They got into the cars, the Ylians with Asa and Sera with Joely. As she put the car into gear, Joely said, “I brought your wallet with your ID, along with your passport. It’s in the glove box.”

“Thanks. You think of everything.”

“I try.”

Traffic in Mexico City was a madhouse, full of drivers who seemed to have lost bets with Death and wanted to cash out early. Sera braced herself against the dashboard as Joely and Asa careened around the moving obstacle course. She felt herself going pale at a particularly close near miss, and she wondered how Beno and Theyn were handling the ride.

“Nice Bluetooth.”

Sera touched her ear. “It’s like a universal translator. It lets me understand them when they speak their own language.

“Handy.”

They drove in silence for a long time while she concentrated on driving through the madhouse on the streets.

“Spill it,” Joely said.

She didn’t need to ask what she meant. “They’re amazing.”

“Girl! No way! You nailed both of them?”

“At the same time.”

She whistled in admiration. “I’d never get out of bed if I had that option.”

“Believe me, I kind of wish I hadn’t had to.” She shook her head. “I just don’t know what’s come over me. This isn’t the sort of thing I do. I mean, they kidnapped me, for God’s sake, and within an hour of waking up I was banging them both like there was no tomorrow.”

“Waking up? What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “When I was in Theyn’s room in the hospital, Beno thought I was going to hurt him, so he shot me with some sort of stun gun thing. Knocked me out. Apparently, they carried me out and dragged me with them as a kind of insurance.” She snorted. “Then the army showed up at the hotel, and they figured that I probably wasn’t as useful in that respect as they thought.”

Joely swerved to miss a slow truck and almost hit a motorcyclist, but she yanked the wheel at the last moment. Sera’s stomach lurched up into her throat.

“What are they going to do?” her assistant asked, steadying the car and pointing it straight down the lane again. “I mean, are you going to live with them? Help them hide in society? That’s never going to happen, with that skin and those eyes. They’re never going to blend.”

“I know.” Sera chewed on her lip. “They haven’t got a home to go back to, and there’s no way we can send them out there into space even if we wanted to. We have to find a way for them to survive here, because here is all they have.”

“What about the dig?”

She closed her eyes. “I’ll have to turn it over to Dr. Green,” she said. She hated the thought of letting her professional rival get his hands on her find, but she couldn’t just go back. “I’m pretty sure that the pyramid has been claimed by the Mexican government anyway.” 

“It’s surrounded by armed guards and they confiscated all of our artifacts,” Joely confirmed. “It sucks.”

“Big time.” She hesitated. “Have you heard from Domingo Rodriguez?”

“The suit that started this mess? No. He went missing at the same time you did.”

This could have been good news, or it could have been very bad. For Rodriguez’ sake, she hoped it was good.

Traffic ground to a halt, and Joely pulled up right behind Asa’s car. Sera could only see her Texan friend through the window. Theyn and Beno must have camouflaged themselves.  “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” She craned her neck. “Looks like a checkpoint.”

Sera groaned. “Aw, shit. What are we going to do?”

“You’d better hide. I’ll bet they’re looking for you. I hope your boys stay down and out of sight.”

Sera, Beno’s voice said. Asa says the army is checking vehicles. Will you accept our touch?

Obscene images flooded her mind immediately and she flushed in embarrassment. Tell me you didn’t see that.

I did, and I take it as a compliment. She could feel him smiling. There will be time for that later, I hope. I desire you, as well.

She smiled, too. I’ll accept your touch… whatever that means.

Suddenly, her mind and body tingled with an awareness of Theyn and Beno. She could feel them near her, surrounding her as they had when they made love. She could smell their scents, musky and faintly spicy and enough to make her mouth water. Heat flushed through her from her head to her feet, and her vision began to shimmer. She looked down at her hands and they began to fade from view.

Joely exclaimed, “What the hell?”

“Relax,” she whispered. “This is Beno and Theyn camouflaging me.” To her lovers, she thought, You are amazing.

