Callisto: Bound to the Alien Commander |18+

Chapter 22

I should have said no. Absolutely, without a doubt, I shouldn't be here.

Sitting in a large conference-like room, I am on one side of a gigantic table. Wedged between Ronan and Olexa. On the other side, eleven very angry-looking An'eo look like they would enjoy ripping my limbs off.

I haven't understood a single word since we sat down but each sentence is spoken louder and with more rage. I've picked two of my cuticles into painful open sores and I'm working on a third.

I don't want to offend anyone so I just stare at the table, trying to figure out what it's made of. It's not wood, metal, or plastic... I wonder if it can float on command or do anything other than be a table.

A particularly loud shout catches my attention, and I make the mistake of looking up. The man is gesturing to me while he yells.

Ronan stands from his chair slowly. The room grows very quiet suddenly and I'm sure everyone can hear my heart thumping in my chest. When he speaks a shiver runs down my spine. He's so calm. The kind of calm that's frightening. The kind of calm that makes a cold sweat drip down your neck. His voice is as smooth as silk, not loud or shaking, completely even.

Everyone looks afraid now. I don't have to understand the language to know that whatever he's saying is striking fear into the hearts of the very large, muscular alien gladiators sitting across from me.

"Nicole," he turns to me and holds his hand out.

With my eyes trained on the floor, I take his hand and walk between him and Olexa out of the room.

"I will find you soon," he nods to me before turning and walking briskly down the hallway.

"Come," Olexa's hand comes down onto my shoulder and she leads me in the opposite direction. "The others are outside. Santi has discovered a plant that seems to excite him greatly."

I want to ask her what the hell just happened but I ignore it. If she could tell me, I'm sure she would. Ronan will tell me later...probably.

As we walk, I notice her pace slowing significantly. I'm barely moving, typically I have to jog to keep up with their long strides. When I look up at her she's already looking at me, like she has something to say.

"Is everything alright?"

"Has my bother..." she stops, turning to face me. "Sa'nu."

"What?"

"Do you know Sa'nu?"

"Is that a person?"

"No, it is a connection. My brother has never said it?" She bends down, making herself eye to eye with me.

"I don't think so..." She's freaking me out.

She hums and stands again, walking at her usual brisk pace. She leads me out, onto a terrace much like the one off of my room. A garden surrounds it. Santi and Clarisse are sitting in the grass with large canvas bags beside them. They are sorting through whatever is inside.

"Nic!" Clarisse jumps up and points to the bags.

"Coffee!" Santi is practically screaming. "We found coffee cherries! Elite Navigator is setting up an area where we can dry them in the sun!"

"Oh my god!" I bounce on my toes.

"You are excited about this plant as well?" Olexa looks mystified as I nod.

"How long will it take until we actually have coffee to drink?"

"Well," Santi's excitement level drops. "It will take about twenty days to dry the beans, then we have to hull them, then roast them. I'm told they have a power source that will get hot enough to do it. All told, probably twenty-five days."

"Wow, that's a lot of work for a cup of coffee."

"It will be worth it. These are naturally grown Peruvian beans!" He runs his hand through the bag of red balls.

"Where did you find it?" I need to get out and explore more. I've been too busy having my insides rearranged to get a lay of the land.

"There is an area just beyond those trees," he points out. "There are coffee plants everywhere!"

"I'll have to come pick some of the cherries so I can pull my own weight! I can't drink the coffee without putting in some of the work."

"Let's dump these bags and we'll go pick more," Clarisse leads me toward an area where the sun will directly hit the beans. We spread the cherries out on the warm ground and try to explain coffee with Olexa.

Suddenly, the sun is gone. I'm cast in a dark shadow. Ronan.

"What are you doing?" His voice from behind me doesn't startle me the way it used to. He makes me feel safe now.

Turning, I look up to see him staring down at me thoughtfully.

"We're drying coffee cherries, to hull, then roast, then drink!" I explain the process smiling at Olexa.

"Bean water that makes you buzz..." She shrugs toward her brother who looks confused.

"It's..." my words catch and my spine stiffens when I notice four of the angry men from the meeting standing in the distance.

"They wish to observe humans." His explanation doesn't make me feel any better.

"Where are the rest of them?"

"They are not invited," the unmistakable irritation in his voice tells me that these are the four that never spoke during the meeting. "Come, eat."

While we were picking beans, a whole buffet was set up on the terrace. We are introduced to Elite Inspector, Secondary Navigator, Chief Originator, and Secondary Commander.

The more I stare, the more I'm sure Secondary Commander is Ronan and Olexa's brother. I'm also sure that he hates me. He has spoken Spanish with Santi and German with Clarisse but not a single word to me. He hasn't looked at me once.

My palms sweat.

As we eat Elite Inspector peppers me with questions. Some are fine but some are... inappropriate to say the least.

No matter how I phrase the answer, he still doesn't believe that I am a fully grown adult woman. I'm trying not to roll my eyes.

A gentle breeze blows across the table, and I watch as several wispy white seeds float in the air. Everything around me fades away. I'm a little girl again, blowing dandelion wishes in the garden with my mom. I follow the white tufts as they blow by. One of them lands in Ronan's hair.

Reaching up, I pull the soft fuzz that almost blends in with his silvery strands.

The shocked gasps that come from around the table have me freezing, my hand suspended in midair. I expect to turn around to see some kind of snarling alien monster waiting to attack us. When I look, there is nothing. Well, not nothing. There are several horrified faces looking at me.

Santi and Clarisse are looking back and forth between everyone trying to understand what just happened. I can't figure it out...

Everyone is staring at me so it must have been something I did but I can't think of what it could be. Looking at the little seed still in my hand, I quickly toss it. Are dandelions bad or something?

"Nicole," Olexa rises to her feet, "Santi, Clarisse, I will bring you to your quarters."

"O-OK-" I meet Ronan's eyes, hoping for something, anything to tell me that everything is fine.

"I will come to you," the small tug at the corners of his mouth tells me all I need to know. He's not mad. Whatever I did or didn't do, he and I are fine.

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