August 25, 2052
Aimee
Governor's Ball
I thought it was pretty ironic that the first step to getting justice for Aliens, I had to go to a Governor's Ball. I had hated them back when I was sixteen. Now five years later I still despised them. I took a glass of champagne off a passing waiter taking a sip and looking at the display on the walls. "Those are decorative," Westley said as he moved to stand beside me. He looked elegant in a sharp blue suit, his collar open showing his collarbones.
"Just because they're pretty doesn't mean they aren't knives," I said. I heard Carson snort in my ear and I smiled slightly. It had been odd not working with my regular team, but Carson had been both a breath of fresh air and familiar.
"You need to keep your distance. Balthazar won't be willing to talk to me with your constant hovering." I said walking a bit away from Westley as I spoke, ignoring his immediate scowl.
"So sorry. I was just trying to watch your back." He whispered his words a caress in my ears. I smirked. "Trust me. I've never needed someone to watch my back. It's not like I'm suddenly going to disappear." I said.
I took another step and found myself in front of a marble garden statue of the likeness of Aphrodite. "I really wish I would stop tempting fate," I said with a sigh.
"Pretty brave of you to just show up here." I turned unsurprised to see the person we had come here to see. "Hallo life ruiner," I said drinking the rest of the champagne and tossing my glass away listening to it shatter with a smile on my face. Balthazar gazed at me with dark eyes. "Such a lovely picture you make." He said softly, his eyes lingering on the curves that the dress highlighted. His gaze made me want to cover myself from his eyes. I scowled, my eyes dark and in a move neither of us was aware of I had a hand on his throat and I was slamming him against one of the elaborate walls on the balcony that overlooked the ballroom, which was thankfully deserted.
"You forget Zar, I know that trick too," I said darkly. Zar looked every bit the assistant to a government official in his slate grey three-piece suit. His sharp blue eyes looked even bluer with the grey. The same deep eyes I remembered kidnapping me when I was sixteen. "Ah. Amaranthe, it is so good to see how beautiful you've become." He said smoothly.
"It's Aimee now," I said clenching my fist tighter on Zar. "I always thought Amaranthe was a mouthful." He said. "So glad you approve, you torturous snake," I said pushing him hard against the wall before I let him go, taking a step back away from him.
"And here I thought you were kidding." I froze as I heard a voice I would never forget. I took two steps away from Zar to face the newcomer. "You remember your brother, Avraham Ashdowne," Zar said, straightening his jacket as he spoke. I pressed down on my earpiece as I pulled out and extended my Bo staff.
"Carson. Be prepared you have incoming." I said, whipping my hand and making Zar disappear and reappear behind Caleb's computer chair. I heard a bit of a scuffle and Carson came back to the earpiece. "Got it."
I ripped the earpiece and faced my brother spinning the staff as I did. "Hello, little sister. Let's see if you remember how to play." He said as he pulled out a retractable spear of his own, and we both charged at each other matching each other spar for the spar. Thank god my dress had a slit.
August 25, 2052
Westley
"Where the hell did she go? And what do you mean you have Balthazar?" I nearly screeched into my comms. "Quit your screeching," Carson said. "Teleportation is a normal gift with Omegas," Carson said in my ear. "As for Aimee, she's in the ballroom, and by the sound of it, she's fighting her brother. She removed her earpiece so I think she's trying to concentrate." Carson said. "If she's fighting her brother, wouldn't we hear screams by now?" I asked as I turned the hallway into the sedate ballroom. Where guests were currently dancing the waltz.
"Upstairs. Balcony." Tori said into the comms. I glanced up and saw a swish of blue fabric. I raced upstairs. As I reached the main balcony I saw Aimee get pushed hard against one of the columns. "Avraham you bastard! Your working with Zar! Do you even know what he's done? Who he is?" Aimee asked furiously pushing the Ash-haired man away from her. "Dear Sister who do you think told him where you would be?" the man said with a sneer. I froze staring at Aimee before I glanced at the man who stood in front of her. Now that I could them both I could see the family resemblance. Same violet eyes, proud jaws, high cheekbones, both with ice-colored hair. Both with hate in their eyes as they stared at each other. "You told Zar where to find me," Aimee said quietly.
