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“Camille!” The little girl rushed up as soon as she spotted me and slammed into my legs as though we hadn’t seen each other for days instead of the few hours it had been since breakfast.
I’d never been pregnant and had little desire for a baby right now, but the five-year-old was my responsibility now. Her mother had died during the strikes, and she’d been left with no one, so I’d felt as though I had no choice but to take her under my wing. There was a chance a family member or even a friend of the family might turn up one day and demand they take her, but Elodie insisted she didn’t have anyone else.
Though she was still only small, I worried about her future. In thirteen years, when she became an adult, would we still be battling the Trads?
Of course, we also now had the option to go to Athion, if the initial mission went well, but how would they feel about taking children? It wasn’t something that had come up, and though both Irus and Leif loved Elodie, and always reiterated that children were precious and should be cherished, neither of them had mentioned Elodie going to Athion to live.
Perhaps the Athions only wanted women who would give them half Athion babies. They might not want to have to support a human child until she was an adult and ready to start a family of her own, which would be many years from now.
Yes, I worried for her future, but I also hoped that we were all taking steps to make Earth a safer place for all the little girls just like her.
“Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?”
“Good. Me and Mike have been playing hide and seek.”
“Have you now?” I cocked an eyebrow at Mike in amusement.
He gave a mock grimace and nodded to confirm they had.
“And who’s winning?” I asked.
“I am,” she said, shoving her hand into the air like she was trying to answer a question at school, “but I think Mike is letting me win.”
I shook my head. “No way. Mike always likes to win. If you’re winning, it’ll definitely be because you’re the best at it.”
She beamed, and I grinned over at Mike, who winked at me in return. My heart swelled with love for him. He might appear tough, with his tattoos, messy black hair, and the new addition of a scruff of stubble, but he was smart and gentle, and great in bed. He could be possessive, too, and overprotective, and while he never made me feel as though I wasn’t wanted, I did worry about those traits. But then I guessed I could be a little possessive at times, too, and that only made me look greedy, since I wanted all three of my men, and possibly even one more.
I pulled my attention from Mike and smiled back down at the little girl.
Things hadn’t been easy for Elodie since we’d found her. She was haunted by nightmares about the things she’d seen. Since we were all living and working at the Observatory now, we had to all bunk down together with roll-out mattresses on the floor, and we were often woken by the sounds of her crying during the night.
This was her new world we were fighting for. She would probably only have the faintest memories of what life had been like before the Trads had attacked our planet. The threat to the women was still very much at the front of everyone’s mind. We’d gotten no further in trying to figure out a way to either locate the Trad ships, or pinpoint Trads from human men here on Earth. Women were warned constantly via the internet and television news programs to be wary around men they hadn’t known from before the strike. The warnings had been helping, but we were far from eradicating the abductions. The pheromones of the Trads did something to human women’s senses, and even though the same woman might have sworn blind that there was zero chance of her sleeping with some handsome stranger she barely knew, it seemed once that same woman was in the presence of a Trad, all that good sense went out the window.
I’d experienced that for myself during my encounters with Dean Lambert. I hadn’t seen or heard anything about Dean since my near abduction back at the research facility in D.C., and I could only assume he’d found some other poor unsuspecting woman to use as his breeder.
“I might need to steal Mike for a moment or two, though, sorry,” I said. “I hate to break up your game.”
I wanted to get Mike away from Elodie so I could inform him about the protesters outside, but I didn’t want her to overhear me. I exchanged a quick glance with Irus, and he nodded to show he understood.
“Elodie,” Irus said, “did I ever tell you about a game we play on Athion called Billabull?”
Her eyes widened. “No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s a bit like your American football, only much faster. Let me tell you about it.” He crooked a blue finger to gesture the little girl over, removing her from mine and Mike’s presence, giving us a moment to talk.
I lowered my voice. “We have an issue outside. Another group of protesters have made their way here from the city.”
His brow crumpled in a frown. “What the hell is wrong with these people?”
I repeated what Irus had said. “They’re angry, and the Athions are simply a place for them to direct that anger.”
“Well, they’re directing it in the wrong place.” He twisted his lips, thinking, and then asked, “Do you think they’ll cause problems for the launch?”
“Sergeant Byrd is the one who needs to worry about that.”
“He’s only got a certain number of men. If there ends up being more of them than he has men, he might lose control of the situation.”
I shrugged. “Then the government is going to have to send more men. This is the initial launch spot. It should take priority.”
“That’s easy to say, but when most of the country is struggling for food and shelter, you can understand why the protesters would be angry that the government is putting time and resources into sending people to another planet rather than fixing our own.”
I exhaled a long sigh of frustration. “If we didn’t still have the Trads to worry about, I’d see their point. But until they’ve experienced the loss of their mother, or sister, or friend, and can actually feel that threat for themselves, I think it isn’t as simple as that.”
