Tori’s darkening cheeks said it all. “Let me guess. It didn’t go well.” When Cara extended a tentative hand to comfort her friend, Tori shrugged back.
“He couldn’t get away from me fast enough. He kept looking over his shoulder like he didn’t want anyone to see us talking.”
“Then he doesn’t deserve you.”
Tori’s mahogany eyes locked with Cara’s. “Or maybe he knows Aelyx is hiding something, and he thinks I’m in on it. In that case, I wouldn’t wanna be seen with me, either.”
“Not this again.” This was why she hadn’t told Tori about Aelyx’s visits to the woods or catching him in the shed. She knew Tori would spin it into something sinister. “Look, I’ve been keeping an eye on him, and he’s really not—”
“No, you look.” Tori jabbed an index finger in the air. “I won’t hang around him anymore. So think about what that means.” Without another word, she stalked off to her Prius and climbed inside.
It’s either him or me. That’s what it meant.
Cara didn’t know this stranger masquerading as Tori Chavez. A lump the size of a tennis ball rose in her throat as she watched her oldest friend speed away. They’d fought before, many times, but never like this. Cara sank onto the front porch steps and rested her chin on her knees. She’d give Tori a day or two to cool off, then call and make things right. It would be okay. She had to believe that . . . despite the sick tingles forming in her stomach.
Chapter Eleven
“Hey, come check this out.”
Aelyx watched Cara press her face to the living room window, one hand cupped above her eyes, the other sweeping aside the sheer white curtain. Early morning sunlight streamed inside, bathing her fair skin and illuminating the tiny blond hairs that sprinkled her forearm. As he approached the window, chants from the sidewalk grew louder, and he could finally make out what the protesters had been droning for the last hour: They say allies; we say ALL LIES! They say peace pact; we say EXPULSION ACT!
When Cara moved aside, he squinted against the brightness and peered across the street, where a fervent hundreds marched a circuit under police supervision, waving signs to advertise the L’eihr Expulsion Act, which would revoke his student visa if it passed. He hoped it did.
“Not that.” Cara pointed to the ground in front of the house. “That.”
Aelyx glanced down. “Losers.” Someone had bleached the word into the grass. A heavy fog settled inside his lungs. The protests had grown more violent with each day. Human paranoia hadn’t quite peaked yet, but he wouldn’t have to wait much longer. This was what he’d wanted, so why did he suddenly have to struggle to catch his breath? Why did he feel that invisible weight stooping his shoulders again?
“Crazy, huh?” Cara’s stomach rumbled and she pressed a hand over it. “I need to eat before we go.”
They’d decided to spend the weekend collecting water samples from a nature preserve in the next county. Soil samples, as well. The Elders had asked him to compile a variety for scientific analysis, though they hadn’t explained why. Regardless, he was eager to escape Patriot scrutiny and spend a tranquil day with Cara.
He followed her into the kitchen, where the smoky scent of sausage and eggs filled his nostrils. The smell of human food no longer turned his stomach, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed eating it. Wheat toast topped with a few slices of beef, already on the table for him, was the only breakfast he could tolerate.
" ’Morning, you two.” Eileen bent over the sink, her arms immersed to the elbows in sudsy water. Bill stood beside his wife, one arm wrapped around her waist while he rinsed an iron skillet with his free hand.
“’Mornin’.” Standing on tiptoe, Cara placed a brief kiss on her father’s cheek while reaching into the cabinet for a bowl.
Casual, affectionate touches seemed as natural to this family as breathing, and although the Sweeneys had gone out of their way to make him welcome, Aelyx always felt like an outsider during these moments. He sat at the table and focused on his toast.
“Hey, Dad, you think we should call Colonel Rutter? The protest’s pretty tame now, but he might want to send some guards to—”
“No!” Aelyx shouted before thinking better of it. All three Sweeneys turned to look at him. “The, uh, Elders think a military presence will cause more fear among humans. If you feel threatened, I’ll join the colonel at the nearest military facility.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it anyway,” Bill told Cara. “This is Midtown, not Manhattan. Nothing happens here.” He and Eileen returned their attention to breakfast dishes, but Cara wasn’t so easily placated. She studied him for several seconds before pouring cold cereal and milk into her bowl and joining him at the table.
When he couldn’t meet her eyes any longer, he pulled the Puppy Love game from his pocket to feed canine number twelve. And though it went against all logic, he changed the settings to allow the animal to sleep in its master’s bed. Hopefully this one would survive.
Cara glanced over his shoulder at the screen. “You’ve killed eleven puppies?”
“Clearly your game is flawed. But not to worry. I’ll master it.”
She shrugged, muttering over a bite of cereal, “Whatever you say, dog slayer.”
Cara watched a dragonfly settle delicately on the water and ride the current downstream. It zigzagged around a protruding cluster of moss-conquered green stones and coasted out of sight. She closed her eyes, skimming two fingers along the stream’s icy surface, and enjoyed the gurgling, babbling music of flowing water.
“So tell me why you need these samples,” she said.
Aelyx crouched near a patch of cracked mud. He pierced the earth with something that looked like an oversize hypodermic needle. “I’m not sure, but I think our scientists want to analyze pollutants and counter the damage.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He smirked and shook his head. “Judging by these preliminary readings, you’ve contaminated your planet quite thoroughly.”
“No, I mean why do L’eihrs care about the environment? Why do they want to help?”
“I guess for the same reason we gave you the cure. A gesture of friendship.” He turned the needle tool on its side and tapped a glossy gray information screen.
But friendship involved give and take. What did humans have to give? Besides, judging by how cold L’eihrs acted, she didn’t imagine friendship topped their priority list. She decided not to press the issue, though. If she put him on the defensive, he might not answer her other questions.
Aelyx squinted at the screen. “Did something happen here?”
“Like what?”
“Chemical spill or some other contamination?”
“I don’t think so.” She found a dry patch of gravel and sat down cross-legged. “Hey, can I ask you about something you said in the last interview?”
Aelyx dismantled the tool and reached into his bag for another needle. “Of course.” He reassembled the device and dipped it into the stream.
“Well, I’m mostly curious about life out there in other galaxies. You said your Voyagers searched for ten years to find people like us. What else did they find?”
He shook the water-filled instrument and tucked it into his bag. “If Sharon were a decent journalist, she’d have asked that.” He climbed the riverbank and sat on the gravel beside her. “Exploring the universe for living beings is harder than you could possibly imagine.”
“But your ships are so fast. Didn’t L’eihr just send a bunch of them in every direction?”
“It’s not that simple.” Aelyx picked up a fallen branch and snapped it in half. He used the pointed edge to draw a large circle in the mud. “I want you to imagine this circle as a tiny fraction of our universe. The universe itself would take up all the land around us, as far as the eye can see. You with me so far?”