We want to keep you safe, Theyn answered. Even his mental voice was warm and soothing. Just remember not to move or speak when they check your vehicle.

“How can they do that long distance?” Joely asked, amazed.

“We’re...sort of… connected.” Her camouflage flickered.

Shh, Beno whispered. Don’t speak.

The car inched along the roadway until it reached the roadblock. Joely wiped her sweating palms on her shorts and tugged down her tank top, revealing as much cleavage as she could. She slid her sunglasses up onto the top of her head as a Mexican soldier approached her rolled-down window.

“Hi,” she greeted brightly, sounding like a brainless coed. “What’s going on?”

He scowled and bent down, peering into the interior of the car. His shrewd dark eyes flipped over the seat where Sera was sitting beneath her lovers’ camouflage, trying not to breathe. He looked past her, or maybe even through her, before he allowed himself to be distracted by the skin that Joely was showing.

The soldier gave her a smile that was brief but friendly. Then his companion, a female soldier, barked, “Open your trunk.”

Joely sighed and popped the trunk using the button on her key fob. The trunk lid sprang open, and the soldiers sifted through the camping equipment and non-perishable foods. Finally, they closed the trunk and waved them through.

“That went better than I expected,” Joely said softly.

Sera hoped that Asa and his passengers had an equally easy passage.

***

They drove for hours, stopping once to refuel at a dirty little gas station that seemed to be rotting from the inside out. There was one pump and one attendant, who seemed to resent being awoken from his nap to take their pesos. The five travelers took their time stretching their legs and trying to relax.

Night had fallen during the long drive, and the clear sky sparkled with a thousand stars. Sera crossed her arms and looked up at the heavens, seeing the constellations differently now that she knew alien life truly existed. She shook her head in wonder.

There was a crunch in the gravel behind her, and two arms snaked around her waist, pulling her gently into a warm embrace. She could sense without looking that it was Theyn, and she put her hands over his.

“Where is it?” she asked.  “Your world, I mean.”

He took a breath. “I’m not familiar with the stars from this vantage point. The constellations are so much different than what I grew up with. Whichever star is the one you call Arcturus, then that is where my homeworld was.”

She leaned against him, and he tightened his hold. It felt so natural, so perfect, to be held by him this way. “What happened?”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “The Taluans came.”

It was clear that he thought he’d said everything that needed to be said. “What are the Taluans?”

“The Taluans are a very destructive and rapacious race from the Yuroja System. They have denuded their own world of natural resources, so they go to other planets and strip them bare. They have destroyed a dozen worlds. They came to Ylia and destroyed her.” 

His voice was thick with emotion, and she turned in his arms, embracing him. He pulled back, his hands on her waist. There were tears in his eyes, and his expression was haunted. “We were on a research station on Hido, our largest moon, when they came. We saw their harvesters appear in orbit over our world, saw the attack begin. We saw the water vanish and the land split. We saw the greenery disappear and Ylia turn dark.”

She rubbed his arm. “I’m so sorry, Theyn.”

Beno came to them at speed, rushing to his distressed partner’s side. He pressed against Theyn’s back, wrapping his arms around him as well, comforting him in his grief. Theyn was weeping openly now, and he pressed his face into Sera’s neck, one hand gripping Beno’s for dear life.

All those people, Theyn sobbed, unable to speak aloud. All that death.

Beno hugged him tighter, offering what comfort he could, and Sera stroked Theyn’s hair. He trembled in their arms.

“I’m so sorry,” she said again, at a loss for anything else to do.

They stood that way for several long minutes while the blond Ylian wept for his lost world. Joely and Asa stayed back by the car, discreetly giving the threesome their space. Beno looked over Theyns’ shoulder and into Sera’s eyes, his own expression sorrowful. She raised a hand to his cheek, and he turned to kiss her palm.

Hush now, Beno soothed his partner. Like the Phoenix, we'll rise again from these ashes.

