United: An Alienated Novel
Table of Contents
MELISSA LANDERS
Copyright © 2016 by Melissa Landers
Cover designed by Gene Mollica
All rights reserved. By payment, you have been granted the nontransferable right to read this e-book on-screen. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including downloading, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher, Elire Publishing, LLC.
First edition, August 2016
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Landers, Melissa.
United: an Alienated novel/Melissa Landers. –First edition.
Summary: Star-crossed teenagers Aelyx and Cara must unite their people against a common enemy or face extinction.
ISBN 978-0-9970-8681-2 (EPub Edition)
ISBN 978-0-9970-8680-5 (hardback) –ISBN 0-9970-8680-7
[1. Extraterrestrial beings—Fiction. 2. Student exchange programs—Fiction. k12
3. Love—Fiction. 4. Science fiction.]
This novel is dedicated to
you
, reader.
Thank you for loving my characters as much as I do.
Chapter One
SATURDAY, MAY 20
L’eihr: The Final Frontier
Greetings, earthlings!
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you—that’s a new blog header up there. Welcome to UNITED, your exclusive source for sneak peeks into the first integrated L’eihr-Human colony. I hope you brought your sunscreen, because we’re headed to the beach, baby! You heard me. The colony is set on a lush, tropical island located on the opposite side of the planet from the main continent.
Jealous?
It’s not too late to apply for passage…
We’re looking for a few good humans to round out our first group of settlers, especially those with a background in agriculture or mechanical engineering. Your skills could help build a whole new society, and if that doesn’t get your motor running, I don’t know what will.
Remember, among the requirements for settlers are a full-scale IQ of at least 130, general wellness, and a healthy reproductive system. (Sorry. I don’t make the rules.) You can download an application online and visit your local Earth Council office for a physical examination and mental screening.
I hope to see you around.
I’ll be the one sporting a goofy smile and a perpetual sunburn.
Posted by Cara Sweeney
Cara closed her laptop, taking care to muffle the
click
so she didn’t wake Aelyx, who was snoring lightly from the bunk they shared in her ship’s quarters. He slept with one muscled arm curled beneath his head, his loose honey-brown locks hiding his eyes. As if sensing her absence, he grumbled and hugged her pillow to his chest, then gave a contented sigh and murmured something in his native language before drifting off again.
It made her smile.
In the weeks since they’d left Earth, she’d grown accustomed to sleeping in his arms, too. No matter how quietly either of them padded about the room in the morning, the other would inevitably wake within minutes. They’d become synchronized in their movements, much like the trio of moons that orbited the planet five hundred miles below their feet.
On silent tiptoes, Cara made her way to the porthole and gazed past the darkness of space to her new home. L’eihr was barely visible as a ring of light as it eclipsed the distant sun, but she could still picture it from her last visit—an orb of muted indigo dotted with thousands of tiny islands and two continents, one of which housed the entire population of their race.
Of course, that was about to change.
Once the medics were done quarantining them for Earth cooties, Cara and Aelyx would shuttle down to the colony and begin their new life together. The prospect made her heart flutter. They’d have the whole community to themselves for the first couple of weeks while she finished negotiating the colony charter. It would almost be like a vacation. And they were long overdue for some fun in the sun.
Thwarting coups and saving alliances was hard work.
“It’s too early to get up.” Aelyx’s voice was rough with sleep in a way that never failed to make her tummy do backflips. When he stretched both arms above his head, it drew her gaze to the contours of his tawny chest and his flat slab of a belly, even more scrumptious without a “button.” He yawned and murmured, “Come back to bed.”
He didn’t need to ask her twice.
Cara climbed beneath the covers and rested her cheek on the perfectly hollowed spot where his shoulder met his chest. His skin was warm, carrying with it the unique, spicy-sweet scent she’d grown to crave more than
h’ali,
the L’eihr equivalent of coffee. While he wrapped both arms around her and drew her close, she placed a palm over his heart to gauge the strength and rhythm of its beats.
“How’s the ticker?” she asked, peeking at him through her lashes.
“Strong.” He covered her hand with his and pressed down so she could feel a steady thump. “Healthy.” A wicked grin curved his mouth, and with mischief in his voice, he nuzzled her ear and added, “Ready for anything.”
