CHAPTER NINE
HEATHER MAVEN
Watching Zoq being taken away by his own race of aliens broke my heart. I was in such a panic. I did not know what to do. What could I do? I was powerless against these shifting aliens. But I knew then that I had fallen in love with him. Why else would I be so devastated over this? What was the captain going to do to him? Zoq once told me that if we were caught that the captain would kill us both. Now, I did not know if Zoq would be killed, or if they would return to kill me. As soon as they flew away from my terrace, I ran out of the French glass doors and watched them return to the Mothership.
“You have to get out of here, Heather,” I said to myself.
I ran back inside my bedroom and grabbed a bag and began stuffing clothes into it. I grabbed toiletries from the bathroom. I grabbed my makeup bag and shoes. I grabbed towels. I would have to go to a hotel. The captain could return at any minute to do away with me. But what if Zoq got loose and came back to me? I thought. I stopped in my tracks. I dropped my bag. I couldn't leave. If there was a chance that he could get away and come to me, even just to say goodbye, then I would risk being here. I moved back out onto my terrace and watched the Mothership.
“Damn it, Zoq. I love you. I do…” I whispered.
“Think, Heather. Stop panicking and really think about this situation. You are a smart woman,” I said, moving inside and sitting on my bed. If the captain was going to kill me, he would have done so the moment he caught us. No, he was not going to touch me. I was too involved in the mission. Finding me dead would make the aliens the first suspects. It would be too suspicious. No, he was not going to come for me. He was going to go on like nothing happened. And so was I. I had to. It was the only way that I could find out what he was going to do to Zoq.
I got very little sleep that night. How could I? The next day I went into the office very early. I felt safer there than I did in my own home, considering the circumstances. I counted down the hours until the meeting between Captain Blace and our leaders would start.
Finally, the time came, and we all stood in the garage just as we had been when waiting for the Draqua to arrive. The transport landed. The door opened, and the captain stepped out with three of his warriors. The commander was not with him.
“Once again, President, it is good to meet with you,” the captain said as he approached us.
“And you. These meetings have given us much insight, all of us. Will the commander be joining us today?” the president asked, noticing his absence. I tried to remain calm, but my breathing was heavy. My chest was heaving up and down as I restrained my panic. Was he dead?
“No, the commander will not be joining us. We leave in less than 20 hours from your great planet. He is preparing for our departure,” the captain said as he gave a quick glance in my direction. I narrowed my eyes at him in an act of defiance. I wasn't going to let him scare me.
“Then let us get started,” the president said as he gestured for the captain to follow everyone inside the building. The meeting was long and detailed, as always. I could barely keep my focus on it. I was feeling uneasy; it was because I knew that Zoq was either in a lot of trouble, or he was already dead. It pained me to not know the truth. I felt my stomach turning the entire day. Because the meeting was packed with assistants and officials, no one noticed when I stepped out. I had to get some air. I went to the ladies room in order to regroup. As soon as I walked in, I felt a wave of nausea hit me. I ran into a stall, and before I knew it, I was puking into the toilet. The nerves were finally getting to me. Not knowing if Zoq was alive or dead was getting to me. This entire experience had finally come down to this moment of actually making me sick.
“Heather? Are you alright?” I heard my assistant Sarah say.
“It is just my nerves. The stress of the work is finally getting to me I think,” I said, trying to cover up for myself.
“Yes, I kind of figured that was the deal. I mean, it's not like you are pregnant or anything. You have no sex life to speak of,” she said. I straightened up and looked at her with wide eyes as I turned behind me where she stood in the open doorway of the stall. She took my look as though I was telling her not to speak of my personal life.
“I am sorry. I will go get you a sparkling water or a ginger ale; the bubbles will help,” she said nervously.
“Sarah,” I said.
“Yes?” she said timidly.
“Keep this to yourself,” I said.
“Of course, boss,” she said, quickly stepping out of the bathroom. Her heels clacked on the floor.
As soon as she left, I had time to think of her words. Of course I was not pregnant. That was ridiculous. It had only been 10 days or so since the first time that I had been with the commander. I didn't think symptoms would show up that fast. then I stood up straight and in a panic. Shit. That was only in thinking about a human pregnancy. This would not be a human pregnancy; this would be an alien baby. Who knew how quickly the symptoms came? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I moved to the sink and rinsed my mouth out with cold water. Then I splashed water on my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. Could it be true? Was I pregnant?
“Here, drink this,” Sarah said as she burst back in the bathroom.
I took the cold ginger ale from her hand and drank it. I had to restrain my panic for the fact that I did not know if I were pregnant or not. “Thank you, Sarah. This will help. Do you think you could order me a late lunch? I realize now that I have not really eaten anything, and that’s not good. Make it something greasy, like a cheeseburger.”
