“No, no, don’t tell me; I’ll figure it out.” She snapped her fingers. “Jimmy! It had to be Jimmy.” No response.
“Well, don’t worry about it, I’ll get it soon enough.”
Relieved, she walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. Jeez, he was big. He looked down, watching her through veiled eyes.
“So, are you going to the convention? I can hardly wait. The program looks awesome and—”
She stopped in mid sentence because now she was close enough to see that there was definitely something strange about his eyes. Framed in a thick, beautiful fringe of black lashes, they were lavender. Not violet, not blue. No, more like the color of French lilacs in spring…
She swallowed. No human ever had eyes like that.
No human…
She shook her head. This was stupid. He was obviously wearing contacts. She peeked up at him. They didn’t look like contacts. Of course they were. What was she thinking, that he was an alien for God’s sake!
“What flight are you taking? I’m—”
He turned to her, abruptly placing a long, beautifully tapered finger against her lips. She froze, eyes wide at this gesture. What was he doing?
He leaned close to her; using his other hand, he placed two fingers against her temple. She felt warmth and a slight tingling sensation. Now that he was close enough, she could discern the scent of…sandalwood incense? Mmm, very nice…
She closed her eyes for a moment.
Lorgin ta’al Krue looked down at the woman. He hadn’t been able to understand her strange words, but he would correct that now. He gazed upon her face as the decoding process took place. Her beauty radiated out from her like a light from within. She more than intrigued him.
A smooth, deeply compelling voice penetrated Deana’s senses. “By what name are you called?”
Her eyes flew open. “Deana…Deana Jones.”
He touched his forehead briefly. “A-dee-ann?”
So what was with this guy? A weird form of dyslexia? “Deana,” she repeated slowly for him.
“Adeeann.” He confirmed. “What do you call this place?”
“Home.” She looked at him strangely. “What do you call it?”
“Forgive me. My neural translator is slow to adjust to this language.”
Neural translator? What is he talking about?
Lorgin tried to rephrase his question. “What planet is this?”
She looked at him and burst out laughing. “What planet is this? How many others have you been on?” She smirked at him. Typical science fiction fan!
He looked at her stone-faced. “Countless others. I ask you again, what planet is this?”
Okay, she’d play along. “It’s called Disneyworld.” This she managed with a straight face.
To her surprise, he didn’t react in any way to this bit of information, other than to absorb it. He nodded at her. “I have not heard of this Disney World. What star system are we in?”
She looked at him strangely. “Sol, Milky Way galaxy, Virgo supercluster. Does that help you?” Cripes, get a life, pal!
He blinked for a moment. “I have not heard these names—something is amiss here.”
He seemed so serious, she was becoming slightly concerned for him. Maybe he’s losing his reality base? “Please, be straight with me. Who sent you here? Jimmy?”
“No one sent me here. I was pulled out of the space/time line of continuum on my way—”
“Whoa!” She put her hands up. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”
“I am called Lorgin ta’al Krue of the planet Aviara, star system Tau Hydra. As you can see, I am a Knight of the Charl and on a quest the nature of which need not concern you.”
“Get real! Quit the role playing and give me some honest answers here.”
His eyebrows slanted over his eyes. “I have just given you the answers you seek, woman! Why do you persist in…” He stopped and reached inside his cape, pulling out something from a hidden pocket. He opened his palm in front of her face. “Does this look familiar to you?”
Deana’s face blanched. Floating above his palm was a perfect hologram image of a star system. Needless to say, she didn’t recognize it. Her eyes flew to his face. “Wh-what is that thing?”
“It is…” He thought better of what he was about to say. “That is not important. It is obvious to me you know not this place.” He returned the strange image to his cloak.
Deana discreetly moved a few feet away from him on the couch. Whatever that thing was, it hadn’t come from Earth, and her uninvited visitor was an honest-to-God extraterrestrial!
She closed her eyes and groaned.
Her thoughts tumbled around in her head. Why me? How do I get into these things? I can’t believe that of all the gin joints in the world, he pops into my living room! It’s the day! This unbelievable awful day! Cripes, a real alien…What do I do with an alien?
Lorgin noted her distress. “You are disturbed by me?”
Deana felt a fingertip touch her cheek. She opened her eyes and gazed at him, sighing. That would be an understatement. Even if he hadn’t been from another planet, she would be disturbed by him, and so would any other female who was breathing. She had never seen anyone who looked like him. He was…he was what her friend Kristen would leeringly call a “man of consequence.”
She gathered her wayward thoughts. After all, as a representative of her planet, it wouldn’t do to drool all over him. She would just have to ignore his incredible face. Her eyes covertly skimmed the length of his body. His incredible physique. Those eyes…Stop it!
She blinked in an effort to clear her thoughts and was surprised to see him sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, palms up on his knees, in a classic lotus position. She tentatively knelt in front of him.
“Are you meditating?” she whispered. Cripes, an alien!
“Trying to get a spatial fix. A moment…” His light amethyst eyes abruptly opened. “I have not just jumped the space/time continuum. It appears there has also been a dimensional phasing as well.”
