Chapter One
“This planet’s diversity is remarkable.” Ari checked the readouts on his screen again. The geological scans were returning data he wasn’t sure he was interpreting correctly. “Are we really hovering over a sandbar? That people live on?”
Kira smiled. “Earthlings are innovative, especially considering the level of their technology. Perhaps because of it. They’re unable to build space stations that can support large numbers of people and don’t have the technology to make dome worlds. They have to make do with what they have, and the planet is heavily populated.”
“Yet they still leave vast areas untouched.” He wished he could see more through the viewports, but the sky was still dark.
“That’s a good thing. They’re already starting to understand the importance of managing their resources.” Her smile faded. “And we need to help them stay on the right path—especially once they find out about us.”
“Understood.” Ari turned his attention back to his scans with more focus.
Someone was using advanced technology nearby. Technology that rivaled—if not surpassed—that of their own scout ship. Kira kept the vessel steady, hovering high above one of the smaller cities in the region while Ari tried to pinpoint the source.
“I can’t get the source of the reading narrowed down to more than a few miles radius,” he said. “I think we need to move in closer.”
“We only have twenty minutes till the sun rises. I need to be back at headquarters by then.”
“I’m detecting a stretch of road near the area of interest that isn’t heavily traveled. If you drop me off there, I can investigate further.”
“You’ll need to set up a base of operations. You’ll be here for days and will have to interact with Earthlings.”
“Yes, sir.”
She didn’t respond at first, except to scowl as her brow furrowed. “Are you sure you’re up for this? Earth can be…bewildering.”
“I’ve been acclimating for months. All of us have.”
And yet it was still strange to see his commanding officer wearing Earth clothing—jeans and a light sweater. Her dark brown hair was in a loose ponytail instead of the regulation bun that was required when she was in uniform. If their scout ship malfunctioned, they needed to be able to blend in with the Earthlings of the area. Their shining silver uniforms would not help with that.
Ari’s outfit was designed to match the culture of this region of the continent. They had anticipated the possibility that he would need to scout out the area.
Brendan, Kira’s Earthling bondmate, had insisted that Ari wear ridiculous shoes called “loafers”. They barely felt like shoes at all, especially compared with the boots he was used to. Apparently, wearing heavier shoes in the warm climate of Florida would make him stand out, even during their early spring season.
As if the shoes weren’t bad enough, he was also wearing a brightly colored button-down shirt that was decorated with what was called a “tropical pattern” and pale tan shorts that barely reached his knees.
At least the shorts had plenty of pockets.
He was supposed to look like a tourist so that anyone who noticed he was out of place wouldn’t think too hard about him. Brendan had packed a duffle bag with everything Ari should need for his mission. Money, clothing, identification cards.
The watch Ari wore integrated Coalition technology with Earth’s in an inconspicuous form—another innovation from Brendan, though with the help of Coalition engineers. In addition to being a communication device, it could act as a small scanner, letting Ari covertly search for the alien technology he was looking for.
He had to admit, the Planetary Liaison had chosen well in pair-bonding with Brendan, even if she had done it for something as irrational as love.
“This isn’t going to be like interactions at the mansion,” Kira said. “You’ve been spending time with specific Earthlings in the controlled setting of our headquarters—which is in a radically different ecosystem from this one.”
That was true enough. It was hard to believe that they had flown from mountains covered in snow to the sub-tropical setting around them on the same planet. He’d been on worlds with variations in their ecosystems, of course, but planets with diversity as extreme as Earth’s were rare.
Once more, he wished they could fly during daylight so that he could see the change in vegetation with his own eyes instead of scanner readouts. Coalition protocol dictated that all in-atmosphere flights had to take place at night, even when their ship was cloaked.
Kira watched him silently, lips pulled in a concerned frown.
“I can handle it, sir,” Ari said.
She nodded curtly, maneuvering the ship toward the road he had pointed out, then setting it down in a gentle landing. He released the clamp that kept his chair still and swiveled around to face the back of the small ship.
“The ground will shift beneath your feet,” she said.
He paused in unfastening his safety harness. “Excuse me?”
“I read your file. You’ve spent most of your time aboard ships and stations.”
