Page 23 of Eclipse Bound (Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides #7)
Chapter Fourteen
Rowan's knuckles were white against the worn leather of the jeep steering wheel as she navigated the rugged desert trail.
The vehicle bounced violently over ruts and stones, but she didn't slow down.
She couldn't. Not with Eclipse's energy stone pulsing against her chest, tucked safely in a makeshift pouch she'd fashioned from a strip of leather and hung around her neck.
"I'm coming," she whispered, as if he could hear her. "Just hold on."
The stone had changed three hours ago. After days of silence, three endless days of hopelessness, it had suddenly warmed against her skin in the predawn darkness, emanating a faint purple glow that matched the twilight color of Eclipse's true form.
That's when she knew. He was alive, and somehow, he was calling to her.
She could find him.
The desert stretched endlessly before her, red rocks and scrub brush blurring as tears pricked at her eyes. She'd left the cabin before sunrise, stealing away while Lunar was distracted and Poppy was still asleep. She'd left a note, of course. She wasn't completely reckless.
“Gone to find Eclipse. Milano has him. Don't follow. Stay hidden. I'll be back.”
She hoped it was true.
Rowan had taken Poppy’s jeep and snuck away without asking.
Lunar needed to remain hidden. Two strange aliens named Bob and Gary had picked up Solar and Dani.
The aliens had contacted them through a communication device that looked like a tiny drone, explaining that extraction had become too dangerous with Milano's increased surveillance.
They'd managed to get Solar and Dani safely aboard their ship under cover of darkness, but Eclipse's energy signature was missing from their scanners.
She hadn't mentioned how she knew where to find Eclipse.
"We'll return for the others in fourteen Earth days," Bob had told Lunar. "Once Milano gives up their hunt."
Fourteen days. Two weeks of Milano having Eclipse. It was too long. She couldn't wait. Not when she felt him. Galaxy Brides was an all but useless ally. Their extraction timelines seemed arbitrarily set. First a month. Then forty-eight hours. Now fourteen days."
The stone pulsed again, stronger this time. Rowan adjusted her course slightly, following its rhythmic response like an otherworldly compass. The closer she got, the more intensely it vibrated.
According to the tattered map she'd found in Poppy's glove compartment, she was approaching an area marked with nothing but a series of hash marks and a warning, "Gov't Land. No Trespassing."
Precisely where she'd expect a secret Milano research facility to be located.
The terrain grew increasingly rougher as she followed a barely visible track that wound between massive red rock formations. The jeep's ancient suspension groaned in protest.
"Come on, baby. Just a little farther," she coaxed the vehicle, patting its dashboard like a faithful pet.
The sun had risen, casting long shadows across the desert floor. She'd have to abandon the jeep soon and continue on foot. A vehicle this noisy would alert any security patrols long before she got close enough to do Eclipse any good.
As she rounded a bend, a massive mesa rose before her, its flat top perfect for concealing a facility. The energy stone practically hummed against her skin now, confirmation she was on the right track.
Rowan brought the jeep to a stop behind a large boulder and cut the engine. She sat for a moment in the sudden silence, listening for any signs she'd been detected. There was nothing but the whisper of desert wind and the hard beating of her heart.
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t scared. She was terrified.
Rowan checked her supplies. There was a backpack containing water, power bars, a first aid kit, binoculars, and a small toolkit she'd found in Poppy's cabin. Hardly the equipment needed for a rescue mission, but it was all she had.
A gun would have been better. Or an army.
She didn’t want to face this alone, but Eclipse needed her.
The stone pulsed again, more urgently.
"I know," she whispered. "I'm hurrying."
Rowan secured the backpack, tucked her hair under a baseball cap, and set out on foot.
The desert heat pressed down on her as she climbed the rocky slope that led toward the mesa.
Every few minutes, she paused to scan her surroundings with the binoculars, watching for security patrols and surveillance equipment.
After what felt like at least an hour into her climb, she spotted a glint of metal where there should be only stone. Rowan pressed into hiding, breathing deeply.
She redefined her path, picking a safer route.
As she drew closer, the outline of a facility emerged, partially built into the mesa itself.
Solar panels covered one section of the roof, with satellite dishes and antennas clustered nearby.
