Page 23 of My Alien Angel (Supernova Casanovas #6)
Fin
Imani and Omni’s solemn looks match my own as I enter the apartment, but I barely notice, still riled from the parking lot meeting.
The government knows something is up and it’s only a matter of time before they find Omni and…
do something terrible to him. Fuck. “Houston, we have a problem,” I announce as I drop the groceries on the table.
“Yeah, we do,” Imani replies, exchanging worried glances with Omni, who hurries over to help put the groceries away. Of course, the ice cream is almost melted. Fucking Air Force.
“I just met—” I start, then Imani’s words register. “Wait, how do you know? Have they been here too?” If they know my name, I’m sure they can easily find my address, too, but Omni wouldn’t still be here if they came here, would he?
Frowning, she takes the bucket of ice cream from my hands and sets it on the table. “Who? What are you talking about?”
I grab a few spoons, and we gather round the table. Omni’s eyes flutter closed in bliss resembling his O face as he tries the ice cream for the first time. “Damn. This is good.”
“Yeah, but that’s like the only good thing I bring. Two fucking United States Air Force people just approached me in the supermarket parking lot, asking if I saw something suspicious last Sunday. They didn’t seem convinced when I told them I didn’t.”
“Fuck.” Imani rubs the bridge of her nose before scooping up a huge spoonful of ice cream. “That complicates things even further.”
“Even further?” I slide the bucket closer to me and dig in as well. I should have bought two. This conversation sounds like it will require a lot more ice cream than we have. “What happened?”
Another worried glance exchange between them has me on edge.
For the briefest moment, I contemplate if Omni made another no-strings-attached deal with Imani, but I chase the thought away, stomping on the ugly jealous monster’s head until it dies.
Neither of them would do that. Besides, they look way too serious to be concerned about sexual relations. “What happened?” I repeat.
“We tried contacting the space police,” Imani says.
“What?!” I stare at her, then at Omni. “I thought we were trying to avoid getting you arrested!”
With a sigh, Omni slides the ice cream to his side of the table. “There is not enough time. We need to save humans.”
Imani nods. “What your alien boyfriend here is trying to say is that he knows jack shit about spaceship engine construction and what kind of special radiation they supposedly give off, aside from the fact that it exists. Added to that, the fact that we literally speak different languages and think in terms of completely different science… It will take days or weeks before we can even start looking for that ship. When that became obvious, Omni got worried we’d be too late to stop the bad guys from kidnapping humans and leaving Earth, so we tried to send a message to the ships supposedly protecting Earth. ”
“B-but…” My eyes fill with tears as I look at Omni. Will I lose him even sooner than I thought I would?
“Fin,” Imani says firmly. “The important part of what I said is that we tried contacting them. Bouncing a signal through the satellites is much easier than completely reprogramming them to scan for something they’re not supposed to in a place they’re not supposed to be looking at.
The problem is, we didn’t get an answer. ”
It’s probably bad news, but I can’t help but feel relieved. “There are no ships around?”
“There are.” Omni resolutely stabs his spoon into the ice cream. “Blockade is there. They should listen. Someone made sure they do not.”
I steal the bucket from him. “Someone? Are you telling me that Garresh has a way to block transmission from Earth?”
“No.” Glaring at me, Omni tries to take the ice cream back but I don’t let go. I need all the sugar I can get. “Not Garresh. Someone on the UGC ship. Garresh has an ally who helps ship fly the blockade.”
I groan. We really don’t have enough ice cream for this.
“So, a dirty space cop, who regularly helps bad guys kidnap humans, made sure your warning got lost. We have no way to contact any good space cops, no way to find Garresh, and the Air Force is after us.” Fuck, there’s not enough ice cream in the entire world. “What do we do?”
“First, we need to make sure Omni is safe,” Imani says. “If the Air Force or any other part of our government gets their hands on him, well…”
Omni makes another attempt at stealing the bucket from me, and this time, I let him. Facing getting locked up and experimented on must be terrifying.
Clearing her throat, Imani continues, “The problem is, they might already be watching this building. They didn’t bring you in directly, so that means they don’t know for sure you were the one who found Omni in the desert, or that someone even found something there.
There must have been dozens of cars going through that part of the state during that time.
They’re probably just throwing out bait to see what bites while watching the suspects in case someone does something weird. ”
“Suspects? How am I a suspect?” I grumble.
“Infinity, you brought an alien from another planet to your damned apartment. Even I would agree that he should have been at least quarantined first. He could have brought some world-ending plague upon us.”
“I did not,” Omni protests.
“I know you didn’t, but you could have. Anyway, we need to get Omni out of here, somewhere remote where he won’t be easily found. I was thinking your parents’ cult,” Imani says with an apologetic smile.
“They’re not in a cult! They’re a New Age commune. They just sit in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a bunch of aliens to come and rescue them, while doing drugs and… Okay. They’re in a cult.” I sigh. “But yeah, they would probably worship Omni as some alien Jesus or something.”
Frowning, Omni shakes his head. “I am not important. We have to stop Garresh. Can we tell human military people about Garresh?”
“We can,” I agree, “and we absolutely will, but only once you’re safe. You’ve seen the movies, Omni. You know what humans do with captured aliens.”
He hesitates. “TV is not real,” he echoes the words I told him, what feels like ages ago.
“As a scientist,” Imani says, “I’d like to believe they would adhere to basic moral principles, but the U.S.
government is known to be ruthless even to their own citizens.
At the very least, they’d lock you up forever, and I don’t think they’d bother with asking for consent for whatever tests they’d want to run on you.
We will talk to them once you’re in a safe location. ”
Heavy weight settles in my stomach as the consequences of her words hit me. “But this plan means Omni will never be able to leave Earth.”
“He’ll be alive and safe with people who will take care of him. Maybe in time, we can figure something out, but it’s quite difficult with him being a fugitive from both human and space justice. An alien worshiping cult might just be the safest place for him.”
I know Imani is probably right, but I still don’t like it. Ultimately, the decision isn’t ours, though. “What do you think, Omni?”
Deep in thought, he shovels some ice cream into his mouth. “I am not important,” he replies eventually. “Humans are important. But I do not want someone experiment me. I can stay with Fin’s parents but you have to tell government to save humans.”
“It’s not just my parents there, you know?
It’s not like… I don’t know, it’s not like I’m bringing my boyfriend to meet my parents.
Not that I wouldn’t bring you to meet my parents if you were my boyfriend, but you’re not.
Are you? No, of course you’re not. We agreed to keep it casual.
But if you don’t leave, I… No, this is nonsense.
Why am I still talking?” With a pitying look, Imani pushes the ice cream my way.
I reach for it with my mouth clamped shut so no more word vomit comes out, careful not to meet Omni’s eyes.
“The question is,” Imani says, mercifully ignoring my embarrassing speech, “how do we safely smuggle 6ft5 alien with massive wings out of the apartment without the military noticing us?”
I’m grateful for my foresight in telling Caleb to bring the costume. At least now I have something smart to say to prove I’m not a blathering idiot. “I have a plan for that. It might get Caleb and you arrested, though.”
Imani snorts. “You’re such a treasure of a friend, Infinity. What would we do without you? Alright. Bring it on.”