“That’s right.”
“You’re about to step onto a sandbar. When you walk on sand, it moves.”
He smiled, trying to reassure her—and himself. “I’ll do my best not to fall.”
“See that you don’t.” She was grimacing again, dark eyes narrowed. “This mission—what we’re doing here—it’s important. We have no idea how many alien species have invaded Earth. If we can’t get this under control, the High Council may revoke the preservation status for the planet and bring it into the Coalition.”
He nodded. “And Earth isn’t ready for that. I understand.”
“I’m not sure that you do. But you will, after you spend some time here.” She smiled faintly. “Enjoy it while you can.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Check in every three hours outside of your rest cycle. Dismissed.”
He half-crawled out of the chair, keeping his body hunched over as he grabbed his bag. Kira opened the hatch and a ramp slid out from within the ship’s hull, which had decloaked to help Ari make his way outside.
He had to turn sideways to exit the ship, bypassing the short ramp and stepping out with one foot on the road while ducking to maneuver the rest of his body through the opening. Most Sadirians were genetically engineered to be small and wiry. Living on dome worlds and space stations, creating citizens who were bigger was considered a waste of resources. Of course, accidents happened—like Ari.
His size had bothered him until he’d been assigned to the Arbiter. The first time he’d watched General Serath—the highest ranking military officer in the Coalition’s fleet—do the same twisting maneuver to exit a tiny scout ship was the first time Ari had actually felt proud to be a glitch.
He was in good company, at least, especially aboard the Arbiter. Most of the crew were glitches. Serath’s first officer, Khel, was even bigger than Ari, though not by much.
The Arbiter had been the first place that had felt like home.
Being among the team assigned to find and contain the aliens who were trespassing on Earth was a huge show of Serath’s trust. Ari still sometimes wished that he had remained with the crew when the ship went back to Sadr-4 to try to convince the High Council to recognize Earth’s First Contact committee, though.
Earth had a strange effect on his fellow Sadirians. General Serath had been the first to pair-bond with an Earthling, going so far as to change his name to “Adam Smith”, not that Ari had been able to start thinking of him that way yet. Adam wore his hair differently, carried himself differently, and seemed to have been fundamentally changed by his experiences on Earth.
As if that wasn’t enough, Kira had bonded with Brendan. Sorca with Eric. Moons, even Khel had bonded with Brendan’s sister, Paige. And then Vay had fallen for an Earthling named Henry.
The others in their small team were already talking about possibly bonding with an Earthling. Most were excited, after seeing how happy their fellow soldiers were with their chosen partners. And it wasn’t just the Sadirians who were bonding.
The Scorpiian that they’d been hunting for months had fallen in love with an Earthling and pair-bonded with her. Ari still couldn’t believe the cold-blooded assassin now smiled and laughed—and even went on missions alongside the team. At least, when he wasn’t busy playing video games or “spending quality time” with his bondmate.
Zemanni had actually been able to convince the pair of Lyrians living at headquarters that he’d changed. That was a good thing, since the female—Barbara—had been eager to tear him apart again when he first showed up.
It was a lot to wrap his head around.
Ari trotted away from the scout vessel as the hatch closed and the ramp retracted. Kira swung the ship around, nodding to him through the main viewport. A rippling wave passed over the ship’s hull as it vanished.
He felt a slight turbulence in the air as it took off, heading back for headquarters. She’d be back with her own Earthling bondmate before Ari made it to the town. Especially if he didn’t get moving.
Kira’s warning about the shifting sands had unnerved him a bit. The road was solid, at least. He crossed to the edge, using the pre-dawn light to note where the dark material ended and the white-tan sand began. Stabilizing himself on one leg, he poked his free foot over the edge.
The sand barely gave any resistance at first. He had his shoe buried up to the toe before he had to apply pressure to dig deeper.
A blaring, discordant noise behind him made him jump forward, trying to spin on the soft surface. He flailed his arms to keep his balance, ending in a fighting crouch. The car that had made the awful noise kept speeding down the roadway.
Ari needed to be more careful. He would get plenty of practice walking on sand as he made his way toward the town. He checked his watch once more before setting out.