“Yes, absolutely. I’ll get right on it,” she said, walking out.
I drank the cold bubbling ginger ale, and it really did settle my stomach. It felt refreshing and cool. It helped with the nausea, but there was nothing that could help with a pregnancy.
“You’re screwed,” I whispered to myself in the mirror.
The day was long. But as soon as I walked out of the office, I went straight to the pharmacy. I bought one of each type of pregnancy test that they had. The cashier looked at me strangely, but I didn't care. I had to know. I could not exactly go to the doctor to get a test because they would probably know right away that something was weird. I would become a science project. I would let down my entire department. would be going against the very mission that I was trying to help become successful. I was supposed to help stop the Draqua from mating with human females, not become pregnant by one. I didn't know how to feel about this. I walked home with 2 bags full of pregnancy test, my emotions were a rollercoaster. Part of me was happy to be pregnant, to have a baby. The other half of me was terrified. What was I going to do with an alien baby? How could I get through this alone, and on Earth? I went from feeling happy to feeling panicked, and then happy again. As soon as I walked into my apartment, I chugged a large amount of water and waited. Then the time came. I was going to take the first test. But then my door buzzer went off. I was confused. Who the hell would be coming by?
“Hello?” I said as I pressed the intercom button.
“Heather, it’s Jason. Can I come up?” Jason said.
Jason! I had forgotten about him completely. I smiled at the fact that my life had grown so exciting in the last few weeks that I had forgotten about his selfish jerk.
“What do you want, Jason? I am kind of in the middle of something,” I said.
“I need to talk. It is important,” he said. I sighed.
“Come up,” I said annoyed.
A minute later, he was standing in my living room. He hugged me. “Heather, so good to see that you are alright.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.
“I heard that the Space Agency has been dealing with the alien invasion!” he said.
“It is not an invasion. Shouldn’t you be in the Caribbean or something, finding yourself?”
“I already went. As soon as I heard about the invasion, I knew that I had to see you. Tell me everything,” he said as he sat down, eager. I realized he wasn’t here because he cared about me but because he was curious. It was like he wanted the latest gossip of the popular clique in school or something.
“It is all top secret. Now I need you to go. I was in the middle of something,” I said.
“What? What is this?” he said as he saw the bag on the counter. He moved it, and three pregnancy tests fell out.
“Um… um…” he said backing away toward the door.
“Yes, I need to take a pregnancy test,” I said.
“I gotta go. I wish you the best,” he said as he quickly opened the door and then slammed it behind him.
“Still a jerk,” I said. I took a deep breath and locked the door. I grabbed the bag and went to the bathroom. I took the first test.
“Positive,” I said to myself as I looked at the result that said I was pregnant. “No, it is probably just a mistake.”
I moved on to the next test; it was positive. I moved on to another and another until I had gone through every single one that I had . Each test resulted in a positive result. I slumped down on the floor. I was pregnant. I had an alien baby growing inside of me. It was the baby of Commander Zoq Kane. I wanted to be happy. But I was terrified. laid down on my bed and cried myself to sleep. I had no choices here. I didn't know if he was alive. I didn't even get a chance to tell him. But why would I tell him? His entire purpose for being on Earth was to stop the mating of human females with his race and creating hybrid aliens. He would probably be very angry at me to find out that I had a hybrid growing inside of me. So I would not be able to tell him anyway. I was truly alone in this. More than I had ever been. I could confide in no one.
As I fell asleep, into a deep sleep, I had another dream, a vibrant one. I could here Zoq Kane’s voice telling me that everything was going to be fine. I could feel him near me, his warmth and the way that he smelled. I did not want to wake up from this dream. It was a comfort to me.
“Heather, I'm going to take care of you. I will keep you safe if you want me to,” I heard him whisper in my ear. “But you must wake .”
I opened my eyes. My vision was foggy at first. But then I realize that he truly was on my bed.
“Zoq!” I shouted as I threw my arms around him. “You are here! You are really here! I thought you were dead,” I said to him.
“No, not dead. I am here. But you must listen to me. I do not have a lot of time. They could be coming for me any second. Are you listening?” he said in a very serious tone. His green eyes were full of .
“I am listening,” I said.
“I stole away from the mothership. They locked me up in a prison cell. I escaped. I have to get out of here. I have the small transport outside draped in the invisibility technology. I have to leave Earth. Heather,” he said, grabbing my hand.
“Leave? But... no,” I said in a panic. I did not want him to leave. I knew that he had to or face death, but I did not want him to leave me.
“Let me finish. Will you come with me? I have come for you. Come with me,” he said. I looked at him with wide eyes. I could not believe what I was hearing.