"We were greatly compensated. You see Kane needed a president he could control. Zar made sure you never looked for your family. And we rose to the presidency for Kane and his supporters. Eventually, father stopped asking about you, and I became Zar's personal ear to the president." The man said.
I watched silently as Aimee threw down her retractable staff, it rolled toward me, I watched the man look at it and glance up at me in surprise before Aimee leaped upon him making him fall on his back hard enough to crack the marble.
Her hand gripped his neck. "One thing you haven't learned from Zar is that he taught me how to cheat extremely well. I haven't been your sister in a very long time. And I don't play fair." Aimee said her eyes flashing.
"You will leave here, and go back to the party. You never saw me, but you did see Zar leave with a woman. If anyone asks, you will tell them he's otherwise occupied." She said with a sneer. "You will give me your phone unlocked," Aimee said letting go of him and taking a step back from him. The man, Avraham, took out his phone as he sat up unlocked it, and handed it to Aimee before he left the balcony.
I walked up to Aimee, she was doing something on the phone. "Why'd you let him go?" I asked. I didn't bother asking her if she was okay. I knew she wasn't.
"It would look suspicious if the president's son went missing. And for as long as I've ever known my brother, he has always put his whole life on his phone." She said simply. "At least, this way he can serve a purpose." She said, her voice was cold and calculating. The same voice she had used when she first met me and James. I pulled out my earpiece, grabbing Aimee by the crook of her elbow. "Aimee," I said when she suddenly grabbed me by the back of my neck and pushed her lips against mine. I was unprepared for my reaction to her kissing me, as I pulled her closer kissing her back with a feverish passion. She let go of me her violet eyes wide in the dark, but devoid of the pain her brother's words had given her. I wished to kiss her again but knew there was no time. "Come on," I said pulling her after me. "We have a man to interrogate."
August 26, 2052
Lena
According to a recent communication with Westley, we knew Kane was currently in DC. So we had no problem executing plan B. Infiltrating Kane's hangar and lab. We'd separated into two groups. Rion, Zia, James, and another alien named Jeremiah followed me into the hangar. While Lucy, Emma, Thane, and another alien named Rafe were attacking the lab.
We opened the hangar a crack, sneaking in at the same time that Lucy and her team invaded the lab. "Why's the hangar so dark?" Zia whispered. "Give me a sec," James whispered in the darkness. I heard shuffling which I knew was James headed towards the light mostly because I could see his flashlight lighting up the floor.
One good thing about having James with us was his knowledge of military hangars. Although I would've preferred if he had gone into the lab but I couldn't really argue with him wanting to explore an alien ship. I heard an industrial hum and the lights started to turn on section by section. The lights highlighted a ship that was all sharp angles and hard metal.
At first look, the ship was a silvery violet color that seemed to shimmer with greens and blues. I realized the color of the ship was the sheen of an oil slick. "The color of the ship might be some sort of camouflage," I said looking up at it. "It's a mirror effect when it's outside most likely," James said as he walked back to me. I glanced at him and was surprised to see him looking at me with an intrigued look.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "The resistance was made up of science officers." I pointed out. "That and you were always the top of your class," James said with a smile. I looked at the ship warily. I would've thought the ship might've been hidden or much harder to find. But that was the thing about Kane. He was that confident about not getting caught.
"This way," Jeremiah said, gesturing to the left of the ship." I walked around and saw that Zia was pressing a hand against the ship. I watched as her brows furrowed in concentration before she pushed down on a certain part of the ship I watched as a square piece of metal went down within the ship. I heard a brief hiss and a slight air pressure being released and then a ramp appeared and lowered down. I glanced at James who gave me a wide grin in before making his way up the ramp.
I gestured for Zia and Rion to go first and I looked back at Jeremiah who was looking around. "Doesn't this seem a bit too easy for you?" He asked looking at me. "No guards, or defense of any kind," I said. I nodded towards the darkened windows above us. "Security must be inside," I said. "Lucy and Thane will deal with it. Come on." Jeremiah said walking up the ramp.
The first part of a ship seemed to be a garage of some sort, I followed Zia and Rion up a set of industrial-looking stairs. Everything about the ship was silver and shiny. I walked up to an atrium of some sort that had two hallways. James was looking down at one, and Zia and Rion had already gone down the other. Jeremiah and I nodded towards the other hallway, following James down.
