Chapter 49

Lorelai

B ack in the days before Earth's Final War, travel between nations and even continents hadn't been uncommon. I knew this from stories handed down by ancestors, from books, and from the few surviving movies I'd seen. Those times had been long before me, of course. I'd grown up only imagining what it must have been like to visit a country full of foreign people speaking foreign languages.

Initially, life with the aliens hadn't changed my perception much. After all, they came to us. We didn't go to them.

Now, my life had been thoroughly rocked and here I was, utterly lost and alone. No guide. No electronic helpers to point me in the right direction. No earthly idea where to go, but with a cruel reality pressing that the fate of many hung on my shoulders, including my own.

Oddly, my saving grace turned out to be that I was a foreigner on a foreign planet. Being human, I stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of the silver-skinned, golden-eyed Asterions. And, being beaten, bloody, bruised, and with my clothing torn? I really stuck out.

I stood there briefly, my brain churning, adrenaline coursing madly through my veins, turning from side to side, trying desperately to figure out where to go, when I noticed the Asterions on the streets were bypassing me with very strange looks. A few transports slowed way, way down as they passed. It didn't take more than a minute or two before I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder. I spun.

"May I…help you?"

A tall Asterion female stood there, dressed in a practical black pantsuit, a stagger on her hip. She appeared to be a guard or a policewoman. My eyes nearly watered with tears.

"Yes," I said. "I am married to Ellax Pendorgrin, the Elder and Lead Advisor. I must get to him. Now. It's a matter of life and death."

She was so shocked to hear those words come out of my mouth that she literally took a step backwards.

"What?"

"I know it sounds crazy," I said, "but it's true. He went to a meeting off planet on the Interstellar Coalition's space ship. He left me at our home. I was kidnapped by—by one of his fellow Council members."

I was losing her. She was shaking her head. She must have figured I was insane. Or drunk.

"It's true, you must believe me!" I insisted. "I have to get to Ellax, now!"

"I know who Ellax Pendorgrin is," she replied, one hand resting on her stagger . "He has no wife. She passed away recently. The news was all over our planet. He certainly has no human wife."

"It just happened," I affirmed. "Look—"

An idea struck. Time was passing. Those goons would be after me. I couldn't stand here arguing with her.

"Take me to your station," I said, reaching out and clutching her arm. She stiffened, but didn't try to free herself. Transports buzzed by in the streets. Foot traffic surged around us. A few Asterion folks had stopped to watch this extraordinary scene with solemn expressions of surprise.

"We can call him," I offered. "Please, get me out of here. Clearly, I'm in trouble."

"I cannot call Ellax Pendorgrin," she practically gasped.

"Okay, you can't call him, but you can get me out of here. The people who did this to me…" I waved a hand down my front. "They'll be after me soon. If they find me…"

I let the sentence trail off. I didn't have to say more. Clearly, I was in a bad way. And I was terrified. If Sirena happened to show up, if she spun the right story, that I was crazy and had done this to myself, and she was trying to rescue me and get me back to Ellax, would this stranger comply and turn me over? Sirena was a powerful figure in Asterion politics, after all. Not merely in this city, but the entire damn planet. I wouldn't stand a chance.

"Please, just get me out of here," I tried one last time.

The woman's golden eyes flashed. Abruptly, she'd made up her mind. Waving her free hand, she bid the onlookers to step back.

"Come," she beckoned to me. "This way." To the bystanders, she said, "Nothing to concern yourselves with. I am taking this stranger to the station for questioning. Out of the way, please."

Thank the stars, the spectators parted, allowing us through. The Asterion pressed a button on her watch wristlet and a transport, parked a dozen feet down the sidewalk, hummed to life. She led me to it, her steps swift. The door opened, anticipating our arrival. Even as I felt relief wash over me, I heard a familiar voice behind me, one that filled me with absolute dread.

"Stop!"

I froze, half in the action of climbing into the transport.

Sirena!

"That female is not to be taken anymore," the shout continued. "She is under my authority as an Elder on the Asterion Council."

My eyes sought the stranger's. Whoever she was—a police officer, a security guard, a bodyguard—I didn't know, but Sirena undoubtedly outranked her.

I didn't dare turn and see how close my enemy was. Freedom beckoned. I was half in the damn transport! If I could just make it inside and close the door, I'd at least have a head start.

"Please," I begged the stranger. "Don't send me with her. Please. Get me away from her. She'll kill me."

The stranger's golden eyes flickered between me and the approaching Elder.

"I command you to stand down," Sirena shouted. "Do not let her escape!"

Sympathy filled the other woman's face. "I am sorry," she murmured.