“Leave? As in leave Earth?” I asked.
“Yes. Leave Earth, never to return. I know that it is a lot to ask. But I know that I cannot go on without you, but I cannot stay here.”
“I… but... I…” was all that I could say.
“I know that it is not a lot of time to think of it. We only have minutes. You must decide. I want you to come with me. I will keep you safe, I promise you. But I cannot stay on Earth. It is the only way for us to be together, that is, if you want to be with me?” he said.
I stared at him. I didn't know what to do. It was all happening so fast. I was pregnant. I didn't want to tell him. What if I told him and he was so angry at me that he decided he did not want me to go with him after all? None of it made sense. He was with the opposition, and yet he was here trying to get me to go with him. Where, I did not know. All these thoughts were crowding my mind. I looked at my apartment. I looked around the room. Would I miss this? It suddenly felt like home, and I had a feeling of homesickness.
“It is all right, Heather. You want to stay. I can see that. I just had to try. I couldn't leave without telling you, without trying at least. But now I know,” he said and then pulled me into his arms. He planted a hard kiss on my lips. The warmth of him rushed through me. I wanted him right then and there. My body ached for him. I pushed my hands into his long black hair. I was trying to memorize him, knowing that I would never see him again. Then he pulled away from me and stepped off of my bed. He smiled at me, that dashing grin that I had grown used to seeing every day. He turned his back to me and began to walk toward the glass French doors. was it. I was giving him up. I was going to be alone on Earth with an alien baby growing inside of me. I would never see this alien dragon shifter again, even though he had my heart. I suddenly felt very sick, lovesick, as I thought about this becoming my reality.
“Wait!” I shouted as I jumped off the bed and ran toward him.
“I have to go now. I am wasting time. The captain could come for me at any second. It won't be pretty and I don't want him to harm you,” he said.
“I will come. I am coming with you. Yes, I will come. I will leave Earth and go wherever you want me to go. I do not want to be without you,” I said, throwing my arms around him.
“Are you sure? It is what I want. But are you sure? You can never return here. You will give up your entire life here,” he said.
“What life? I have my career, yes. But that is not living,” I said. “I am coming with you,” I said as I ran back into my bedroom and picked up the bag that was on the floor from the night before. It was already packed. I grabbed my boots and walked with my bare feet out onto the terrace to him. I was still in my work outfit from the day. I was wearing a white button-up shirt tucked into a black pencil skirt and pantyhose. I had taken off my heels at the door, but I knew that I would not need heels where we were going. That's why I grabbed my boots.
“Let's go. Hurry,” he said with a giant grin. I already knew my way around the transport wel,1 having been in it several times. I put my bag down and strapped in. Then it took off, fast! Faster than before, and shot straight toward the sky. The sky in front of us was a purple black. I couldn't say anything as I watched. I was in such a panic that I could barely relax. My hands clung onto the armrest. I looked over at the commander. He was very focused as he pushed buttons and pulled on the lever to push the transport faster and straight up. He was beautiful. I knew that I had made the right decision, but it was still barely sinking in what I had really done. I looked back at the windshield, and the purple gave way to a complete blackness.
“We are out of your atmosphere,” he said calmly. It was then that I realized that we were in fact in space. In the far distance, I could see one star very far away. But for the most part, it was complete blackness.
“I did it. I really did it,” I whispered.
“Yes, you did. We did,” he said.
“I cannot believe it,” I said.
“I know this must be unusual for you. But it will get better, I promise,” he said.
“I want to see it one last time,” I said.
“See what?” he asked.
“The Earth. My home,” I said as I unbuckled my belt and walked to the back of the transport. There was a small round window, the kind that you find on a boat. I looked through it. I could see the giant blue marble of Earth. It was absolutely stunning. began to form in my eyes. Had I done the right thing? I did love Earth. I did not know if I would like wherever we were going. But what choice did I have? I was pregnant with an alien baby. The baby would not be safe on Earth. I would have to live in isolation with it if I stayed. And I wanted to be with Zoq. I stared as it shrunk from filling the entire view of the window to becoming smaller and smaller. We were getting further and further away, and I knew that there was no turning back. I watched until it was a small blue dot. Then I returned to the front of the ship.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I think so. But none of this makes sense to me. Where will we go?” I asked him.
“We will go home, to my home planet of Kelon,” he said.
“But we can’t go there! You are opposition,” I said.
“About that… I have not told you the truth about who I really am,” he said looking at me. My eyes grew wide. I did not know if what he was about to tell me would make me change the way I felt about him. If it did, then I would never forgive him. I left Earth for him. Whatever he had to tell me, he should have told me before taking me from my home planet.