Inferno by Cara Bristol

 

Chapter Nine

 

“I found these in the vestibule. I assume they’re meant for you.” Uncle Mike set a huge bouquet of red roses on the desk. He grinned. “Unless I have a secret admirer.”

“Oh my gosh!” Geneva sniffed the flowers and then removed the little card from the envelope. She recognized the name of a Coeur d’Alene florist. You mean the world to me, the card read.

She couldn’t remember the last time a man had sent her flowers.

“Anybody I know?” Uncle Mike asked.

“The man you met in the parking lot the other day.”

He arched his eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you were an item.”

“We weren’t then. It kind of happened suddenly. He helped me after my car broke down last night.” Her face heated as she remembered how they’d kissed.

“Jesus was watching over you. Have you heard anything about Wanda yet?”

“Not yet.” She shook her head. “The mechanic promised to look at her today and give me an estimate. I’m not expecting good news. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to buy a new car. The money from Trenton is coming at the right time.” Almost. It would take a couple of weeks for escrow to close.

“The good Lord provides.” Uncle Mike nodded.

Actually her ex-husband had provided, but she wouldn’t argue the point. An atheist couldn’t convince a believer there was no basis to his ideology or vice versa. “I plan to kick some tires this afternoon and figure out what I might like. Inferno is picking me up.”

“Good—I can meet him.”

“You’ve already met him.”

“That was before you started seeing him.”

She shot him a wry smile, envisioning Inferno being grilled like a high school prom date. “I’m not a teenager.” Forty loomed on the horizon.

“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t check him out and ensure his intentions are good.”

“If it will make you happy.” Uncle Mike considered himself a good judge of character, and she had to give credit where credit was due—he was rarely wrong. After the divorce, she’d learned he hadn’t liked or trusted Trenton.

His previous encounter with Inferno had been brief. During a longer meeting, would he notice Inferno’s distinctive facial features? She fingered one of the red rose petals. “Can I ask you a question? Do you believe in aliens?”

Uncle Mike chuckled. “That’s a change in subject.”

Not really.

He removed his glasses and polished them on his shirt. “You mean like the ones reportedly living near Argent?”

Exactly them. “Yeah.”

“I’ve never met any of them, but I don’t discount the possibility. It would be arrogant to assume God created only us. He created the universe, so why not life on other planets?” He donned his spectacles. “Do you believe in aliens?”

“Yes.”

Uncle Mike blinked. “Now that surprises me.”

“Why?”

“You’re such a skeptic. You require proof of everything before you’ll accept it.”

“I suppose…sometimes,” she said.

“I’m aware you don’t share my faith. That you’re an atheist.”

Her eyes rounded. He knew? How? She’d never said anything.

He chuckled. “You’re pretty transparent, sweetheart—and I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. Most of the time you don’t attend the service, and, on the rare occasion that you do, you sing the hymns, but I’ve never seen or heard you pray. You never speak of God or attribute anything in your life to him.”

Her face heated. “Me being a nonbeliever doesn’t offend you, bother you?”

“Offend me? No, never. Bother me? Of course, I wish you had accepted Jesus, but it doesn’t bother me because I have faith in God. He has a plan. It’s not a coincidence you’re working as my secretary. He hasn’t given up on you.” He winked. “Give a shout when your young man arrives.” Chuckling, he left.

Geneva reeled. She thought she’d hidden her true feelings. Uncle Mike was one of the most perceptive men she knew. She’d better warn Inferno to keep his hat on. It would be up to him to reveal himself—his secret wasn’t hers to tell. However, it wouldn’t surprise her to discover Uncle Mike had already guessed.

I thought I had everything under wraps. She shook her head. The past week had taken several unexpected turns—the visit from Trenton, a windfall, proof aliens did exist, getting closer to Inferno, and now the revelation from Uncle Mike. What else would be coming down the pike?

* * * *

“More? You’re so extravagant!” Geneva gasped.

On the church steps, Inferno peered from around a huge bouquet of daffodils, tulips, and gerbera daisies. “Meadow told me flowers were appropriate.”

She thanked him with a kiss and took the bouquet. He’d called her and relayed he would be arriving, and she’d dashed outside to meet him.

“My hover scooter is hidden around the corner.”

“I should put the flowers on my desk—although I’m running out of room!” she joked and kissed him again. “Why don’t you come inside? My uncle wishes to meet you.”

“Didn’t I meet him the other day?”

