The Alien Commander's Surrogate

Episode Five

Hillary

I loved to swim. I'd been one of the lucky ones, located close to beaches that the aliens had cleansed when they took temporary hold of Earth. My grandmother used to tell me about the years when the oceans and lakes had gotten so polluted and dangerous that humans had all but given up swimming in them.

My favorite was diving deep, letting the waves roll over and over, until my fingertips could reach out and I wouldn't know whether I would be touching air or sand. There was danger there, but also a thrill of fresh air or earthy substance.

But what I didn't expect was that feeling being duplicated by the enormous Trenzian pod that I'd climbed into months ago.

They'd told me I would climb in, promised that when I arrived at Trenizan I would have already delivered my contract baby. I would receive a voucher for travel back off-world and more credits to my name than I could ever attempt to use.

I would be going home.

Back to my grandmother, to the chance to give her what she'd never had before. Safety.

But none of this was right. My body ached, my muscles twitching and vibrating as I very slowly lowered my hand to my belly.

It was rounded, the skin tight and firm under the strange bodysuit that they'd put me in before I had climbed in.

"Oh my God, I'm still pregnant. Why am I still pregnant?"

The man–no, the male, who was running a scanner over my face, he looked to be some kind of medical officer. The woman at my elbow, who was quietly talking to me, looked human, her long white braids making my chest tight with thoughts of home.

"What's happening? Can you not hear me?"

"We hear you, sweetheart, let the medic do his final scans before we talk more."

My jaw snapped shut. Her quiet authority only added fuel to the jittery thoughts that plagued my mind. I wanted to scream, to shout in their faces until someone told me what was going on. I wanted them to explain the soft movement around my middle. And I wanted to know how the male in front of me was.

He was enormous, towering over my nearly five feet six inches by a clean foot. He was trenzian, I could tell by the harsh, bold features of his face. They were often handsome, and this one was no different, his purple skin stretched tight over layers and layers of muscles. I didn't expect his hair to be so different now, it looked different than the other Trenzian who was stil busy scanning me.

But I didn't care about the medic. I could not stop staring at the other, clearly a warrior, and clearly frustrated at the situation. I could see it in the rigid pull of his jaw and the heavy brow which was dropped lower over golden yellow eyes.

I wracked my sleepy brain, something plaguing me, something I should know. But then, another wave of panic slowly crept over me. It felt like a shot of adrenaline, flooding my brain with the need to run, to flee, to protect my baby.

I heaved air into my lungs, then pushed off the stretcher. My intention was to run, to find another place– any other place that I could wait and become more aware.

"Not safe,'' I whispered, just before throwing every bit of strength I could into my legs. Cupping the mound at my belly, I lunged forward, sprinting towards the brighter of the room, towards the doors that led me away from all this confusion.

I only made it a few strides before a pair of miraculously warm arms wrapped around my body. Gentle but strong, they not only stopped my panicked run, but swept me up and up until I was curled against a broad, muscular chest.

I panted there, captured, as the enclosure of those arms somehow calmed my racing thoughts and heart.

I looked up, it was that male again, the warrior and now that I was so close I could see the beautiful golden eyes up close and personal. They were flared wide, even as his hair, if you could call it that, swept over his shoulder and across my body. The weight of them was surprising. Surprising and comforting as the strands danced across my forearms.

"You are safe, little one," the male said softly, "I've got you."

***

AUTHORS NOTE: Episode updates will be more sporadic this weekend due to the holiday.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HILLARY? Do you think she's going to freak out about being pregnant? Let me know below!