United: An Alienated Novel (3 page)

Devinder pressed two fingers to the left side of her throat, and she reciprocated, careful not to hold the contact for too long and accidentally make a romantic advance toward him. She’d made that mistake before.

Welcome back
, he told her.
I’ve heard your visit to Earth was eventful
.

That’s putting it mildly
, she said.
But before we go on, do you mind if we speak aloud? I’m not very good at Silent Speech
. It wasn’t a lie—not really. She was still learning the nuances of mental communication, but that wasn’t the real reason for her request.

Devinder reflected for a moment, then scrunched his forehead. “You believe I’m so tight that I squeak when I walk? I don’t understand. What does it mean?”

That
was the reason. She couldn’t control all of her thoughts, and embarrassing snippets tended to leak out at the worst moments. Cara’s cheeks went up in flames while she searched for a response.

“And the shop you passed,” Devinder added, pointing in the direction she’d come, “is the cultural archive. Comparable to your library system.”

“That makes sense.” She grabbed the opportunity with both hands and shamelessly changed the subject. “I hope you’ll take me on a tour before the colonists arrive.”

“It would be my pleasure.” He gestured at the nearest bench. “We have much to discuss before then.”

“Can we begin with island defense?” she asked, reflexively glancing toward the ruins at the south end of the beach. “What kind of protection will we have against an invasion?”

She half expected Devinder to dismiss her as a worry-prone human, but he didn’t. Strangely, that made her feel worse. “The colony will be allotted one capital guard squadron.”

Cara felt her eyebrows rise. “That’s it? What can a dozen guards possibly do?”

“Their presence here is not intended to protect the colonists from an outside force, but to maintain order and administer Reckonings.”

“Reckonings?”
All thoughts of alien attacks vanished when Cara realized The Way intended to implement their method of justice on the colony. She’d fought vehemently against Reckonings—corporal punishment in the form of an electric lash. “I thought we agreed the
iphet
has no place here.”

“No. We agreed to suspend the death penalty.”

“But most governments on Earth don’t lash their citizens. Settlers won’t stand for it.”

Devinder splayed both hands while shaking his head. “Miss Sweeney, we’ve invited humans here to integrate with the clones, to reproduce with them. If a human colonist commits an infraction, do you believe the guilty party would prefer deportation—leaving behind their offspring—to a few moments of physical discomfort?”

“But why does it have to be one or the other? Why can’t we consider alternative disciplinary options, like work penalties?”

“Do you mean assigning harsh labor as a means of punishment?”

Cara nodded.

“But the result of that penalty is also physical discomfort,” he pointed out. “Much like the
iphet
. I fail to see the distinction.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he’d stumped her by making a halfway decent point. After a few moments, she told him, “But the settlers from Earth will respond better to labor than a lash. Can’t we at least try it?”

He pursed his lips and watched her. “All right. I suppose there’s no harm in trying your method. We can always revert to the
iphet
if necessary.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your being flexible.”

A half smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I am not incapable of compromise. You yielded on the matter of assigned occupations, so I’m happy to return the favor.”

Cara bit her tongue. She hadn’t
yielded
at all—she’d been outvoted. Now she had the delightful task of informing the colonists that they had no say in choosing their own jobs. “Has the panel discussed who’ll oversee daily life here?”

“Yes,” he said. “Alona has suggested you take a leadership role.”

“Me?” Cara’s hand flew to her chest. “What kind of role?”

“As a liaison for the human colonists.”

“Like a go-between?”

“Essentially, yes,” he told her. “Humans will come to you with their concerns, and you will present them when The Way convenes.”

“What about the clones? Who’ll represent them?”

“We propose that your
l’ihan
fill that role.”

Cara perked up. That was a great idea—the perfect way to make Aelyx feel involved in his new home. “I’ll talk to him about it. Do we know how many clones have signed up to join the community?” Most L’eihrs of Aelyx’s generation would rather drag ass over a field of rusty nails than pair off with a human.

“Not enough to form a match with each immigrant, but I’m certain that will change with time.”