“Yeah, but that was before we got…involved.”

He grinned. “Involved. I like the sound of that.” He removed his hat as he passed through the vestibule.

“If Uncle Mike sees your horns, he’ll figure out you’re an alien. You should put the hat back on.”

“Aren’t I supposed to remove it?”

“It’s considered respectful, but it would be okay in this instance.”

“I want to be respectful, and besides, I am ’Topian. If safety is not an issue, which it isn’t with your uncle, then I am good with him knowing. I can only be what I am. I would dishonor myself to deny my people who perished in the bombardment.”

They cut through the nave to the office area. She poked her head through her uncle’s open door. Pecking at his computer with two fingers, he was putting the final touches on his Sunday sermon. “Inferno is here,” she said.

Peering over his bifocals, he widened his eyes. “Somebody’s getting a lot of flowers.”

Hugging the bouquet to her hip, she grabbed Inferno’s hand and pulled him into view. Her uncle stood up. His gaze flicked to Inferno’s horns, and then he smiled. “Hello, it’s nice to see you again. Thank you for rescuing my niece the other night.”

“I’m glad I happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Inferno replied.

She touched his arm. “I’ll put these on my desk. Back in a sec.”

She dashed to her office, scooted the roses aside, set the spring bunch next to them then darted back in time to hear her uncle demand, “So what are your intentions regarding my niece?”

“Uncle Mike!” she gasped. She hadn’t expected him to grill him for real!

“My intentions are to make her very happy,” Inferno replied.

“I like that answer.” Her uncle nodded. “So, have you been on Earth long?”

“About one of your Earth years.”

She allowed her uncle a couple of minutes leeway then jumped in to rescue Inferno. Linking her arm through the crook of his elbow, she said, “We’d better be going. We have a lot to do today.”

When they got outside, she apologized. “Whew, sorry about that. He insisted on meeting you.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Your uncle loves you and wants the best for you.”

He led her to a vacant lot then halted and glanced around.

“Did you forget where you parked the scooter?” As she recalled from her first glimpse of it before she’d passed out, it wasn’t a vehicle easily overlooked.

“Just ensuring we’re alone.” He waved, and the vehicle materialized out of thin air.

She gaped. “How did you do that?”

He revealed a small device in his palm. “Remote. We keep the scooter cloaked. It doesn’t blend well in your world.”

“No, no it wouldn’t.” There weren’t any winged rockets on the road. If spotted, the vehicle would stop traffic for sure, possibly cause an accident.

He strode to it and swung his leg over the seat. “Hop on behind me.”

“Don’t we need helmets?”

“No. You’re more protected on a hover scooter than you are in an automobile. The same technology that renders it invisible to the naked eye forms a protective field. You couldn’t fall off if you tried.”

“But can’t somebody run into us?”

He shook his head. “If it were parked, and they didn’t see it, they would hit the force field. But because it hovers, the vehicle can move up and down and sideways besides forward and back. When it’s running, its sensors detect if something gets close, and the scooter moves out of the way.”

“Okay, then!” She slid on behind him.

He pushed a button, and the air pressure changed, going heavy then much lighter. “Are we invisible now?” she guessed.

“Yep. Hang on tight.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t fall off.” She grabbed his waist.

“You can’t.” He twisted around to grin at her. “I just wanted your arms around me.”

“Well, then.” She hugged tighter.

He did something to the controls, and the hover scooter lifted off the ground. She squealed and squeezed tighter.

He chuckled. “You’re safe. Promise. But you can keep hugging me.”

The scooter pivoted and headed away, following the street, not riding on the asphalt but flying over it, by her estimate, about a foot or two off the ground. Unlike being on a motorcycle, there was no sensation of movement, no air blowing in her face. “It’s like being in a bubble.”

“That’s a good way to describe it. Where to?”

She rattled off a few auto dealerships and then said, “But let’s stop at the mechanic first. Hopefully, he’s had a chance to check out my car.”

They cruised along Main Street to the highway, veering south toward Coeur d’Alene. It offered a surreal experience to zoom by oblivious motorists. Freaky. Scary, she amended. I would sure hate this technology to fall into enemy hands.

With that disturbing scenario rattling around in her brain, her thoughts drifted to the ’Topian’s situation.

“I’m a bit surprised at how open you are about being an alien. Aren’t you worried about the Xenos? Argent residents have contact with out-of-towners who have contact with others.”