“You mean you’re from another dimension?” She sat back on her haunches. “This is too weird.”
“Another dimension, another space, and another time. Three shifts—I have never heard of this happening before.” Stunned, he stood up and went back to the couch. Sitting down and leaning forward, he rested his arms on his knees while running his hands distractedly through his long hair. “I must try and ascertain the significance of this.”
“Lorg-in?” She pronounced his name the way he did. He looked over at her. She joined him on the couch, placing a hand lightly on his arm. Forget the dimension thing, she needed to know when he could vacate the premises. An alien.
“You can get back to where you came from, can’t you?”
Lorgin stared at her, amazed that she would ask him such foolishness. Why would the woman think he would leave this place before he found out why he had been brought here and the significance of it? Such knowledge would surely dictate his next step. He stated firmly, “I cannot go back.”
Deana groaned at his response, entirely missing his implacable expression. Now this was a bombshell! He couldn’t go back to wherever he came from! That was sad for him, but what was she going to do with him? Should she turn him over to the FBI? No, she’d seen too many xenophobic movies where horrible things always happened to the poor dolt of an alien whose only mistake was landing on this planet. The men in suits would probably dissect him, or mate him to a gorilla.
She couldn’t do that to him.
Although, on the other hand, it didn’t seem right to keep such a momentous discovery to herself. What she needed to do was bide her time here, think about her options. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to subtly pump him for information. She had to admit her curiosity was boundless.
Deana darted a look at him. He was deep in thought, his gold hair hanging over his shoulders as his head dropped forward on his hands. She took a deep breath, then
exhaled slowly. My God. He’s too gorgeous for words…
No, wait a minute. Maybe he’s too gorgeous to be real. A brilliant notion seized her. Perhaps he’s an android! Or a Terminator. She swallowed convulsively.
“Are you human?” she blurted out.
He turned to her. “What is human?”
Good question; certainly her ex-boss wouldn’t fit into that category. “Can you reproduce?”
His eyebrows shot up. Strange little pink sparks appeared in his luminous eyes. Without warning, he leaned toward her on the couch, his strong arms coming around her like a steel vise. Alarmed, she pushed her hands against his solid chest, feeling the silk of his shirt slide against her palms. Her action was about as effective as a gnat pushing a lion away. Why had he reacted…
She instantly knew exactly what he thought she had asked him.
“No! I don’t want to reproduce! I just want to know if you can.”
“Why?” Obviously, there were still translation problems. He did not release her.
“Why? Because—I do!”
“Then let me show you, so you will know.” He started to lower her down onto the couch. She shoved him. He didn’t release her, but he stopped his downward slide. She tried again.
“Are you a machine?”
He grinned rather sexily at her, revealing perfect white teeth. “Some have said.”
She blushed, realizing what he thought she meant now. This was getting worse every time she opened her mouth. “I’m not asking about your prowess. Are you…” How do you ask this? “How were you made?”
The meaning sunk in. He released her immediately. “Ah! I am like you—human. I was not made; I was”—he hesitated for the right word—“conceived.”
So, he was humanoid, after all. Let’s see what else she could find out. “You mentioned a quest. I gather coming here was an unscheduled pit stop.” He looked totally confused now. She rephrased the question. “You didn’t mean to come here, did you?”
“No. Yet here I am.”
“Yes, here you are. I was thinking…perhaps if you told me more about this quest—”
“This is not for you to know.” His lips lifted slightly at the corners, in almost, but not quite, a smile. He blinked slowly, his innocent expression not really masking the knowledge evident in his eyes.
He knows that I’m pumping him for information. Drat! So much for subtlety.
“Okay. Why don’t you tell me about your world. Are there others—”
He sliced his hand through the air. “This is not for you to know either.”
She folded her arms across her chest. How aggravating! “Why not?”
“None of this is relevant to you. Such information could prove dangerous in certain circumstances. The only thing of import is why I have been brought here.”
She expelled a breath. He wasn’t going to answer her questions. Apparently he was too smart for that, or else he had seen the movies she had been thinking of earlier.
“All right. Let’s try to figure it out. Maybe you were brought to the house?” This was an idea. Had Gramps been hiding more than his Jack Daniel’s in the cellar?
Lorgin shook his head. “Not house…lifeforce.” He leveled his gaze at her. “Yours.”
“Me? No way! You must be mistaken.”
He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, tuning out all other disturbances. “Yes…I am Chi’in t’se Leau. I cannot leave your side.”
What did he mean by that? “What is this chin something?”
He smiled at her attempt at his language. “Chi’in t’se Leau. How to translate…guardian, protector, one who walks beside…”
“I don’t need protecting!”
He shrugged as if to dismiss that nonsense.
Realizing she wouldn’t get far arguing with him about it, she tried another track. “How do you know this stuff anyway? I don’t understand how—”
“I know. You do not need to understand. I was brought here; I will stay by you. It is a sacred trust. This cannot be broken.”
What in the hell was he talking about? Some nonsense about a sacred trust—was he mad?
