Thirty Earth years.
“I asked you before but tell me what you look like.”
Like nothing you have ever seen. You’d call us monsters. Be scared of us. You’d run away.
“From such small things?”
If an invasion force had been sent, you would have stood little chance. We’d have subdued all apex predators by one means or another. There are 1.4 million of what I used to be for every human on this planet.
“And all are protectors or hunters?”
There are more. Food producers. Maintenance. Teachers. Nursery. But only protectors and others take flights into space.
“Would you have taken over people’s bodies?”
That wasn’t the plan. We’re…
“You’re what?”
Venomous. But don’t worry. I would never poison you.
Oh fuck. Fuck.Kaden felt Joe calming him, but… What if the other blobs had avoided incineration and found a way inside someone else? What if they mated? Used humans as incubators? He gulped several times, then sighed as he felt more tingles along his nerve endings.
Calm down.
“What if two got out of the container? Could they mate? Would you be able to tell if they were inside someone? Would they know you were inside me?”
I’m unsure. But I’ll protect you.
Yet again, and he was sure the thought would keep cropping up, Kaden wondered if he was insane. Was that better or worse than having an alien creature living inside him? He suspected he’d be a lot more disturbed if Joe hadn’t been continually calming him.
Plug in your laptop, then sleep. I can open your eyes when you’re unconscious.
It was like having an invisible friend. Fine as a kid. Not fine at twenty-five. Had he set something in motion that could risk the safety of the planet? Even if he had, who could he tell? What proof did he have? No one would believe him.
Anxiety surged again and he felt Joe’s calming touch. It was so weird. Every twinge he felt, every flutter of his stomach, he wondered if Joe was behind it. If he thought about it too much, imagined an alien creature wrapped around his bones, surging in his veins, exploring his skull, it made him shudder. Except when that happened, Joe intervened. Kaden knew Joe was trying to help him, but it kept freaking him out.
He tried to put himself in Joe’s position. He must be frightened too.
I am.
~~~
Joe soothed Kaden into sleep. He understood his worries. Joe had plenty of his own. Gash and Lanu had been in Harris’ hair. They must have found a way out of the tank. Joe didn’t know if they were aware that he was inside Kaden. At least they were still in Harris’ hair when he’d left.
He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing in keeping quiet about that but Kaden would worry if he knew and there was nothing either of them could do. Even so, he felt guilty. It was a strange sensation, a sort of churning that made him feel unsettled. He’d been trained to always do the right thing—at least as far as his other was concerned.Self-sacrifice. Obedience. Submission.Once he’d refused to bond as they fell to Earth, the sense of relief he’d felt had been overridden by the knowledge that he was going to die.
Except…
A human had saved him, given him a name, let him have some of his blood, which had provided so much information. He’d fed him, shown him details about his planet and Joe had repaid those kindnesses by invading Kaden’s body. In doing that, he’d risked Kaden’s life as well as his own.THISwas guilt. But there had been so much he needed to know that he’d felt he had no choice. He couldn’t have survived as ablobas Kaden had called him. Trampled on, run over, washed away, dissected… He shuddered. Joe needed a host in order to survive. He was sorry he’d hurt Kaden and grateful that Kaden seemed to be adjusting to his presence. With a little help.
He’d not thought anyone else would get out of the tank. Now he knew that two had. Were there more? Maybe the deep clean at the lab would put paid to anyone else who’d escaped. He could only hope.
Now Joe had experienced life on Earth, he wanted to live. But the human body was complicated, delicate, and he wasn’t sure he could emerge without one or both of them being injured. That was something else he shouldn’t reveal.
Kaden would have been better off if the crash landing had destroyed them all. But it hadn’t. This was a second chance for Joe and he wouldn’t waste it. Gash and Lanu were a problem for the future, but for the time being, there was nothing he could do.
He started to read. He could keep Kaden asleep and yet still use him to search on the laptop. The more he knew, the better.