“To hide ourselves away, to never mate, would not be living. We have to balance the risk of discovery with life. The odds of being found are infinitesimally small. Chameleon did more than cover our tracks, he erased them. The Xenos have no idea where we are. We vanished into the vastness of the universe. They could spend eternity searching and never find us—and that’s assuming they’re willing to expend the effort to search for six escapees. However, you are correct in your prediction that news of our existence will travel beyond Argent to other humans. From there, it could spread to other extraterrestrials who maintain contact with their home worlds, who have alliances with other nation planets.

“Thus, we have begun contingency planning in the unlikely event the Xenos do find us. You may have heard of Edwin Mysk?”

“The tech magnate?”

“He’s ’Topian. He fled when we did, but, due to the time warp of jump space, he landed on Earth half a century ago. We’ve been working with him to develop early detection devices as well as defensive weapons.”

“That degree of preparation doesn’t sound like you think discovery is unlikely.”

“What are the chances your house will burn down?” he asked.

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t humans buy fire insurance even though they expect never to file a claim?”

“If the Xenos came, could you defeat them on your own?”

A long silence was followed by a worrisome sigh. “No. If the Xenos found us, they wouldn’t just come after us. They would scorch Earth like they did ’Topia. Beating them would require the cooperation of your Earth governments, their militaries, and their space forces.

“However, Tigre and Mysk both feel, and the rest of us concur, that involving your government prematurely would cause the catastrophe we’re trying to avoid.”

The hover scooter swerved around a slow-moving motor home and zipped by a couple of bikers on Harleys.

“How so?” She frowned.

“Your government would react in one of two ways: they would discount the threat completely or cause a worldwide panic. Either way, we ’Topians would become more famous than the Kardashians. Everyone would talk about us and debate whether the ‘alien invasion’ was real or a hoax. Interplanetary chatter would mushroom.

“Your planet’s space force is still in a fledgling state without the resources or might to fight off a Xeno invasion. Nor are we prepared yet. So until we have something concrete to offer, it’s better for us to keep quiet, lay the groundwork, and build a defense system. In the meantime, with the arrival of other extraterrestrials through the Intergalactic Dating Agency, Earth’s government gradually will be introduced to new life-forms and cultures, and, when we officially come out, they’ll be more receptive to what we tell them.”

She couldn’t argue with the reasoning, but icy fear chilled her to the bone. What they were talking about was potential annihilation!

The hover scooter pulled off the highway onto the shoulder.

“Is something wrong with the scooter? Why have we stopped?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong.” He slid off the vehicle and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Listen to me. You are safe. We are safe. The arrival of the Xenos is the most remote worst-case scenario. And if it happens at some distant future date, we’ll be ready.” He swept his arm across the sky. “Until you’ve traveled through space, you can’t comprehend the utter vastness. Earth is a mere speck in infinity.”

That reassured her but only somewhat. Earth might be a speck in infinity, but the Xenos had been here! Although it had been eons ago, if they found it once, who was to say they couldn’t find it again? But for peace of mind, she would choose to believe the Xenos wouldn’t be arriving for a long, long time, if ever.

Now that’s what I call faith. “All right.” She nodded at Inferno.

“You’re okay, then?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

As motorists zoomed by, he kissed her, the peck turning into a lingering caress that lit up all her erogenous zones. By the time he pulled away, she’d nearly forgotten all about the Xenos—at least they’d faded in importance. She smiled. “The next time I start to panic, kiss me.”

“Now that I know that works, I will.” He grinned.

* * * *

There was no out-of-the-way place to hide the hover scooter near the auto repair shop, so Inferno stayed with the vehicle while Geneva ran to check on Wanda.

“I was going to call you.” Jocko shook his head.

“How bad is it?” she asked. Jocko had been her uncle’s mechanic forever, and she trusted him to give her the truth.

“Well, it would be easier to tell you what’s right with it.”

“What’s right?”

“The FM radio works. Much as I’d like the business, the car isn’t worth fixing. You threw a piston, so it needs a new engine on top of a new head gasket. The transmission is shot. Your electrical is kaput. Basically, everything under the hood is toast. Besides that, the brakes are metal to metal, and the tires are bald…and did you realize the airbag doesn’t inflate?”

She felt chastised, like she’d neglected Wanda. Money had been tight, so she’d delayed maintenance and repairs, but she hadn’t known Wanda was suffering to this degree.