My thoughts were never far from my best friend, Tara. I felt like I’d failed her by not being able to locate the Trad ships and save her. I missed her horribly, and not a day passed where I didn’t think of her and the life she must be leading now. Would she have given birth to the Trad baby she’d been impregnated with? I couldn’t decide if it was better that the baby wasn’t carrying any of her genetic material or not. One thing we’d discovered was that the Trad-human pregnancies appeared to only contain Trad DNA. The Trads were using the women as incubators, and the sperm they ejaculated was more like eggs than human male sperm. Would it be easier for her knowing that the baby wasn’t genetically hers? Would she even know? Or did growing a child and giving birth to it create an attachment?
Mike raked his hand through his hair and pushed back his shoulders. “Does Casey know yet?”
I shook my head. “No, I came down here first. I wanted to make sure Elodie was kept away from any trouble.”
“Good point.”
“I’ll go and find him now. I prefer that we’re all together when stuff like this is going down.”
Mike moved closer and lifted his hand to sweep my hair away from my neck. His fingers brushed my skin, and he paused there, the back of his hand against my throat, his thumb skirting my jawline.
“I prefer for us to be all together, too, Camille. I hate it when we’re apart, especially with everything else going on. I worry about your safety all the time.”
I threw him a brave smile. “Hey, I’ve survived so far, haven’t I? Takes more than a few aliens and some idiot protesters to keep me down.”
He returned my smile, and I stood on tiptoes and quickly pressed a kiss to his lips. I’d have lingered for longer, but there wasn’t time right now. Besides, I still always felt awkward about any public displays of affection I had with the guys. While we were all perfectly happy about our unusual setup, others found it strange. The only people who didn’t think it weird was the Athions. On their planet, with the lack of women around, it was common to share.
Since Project Exodus had started, we’d each found ourselves with different roles. While Mike, Casey, and I all used to work side by side, with Aleandro normally behind his desk at the entrance, we were now spread over a much wider area. Instead of focusing on what was above us, we were mostly working on Project Exodus. Though the Athions had provided the ship and would also be providing part of the crew to fly it, adjustments had been needed to make it suitable for human travel.
What we were trying to achieve could have far-reaching implications for both our planets. It wouldn’t only be humans we’d be able to transport. While we weren’t considering taking any other species on the initial trip, there was the possibility of moving farm animals or other breeding stock at a later date.
Things needed to be set up on the Athion side as well. They still had another six months to get things put in place, since that was how long the flight time was, but we wanted to make sure everything was set up before we initiated the initial launch. We didn’t want the women to arrive and find the Athions weren’t ready for them.
Leaving the others, I made my way through the rest of the building and up onto the outside walkway of the upper deck, which gave me views out onto the launch pad. I paused for a moment, leaning my forearms and upper torso onto the bars which protected anyone from falling into the massive drop beyond. A hot, dry gust of wind hit my face, and I narrowed my eyes to prevent any miniscule grains of sand getting in them.
The scent of machinery and oil overrode the natural herbal scent of the desert as I stared out in wonder at the launch pad holding the Athion spaceship. Smaller launch pads branched off the main one, each of them holding rocket ships. The Athion transporter ship sat like a kind of deity in the center, while people buzzed around it, all of them looking busy and important. The ship was round and flat, with huge windows for the bridge, which would give incredible views once in space. Inside, pods for the sleeping women were connected by long white corridors. I’d been led to believe this was one of the smaller Athion ships. Ships five times this size existed, but I could barely even envisage a ship of that magnitude. Just the one filling the landscape in front of me seemed too big to comprehend it ever being in the sky.
I was able to see this spectacle numerous times a day, but every time it took my breath away. I’d already been inside on numerous occasions, and I’d walked the long, white corridors, trailing my fingers down the walls, and had stood on the bridge staring out of the windows, with a strange ache in my heart that I didn’t want to think about too closely.
The outskirts were patrolled by Sergeant Byrd’s men, each of them armed. The potential for one of the protesters to break through security barriers and get access to the ship was a very real possibility. If they got in and did something to damage the ship without anyone noticing, they could bring the whole ship down, including all the crew and the one hundred women in cryostasis on board. The women would die without even being aware of it happening.
I spotted Casey’s blond head as he walked down the ramp that led from the transporter ship onto the ground. He held a data pad close to his chest, his long, lean legs making quick work of the length of the ramp. Someone else ran up to him and said something that made him pause and frown behind his glasses. I assumed they’d told him of the new round of protesters.
Casey must have sensed me standing on the walkway as he lifted his head and looked directly at me. I raised my hand in a wave, and he pointed a finger at himself, and then to where I was standing to tell me to wait.
I did, and within a minute, he stepped out to join me.
“Hey,” he said, leaning into brush my cheek with a kiss. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I assume you were just told about what’s going on outside.”
“Sure was. Why can’t those idiots mind their own business? No good is going to come of this.”
