AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Paige doodled another cat in the margin of the page and yawned. She’d had enough of tedious lectures. Just one more week, one more exam, and she was out.
Professor Han droned on and on until Paige’s heavy eyelids drooped.
He stopped, midsentence. Paige jerked her head up from where her chin rested precariously close to the desk. Two men had entered the lecture theater. One she immediately recognized—the mayor of New Phoenix, Carl Nillson. She sank into her seat and shaded her bleary eyes with her hand. What the hell was he doing here?
The professor cleared his throat. “Class, we’re privileged to have the mayor with us today and his very important guest.”
Paige peeked out between her fingers.
The guest was a head taller than Nillson, which put him at over two meters. She stared, narrowing her gaze on his face. Each feature came into focus one at a time. Coal black eyes that scanned the room, smooth copper skin, and a narrow nose that twitched a little—was he amused or embarrassed by his introduction? Sitting next to her, Katie, her pint-sized roommate, giggled and turned a mottled shade of pink when he latched his eyes on her.
Slowly, he shifted from Katie to Paige. He stared and his nostrils flared slightly, then his eyes widened into dark pits. Paige gasped and covered her mouth. She slipped further down her seat and wished she could vanish. She’d recognized him and given his reaction, which although subtle was apparent, he had also remembered her.
Paige’s cheeks instantly boiled with shameful heat. Why today? Why her class? Couldn’t he have gone down the corridor and interrupted the lecture on intergalactic economics, instead of her Earth’s political studies?
“Who is he?” Katie whispered. “I mean, I can see he’s not human. Too, you know, super masculine.”
Paige shrugged. She had to pretend she didn’t know, because she couldn’t possibly explain where she’d seen him last night. “Well, obviously Vendu.”
Katie nudged Paige’s shoulder. “He keeps looking over here. Should I wave?”
“No!” Paige said, perhaps a little too sharply. She ducked her head down. Now she couldn’t see if he was still looking at her. The hairs on the back of her head stood on end. She squirmed on her plastic chair, suddenly conscious of each lingering mark on her ass.
“Senator Jamen Hosta is touring the campus today,” Nillson said gleefully, “and we would all wish to extend a warm welcome to this special envoy as he familiarizes himself with Earth’s many fine institutions.” Nillson began to applaud. The class joined in.
As the weak clapping died down, the alien visitor spoke. It was the first time she’d heard his voice. “Thank you, students. I apologize for interrupting.” A smooth voice, richly endowed with depth. Perfect English, too, with a faint trace of a unique accent. She lowered her hands, sat up a little straighter.
He continued to address the gathering with his polished words, complimenting them on their university. Paige listened mesmerized as he expressed the importance of building bridges between humans and the Vendu. Good stuff, she thought, better than the fluff that spilled out of Nillson’s mouth.
He ended the speech and the applause was more rapturous than the first time.
The bell rang. Class was over. Thank God. She collected her notepad and pen and shoved them into her shoulder bag.
Nillson’s guest was by the door shaking hands with each departing student. Paige held back as Katie hurried over to have her first handshake with a Vendu. Her fellow students, young and keen, seemed to have conveniently forgotten that this alien species had conquered Earth and stolen a whole continent. Now they were all supposed to be friends. The crowd thinned by the exit. Paige hoped Nillson and the senator would ignore her and move on.
Senator Hosta glanced in her direction. She froze to the spot. For a second, it looked like he was going to walk over to her. However, Nillson gestured to the door and cut across the professor, who was jabbering away about his pet research project—the Earth’s Defense Council.
“Let’s go, Senator.”