“Girly, the vehicle isn’t safe to drive, even if you could.” His censuring expression said why did you let the maintenance go so long?

If only it had lasted another couple of weeks. “It’s not drivable at all?”

“No.”

“So what should I do with it?” A tear pricked her eye. She’d had Wanda forever. It felt like a pet had died, and she’d played a role in killing her.

He handed her a business card. “This is a salvage yard. You might get a couple hundred bucks, if you’re lucky. They pick up. You can leave the car here.”

“Let’s do that, then. What do I owe you?”

He waved. “Nothing. You and your uncle have directed a lot of business my way. When you get another vehicle, and it needs work, just bring it here.”

“You bet. Thank you, Jocko.”

“You’re welcome, girly. Tell Mike I said hello.”

* * * *

Inferno straddled the scooter, watching traffic and people while Geneva completed her business with the auto mechanic. He was more than happy to chauffeur her wherever, whenever she wished to go, but he knew she preferred having her own wheels. Earth females were independent that way. So were ’Topian females. His sisters and his mother would have behaved the same way. They were dead now—like everyone else on ’Topia.

Day by day, the grief eased, but full healing would be a long time coming. Perhaps it never would, because only vanquishing the Xenos would bring complete closure, and, as he’d promised Geneva, it was unlikely the Xeno Consortium would come to Earth again.

However, if they did, the ’Topians would be ready. He, for one, relished meting out a little justice. He opened his balled fists and shot flames from his fingertips. Would he ever get over the massacre?

Geneva skipped around the corner, and both his hearts lightened. If the bombardment was the worst thing to happen to him, she was the best. She gladdened his spirit, filled him with hope, and touched his emotions in ways he’d never imagined. Geneva’s initial resistance to seeing him seemed inconsequential now. He shouldn’t have lost faith. Nothing could keep genmates apart.

He fingered the talisman around his neck. According to Mandy, rose quartz would bring love into one’s life. It had certainly done that.

He’d assumed he’d feel connected to his genmate if he met her, but he’d hadn’t expected such depth and breadth of emotion. His love flowed as gently as a meandering stream and roiled like a stormy sea. He would do anything for her, fight any battle, slay any foe.

Her uncle had quizzed him about his intentions, and Inferno had given him the complete truth. He wished to make her happy.

She slowed as she approached, pivoting her head, and he realized she couldn’t see the scooter. After checking that the coast was clear, he collapsed the force field.

She smiled wryly and hurried over. After raising the shield, he kissed her. “How did it go?”

“About as I expected. Wanda is a goner. She can’t be fixed. Jocko advised me to sell her to a junkyard for parts. I feel like I’m abandoning her. It’s not her fault I couldn’t afford to get her fixed.”

She twisted her mouth. “I shouldn’t have personified her by naming her.”

“Ships have names. Why shouldn’t cars?”

“You’re right.” Her face brightened a little.

“Where to now?” he asked.

“Car dealer.”

Geneva got behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Heat shot to his groin. Having her so close and touching him was both a pleasure and a torture. “Hang on!”

After visiting three dealerships and test-driving four cars, she walked off the lot with a shrug.

“You didn’t like that one, either?”

“The ride wasn’t that smooth.”

“None of your Earth vehicles will be as smooth as a hover scooter.” He’d ridden in the passenger seat while she’d test-driven the cars.

“Nothing I’ve seen has been right. If I’m going to pay good money for a new car, it has to be right.”

“I guess I don’t know what you’re looking for.”

She sighed. “Any of the cars would be fine—if I desired a new car. I just want Wanda! She’s old and cranky, scratched, and dented, but I love that car. Unfortunately, she’s unfixable.”

“What if she’s not?”

“Jocko was pretty clear.”

“Maybe I can fix her? Well, not me, but Edwin Mysk.”

“The tech czar isn’t going to waste his time working on a junk heap. He builds”—she fluttered her hands—“spaceships and…stuff.”

He grinned. “Well, Wanda is stuff. Maybe he can’t repair her, but what’s the harm in letting him try? If he can’t, you can still sell her to the junk dealer.”

“Isn’t he in Seattle? How would I get Wanda there? That’s a long way to tow a vehicle. It would cost a small fortune.”

“I’ll take care of the details. Why don’t you tell Jocko somebody will pick up your car?”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to try. Thank you.”

While she phoned the mechanic, he called Mysk.

“What did he say?” Geneva asked afterward.

“He’s looking forward to the challenge.”