We are the last, Theyn said, his heart broken. And we are trapped here with no way to go home, even if there was a home to go to.

We will make a new home for you here, Sera said. 

A wordless flush of gratitude reached her from Theyn, and she kissed him. Beno stroked his hair, and slowly he managed to stem the flow of his tears and regain some composure. He stepped aside and ran a hand over his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said aloud. “I didn’t mean to -”

“Don’t apologize,” Sera said. “It’s understandable. Believe me, in your shoes, I’d be worse.”

He smiled weakly, and Beno squeezed his shoulder in support. Theyn cast a grateful look to his partner, then took a deep breath. “We should continue our journey.”

He was clearly embarrassed, and Sera and Beno didn’t want to make him feel worse by pursuing the subject.  They returned to their companions and got back into the cars for another long ride.

As they drove, Beno spoke to Sera, and she could sense that Theyn was not party to the conversation. The unscheduled opening of his hibernation unit has affected his brain chemistry and made him emotional. He is very sensitive, but he normally doesn’t have breakdowns like that.

She smiled to herself. This method of conversing was very intimate, and she liked the way she could feel her lover inside her head. Are you afraid I think badly of him for grieving?

Some females might.

Not this female, she told him. I think it’s a strong man who’s not afraid of his emotions.

She could feel a twitch of surprise from Beno, and his response was, Hmm.

“Hmm?” That’s all you have to say?

She felt him smile. For now.

Before she could stop herself, thoughts and questions about the Taluans and the experiences that had left him scarred rose in her head. She felt him grow grim and quiet, but he did not close his mind to her. Instead, he let her in.

She saw his memory through his eyes, rapid images flashing in her mind as he showed her his story. She saw him as one of a squad of eight Ylians, all of them with flashing scales and glowing green eyes. They were in a metal corridor, stealthily creeping toward an open door with weapons in their hands. She was startled by a loud whine and a barrage of noise and flashes, and then she felt herself - no, not herself, Beno - falling to the floor, terrible pain in his gut. Rough hands seized him and dragged him, and she could see his squad mates lying dead in pools of glistening golden blood.

Darkness. Confusion. Pain. The emotions washed through her in short order, leaving her gasping. Then she saw Beno’s memories of waking in a cell, manacles upon his hands and feet, lasers forming the walls like the metal bars in an old-time jail cell. She saw monstrous creatures with reptilian features and huge hulking bodies standing on the other side of the laser barrier. They began to bark questions that the translator was unable to decode, and in his memory, she saw them growing angry. One of the creatures turned off the laser bars on one side of the cage and came through, grabbing her - no, she had to keep reminding herself, grabbing Beno - by the throat. He was held up and thrust back against the lasers. The sound of sizzling and terrible pain rose from his back as the alien reptile laughed in his face.

The memory shut off abruptly, and she jerked physically when it was yanked away from her. She shook her head, dazed.

I’m sorry, Beno said. It went too far. I didn’t mean for you to experience -

I’m a big girl. I can take it.

With all due respect, I’m a trained warrior, and I was unable to withstand the torture. Guilt tinged his mental voice, coloring everything with shadows. They broke me. I told them where my planet was. They didn’t even know Ilya existed until we fell into their trap.

She could see where this was going. It wasn’t your fault.

The hell it wasn’t! he snapped. She felt him take a deep, steadying breath. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to…

It’s all right. She sighed. In the driver’s seat, Joely gave her a quizzical look, but Sera shook her head and gestured for silence. Beno, they tortured you. Nobody can hold up to that.

His anxious grimness descended over him again. I was trained. I was on the special recon team. I should have been able to resist them.

How long ago was that? Before you went into hibernation, I mean. She realized that talking about the passage of time would always be a little dicey with her two aliens.

Ten years, he answered softly.

That was a long time to carry a burden like that. He saw her thought, or felt it; in any event, he addressed her concern.