“Look, I think you’ve made a grave error here.” He snorted at the very notion. “Really. It has to be something else.”
He smiled at her indulgently. “I think not. But even if you were right, which you are not, I would still protect you.”
She gritted her teeth. “I’ve already told you, I don’t need protecting!” He didn’t bother responding.
So, he was going to stick by her side was he? Protect her? She’d like to see his expression tomorrow when some guy dressed as the Blob approached her at the convention…At the convention!
“There’s something you should know. Tomorrow I’m going to a convention in San Francisco for a week. You’ll just have to stay here and wait for me—”
He interrupted her. “No. I will go to this sanfrancisco with you.”
“You can’t!” She gasped. He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. The effect was rather formidable. Nonetheless, she had to make him see reason. There was no way she was taking an alien with her to the convention. No way.
“I mean it. You cannot go with me.” She spaced her words firmly, letting him know she meant it.
He raised an eyebrow, but did not respond.
“Look, I don’t care if you’re an alien or the reincarnation of Albert Einstein. I’m not canceling this trip.” She added the words that strike terror into every traveler’s heart. “It’s non-refundable.”
He still said nothing, but his eyes had definitely narrowed some more.
She was getting exasperated now. “Do you understand? I can’t take you!”
The slow smile he gave her chilled her to her bones.
He’s going to follow me. I just know it. Damn!
She exhaled noisily. “You think you’re going, don’t you?”
The look he gave her was implacable and faintly amused. “I am going.”
The man was serious. Double damn! She took a moment to size up her adversary, and silently admitted defeat. He didn’t look the malleable type.
She supposed she’d have to buy him a plane ticket and everything. She groaned. If an alien had to “fall” on her doorstep, why couldn’t he at least have a gold card? Thank God she had plastic.
She paused a minute, wondering if she was losing her mind.
An alien was in her house and she was lamenting the fact he didn’t have a credit card! Shock. It must be shock. She peered at him. He still regarded her with a piercingly intent expression.
“Oh, all right! Let me call the airline and see if I can get you a ticket.”
Grudgingly, she went to the phone to call the airline, hoping there wouldn’t be any seats left. The ticket agent cheerfully informed her she got the last seat available in coach. It figures, the way this day has been going. She slammed down the phone.
“I don’t suppose you have a change of clothes either, do you?” she snarled at him.
He grinned at her, revealing an engaging dimple in his left cheek. “No, Adeeann; I do not.” He didn’t bother to add that clothes of his quality were always purchased with a self-cleaning spell put on by the Weaver’s Guild wizard. And it was so stated on the label.
She threw her arms up in the air. “I don’t believe this!” she fumed. “What do you think this is, an intergalactic mission house?”
He regarded her strangely, having no idea what she was talking about.
“We’ll just have to go to the mall later and get you some clothes. You can’t go walking about dressed like that.”
That got his dander up. “I will have you know these garments are of the finest—”
“Yeah, yeah, can it. I’m starved. I’ll go see what I can find for us to eat in the kitchen.”
Lorgin watched her stomp off, his thoughts returning to his appearance on this planet and the nature of his quest. Were they somehow linked?
Deana stormed int
o the kitchen, opening cabinets and slamming doors, looking at the choices. Popcorn and popcorn. I guess it’s popcorn. Three minutes, ten seconds; she punched the timer on the microwave and hit start. Deana figured she might as well clean up the spilt coffee on the floor, and was about to do so when the popping started.
With a grace and speed she wouldn’t have thought possible in a man his size, he bounded off the couch, leapt over the coffee table, cape flying, and ran into the kitchen. In an instant he spotted the source of the popping and whipped out a rodlike object from his waistband, flipping it over agilely in his hand and causing a four-foot beam of blue light to appear.
As she watched gape-mouthed, he swung the light saber in an arc over his head, then through the microwave, which seemed to hiccup once, let out a belch of black smoke, and die. It was cleanly sliced in two.
Of course, the Berserker was smiling as if he had just slain Loki himself. He retracted the light blade and returned it to his waistbelt.
Her microwave! Her sweet inoffensive microwave!
Which she hadn’t finished making the payments on yet.
Shock was rapidly being replaced with anger. It was the last straw! No one should have a day like this. No one! She had reached her limit.
“That’s it! You are out of here, pal!” She stormed over to the kitchen door, flung it open, and pointed in the general direction of the backyard. “Out!”
He stood silently leaning against her refrigerator, arms crossed over his chest, staring at her. A gust of wind blew up and slammed the door shut.
Damn it, nothing was going right today. Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! She swung the door open again.
“I said out!”
Another gust of wind blew up and slammed the door closed. Only this time she realized that the wind had come from inside the kitchen.
“I think not,” he stated firmly.
“You—did you do that?” He quirked his eyebrow. She sat down on the kitchen floor. “Oh, my.”
He came down on one knee beside her, his cape floating around him. “Something has upset you, Adeeann?”
Her gray eyes were huge as they focused on him. “Lorgin, you have supernatural…powers?” she squeaked.