Planet Heist (The Dunham Archives Book 1) (21 page)

Ross and Iesleen couldn’t help but get looks of extreme surprise and amazement off their faces. I smiled almost smugly.

“I have a question.” Ross said, five minutes later when we sat in the
Condor
lounge.

“What is it?” I asked, assuming he would ask a question relating to my alien-ness.

“Why do you and Rowan and, well, all Saizians, speak English?” He asked.

“Classic question. English, like most things, wasn’t invented by humans. Millions of years ago, when the leaders of the universe decided to split off and populate their own planets, they invented a classic language that would allow inter-planetary communion.” I explained.

“Well then…why do all aliens look humanoid?” He asked, baffled.

I snorted, “
Humanoid
is a word invented by you self-centered humans so you could thing that you’re the most important thing in the universe. But, as I just explained, every single person in the galaxy came from a few beings, all of the same species. When they split off to other planets – Earth one of the newest, mind you – they simply evolved. Humans are most closely related to Saizians, which is why you look like us, minus the big eyes.”

He looked dumbfounded, “You’re one of the few life forms who knows more about the universe than I do.”

“I do what I can.”

June 25
th
1:21 am

The Condor

Late that night, after spending a few hours getting to know Ross and Iesleen, I penned out small tidbits of their information for my files, which I would re-type later on when we reached the mansion on.

Ross Michael Johnson

Ross is sixteen and a half, his birthday on December the Eighteenth. He is the middle of eleven children – six boys and five girls. His hometown is Bokchito, Bryan, Oklahoma. Both of his parents are genetic engineers at Genesis University in Kansas City. His eldest sibling, nineteen and twenty-two, are enrolled at Harvard Law School. It is clear that brains run in the family. His IQ is a whopping 241 points, the highest Earth has ever seen. He is nationally ranked in chess, memory, spelling, geography, and English national competitions. Ross is fluent in Latin and German and has studied, unlike most of Earth’s inhabitants, intergalactic cultures, including Saizian. His will is impressively strong, and with proper training he could become as strong as I in his mental capabilities. He is an extreme optimist that looks forward to every opportunity. He met Iesleen McDonnell at primary school, and they have been thick as thieves since. Iesleen calls him by his only nickname, RJ. Ross is known to have a sarcastic tendency and snarky, witty demeanor. He has a gift for thinking on his feet and using logic to figure out problems. He claims to use large words when he becomes nervous or stressed.

Iesleen Aiena McDonnell

Iesleen turned seventeen on May the twenty-third. She is one of two girls. Her older sister, Ellin, twenty-two, is her legal guardian after her parents died three years ago. She is from Bixby, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her sister is a fifth grade teacher at
Checotah Elementary. Her IQ is 145, impressive for a human teenager. What is most impressive about Iesleen is not her brain, but her brawn. She has the same body-type of myself – sleek, stealthy, dangerous. Iesleen is extremely strong due to taking boxing, karate, cheer, and fencing since she was little; she trained for the day of golden opportunity. Iesleen plays the upright bass, alto saxophone, and piano; these are only a few of her variety of talents. She is fluent in Spanish, and has no intergalactic knowledge except that which was provided by Ross. She takes ballet, jazz dance, volleyball, and still maintains a better-than-perfect 4.5 GPA. She has a very strong will and the potential to move things with her mind. She has an analytical mindset, allowing her to solve problems quickly. She is used to excessive practice and a full schedule, one of the many reasons she will be a good ally. Iesleen is known for her loyalty, always speaking her mind, providing her input, and training long and hard for her goals

As I typed the last lines of Iesleen’s paragraph, there was a knock on my temporary bedroom door, a flat sound that barely came through the door frame.

“Come in,” I said, loudly enough to be heard through the thick metal of the door. The desk I sat at was cherry wood in the center of a mostly cream bedroom. On the desk were a collection of knick-knacks I had found through the years. There was a small glass bottle filled with the sand of a volcanic beach back on my home planet, a vial of India ink from flowers in the center of Africa, and a little crystal box full of diamonds. A wrought-iron bed sat in the far right corner, a bright turquoise canopy hanging over it, creating a sweet little reprieve from the turbulence of the
Condor
. There were two matching aqua recliners with silver embroidery in front of a looming painting of a Saizian countryside.

The door squealed open – one of my biggest pet-peeves – and Ross stepped in. His blonde hair was disheveled around his head, clearly something he hadn’t looked at before he came to my room. His black rimmed glasses sat crooked on his face. I laughed a bit when I saw his Darth Vader pajamas, from a film called
Star Wars,
a popular piece of culture in the futuristic era of Earth. Everything about his appearance gave me the clear message that he had just gotten out of bed.

“What’s up?” I asked as casually as possible. He strode towards me, and I stood to greet him. His caramel eyes glittered with intuition as he looked at me.

“I’ve been up for hours now, thinking. There’s positively no way I can sleep with all these thoughts jetting around in my head.” He told me quietly, for some reason worried about waking my brother in the next room over.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked curiously.

“Nothing much. It’s just so strange how life can suddenly change. I grew up in a town with one-hundred-fifteen people. I knew the names of everyone, and everything was so familiar. And now here I am, on a spaceship to another planet with two of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. It’s crazy to think about, isn’t it?” Ross contemplated.

“It’s not crazy for me. This is just my everyday life – jetting from planet to planet, training, and,” I said, looking at my perfectly manicured nails, “keeping up appearances.”

He chuckled, “You’re awfully good at that. You now know all about me, but I still hardly know anything about
you
.”

“Well, what do you want to know? I’ve had a full life, and there’s a lot to know.” I said to him, gauging his reaction. He seemed intrigued by my somewhat mysterious answer.

