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I surveyed the training yard. Blunt weapons and practice blaster pistols adorned the walls. There were even ancient wooden weapons at the opposite end. I’d seen too many horror movies to feel comfortable in a secluded place like this.
“Hello?” I said. “Is anyone there?”
The Changelings could come out at any moment and scare me to death. So, I placed a hand preemptively over my mouth to block the “Eek!” that would explode from my lips.
There was little else I could say that wouldn’t give away the reason I was there—just in case the Changelings had left and they’d been caught or replaced by guards.
“About time you showed up,” a craggy voice said.
I spun around and caught the “Eek!” in my hands.
Not George Clooney melted from the shadows. I still had little idea of what these creatures were capable of. Could they only morph into man-shaped beings? Or could they adopt the guise of other shapes and objects too?
“You were meant to be here an hour ago,” Not George Clooney said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was asleep.”
He eyed me uncertainly.
“I turned the buzzer off so it wouldn’t get anyone’s attention,” I said. “A cleaner or one of the guards. If they found it…”
The game would be up. Then what would happen to me? For the first time since I’d arrived on the moon, the thought of getting caught terrified me more than anything these creatures could do to me. They might rip me to pieces or lock me in a pod and blast me into space, but at least my heart wouldn’t be broken.
That’s when I realized how close I now was with Kal. When death was less scary than the thought of disappointing him, I knew I must have deeper feelings for him than I realized.
I regretted coming out to the training yard, regretted beginning this whole mission in the first place.
Except, that wasn’t true, was it? I didn’t regret meeting Kal. He was the best thing that’d happened to me since… well, since forever.
Images of the night we spent together flashed through my mind and a hot flush tore across my face and cheeks. I was glad it was dark in there and the red tint of the giant host planet helped mask me.
“No matter,” Not George Clooney said. “I’ve received word from command you have achieved part of your mission.”
I nodded.
“Yes,” I said. “I inserted the device into his computer. You know, it would have been useful to know what a computer looks like down here. I almost didn’t make the deadline.”
“It is a regular computer,” Not George Clooney said, waving a hand dismissively, “the same as any other unit on a multitude of planets and moons.”
“Not on my planet or moon,” I said indignantly. “And I was the one that had to plant the damn thing.”
To them, it might be normal. To me, it’d been a shock.
“When will you take me and my friends home?” I said.
I rode the giddy excitement like a wild stallion. Go home. I couldn’t wait.
“Not yet,” Not George Clooney said. “We’ve hit a snag.”
“A snag? I don’t care about any of your snags,” I said, my voice growing louder and more shrill.
The Changeling glanced at the walls and hissed for me to be quiet.
“You told me I could go home once I did this mission,” I said. “I’ve done it. Now I want what you promised me. To go home.”
The creature placed a hand over my mouth.
“Sh!” he hissed. “Do you want to bring them down on us?”
