25
BRANDI
I was having the most amazing dreams when they pulled me awake.
"Brandi."
"Hmm," I mumbled, savoring the feeling of warm muscle and flesh on either side of my body. We were spooning, with Tyrix pressed against my back and Kerix against my front. I moved my hand over his chest and pulled him tight.
He kissed my hand and then left my embrace. I sighed at the terrible vacuum of space where his body had just been, and opened one eye.
"What?"
"It is time." He stood before me nude, like a Greek statue come to life. The faint cockpit light created shadows underneath his muscles, which made everything stand out in wonderful contrast. "We must go."
An icy dagger stabbed me in the chest. No. No, no, no, they couldn't go, they were my men and I was theirs and they couldn't leave me, I would die if they did...
But warmth and love poured from their minds, and it calmed me and let me know that everything was going to be okay.
"We must go to your base," he clarified. "It is time to make official contact."
I pushed up into a sitting position. "Well then. Now's when the fun begins."
A slow smile rose on Kerix's face. "How about you drive?"
"Drive?"
He frowned. "I believe that is a human idiom that can mean one takes control of--"
"Okay, I'll drive!" I quickly said, hopping out of bed with renewed energy. "Don't have to ask me twice."
*
Tyrix enabled the ship's radio receiver, and a flurry of chatter bombarded the cockpit through the speakers: commands relayed to fighter jets flying high overhead, ground teams searching the wreckage of the Wolvae ship. I winced at all the noise and gave Tyrix the special base command frequency, and the decryption code required.
"You're connected," he said. "And our ship is invisible on the electromagnetic spectrum. Nobody will see us so long as we wish it."
"Except for that faint shimmer in the air?" I asked.
"Correct."
"Fair enough," I muttered as I guided the ship off the ground and above the trees. I brought it around to a heading facing Mountain Home, cleared my throat, and then spoke.
"This is Base Commander Brandi Forbes. Is my Executive Officer available?"
"One moment, Commander," the Airmen on the line responded. He sounded surprised, but it was nothing like the tone in my XO's voice.
"Lieutenant Colonel Forbes?" he asked, incredulous. "Is that you, sir?"
"You bet it is."
"How... where have you..."
"Listen," I cut him off. "I'll explain it all soon. But for now I have some important instructions. The entire base is to hold fire for the next five minutes. I repeat, I am issuing a full stand down order. No matter what you see, no one is to fire their weapons."
He spent three long seconds processing that request. "Copy that, sir."
"And clear the runways during that time. No take-offs or landings."
"Copy that order, sir."
Thank God he trusted me. "Oh, and can you tell me which of the helicopter pads is presently free?" I could land anywhere there was a clearing, but it would feel more official if I landed somewhere an aircraft was supposed to land. This entire thing was going to be tough enough as it was.
"Pads 3, 4, and 5 are all clear," my XO said.
"Good. Keep pads 3 and 4 clear."
My XO's voice changed as he dropped all formality and spoke in a whisper. "Brandi, what the hell is going on?"
"Meet me at those pads and you'll find out." I began to end the conversation, then added, "Oh, hey. Those two Airmen who sounded the alarm last night? The false alarm? Bring them with you. They're gunna want to see this. Base Commander Forbes, out."
Tyrix cut off the radio connection, and nodded to me in confirmation.
The sun was dipping behind the mountains as we neared our destination, casting everything in a pale light. A wing of fighter jets patrolled the sky above, a reminder of how precarious the situation was right now. Even though I knew the ship was mostly invisible, it was unnerving flying the alien spacecraft into Mountain Home Air Force Base airspace. I could practically feel the missile batteries and anti-aircraft guns training on us, though of course they didn't. And then we were over the perimeter fence, and flying past the twin runways, and nearing the six-pack of helicopter landing pads with red X's in the center.
I brought the aircraft down just as a cluster of officers came striding away from the base proper. My XO led the way on hesitant feet, obeying me but still wondering what was going on.
"You're sure they won't go insane?" I asked.
"I must admit our original calculations were not completely accurate," Kerix said. "Humans are a hardy and resilient species."
"So is that a yes, you're sure?"
"The probability of insanity upon such knowledge is a number greater than zero," Tyrix chimed in, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "But extremely unlikely."
"But we might want to wait before showing them the captured Wolvae," Kerix added. "One impossibility at a time."
"Alright then. Let's go blow their minds."
Kerix nodded, and then uncloaked the ship.
Nothing changed from our perspective, but the cluster of Air Force officers lurched like they'd run into a brick wall. They gaped up at us like confused children, and one junior officer--Ramirez? I couldn't tell from up here--turned around and ran in the other direction.
"Better get down their and ease their fears," I said.
We strode down the ramp and around the side of the aircraft, me leading the way with my two Karak hunks following behind in their human bodies. Jets roared high overhead, and I could hear the distant THUMP THUMP THUMP of helicopters. They'd been busy with the Wolvae crash while we were laying low. I had a lot of work ahead of me to help them all understand what was going on.
I strode toward the officers and stood with formal posture, which made them quickly stand at attention and salute. I returned their salute, then tried to put on as reassuring of a smile as I could.
"Good evening," I said, addressing all eight of them. This was the end of a very long day, but it wasn't an ending at all. It was only the beginning. "We're going to need to go somewhere there are chairs, because you're going to want to be sitting down. I have some news."