A perimeter fence surrounded the complex, with guard stations positioned at regular intervals.
Rowan found a sheltered position behind a rocky outcrop and studied the facility through her binoculars.
The main entrance appeared to be on the east side, with a checkpoint for vehicles.
Smaller personnel doors were located around the perimeter, all of which required key card access, as indicated by the scanner panels mounted beside them.
"Great," she muttered. "Just walk up and knock, I guess?"
The stone against her chest grew suddenly hot, almost painfully so. Rowan gasped and pulled it from beneath her shirt. It glowed with an intensity she hadn't seen before, pulsing in a distinct pattern that couldn't be natural.
Three short pulses. Three long. Three short again. Over and over.
"S.O.S.," she realized aloud. "Eclipse, are you... Can you hear me?"
The stone's rhythm changed immediately, as if in response to her voice. It wasn't just leading her to him. It was communicating.
Rowan closed her eyes and concentrated, wrapping her fingers around the stone. "I'm here," she whispered. "I'm coming for you. Just tell me how to get in."
The stone grew warmer, and images suddenly flashed through Rowan's mind. They were fragmented and chaotic, but recognizable.
A ventilation shaft on the facility's western side.
A service entrance with a single guard.
A schedule for patrol rotations.
"Eclipse," she gasped. "Are you showing me this?"
The stone pulsed once, and she felt more than heard the answer. Yes.
Rowan's heart raced. Somehow, Eclipse was able to communicate through their connection. The quantum harmonic convergence he'd talked about wasn't just fancy alien talk for attraction. It was a real, tangible link between them.
"Show me again," she urged. "Show me the best way in."
The images returned, clearer this time.
A service entrance on the northwest corner of the facility.
Guard changes at specific intervals.
A maintenance worker left his key card on a break room table.
Rowan committed everything to memory, then checked her watch. If Eclipse's intelligence was correct, she had forty minutes before the next guard rotation. This was her best chance to approach undetected.
She used the time to circle around to the northwest side of the facility, staying low and using the terrain for cover.
The desert had taught her patience during her months in Duskrock, and now she drew on that lesson, moving methodically, never rushing despite the urgent pull of the stone against her skin.
When she reached a position overlooking the service entrance, Rowan settled in to observe. Just as Eclipse had shown her, a single guard stood at the door, looking bored and uncomfortable in the desert heat. Every few minutes, he checked his watch as if counting down to the end of his shift.
At precisely the time Eclipse had indicated, a second guard emerged from the building to relieve the first. There was a brief exchange, a clipboard passed between them, and then the first guard disappeared back inside.
The new guard immediately pulled out his phone, attention diverted. “Hey, hon, Director Vega needs us to stay late tonight. Yeah, I know, but what the big boss wants…”
This was her window.
Rowan crept closer, using a drainage ditch that ran near the fence line for cover.
When she was within fifty yards of the entrance, she removed her backpack and left it hidden behind a rock.
She would move faster without it, and if everything went wrong, it would be waiting for her escape… assuming she made it that far.
She kept only the stone, which still pulsed with Eclipse's presence, and a small multi-tool from Poppy's kit. Not much of a weapon, but better than nothing.
Twenty yards from the fence, Rowan froze as a patrol vehicle rounded the corner of the building. She pressed herself flat against the earth, hardly daring to breathe as the vehicle passed slowly along the perimeter. Once it disappeared around the far side, she continued her approach.
The fence was her first real obstacle, with ten feet of chain link topped with razor wire. But Eclipse had shown her something else, a place where the earth had eroded beneath the fence, creating a gap just barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
Rowan found it exactly where he'd indicated, partially concealed by a clump of desert brush. She lay flat and began to wriggle beneath the fence, ignoring the sharp stones that dug into her skin and the metal links that snagged her clothing.
Halfway through, she caught the back of her shirt on the fence. The slight noise made the guard glance up from his phone. Rowan froze.
After what felt like an eternity, the guard returned his attention to his screen. Rowan carefully disentangled herself and finished squeezing through the gap.
Now inside the perimeter, she stayed low, using the scattered maintenance equipment for cover as she approached the building. The service door was just several feet away, requiring a key card she didn't have.