Megan pushed the hair escaping her French braid back from her face absently.  Her garden gloves were already well coated in dark soil so she used her nearly clean wrist and forearm to do the job.  She was dead-heading as well as weeding as she moved on her knees through her garden.  It had been weeks since she was in her garden so there was a lot of both to be done.  The dry summer they were having made her glad she and her sisters had set up automatic irrigation.  Only the few hanging plants she watered herself everyday had really suffered for her lack of attention.  But then her sister had disappeared 24, almost 25 days ago and the search had consumed her and her sister Ariel for much of that time. 

When Megan felt her eyes welling at the thought of her missing sister she sniffed and used her forearm again to brush it off her cheek.  Ariel was right about one thing.  Crying about it would not help Sara.  Megan was sick of the tears.  She had cried enough in the beginning, when days had passed with no sign of their sister.  More than a sister, Sara was the oldest, and the one who had become both parent and sibling when their parents died in a car crash when Megan was sixteen.  Barely out of her teens herself, Sara had taken on the burden of head of household without blinking, and she had kept the role long after Megan should have relieved her of it, dealing with the world outside when Megan retreated into her music or garden. 

She had taken her for granted, Megan thought.  Then one night she immersed herself in her music and Sara just disappeared.  Would she have even noticed if the dogs had not set up a ruckus to be let into the house that night?  She had been irritated, Megan remembered, her song flowing and the continued barking interrupting her train of thoughts until she had no choice but to go down and let the dogs in.  Sara had closed the doggy door, something they hardly ever bothered to do.  Megan had looked for her to ask her why she was ignoring the dogs, but she was just…gone.  The garbage had been rolled to the street, which Megan should have done, but Sara had done it, and as far as anyone could tell, it was the last thing she did.  Megan had panicked that first night, looked everywhere, pounded on the doors of her nearest neighbors and called the sheriff, none of it made a difference.  Sara was gone.

Ariel had flown home from MIT that night and helped in the search. By the time she caught a flight back home everyone else in the small town had gathered to search the woods around them.  When the search was finally called off nearly two days later, it was obvious that Sara had been taken elsewhere.  But with a look of pity for the two Bird girls looking so small and worried the sheriff had called in the cadaver dogs to search just in case.  Megan remembered the clutch in her heart when Sheriff Brown told them it was just a precaution.  Ariel had glared the man down and told him he was wasting his time.  They would know if their sister was dead.  And they would, Megan knew.  Because they had felt the passing of their parents the second it happened, just as they had their grandfather before that.  No, Sara was alive, but nearly a month after her disappearance and not a single clue as to what was happening to her, they had few avenues to pursue.  They did the only thing they could think of and hired a private investigator, and had no choice but to get on with their lives, such as they were without Sara.

So here she was in the garden going through the motions, and not finding the solace she had always found among the green growing things.  And Ariel had returned to MIT to collect her things and close her life there.  The ongoing projects she was working on she would work on from California.  But for now, Megan was alone with only Lucky and Penny her two golden retrievers for company.  Ariel had asked her to go with her, not liking leaving her behind when one sister had already disappeared from the home that had always before meant safety for them.   It would never be that again, but Megan would not leave her dogs, and there was too much that had been neglected around the place.  She would stay home and tend what needed to be tended until Ariel returned, then they would see where they went from there.

Megan sighed and sat back on her knees, her eyes taking in the abundance of flowers that surrounded her.  The backdrop of the butter yellow farm house with the wrap around porch was as familiar to her as the two dogs that slept in the sun patched road, soaking up the heat in the cool hours of the morning before it got too hot for it.  It looked like it always looked in the summer mornings, but without Sara it felt less like the home she had always loved.  Penny perked her ears and looked up from her lounge, before springing up and sprinting for the tree line.  Lucky right behind her at a slightly slower pace, probably after a squirrel or the neighbor’s cat again, Megan thought, but looked around carefully anyway.  She could have called them back, they behaved her much better than they did Sara.  At the thought a flash of pain nearly took her breath away.  She bowed her head and squeezed her eyes closed, praying for her missing sister and for the strength to do what needed to be done until they found her.  Because the thought of never finding her was too much to bear.

A sound that was barely a whisper of wind drew Megan from her weak moment and her head jerked up.  She could not deny that first rush of hope that she would turn and see Sara standing there, but it faded even before her eyes met the Spanish gold eyes of a Tellox Warrior.  She sucked in a breath and stood quickly bringing the sharp spade up in front of her in defense even before her brain had the chance to flash the warning of danger.  The news reports had flashed them across the screen for weeks after they made contact.  Then the attack on their commander that ended in the grisly death of the human terrorists.  After that they had left, and everyone was assured they had departed the star system never to return.  But there was no mistaking what prowled her garden, no matter that he seemed to find the darkest shadows even in the hot light of day.