“Oh, speaking of time,” Cara said. “I’d like to take a few days off, if you don’t mind.”

Devinder lowered a brow in confusion.

“For leisure,” she clarified. In the last year, she and Aelyx had survived riotous mobs, alien hybrids, and worst of all, high school on two planets. “I need a break—just a short one.”

“Of course. I often forget how much The Way has asked of you.”

With that settled, they discussed issues ranging from inoculation procedures to interspecies matchmaking strategies. By the time the conversation was over, the sun had begun to sink over the horizon. She walked Devinder to his shuttle, and after a two-fingered goodbye, used her com-sphere to contact Aelyx.

“I’m done with my meeting,” she told his miniature hologram, which appeared to be indoors. “Where are you?”

“In the living center.” He cradled a bowl between his hands and spoke with one cheek full. “I didn’t know which room was ours, so I palmed each keypad until a door opened. By the way, it’s number sixteen. Come on. I made dinner.”

Cara winced. It was no secret that she hated L’eihr food. “What’s on the menu?”

Tilting his bowl toward the sphere, he revealed a heap of buttery penne noodles that made her mouth water. “Look what I found in the dining hall pantry.”

“Imports!”

“And lucky for you, pasta is one of two meals I can cook.”

She smiled, recalling that the other was toast. “I’m on my way.”

Twenty minutes later, she groaned with satisfaction and rested a hand on her belly, which was full of starchy goodness. Not wanting to leave the comfort of the cushioned futon, she looked around for a place to rest her bowl, but came up empty.

The apartment wasn’t designed for eating. It consisted of two small rooms: a living area furnished with a futon and a data table, and their bedroom, which contained a storage bureau and two interlocking cots that made a double-size bed. The cots were designed to keep couples in close proximity while giving L’eihrs the option of sleeping apart, as they were accustomed to doing in the Aegis dorms.

And much like the Aegis, the walls were painted light gray with minimal clutter. A year ago, Cara would have found the décor barren and cold. Now the tidiness felt comforting.

“Here,” Aelyx said, reaching for the bowl. “I’ll take it.”

“No, you made dinner.” Cara retrieved his dish from the floor. “You shouldn’t have to clean up, too.” She stood and strode toward the kitchen sink before remembering there wasn’t one. Then she made a move for the bathroom that didn’t exist.

This was going to get old fast.

Aelyx grinned. “Change your mind?”

“Psh,” she scoffed. “I’m not too lazy to hoof it to the kitchen.”

In socked feet, she padded down the long hallway leading to the dining hall, grateful that at least their apartment was on the first level. Movement sensors illuminated a set of dim running lights installed along the floor. The bulbs incorrectly predicted her destination and lit a path to the nearest washroom, then recalculated when she continued straight.

It didn’t take long to reach the dining hall, its rows of parallel metallic tables and benches also modeled after the Aegis. She continued to the industrial kitchen and squinted in the darkness for the sonic purifier chute. Countless hours of sanitation detail had taught her exactly what to do. Once she found the chute, she chucked the dishes inside and returned to room sixteen.

Aelyx had moved to the floor, where he lounged in front of the data table and swiped at its glossy screen. In response, it displayed an overhead view of the island. He enlarged the image and focused on the northern tip, then spun it around so a flawless stretch of beach came into view. It was a recording from his com-sphere, so vivid that Cara could make out the shadows of a few
mahlay
dragging across the sand.

Aelyx patted the spot beside him on the floor. “I want to show you something.” When she joined him, she rested her head on his shoulder and watched the screen. “I went exploring today and found a spot you can’t reach from the trails.” He pointed past the dunes, where the landscape disappeared into darkness. “You can’t see it, but there’s a cave back there with a small freshwater pool. It’s warm and quiet. The perfect place to escape if we want to be alone.”

“We’re already alone. But you can take me there tomorrow if you want. I’m officially on vacation for the next few days.”

“Really?” Aelyx rotated to peer down at her. “We’ve got the whole island to ourselves?”