“I was
actually
wondering…can you really move things with your mind? My friends and I have been debating it ever since we watched this documentary on you last year, talking about how you could break every bone in someone’s body without touching them.” He told me quickly.

I tried to avoid the question, suddenly embarrassed. That particular skill was one I preferred to keep a secret; if everyone suddenly knew it would completely obliterate the element of surprise that I was so fond of.

But it was clear he wouldn’t leave without an answer. So, I concentrated on the box of diamonds sitting on my desk, and, using my mind, thrust it toward Ross. Then, when he looked confused, I spoke, “Is that answer enough for you?”

“
You
did that?” He whispered in disbelief.

“And you could, too,” I replied, “with enough training. I’ve been practicing since I was ten, and now I can do anything from starting fires to snapping metal.”

“That’s amazing. I’m not so sure it’s actually possible for humans to do, well,
that
.” He told me, almost enviously.

“It’s possible. I’m half human, aren’t I? Everyone has different levels of psychic capacity, and both you and Iesleen show very high will power, a sure-fire sign that you’ll easily master the skills of telekinesis.” I shrugged, figuring he should already know that.

“I’m not so sure about that.” He confessed, “I don’t know if I have the…mental strength of that kind of thing.”

“We’ll find out when we get to Neolis.”

June 25
th
11:48 am

Loco, Neolis

We stepped out of the
Condor
after I had finally fallen asleep for a few hours. Bleary eyed, I was suddenly shocked awake from the cold of Saize’s sister planet, Neolis. We arrived on the top of a mountain covered in snow, glittering under the bright sun. The snow hardly ever melted here. Wind whipped my hair, tossing it around my hair and ripping it out of the clip. I couldn’t help but sigh as the black clip thundered down the snowy mountain. The sky was gray and it looked like there would be sleet.

I saw the mountain lodge, the newest of all the Dunham estates – one I hadn’t even seen yet. My mother had spent years designing the place and I would be the first to test it out. There were great glass windows set into wood so dark it was almost black. The windows were massive diagonal crosses, showing the upper four floors of the house. The house scaled up the mountain, huge, glass covered staircases stretched the space between floors. I was excited to see what my mother had been planning for this place.

We walked throughout the house, taking in each room. There was a whole floor entirely dedicated to fighting, I excitedly found out. The top floor held a room full of priceless weapons that my mother had collected through her whole life. There were two sparring rooms, one for guns and explosives, and another for hand-on-hand and simple weaponry.

On the third floor were six bedrooms, each themed to my mother’s favorite places. There were adjacent bathrooms and closets to each suit. The floor directly below had a huge kitchen, manned, just like a real lodge, by staff members at buffets. Also on that floor was a huge indoor pool and hot tub, with a waterfall that filtered the pool. It was all just how my mother would want it.

All other floors included a full size dining room, modern lounge with the amenities that would make any classic teenager swoon, a gym, and a showroom for my mother’s stolen and favorite artifacts.

June 25
th
2:30 pm

Dunham Mountain Lodge, Loco, Neolis

“I am, whether you can tell or not, extremely prepared for anything and everything the universe decides to throw at me today.” I said to Iesleen and Ross during their first training session, “Can either of you tell me why that is?”

Though I’d had only two real teachers in my life, I couldn’t help but feel like one as I lectured our new accomplices. Rowan, Ross, and Iesleen sat on one of three training mats in the large white room as I spoke.

“It’s because you’re an intergalactic badass-slash-hottie hell bent on destroying you enemies.” Ross said seriously.

I smiled, and Iesleen rolled her eyes, “Don’t be a doofus, RJ. The reason Kairee has so much respect is because she-”

“has a vast knowledge of all weapons, an IQ higher than even mine, and the cunning and wits to pull it all together.” Ross cut her off, and I grinned again.

“All true.” I replied, “But the real reason is that I’ve been trained in, well, everything since I was able to walk and talk. You two have a month to learn how to fight well enough to beat me in a fight, blend in with Saizian society, and generally get used to the lifestyle of a criminal.” I told them, “So, this is your first fighting lesson – weapons.”

I beckoned for them to stand up and follow me down the hall to the weapon rack. When we were there, I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of weapons in the lodge. There were even more than in my mansion on Saize. Ross took them in with delight, able to name some, and Iesleen gaped at all the swords and daggers with awe.

Ross was particularly determined to impress me by naming a lot of the classic Saizian weapons. Let’s just say I was underwhelmed because for every weapon he could name, there were ten that I could. There was one particular dagger-like weapon that Ross named immediately that I couldn’t.

The weapon was a beautiful silver dagger, wavy and lethal. The handle was carved with intricate spirals and whorls, mesmerizing to look at for too long. At the bottom of a hilt sat a sharp, glistening, brilliant yellow gem. It was Saize’s national gem – a sainda. But, even with all the deductions I could make from its appearance, the name of that specific weapon eluded me.

“It’s a classic cryse, the weapon of choice of Jayan Halag, the eighth Saizian Prime Minister. He was the reason they outlawed Prime Minister’s carrying weapons, because he was always attacking his enemies instead of talking to them. The people elected him due to his courage and the fact that he was a man of the people, like Andrew Jackson. He was the first Prime Minister to have a bodyguard.” Ross rambled off Saizian facts like a walking talking encyclopedia.

“Now
that’s
impressive,” I told him excitedly. It was nice to know that at least some humans, even if it was only the extreme minority of them, knew about Saizian culture.

“I know it is.” He smirked.

“So, are you two wimps ready to start training?” I asked sarcastically.

“And excited!” Iesleen piped in.