Page 116 of Stardusted

When he stayed quiet too long, I rolled my eyes and gave an exasperated growl. “Come on, Sky. You can’t drop bombshells like ‘you’re not alone in the universe’ and then give me nothing?—”

“The Enil use the sun’s energy,” he interrupted, exhaling through his nose. He grabbed one of the soft drinks and slurped it loudly enough to make me blink. Swallowing, he studied the Styrofoam cup. “They use solar energy to recharge their engine power cells. So yes, your sun’s energy is fluctuating because of their interference, but that’s not the whole truth.”

I waited, brows high.

He rattled the ice in his drink. A silent battle of wills commenced until he relented with his own eye roll. “Fine. Yes. As you’ve probably guessed, most of the unexplained things happening lately are connected to the Enil. They use a world’s existing resources—technology, in Earth’s case—to create their suits. The robot, as you called it.” He leaned forward to set the cup down. “Their ships also absorb ambient electricity. That’s what’s been disrupting your power grids.”

Power grids. Phone batteries.Carbatteries.

It’d been aliens. This whole time. I swallowed hard. “So itwasone big conspiracy.”

Sky pursed his lips but didn’t say anything further as he reached for an egg roll and crunched into it. It took me a few heartbeats to organize my thoughts.

An actual conspiracy. An alien invasion—infiltration—had been happening this whole time.

The vlogs were right. Kelly’s stupid reels, too.

When Sky swallowed his bite, I decided to push my luck. “If the Enil use a planet’s resources to create those suits, they’d look…different on different planets?”

That one, he didn’t seem against answering. Expression clouding, he nodded. “Which is why no two look the same here, either.”

I’d only had the pleasure of seeing one so far. Hopefully my luck held. “If the robot body is just a suit, what do the Enil actually look like?”

Sky paused mid-chew, eyes darting my way. When his jaw began to work again, it was more slowly. I waited. He took his time, like he was putting together his answer.

“Even the Pladians…don’t really know,” he said haltingly, after a moment. “Sending biological forms into deep space at the speeds necessary to travel those kinds of distances…well, it’s difficult.” He hefted the rest of his egg roll, examining it. “The Enil found a workaround. They don’t send bodies. Just minds. Programmed consciousnesses, transferred from their scout ships into the mechanical suits they create after landing.” He lifted his eyes to mine.

I gawked at him. “So then that means…”

He nodded once, slowly. “Yeah. The suit doesn’t have a body in it. Just a mind. That’s what I meant by I hadn’t technically killed that Enil in the lab.” He polished off the rest of the appetizer and brushed crumbs from his fingertips, speaking around the mouthful. “There’s only a programmed consciousness inside.”

“If that’s not how the Pladians do it, how?—”

“I’m really not supposed to tell you any of that, Rae,” Sky interrupted, mouth twisting. Something like a plea softened his voice. “I’ve taken an oath.”

“Who am I going to tell? The government?” I waved my marked palm. “They’d probably lock me up too, considering this.”

“That’s not the point…” He looked away. His posture had stiffened, shoulders tightening.

I’d reached his limit, it seemed. Okay, so no discussing his people. Got it.

“Fine. Something safe then.” When he didn’t protest, just eyed me sidelong—warily—I leaned in, unable to stop my eager tone. “What’s space like? You said you were born there, right?”

“I was.” He eased back into the couch, seeming to mull it over.

Probably deciding if telling me broke any of his rules. I held my breath.

Sighing, he turned his head. He wore a faint smirk. “I should’ve known you’d have a million questions.”

I pursed my lips, adjusting my grip on the chopsticks. “Sky, you’re an alien.Anybodywould have a million questions.”

“Not everyone would handle it this well, though,” he murmured, canting his head and examining me. “Why haven’t you freaked out?”

“Oh, trust me.” I scoffed. “Been there. Done that.” I sent a pointed look at the very large, very empty bottle of wine. “At least you didn’t have a robot form. That was a concern.”

“Wait.” He raised his eyebrows. “A robot form? You thoughtIwas an Enil? That’s what you meant earlier?”

I flushed a little, then made a face. “I wasn’t expecting Earth to be teeming with alien life. UFOs, robots—then my bartender cr—um, coworker turns out to be an alien?” I picked at my rice and willed my blush to die down. “Can you blame me for jumping to conclusions?”