We are a long-lived people. Ten years is not that long a time.

Sera couldn’t help herself. A hundred more questions rose in her mind, and she bombarded him with them without meaning to. He chuckled in her mind, and the sound and feeling of it warmed her.

We live until we’re killed. Natural death normally comes around our four hundredth year.

She raised an eyebrow. Whoa. Four hundred? I’ll be lucky if I make it to eighty.

A wave of dismay rolled from him to her before he could reel it back in and lock it down. Perhaps we can address that when the time comes.

Sera felt ridiculously happy that he was considering still being with her that far into the future. The implication of permanency thrilled her, and she was hard pressed to understand why. Normally she would be backpedaling like mad to get away from even the least talk of commitment. She didn’t understand why it was so attractive to her now.

Theyn’s voice broke in gently. I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to camouflage.

She blinked and looked ahead. The US/Mexico border was ahead. Guard shacks stood like booths on a toll road, and soldiers and officials from both countries manned them heavily. The crossing itself was over a bridge, just beyond which was a large plaza with the ubiquitous duty-free shop and currency exchanges. They were well back in a long line, even though it was the middle of the night.

She felt the tingle of camouflage surround her, and then she was invisible once more.

She watched as Asa, apparently alone in the car ahead of them, unloaded all of his good ol’ boy charm. She could see him grinning and chattering with the guards, and they shared a laugh. They waved him through after only a cursory glance at his passport, and he and his precious cargo of hidden aliens proceeded across the bridge into the United States.

Joely nosed the car forward and stopped by the guard shack. She handed her passport over to the guard, who glanced at it, then at the cleavage she had once again carefully put on display. He handed her passport back.
“Welcome home, Miss Thompson.”

She grinned broadly. “Thanks! You have a nice day, now.”

They drove after Asa, who was wasting no time getting through the border plaza and onto Texas roads.  The camouflage continued until they were well away from the border. Asa led them onto a dusty side road, one that looked to be untraveled and almost neglected. The camouflage faded away, and Sera could see Theyn and Beno reappear in the passenger seats of Asa’s vehicle.

Joely chuckled. “That is so damn cool. What does it feel like?”

Sera considered her answer, then said, “Tingly.”

“Awesome.” She smirked. “Those two boys can make me tingle any time they want.”

A wave of jealousy swept through her, and Sera muzzled it as quickly as she could. She told herself that Joely was just teasing, but she really didn’t like the idea of sharing her men. She tried not to clench her teeth and looked out the window instead.

***

They reached Asa’s ranch just before dawn. All of the travelers were exhausted, and they were more than ready to get out of the car and go to bed. Asa unlocked the door to the main house and led them inside.

“Bathrooms are down here, right through that door, and upstairs, second door to the left. There’s four bedrooms,” he said. “One’s a kid’s room, so there’s only a single bed in there. I’ll take that one.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Joely said. “You’re too big. You’d fall out. I’ll take the single.”

He smiled. “Much obliged, ma’am.”

Like a good host, he showed them to their rooms, leading Sera and her two lovers to the same room without being asked. He nodded to them before he left, shutting the door behind him.

Theyn sat on the edge of the bed, an antique with a full mattress and a dark wood headboard. Sera sat beside him and took his hand. He smiled at her, his face full of the fatigue they all were feeling, and squeezed her hand.

Beno pulled back the covers on the bed, then took off his clothes, dumping them unceremoniously in the corner. He stretched out on the left side of the bed, leaving plenty of room for his partner and his lover to join him.

They didn’t take long to accept the offer. They discarded their own clothes, soiled after being worn in desert heat for too many hours, and lay down beside him. Sera was in the middle again, lying on her side, and Theyn and Beno turned toward her. The brunet’s arm wrapped around her waist, and Theyn’s hand rested lightly on her hip. She put a hand on Beno’s chest and the other on Theyn’s thigh, and with a contented sigh, she drifted off to sleep.