“I know, but they think this is their business. I’m starting to think it might be our job to convince them otherwise.”
Casey pulled a face. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Camille.”
“Perhaps, but it’s the only one I’ve got. Sergeant Byrd’s men threatening them clearly isn’t working. They just keep coming back with more and more supporters.”
Movement came from behind, and Mike stepped out onto the walkway to join us.
“Where’s Elodie?” I asked him.
“She’s with your sister. I’ve told Molly what’s going on, and she’s going to keep Elodie in the lower level until all of this is dealt with.”
A pang of guilt at not thinking of my sister first tightened my chest, but I assumed she was with Leif. The two of them seemed to be joined at the hip now.
“Okay, thanks, Mike. Let’s go and find Aleandro, too. He should be finished patrolling the grounds now.”
“Sure.”
Feeling better now I had all the guys with me, we left the platform and made our way back through the Observatory to the front entrance. Aleandro was behind the front desk and he gave us a grim nod as we approached. The rolling shutters were still up—though I assumed they’d come down if it looked like the protesters were going to break through the line of soldiers Sergeant Byrd had put in place. Through the huge glass-fronted windows, the protesters were clearly visible.
I was taken back to the early days, when I’d spotted the first group of displaced survivors from Las Vegas arriving at the Observatory, and Byrd had refused to let them in. I’d stood up for those people then. But that had been on a far smaller scale, and things were different now. The people outside today had come here for a different reason. They didn’t want help. They wanted to harm.
“I’m going out to try to talk some sense into them,” I announced, stepping forward.
Mike caught my arm, preventing me from marching toward the front entrance. “Don’t be crazy, Camille. They’re not going to listen.”
“They might. Or at least some of them might. They’re frightened and angry about what’s happened to our world, and they’re looking for someone to blame, but that doesn’t make them bad or unreasonable.”
Casey lifted his eyebrows in the direction of the placards and banners. “They look pretty bad and unreasonable to me.”
I cast my gaze back out at the crowd, considering his words. Yes, there were men with contorted, angry expressions—and perhaps they were the type who believed they should be the ones who got to tell a woman what to do, or maybe they’d lost a wife or sister, and were grieving—but with them were women and children, too. Maybe the women believed equally in what they were protesting against, but the children wouldn’t know any different. Their young minds were still being formed, and they would be the ones who would be here for whatever the future on Earth ended up being. Whether we’d still be contending with the Trads or would be a blended race with the Athions. My thoughts went to Elodie, knowing that if she stayed on Earth, these would be the same people she’d be dealing with. By remaining silent and hiding away, I felt as bad as being complicit.
“Soldiers with guns aren’t going to help anything. All they’re seeing is us protecting what they view as the enemy.”
“You think a bunch of scientists are going to make any difference?” Casey said, frowning at me from behind his glasses.
“Honestly, I have no idea, but I feel like we need to at least try.”
“Camille?”
I turned at the sound of my name. Irus and Leif stood behind me, their expressions matched in concern.
“You don’t have to do this for us,” Irus said. “I appreciate that you’re willing to stand up for us, but it’s not necessary.”
“You’re wrong. It is necessary.
Irus tightened his jaw in determination. “In which case, we’re coming with you. You can’t go out there alone.”
Aleandro stepped to my side. “She’s not alone.”
Mike joined him. “No, she’s not. You coming out will just get the crowds riled. It’s a bad idea.”
I looked to Mike. “Does that mean you’re coming with me instead?”
He fixed me with his blue gaze. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, but yes, of course I’ll go with you. I’d never let you do this alone.”
I shared a private smile with him. “Thanks, Mike.”
“Of course.”
“We’re all coming with you, Camille,” Aleandro said. “We’ve always done everything together, and that’s not changing now.”
“Thank you. All of you.”
I deliberately caught Irus’s eye and nodded to show I meant him, too. There was a bond between us, something that was different and independent from the one I shared with the guys, but no less real. Was it because I hadn’t shared anything physical with him, or because I didn’t have the history like I did with the others, or more likely because he was a whole different species from me and came from a whole other planet? But the truth of it was that it was because the others hadn’t accepted Irus. They were keeping him at arm’s length, even after we’d survived the helicopter crash together and made it through Denver to safety. Having Elodie had bonded us, though. We were all taking care of that little girl together, and in her own funny, unexpected way she had joined us. She’d made us all into a kind of weird, uncoordinated family.
Aleandro flashed the gun at his hip. “We’re not going out there unarmed, though, Camille. I know you always think the best of everyone, but don’t think for one second that those people aren’t armed as well. They need to know that we won’t hesitate in retaliating.”
He was right. The soldiers had been holding them off, but they would still do so if I went out there. I didn’t think people were going to start shooting simply because I wanted to talk to them. It was a risk, though, there was no doubt about it.
I sucked in a breath and centered my confidence. I needed to do this. I had to at least try to make some of them understand the reasons behind what we were trying to achieve.