Caught Between Two Blue Aliens - Celia Kyle Page 0,50

next level and completed their bond.

After all, she was still on edge—a weird mix of happy to be here, yet still scared out of her mind for Noah and Bea’s safety. They could be taken from her at any moment if she didn’t comply with the secretary’s demands. Mr. Espinosa had told her in the conference room, just before Sevith barreled in, that her first intelligence check-in date was a week from now. In one week, she’ be expected turn over classified Drokten secrets, and Espinosa said they’d better be valuable, or else.

Or else.

“Look,” Hiren pointed as the shuttle tilted to offer a panoramic view of the planet they were departing.

“Oh wow.” Jenna stared out the rounded window. They’d reached the utter blackness of space and now the planet curved underneath—a majestic swath of blue, green and brown with luminous clouds streaking across the globe. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed. This was her first time shooting off into space, and though on some academic level she knew what to expect, there was no preparing for the physical sensation of leaving Earth behind and seeing it for the first time from this vantage point.

“Wait until you see the Avash,” Hiren replied with a faint smile teasing his blue lips.

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” Jenna sighed and shook her head.

“Believe it,” Hiren rasped shortly.

The three of them sat in relatively comfortable silence. Sevith worked the controls up front and Hiren pulled out a tablet and tapped on the screen.

Jenna was riveted by the scene unfolding outside the window. She was afraid to even blink for fear she’d miss something vital—the distant glow and pulse of faraway planets, the blaze of stars, scattered large and small across the inky black face of the sky, and the gentle whir of the transport along with the pure, unnerving silence of space. All of it astounded her. All of it captivated her.

An enormous, dark grey object appeared. It grew larger and larger. Her jaw dropped. “Is that…”

Hiren lowered his screen and looked up. “Yes,” he answered with pride.

The battleship was shockingly huge and predatory. Their shuttle was only a speck compared to the enormity of the deadly spaceship they were approaching. The Drokten were badass warriors and their warships were legendary. Apparently the Drokten were the beings you called when you needed an ally.

Sevith chatted over the comm with the crew on the ship, navigating their decent.

And then it really hit her. Sevith was the commander of this? This battle-tested ship and all the Drokten warriors within? And Hiren was their highest-level ambassador, the warrior in charge of communicating with the humans. And these two wanted her as their Oso? Out of all the amazingly talented and beautiful women on Earth, they’d decided they liked her? A girl who hadn’t even finished high school before the world started blowing up.

What did they see in her?

Sevith piloted them into an open hold and powered down the shuttle. Finally, her restraints were lifted, and they exited.

She bit her lip. Butterflies swirled in her belly as their group stomped down the ramp. Only a small percentage of humanity had ever boarded the Avash. Mainly dignitaries and military officers. Rarely a normal person.

Sevith grabbed her hand and they walked together onto the ship. She lifted her chin, trying her best to be brave about the fact that she was the only human on this ship, and she was about to meet so many new Drokten.

I can do this.

Sevith and Hiren took her on a long, complex tour of the Avash. They didn’t even go to their quarters first, like she’d expected. They instead showed her all different parts of the battleship, from the dining hall and the crew quarters to the massive gallery and the command deck where top-secret deals were brokered behind closed doors. Jenna was in a pure state of amazement the whole time, her eyes wide as she tried to take it all in. After an hour of wandering and gawking at everything, they took her to the bridge, where she was stunned by a panoramic view of the solar system burning in the distance. Tears of awe pricked at her eyes, the sight so overwhelmingly beautiful that it almost brought her to her knees.

“That’s what home looks like from far away,” she murmured to herself.

Sevith settled one of his large hands on her shoulder. “Yes, but you must remember that there is a wealth of exploration to be done beyond the confines of this system.