Page 5 of All You Need is Alien Love (Tentacular Tales #4)
CHAPTER TWO
Vardox strode into the Hall of High Wolfham on Gamma Stella IV, armed and ready to fight to the death for his precious captain.
His new enemy—although not for long, Vardox would see to that—Khamos Atasham, a Katnu space pirate, marched toward him, his prisoners in tow.
Vardox was secretly relieved to see Starblade appeared to be unharmed and more than a little irate. He and his crew had been taken hostage when their ship was attacked and overtaken by the Katnu.
“The time has come, Lord Vardox,” Khamos hissed. “I intend to make your death long and torturous.”
Vardox yawned widely. “Oh, pardon me. I find your blathering so boring I can hardly stay awake.”
Khamos’s normally dark green skin turned almost black with rage. “Enjoy the final sight of your human captain. Once I’ve slain you, I’ll make him my pet and remind him regularly that his fate is your fault.”
Vardox’s gaze turned icy even though his eyes glowed red.
“I suggest you enjoy your final moments breathing. Before I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for death.
” He grinned with enough malice that the Katnu pirate took an involuntary step back.
“It’s been far too long since I had the opportunity to torture someone properly. ”
There was no way Vardox would ever let harm come to his darling captain.
He was actually quite looking forward to taking out some of his rage on this pathetic Katnu space pirate.
He only hoped the fool didn’t die too fast. That would end Vardox’s fun far too soon.
No, he looked forward to the sweet music of Khamos’s screams of pain and cries of agony that he intended to forcibly rip from his throat.
— The Tentacular Tales of Captain Starblade , Ch. 161
Kai
After the best birthday weekend of my life, we’re back at Alliance Headquarters—and forced to face the harsh reality of what we’re now up against.
This morning, all our key players are gathered in our most private conference room for a strategizing session.
My father clears his throat to get everyone’s attention.
“Thank you all for being here this morning. Our fears about an invasion scenario have proven valid. The latest reports we’ve received from Intergalactic HQ indicate there’s evidence that a group of Layne Madison’s followers are mobilizing to head toward Earth as we speak. ”
“It will likely take some time for them to coordinate their attack, but we need to be prepared,” my mother adds.
Agent Catengi, who has decided to stay on with us until this matter is safely resolved, chimes in.
“My contacts at the Intergalactic Alliance are preparing a battalion to capture as many of these terrorists as possible. Our intel suggests they’ll arrive with a small fleet of larger vessels carrying support teams, but they will probably send scouting parties to the planet’s surface first.”
My dad nods, his expression dark. “As we predicted, he’s coming with a contingent of Vroknu warriors.
They’ll be the ones we need to be most prepared for.
However, most of the rest of Layne Madison’s so-called support appears to be a mix of interstellar mercenaries.
Despite his grandiose posturing, when push came to shove, none of his other political allies wanted to get near the invasion of a planet with an official Alliance outpost.”
Zamir’s nostrils flare and he crosses his arms. “No doubt my father is front and center in that group of Vroknu warriors.”
I send him a supportive look of understanding. My hearts ache for this latest news about his worthless sperm-donor of a father.
Mom interjects. “With that limited kind of backup, Layne Madison will want to focus strategic attacks on our downtown headquarters and our Valley of Fire base. If they can usurp control of those locations, then they’ll have access to our weaponry as well as our computer system’s data that they can use to their advantage. ”
My mother’s face becomes icy cold. “We can’t let that happen.”
“While Intergalactic Alliance HQ will be sending support to help us handle the larger vessels in orbit around the planet, we’re going to be taking down their front line of attack down here,” my dad adds.
“And paramount to all of this,” Agent Catengi adds, “is keeping humanity unaware of our existence while all of this is going on.”
“Wow. No pressure, eh?” Mal says, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I don’t like any of this. We have too little in the way of concrete intel,” Roxy says, biting her thumb in frustration.
“How many invaders are we looking at dealing with? Do we even have enough personnel to handle them? If they get enough feet on the ground here, we could be at a major disadvantage.”
River inhales sharply and raises his hand like he’s in class.
“Okay, I know I’m kind of channeling Sigourney Weaver’s character in the timeless classic, Galaxy Quest , and just restating what’s been said, but how the hypernova hell are we going to stop sketchy aliens from landing on Earth and trying to take it over like this is some kind of plot from Independence Day ?