He stood across the garden from her.  No matter how she blinked expecting him to disappear into those shadows like a phantom, he was there.  Short for a Tellox, she thought remembering how they had looked on TV.  The descriptions that said they ranged from six and a half to nearly seven feet tall.  Judging by her own height of five-foot two he was probably around 6 feet, no more, but that was enough.  His gold skin had a nearly metallic gleam to it, and those Spanish gold eyes glowed from within like nothing she had seen outside of a television or movie screen.  His face had an animalistic edge to it.  Wide cheek bones, flattened nose, and harsh angles made him striking and alien at once.  The rest of him though, looked built for speed and endurance.  The leather and armor plating that mixed with strange devices across his nearly naked upper body did nothing to hide the hard edges of muscle that roped his frame.  His legs and thighs looked powerful sheathed as they were in leather and hard shield plates down to his boots.  The enormous sword that hung across his back, and wild mane of hair only added to the overall barbarian effect.

Meeting those glowing eyes Megan swallowed hard, clutching the pathetic weapon in her hand as if it would make a difference against such a creature.  He didn’t even need all the extras, those glowing cat eyes were scary enough.

“You are in no danger, little flower.”

Megan sucked in a breath at the low voice.  It was smooth, not at all what she expected from the hard creature before her.  Almost a dark purr, that voice had her shivering even before what he called her penetrated the shock at seeing an alien in her garden.  Being called ‘little flower’ by such a big scary alien looking barbarian seemed so…wrong.  Then something else occurred to her and she took a step toward him in a rush, stopping just as fast when she realized what she was doing, the trowel clutched in her white knuckled hands. 

Fear of him did not stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth though.  “Do you know where my sister is?”  She nearly winced at the breathless hope she could not hide in those words.  “Did you take her? Are you why she disappeared without a trace?”

“I know where your sister is,” he answered part of her question.  The most important part, and Megan felt her knees give way at his answer.  She might have fallen to the ground but the Tellox was suddenly there holding her up.  She dropped the trowel and curved her hands around the hard-muscled arms holding him as much as he was holding her now. 

She met his eyes, her own she knew probably looked half crazed but she didn’t care.  “Is she alright?”

The cat like glowing eyes looked from the grip she had on his arms to her eyes and he nodded solemnly.  “She is unharmed.”

Megan did not care that he was forced to take the rest of her weight when the relief overtook her.  He didn’t seem to notice anyway, merely pulling her up so that she stood resting against that hard metallic gold chest. The cold armor and scratchy leather did not faze her any more than the utter blankness of his stoic face, or hard warrior body did.  As soon as she could speak around the tears clogging her throat she swallowed hard and met his eyes again.

Before she could ask anything else he freed up one of his arms and slipped a hand into the pouch at his belt.  He held up a folded slip of paper, and the strangeness of such a mundane human thing as a letter written on normal paper seemed somehow incongruous in those alien hands.  She shook her head, but took the paper and opened it.  The sight of her sister's unmistakable handwriting almost made her fall again.

Megan and Ariel,

Morax will bring you to me, please do not give him any trouble and move fast.  You need to grab the dogs, and what you cannot live without as fast as you can.  You are in danger there.  I will explain everything when you are on the ship.  Just come now.  If you don’t, Morax will bring you without anything you might wish for later.

See you soon, all my love

Sara

P.S. can you bring my quilting bag, and grab mom's quilt off my bed, and the picture on the mantel?  Of the whole family, the Christmas before gramps passed.  If you have time.

Don’t forget the dogs!  Morax will take a reading of their food for synthesizing, so don’t worry about bringing anything but them.

Megan had no doubt that the note was written by Sara.  It sounded just like her, but that she didn’t come in person did not.  She bit her lip, her forehead scrunching in worry as she met those gold eyes again.  “Why didn’t she come herself?”

“You will understand that when you see her,” was his only answer.

She pressed her lips and knew the worry was clear in her eyes, but she could think of only one thing that would keep Sara from coming herself.  “You said she wasn’t hurt.”

“She is unharmed, and I can explain no further.  There is no time.  Where is your sister and the ridiculous canines Sara insisted must come with the two of you?”

Megan shook her head.  “Ariel’s not here.  She went back to school to collect her things and close her lab.  She won’t return for a few days at least.”

