“There’s no one here,” I whispered to Raul.
He shook his head. “There is. You just can’t see them.” My skin crawled at the realization of what he was saying.
Algol. Ghost-like aliens that would take over my body given half a chance. My hand tightened on my prod. “Where?” He didn’t answer, but then, he didn’t need to; behind the plastic sheet to our right was a dark shadow outlined in blue-white light. I took a step back and raised my prod. The sheet billowed. The Algol drifted toward us.
It was vaguely similar to Raul in his alien form, in that it had longer arms and fingers than a human, but beyond that it wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. It looked more like an absence of matter, like a black hole. There was no face, no indication of gender, just a large black shape edged by light.
I wanted to scream, but found myself unable to utter a sound.
I couldn’t move, either. It was as if the damn thing had transfixed me. The outline grew brighter, making my eyes water. A black hand lifted, one finger extended.
You will come.
The voice sounded inside my head, an echoing whisper of demand that was hard to resist. It tugged at me and I wavered.
You will— Its wordless order dissolved into a scream that tore through my brain. I could move again and dropped my prod even as Raul moved forward, his weapon raised and active. White lightning crackled from the end, enveloping the Algol. It screamed again.
“I could feel it in my head!” I was on the verge of hysterics.
“I know.” Raul brought his prod down, bringing the shade to its knees. “It was going to take you, and I couldn’t let that happen.” He glanced at me. “I won’t let that happen.” My hysteria banked at the surety of his tone. I swallowed and picked up my prod, then looked at the alien at his feet. “It’s not dispersing,” I noted.
“No, I don’t believe I’ve calibrated the voltage correctly.”
“So, now what?”
“Turn on your prod and aim it at the Algol.” I had to pause, even after feeling the effect of the creature, because what Raul suggested was cold-blooded murder. Assuming this thing had blood. I looked at him.
“Raul...”
“It’s them or us, Megan,” he said, voice firm.
Observatory tour guide Megan Shaw has always had stars in her eyes, so when she all but runs down the otherworldly Raul, she barely blinks. It doesn’t hurt that Raul is hot – whether in his human form or his natural one – and that there’s an immediate mutual attraction.But Raul is on the run from his alien overlords and soon Megan finds herself fighting against a foothold situation with nothing more than a couple of cattle prods and Muse for soundtrack.
However Earth is not the only planet at risk and with his species desperate to escape generations of oppression, will Raul’s loyalties shift as easily as his physical appearance?
1 comment:
Interesting excerpt, thanks!
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