imagined the

emotions would range along the lines of fear and worry. Or maybe he wouldn’t feel

anything at all. He just never knew.

He wasn’t going to take the chance. “Liberty?”

She didn’t move.

“Liberty?” he said a little louder.

She jumped and looked around as if she were unsure of where she was.

“We’re here, Liberty. This is where we’re going to stay the night, and then we’ll

leave for Reno in the morning.”

Liberty rubbed her eyes. “Very well. My apologies for falling asleep, Warrior. I

had only meant to rest briefly.”

Jovan smiled. “No worries. Let’s get you inside so you can continue that rest.”

Chapter 6

Liberty noted the house was like Jovan—huge and overwhelming. It sat on top of

a hill overlooking the greater Phoenix area, and as they made their way through the

house, she was certain she had never seen anything like it before, and would never see

anything like it again.

The large wooden door opened up into a huge foyer, which led to an elegant

sitting area and an expansive dining room. The floor was a dark tile, the furniture white,

and the ceiling seemed to crawl up to the clouds. Together they walked through the

dining area with the large glass table that sat eight and into the kitchen area that was

bigger than the small space she lived in. By far, her favorite room on the floor was

something called the Solarium, which housed a simple white couch and had floor-to-

ceiling windows that overlooked the lights of the city and the stars twinkling above.

“Oh my,” she whispered as she gazed out the windows. As she looked down the

twinkling city lights, she wondered which lights represented her place of employment.

After a moment, they continued their self-guided tour and went down the stairs

that led to five bedrooms, a viewing area for the box with moving pictures . . . what had

her boss called it? Ah, yes. A television. She had spent hours at the club pushing buttons

on the cylinder that changed the pictures and watching the images fly by, fascinated by it.

A large table with balls and sticks laying on it filled part of the room. The glass

doors opened up onto a patio with what looked like a fireplace as well as some tables and

chairs. A few steps down led to a bath of water that looked very inviting.

“I think it’s best if we stay down here,” Jovan said. “The rooms are close together,

and chances of anyone seeing the glow of our eyes is slim.”

“Whatever you wish,” she said, eyeing the bath of water.

Jovan grabbed a gray cylinder and pointed it at the television. He found a station

that played music, then sat down on the davenport. The male singer talked of a hotel in

California, where a woman had pretty boys she called friends.

Liberty remained standing, staring at the floor.

“You can sit down,” Jovan said.

“Thank you.”

Liberty sunk into the overstuffed couch, surprised at how tired she was, and she

closed her eyes.

“How long have you been on Earth?” Jovan asked quietly.

Meeting his gaze, she stared at the plush carpet and wrapped her coat around

herself. “I believe the human time frame would equate to two weeks.”

“Two weeks! Jesus, Liberty. How have you been surviving? Are you here alone?”

Liberty jumped at his raised tone of voice.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I can get a little loud sometimes.”

She slipped her shoes off and nestled her toes in the carpet. It felt wonderful.

“Well?” he said.

She could feel his eyes on her, scrutinizing her. “No, I’m not here alone. There

were twelve of us, but as I stated before, Warrior, if it will not offend you, I would like to

tell the story only one time.”

“Okay, I’m cool with that. But how did you get mixed up in a strip club? And for

God sakes, please call me Jovan. And could you please look at me?”

She turned her head. He was very pleasant to look at, but she couldn’t hold his

gaze as she was unaccustomed to looking others in the eye. That was one thing that you

learned quickly about being in servitude: the less you were noticed, the better you were at

your duties. Those born into servitude were created to serve, nothing else.

“Yes, Warrior Jovan,” she said.

He sighed, stood up, and walked over to her. My, how he loomed. If it weren’t for

the kind smile on his face, he would have been frightening just because of his sheer size.

She bowed her head again as he crouched down in front of her.

“Liberty, look at me.” She raised her eyes, feeling quite uneasy at meeting the

gaze of someone above her social stature. “Just Jovan, Liberty. That’s it. Forget the titles.

No Warrior, no sir, none of it. Just Jovan.”

Unable to speak, she looked down at the floor again and simply nodded.

“Okay, if you only want to tell your story one time, I can respect that. I don’t like

it, but I respect it. You being here has me a little worried and concerned about what’s

going on at home, but I’m willing to wait.”

“Thank you, Sir Jovan. Truly, it is difficult for me to discuss.”

“Just Jovan, Liberty.”

She nodded and looked at him, doing her best to hold his gaze, his green eyes

boring into her.

He stood and stretched his hands over his head, his black shirt crawling up his

torso to revealing a little bit of a taunt stomach. “But now I’m getting a little hungry.

How about we head upstairs and raid the pantry? Maybe we can find something to eat

that doesn’t require a whole lot of cooking. I suck in the kitchen.”

She nodded, then followed him up the steps.

Chapter 7

Jovan found some crackers and a box of macaroni and cheese in the pantry, and

figured he couldn’t screw that meal up. For someone whose creed was to leave everyone

alone and they would reciprocate, he surprised himself at this role of protector and

provider he had stepped into. He sat at the counter with Liberty, listening to her tale of

how she ended up working in a strip club.

“When I arrived in the city, I quickly realized I needed to earn money. Walking

down the paved path one day, I saw a sign that said, “Girls, Girls, Girls.” Since I’m

female, I went in.”

Jovan listened to her tale, doing his own translations to her jilted English. He

guessed the “paved path” would be the sidewalk.

The club manager had hired her on the spot. When he realized her demure

demeanor, he thought a shy French maid would be a great addition to the line-up. She

would start off serving drinks, and depending on how she interacted with the customers,

she could move into the coveted position of performer.

“At first I thought that it wouldn’t be very awful to have a position where I

remove my clothing, because truthfully, I find it very cumbersome. I didn’t fathom why

humans want to cover their true forms in fabrics. But then I witnessed the way the males

stare and comment on the females, and decided that perhaps having a position where my

clothing remained intact was best.”

Jovan rubbed his face, wishing he had another shot of Jaeger. For some reason, it

was fine for human women to strip, and it was damn fine for him to enjoy the show. But

for an SR44 female, one born into servitude to become a stripper sat as well with him as a

case of head lice.

“How did you get out of working at night?”

“I told him that I had a child at home and needed to leave before darkness set in as

I was afraid to walk alone at night.”

He had to admit, that was a smart move.

“I do wish I had some other clothing,” she said, finishing off the macaroni and

cheese in her bowl.

Jovan realized she was still wearing her French maid outfit under her coat. “I’ll

get you some in the morning, okay?”

“That would be lovely,” she said, meeting his eyes for a second, then her gaze

darted downward again. Her SR44 form glowed from her eyes a light pink, as pure and

innocent as virgin snow.

She looked down at her plate. “This was delicious. What exactly is it called? And

is there more?”

Jovan chuckled. How in the world could she not know what macaroni and cheese

was? Well, because she was from another universe, dumbass, and had only been on Earth