uninvited

chapter fiftythree

unaware

They swam for a long time. Played. The mood relaxed and peaceful. Only part of her was still fretting over what she had learned today.

She also knew his own worries were beginning to find their way to him as well. She wouldn't be happy if she had to go home and face the big bad wolves either.

That's the thing though. With everything going on she knew he was happy to be here with her. No matter what is going on she was able to make him forget for a little while and that's great, but she was the only one he could talk to and she wanted to be that for him.

Sitting on a rock nearby so that her feet could still splash in the water, she watched him trying to beat her record for holding her breath under water the longest.

Boys and their games.

"I want you to tell me the big dark secret." She said as soon as his head was above water.

After a look at her, he appeared where he had left his clothes and started getting dress. "The future queen should know but I do not want my mate to have anything else to worry about."

"You're the one who said I could do all of this. Either you believe in me or you don't."

"I believe in you, Jessalynn. More than you believe in yourself. I believe in us; I wish you could as well."

"If you don't tell me I will imagine all kinds of horrible things. Anything involving Larry, Curly, Moe and really old guy must be bad. How old is he?"

"A hundred and six."

Her mouth dropped.

"We live longer."

"No shit. I knew he was old but damn. I was thinking ninety."

"Klax is ninety-one. Birkett is forty-one and Savion sixteen." Kell sat. "The oldest on record is two hundred and two. She died during the sickness. Eirichcon______."

"Father Time?"

He smiled softly. "Yes, that is what you call him. He is the oldest at one hundred forty-seven. His mate is much younger than him. A hundred and nineteen. They've been mated since she was twelve."

"Oh, my. That's what, one hundred and seven? I can't even conceive that. And Klax's mate? Is she a sourpuss like him?"

"She is... she_____."

Jess grin and took pity on him. "No need to say more."

He watched her before he nodded. "You should know. Remember what I told you about the alien planets nearest to us that could sustain life? All of that is true but there are others. We assume there are. The universe is vast and impossible to know everything about. Since their great distance, we did not fear them. We call them Narthizans. There is no way to know where they came from. One day they just appeared. Even then we did not fear them because of our barrier. Only they were not there to fight us, they were there to annihilate us. They are the cause of the sickness. Somehow, they were able to get it into our atmosphere. We detected it right away. It is a good thing we did because there were only two hundred and two of us immune to it. It took two years for it to take effect inside of us and two years and fifteen days for the cure to administer in enough dozes that could save us. Many were lost. Lucky, for your people we never stopped working to make the cure better. We could not because we never knew if they would return or not."

"You're saying they did this to us?"

"Yes. Years before they even came to us. We know not why it took so long to affect your kind."

"Why would they do this?"

"Your planet is our only guess. From what we can detect your planet was infected over ten years ago and laid dormant all this time. Then they came for ours when they thought their disease did not work on you. For all we know they go around destroying lives for no reason. We do know this; they came back for us. They are not fighters. As soon as we engaged in battle, they ran for it. That was over a year ago. Not long after we arrived here Dezrick spotted them. They are still a good distance away, but we are positive they are headed this way."

"Please tell me, you're fucking with me."

"We have the technology to fight them and know they are coming. We are ready for them. Nothing gets through our barrier, we made sure of that. Once they realize we are here, there is a good chance they will run again."

"But without you we'd be spread out all over the place, clueless to what was going on until it was too late." She looked at him. "And if your people leave? What will that mean for us?"

"That will not happen. I will do everything I can to make sure of it."

"What if they have another virus?"

"We are prepared for that. Nothing is getting through our shields. Everything is filtered and tested. We will deal with them before they are even close enough to know we are on to them."

It was a lot to take in. She didn't know why but this news didn't scare her as much as the news that them leaving was an option. Call her stupid but she couldn't see even the four fat heads leaving them to aliens who have killed off nearly two worlds.

"Kell, did you leave people at home?"

"We did. Enough to keep the shields up and running. Enough to maintain the vegetation and wildlife."

"Smart to leave your options open."

"We did not know what awaited us. Did not know if we would be welcome anywhere."

"And if you decide to stay?"

His look made her rephrase her question. "Since you're staying, what about your planet?"

"Eventually, the rest of our people will be sent for."

She could see that he was pleased with her, but she held up her hand before she could find herself in his lap. "I have something that I want you to think about. The Narthizans, I don't want to just be safe from them. They need to pay for what they have done."

After she was dressed and everything was cleaned up, he was still doing what she had asked of him and was thinking about what she had said. Stepping up to him, she wrapped an arm around his waist. "Thank you. I mean it, Kell. It was very kind of you, and I know there is going to be a price for it. Mel has been upset ever since she realized she didn't have a picture of mom. This will mean a lot to her, so it means a lot to me."

"You mean everything to me. I will think about all you have said, and I hope I can lead in a way you can be proud of, but keep this in mind, my Jessalynn. Nothing is more important to me than your safety. That will always be my first consideration, only then will your wishes be seen to."