The hallway led to an open room that was lined on every side with rectangular objects that laid side by side on every wall. In the center of the room was a control center of some sort. James and Jeremiah went toward the control center. I walked towards one of the rectangular objects were. I went up to one and realized there was a bit of condensation on them. I wiped a hand across the rectangular box. It took me a moment to realize that there was someone behind the glass. I jumped slightly in surprise my eyes wide. As I looked at the person their eyes opened to silver eyes similar to Emily's when she was first given the serum.
"Oh my god," I said backing away. I looked around at the boxes and realized that there was Omega's in every single one. "There are people in them," I said whipping around and looking at Jeremiah who gazed at the walls with a wealth of emotion. "My people." He said looking around at them. He looked back at me, "They are pods. It's been so long that I didn't recognize them." Jeremiah said softly.
"Lena get away from them," James said sharply. I walked over to the control center but before I had taken more than two steps the whole ship jolted terribly. Making me stumble when I righted myself my eyes were blown wide and I looked up at Jeremiah and James who had both turned pale. "What the hell was that?" I said terror lacing my voice as my body filled with the coldness of fear. Jeremiah looked at James. "That was the ship's engine gearing up," Jeremiah said. "Are we moving?" I said. Jeremiah looked at me and then glanced at James before he ran full tilt out of the room. James and I glanced at each other before we followed him down the corridor.
There was a clicking sound and suddenly the PA system came online. JEREMIAH! I THINK I TOUCHED SOMETHING! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Zia's voice said. As we ran through the hallway headed to what I thought must've been the top of the ship the whole ship seemed to hum and lift. I had a bad feeling about this. "Are we flying?!" James asked as he grabbed the side of the wall. I jumped and held onto the rail, as we felt the ship rise. Jeremiah was still running holding on to the side of the ship as he did.
I looked at James who gripped the wall tighter but continued to walk through the corridor till we got into a circular domed room. That had ceiling to floor windows that showed the opening of the hangar. James looked over at one of the monitors that had lit up a curved line that had spheres interspaced throughout the line. "And that would be the navigation system coming online," James said his lips white as he spoke. "James! Lena!" Jeremiah yelled from a control panel in the center of the room. "You both need to strap in," Jeremiah said, pointing at two chairs that sat in a line, Zia and Rion already sat on two others. And Jeremiah jumped into a seat that seemed to be in a sort of dias in the center of the room. Zia cursed and looked over at Jeremiah. "I don't think you did anything. Autopilot is online." Jeremiah said looking at us. "I guess we're going home," Zia said.
August 26, 2052
Lucy
The one thing I've always liked about labs is how malleable scientists are when they have a gun pointed at their faces. "Let them go. They aren't specimens or things." Thane said. "You would throw your lot with them? They are aliens." One of the scientists said. Thane smiled and blinked showing his silver eyes. "So am I."
"And according to your master, I'm no better than one of them, seeing as I'm one of the experiments," I said as I cocked my rifle. "I'm not going to ask again," I said gesturing to the Omega's that were bound, blood being taken from them. The Scientist's scrambled to do what we said. "Lucy. I think we've got a problem." Rafe said.
"There's something going on in the hangar," Rafe said. "Emma?" I said, glancing at her as she nodded and followed me out the door. We ran down the stairs, opening the door to the hangar. "Huh. No spaceship." Emma said. I walked into the hangar looking around with dread. "Emma, look at the doors," I said. Emma looked and finally saw what I did. Something huge had smashed into the doors that hadn't been completely open. "Oh my god," Emma said, her eyes wide. I looked down and saw the unmistakable signs of some kind of vehicle that had been here before. "Where're our people?" I said looking at Emma. "Lucy?!" I turned surprised to see Aimee, and Westley appear. "Where is Lena?" Aimee asked. Westley frowned. "Where's James?"
Somewhere in Deep Space.
James looked at the windows, with a sort of awe at the flecks of light that were far away. Stars that turned to lines with the speed the ship was flying. Jeremiah and Rion were whispering slightly in a rush of panic. "Zia," Lena whispered. "What happened?"
"I was looking through the archives, I must have touched something I shouldn't have," Zia said looking embarrassed. Lena reached her hand over and Zia clasped it. "Whatever we face, we face together."