Cara let her eyelids drift shut when he gently took her earlobe between his teeth. She didn’t know if she had the strength to turn him down this time. Two weeks ago, a L’eihr weapon had stopped Aelyx’s heart. It was a miracle she’d been able to get it beating again, and since then, she’d insisted on giving him a chance to recover before they played their respective v-cards.
Keeping those cards in their pockets hadn’t been easy—for either of them.
But with his lips brushing a wayward trail down the side of her neck, Cara was feeling awfully ready, too. Chills broke out across her skin in delicious contrast to the heated blood rushing through her veins. Then he bit that magical place at the top of her shoulder, and her resolve folded faster than a stadium seat.
“Are you sure?” she whispered. “I don’t want to send you back to the great beyond.”
Aelyx paused long enough to lock their gazes, sharing a brief snippet of his emotions through Silent Speech. A rush of desire flooded over her, and after that, there was no more chitchat…
Until a few moments later, when their com-spheres buzzed an alert.
“Fasha,”
Aelyx swore, raking a hand through his hair. He rolled onto his back and groaned loud enough to vibrate the pillow. “How do they always know?” He jabbed an index finger toward the unused top bunk. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a camera up there.”
Cara took a second to steady her breathing before answering the summons. Its signature frequency told her the call came from The Way—L’eihr’s governing body, which now included her as the Chief Human Consultant. Her colleagues weren’t spying. She and Aelyx simply had rotten luck.
“One of these days, we’ll catch a break.” She handed over his sphere, and together they spoke their passkeys while tugging the blanket high enough to conceal any exposed skin.
An image of the head Elder flickered to life, stooped in her miniature form atop the mattress. If Alona was surprised to see them together under the covers, she didn’t let it show. Her faded chrome eyes betrayed no emotion as she lifted two fingers in the usual L’eihr greeting and droned, “I have wonderful news.”
You’d never know it from her tone, but that was normal for the Elders. They’d practically bred the life out of themselves several generations ago. That was why they needed humans to diversify the gene pool. Cara returned the greeting and waited for her leader to continue.
“Your quarantine is complete,” Alona said. “I’ve sent a craft to shuttle you to the colony, where the head of the development panel will greet you.” She raised a brow at Cara. “I assume you remember Devinder from your former involvement on the panel?”
Cara suppressed an eye roll. She remembered him, all right. The old guy was so uptight he practically squeaked when he walked. “Yes, ma’am.”
“He is now our tenth member of The Way,” Alona said. “As the two of you are equals, I expect a greater level of collaboration between you.”
Translation: no more bickering. “Understood,” Cara told her.
“Excellent.” Alona’s lips quirked in what might have been a smile. Or indigestion. It was hard to tell with the Elders.
“What about Jaxen and Aisly?” Cara asked. The genetically altered clones had attempted to overthrow The Way, taking several lives and nearly destroying the Earth–L’eihr alliance in the process. Afterward, they’d vanished without a trace, which led Cara to believe they had more support than she’d originally thought. Maybe enough support to take them off of Earth and back to L’eihr. “Any news?”
“A few possible sightings, but nothing concrete enough to share.” Then Alona dismissed her by asking, “Do you require further assistance?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then you may depart at your leisure.” With a brief two-finger salute, Alona’s image vanished in a wisp of gray.
Cara heaved a sigh and sat up, then glanced over her shoulder at Aelyx. “We’d better hurry.” One thing she’d learned during her portion of the student exchange was
at your leisure
really meant
immediately
. Even though her position in The Way gave her more power than most citizens, she couldn’t disobey a direct order from Alona. Not without consequences.
Aelyx pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. By now, Cara knew what he was doing—reciting Earth’s periodic table of elements, probably forward and backward, judging by the pained look on his face.
As soon as he reopened his eyes, Cara latched her gaze onto his silvery irises and used Silent Speech to repeat what he’d told her weeks ago when she had needed reassurance.
Soon we’ll be in our new home—no roommates, no bunk beds, no classes. Just you and me and miles and miles of beach
.
He flashed a weary smile.
At this point, I’ll believe it when I see it
.
“Come on,” she said aloud, tugging on his wrist. “I’ll race you to the washroom.” She winked and added, “Winner gets anything they want.”
With that, Aelyx maneuvered around her and bolted for the door, then smacked the keypad and ran into the hallway. Never mind that he was clad in nothing but his boxers. For all their stoicism, L’eihrs had no modesty. Cara laughed and pulled on a clean uniform, pleased with herself for putting a spring in Aelyx’s step.