She tucked a wayward lock of hair behind his ear and inhaled the scent of sea salt emanating from his skin. She could breathe him in for hours and never tire of it. “Every last inch.”

He pulled his com-sphere from his pocket, then motioned for hers. Once he had them both, he rested them on the data table. “So we’re finally off duty.”

“What are we going to do with ourselves?”

A spark flickered behind his eyes, and he flashed a grin that set her own lips curving in response. Then his gaze dipped to her mouth and held there.

Just like that, the mood shifted.

Each of their breaths seemed amplified in the new silence, the air around them charged with anticipation. A gradual warmth unfurled inside her belly, and when Aelyx licked his lips as if tasting her there, she knew the conversation was over.

He didn’t lean down to kiss her. Instead, he tipped her chin with an index finger, slowly lifting her face toward his while burning her up with those molten silver eyes. When their lips finally met, it was a whisper of contact—just a teasing sweep that left her wanting more. Aelyx licked her upper lip, then inched back, forcing her to chase his tongue until she straddled his lap and took what she wanted.

He tasted of salted butter and pent-up need, an enticing blend that sent her pulse into overdrive. Cara couldn’t get enough of him. It was as if a void had opened up inside her, and nothing but his touch would fill the blackness. She deepened the kiss, wrapping herself around him until she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. The distant crash of ocean waves faded, and she went deaf to everything but the rush of blood in her ears. Aelyx filled her senses, claiming her mouth while his hands grasped the back of her tunic. Soon those hands released the fabric and slipped beneath, skimming the bare flesh along her spine.

Cara broke from the kiss long enough to pull off her tunic, then helped Aelyx do the same. Skin-to-skin, he settled two fingers at the base of her throat to count the frenzied beats of her heart.

“One-twenty,” he whispered against her mouth. “I think we can do better.”

He opened his mind to her for a moment, just long enough for Cara to feel an ache of desire low in his core. She knew what he wanted—and what she wanted, too.

She rested a palm over his heart, wondering if it was fully healed from the accident. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

He swallowed hard and studied her from beneath heavy lids, his chrome eyes darkening while his mouth curved in a grin. “You’re not planning to jump on my chest, are you?”

Cara matched his smile. “I’ve never done this before, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”

“Then I’m ready.” He asked her silently,
Are you? If not, we can stop
.

By way of answer, she stood up and led him into the bedroom.

They peeled off the rest of their clothes and settled on the linked cots. This wasn’t like their reunion on Earth, when they tore at each other in a rush of desperation. Now their entire future stretched out before them. They slowed things down and shared lingering kisses as if they had a lifetime to get this right.

Because they did.

Despite their inexperience, it didn’t take long for them to figure out what they were doing. He moved inside her slowly at first. There was some pain, but it was duller than Cara had expected, and mingled with an urgent sort of pleasure that drove her hips into a steady rhythm that matched the pace of her breathing.

He held her gaze the whole time, whispering
I love you
in broken L’eihr. She didn’t need the words because with each lapse of control, his sensations slipped out through Silent Speech, and in those moments, they were one person, thinking and feeling and moving in flawless synchrony. There was no distinction between his touch and hers, between his body and hers, only unified bliss. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced—unearthly and spectacular, just like Aelyx.

After, they lay together, limbs tangled, for a while, the only sound an erratic pull of breath into their lungs. She rested a hand on his chest and timed his heartbeats, which seemed strong and steady. She smiled to herself. They’d actually done it. Now that the rush was receding, she tried to pinpoint whether she felt any differently. At once she decided
yes
. There was something new at the base of her heart, as if an extra chamber had grown there, one that filled her veins with emotion instead of blood. It was hard to describe and slightly scary, because now she had more to lose than ever.

She wondered what Aelyx was thinking, and if he felt differently, too.

Aelyx had won at life.

If an
iphal
should take him again, he’d be ready, because nothing could surpass what he’d done with Cara. It had been worth every second of the wait. He only hoped she couldn’t see him grinning like a madman at the ceiling.