” He hesitates for a moment. “On a side note, I would like to add that I could look just as good as Sigourney in that tight jumpsuit. Even if I don’t have boobs. ”
Roxy guffaws and my mom snorts.
The tension in the room goes down a notch.
I can’t hold back a grin. Even at a stressful time like this, River somehow manages to bring some levity to the situation with his geeky pop culture references.
Galactic gods, do I love him.
Agent Catengi even smiles, which is a slightly disturbing sight, particularly since the Yendrathi man rarely shows any expression.
But he and River have lately started to become friends while bonding over their mutual love for all things Star Trek .
River tells me Agent Catengi is basically a Vulcan with a hint of Betazoid mixed in thanks to his telepathic psy-enhanced parasitic symbiont, Zugo.
“I think this invasion attempt is more purposeful than that,” Catengi confides. “Layne Madison doesn’t have the support or resources for a full planetary invasion. I suspect he and his main accomplice have a more specific goal in mind.”
“Like what?” I ask, an unsettling feeling taking root in my gut.
“When I ferreted out the mole, I disrupted Adeline’s plan before she was entirely ready.
Consequently, she was forced to leave behind a lot of her experimental data from the research she’d been surreptitiously conducting on members of the Alliance for many years.
” Agent Catengi fixes me with a steady gaze.
“I believe they are coming back to reclaim it and possibly much more.”
I clench my hands tightly in my lap while I hold back my tentacles that are churning with worry. “And we still don’t know exactly what she was doing with her experiments?”
Agent Catengi shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. The files she left behind are encrypted and we haven’t been able to crack them yet. But whatever purpose she had, my years of experience are telling me she wants to retrieve the results of her many years of work instead of starting over.”
“I agree. After hiding among us for so many years, she won’t let her hard work be lost. Not without a fight,” my mom says, a frosty look in her eyes.
I know she’s been berating herself for not realizing we had a traitor in our midst for so long.
But she’s not to blame. None of us suspected Adeline, nor did anyone realize she was an Osairan in disguise, not even Roxy who’s an Osairan as well.
Their chameleon-like abilities as a species make them incredibly dangerous if they go Dark Side.
My father strokes his chin with a frown. “So, in all likelihood, if they make it past our extraplanetary defenses, we’re looking at a smaller-scale targeted assault on both Alliance locations with the goal of taking control and gaining access to that data?”
“And, like I said earlier, probably any other classified information on our servers,” Mom growls, clenching her hand into a fist.
“Indeed. There’s a lot of valuable and highly sensitive material to be mined from the Alliance outpost here on Earth.”
River heaves a huge sigh of relief. “So I don’t need to grab a cigar and my best Will Smith Ray-Bans to fight a global battle against alien baddies a la Independence Day ?”
Agent Catengi’s mouth quirks into a faint smile again.
“Layne Madison has amassed a sizable group of supporters throughout the universe, but they are spread out and not nearly as organized or unified as he would need for a planet-wide assault. Plus, Earth is an Alliance-protected planet. Even the most war-mongering of species in the universe tend to steer clear of the Intergalactic Alliance. Because of all this, Layne Madison and Adeline don’t have the resources or numbers to conquer the entire planet.
Few would. Humans procreate in far greater numbers than many other beings.
Besides, the rest of the universe is all too well aware of your trigger-happy tendencies when it comes to things like nuclear weapons.
” He shudders. “Even Layne Madison and his supporters wouldn’t want to run the risk of atomic retaliation. ”
My mom scowls and crosses her arms with a huff. “No doubt they hope to take over control of the Alliance’s outposts here and then negotiate new trade deals with various human governments.”
Agent Catengi sighs. “That is their most probable strategy.”
“Which means their first step will be eradicating all Alliance personnel currently stationed on this planet,” Dad says, his mouth set in a grim line.
“Holy fuck nuggets,” River whispers.
I reach over and take his hand in mine, squeezing tight. “We won’t let that happen.”
“What about all the creepy ‘species purity’ rhetoric these assholes espouse?” River asks. “I don’t see how this invasion relates to that.”
“Good question,” Mal mutters. “It feels like we’re being played, and I don’t like it.”