The alien who had to be the Morax of the note looked displeased by the news but after consideration he merely turned to lead her to the house.  “Then we have even less time, for we must hunt her at another location.”

The word hunt was not comforting but Megan clutched the letter tighter and decided she would have to go on faith.  Then she stopped, and since he still had hold of her he was forced to stop as well.  She turned and whistled.  The sound piercing, made the Tellox grunt beside her.  A moment later Penny and Lucky came flying out of the trees, got a sniff of what was in their yard, and went from beautiful overgrown golden retriever almost puppies to vicious guard dogs in a flash.  They skidded to a stop, sniffed again, bared their teeth, snarled, and attacked.

***

Morax could have perhaps handled it better than he did.  Stunning the dogs so that they fell at their mistress’s feet after snarling his own answering battle cry did not help the little female with her fear of him.  He felt her jerk and shiver, her velvety brown eyes going wide and frightened in that delicate face.  Her new-found fear did not stop her from glaring at him, shaking off his grip and falling to her knees besides the stupid beasts, however.

He shook his head when she turned those velvety eyes back to him, now full of reproach.  A reproach he found he did not care for.

“They are unharmed,” he said.  “If you will move back I will transport them to the ship and we can proceed with collecting what you wish to take.  We do not have time to waste.”

She looked from him to the mongrels and bit her lip. Then with one last pet over both she stood up and stepped back.  He focused his com on them and sent the transport instructions.  Before she could do more than gasp at the flash of light the beasts were gone. 

“Quickly,” he said then. Taking her arm again, perhaps unnecessarily, but he liked the petal soft feel of her under his hands, almost as much as her scent and heat pressed along his side.  “We must make haste to collect what you cannot leave behind.”

“Sara’s quilt bag is in the front parlor. It’s big so we can grab it on the way out,” she said moving with him after the smallest hesitation, which he ignored.

He followed her up the stairs without comment trying to move her faster than her much smaller legs were ready for, so that he practically carried her up the stairs.  She ran into what he knew from the scent was Sara’s room first, pulling the quilt off the bed and tossing it at him.  They were out the door again and heading for her room when his com blinked a warning and a command.  He cursed but wasted not a minute grabbing the female around her tiny waist and lifting her off her still moving feet. 

He did not take the time to explain they had none left, just hit the transport on his belt even as she was saying “wait.”

A moment later they were on board the ship and with one look at them Creeg barked the order to go.  Morax did not need to see the ship bearing down on the planet in the main viewer to know they were very nearly too late as it was.

“Wait,” he heard Sara yell, even as they were flashing out of orbit and light speed was engaged.  “Where’s Ariel?”

“Not there,” Morax growled, still holding Megan and the quilt in his arms.  He braced them both against the ship when it got bumpy. 

“She would have come home when I disappeared, she should be here.”  Sara seemed adamant about that and the growl in her voice attested to her growing temper.

Morax would have liked to give her a different answer but all he could do was turn with the small human in his arms and face Sara with the truth she would not like.  “She was not expected back for many Earth days according to this one.”  He squeezed the tiny female with the arm he had around her waist to get her to explain again, but she had frozen in his arms, her eyes only for Sara.

Her heart beat was fast and frantic once again, and he could smell her fear rising as she finally opened her mouth to speak.  “Sara?”

Sara looked pained and sad all at once, even as she turned from her sister to her mate.  “We can’t leave without Ariel.”

Creeg looked at her and then at Logaan who took the controls so he could go to his mate.  He brushed his hand in her hair capturing her face.  “We go back we will all be captured by the Armada that is even now taking out the planetary defenses.  It would mean our deaths and you and your sister would be at the mercy of Rygan.”

“But,” Sara started, the pain obvious in that one word.  Only to have Creeg interrupt her.

“And we would be leading them right to her, if we could find her ourselves.”

“Creeg,” she whispered, closing her eyes, her head falling to his chest.  Her pain obvious to them all.

“I swear to you this is not over,” he growled into the top of her hair.  “We will find a way to get her back, but not today Sara.”

Morax watched Sara nod without lifting her head from her mate’s chest, but was distracted when the little female in his arms started to shake.  The little hitch in her breathing told him exactly how close she was to tears herself.  Sara was not the only one in pain. 

Sara heard it too because her head jerked up off Creeg’s chest and she turned to face the one sister they had managed to rescue.

Only the closer Sara got to the woman in his arms the more the little female shook.  But then the last time she had seen her sister, Sara had been human.