Eban's Command: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Science Fiction Alien Romance) (Survival Wars Book 2) (6 page)

True to his word, Eban arrived in the morning to fetch her
shortly after she’d awoken. Now, in the daylight, her fevered imaginings and
powerful self-lovemaking session seemed so far away that she hardly knew what
to make of it. The sight of him made her feel very warm and satisfied inside,
as though it was he who really had had sex with her, but she was still replete
from before and didn’t get overwhelmed with excitement.

“Hi,” she said, greeting him.

Eban smiled slightly and nodded to her. “Good morning. Did
you find everything to your liking?”

She blushed a little, turning her head away slightly. He
either didn’t notice or pretended not to. “I did. Thank you. The lights are a
good idea. No one can stay up and be alone with their thoughts when it’s time
to just go to sleep.”

“It’s an important part of our rhythms,” he replied.

Just like a bird.

“Would you like to see the seed stores today?” he asked,
then. “And the farming plots?”

That was all it took to improve her mood, the exact reason
she was here in the first place. Not for leisure, not for sex, but for her
knowledge. “Of course!” she said brightly, and smiled up into his eyes. But,
when he reached for her hand to help her, she hesitated a bit before pulling
back.

Something like hurt filled his eyes, which astonished her.
Could it be that he felt something for her, like she had for him? But, no. That
was impossible, and she had to admit that it probably wasn’t very wise for him
to get involved with her. He would be expected to find comfort with his own
species. Or, was he? What if he wasn’t expected to find a mate because of his
position? That made more sense, to make sure that he wasn’t distracted from his
duties.

So, even though rejecting his touch made both of them hurt,
she hid it from him secretly and just kept smiling. “It’s okay. I think I can
get around well enough on my own now.”

Eban nodded wordlessly, and they headed out of the sleeping
area in silence. Once they reached the main atrium, the silence cracked under
morning greetings and a crowd of new eyes who hadn’t yet seen their human
passenger. The meetings didn’t last nearly as long as they had yesterday,
however.

“I told you they would accept you,” he commented, leading
her up a series of ramps and staircases to get to a very quiet, plain sort of
landing.

Saffron said, “You really did, didn’t you?”

Eban continued to walk ahead of her, giving her ample
opportunity to admire his butt as he led them down a section of hallway. The
light dulled from blue to clean white, and the walls here were harsh angles. It
resembled a hospital corridor, with heavy metal doors on either side. The
commander of the Icari stopped and gestured to the nearest door.
“Unfortunately, not all of these are in operation quite as of yet.”

He left the rest of it unspoken but during their walks
yesterday, he’d filled her in on the history of his peoples’ attitudes in bits
and pieces. The fact that any of this was capable of happening at all was just
a testament to his leadership, even if they didn’t quite appreciate it just
yet.

The room held a patch of soil, clumpy and half-dried with
wilted sprouts laying across the ruffled surface. The walls were white,
absorbing the glare of the special lights rooted to the ceiling; the walls and
walkway around the patch of dirt were covered with equipment. And though they’d
paused when Eban and Saffron came into the room, the three workers quickly
settled back into their work. One of them was amongst the young men she’d met
first, wielding a hoe to scrape awkward lines in the dirt. Another was
unraveling a house for watering, while the third studied a handful of charts
written out on a tablet.

“How are you doing today?” Eban asked softly, glancing at
Saffron to give her the go-ahead. She approached and crouched down at the edge
of the miniature field, reaching out to touch the soil and then examine her
fingertips. Half-dried and powdery like this it was hard to tell, but she was
pretty sure the quality was a far-cry from perfect. The earth was gritty
without being sandy, and slid through her fingers in alternating clumps or a
loose stream; uniform texture and silkiness were important for growth, allowing
plants young and old to spread as they pleased.

Not knowing what kind of dead buds these were on the surface,
she wouldn’t have started drawing any conclusions at all if it wasn’t obvious
that they were…well, dead. Something was quite obviously wrong here.

She stood up again, catching Eban’s attention from where he
was getting a full report by the worker with papers. “I’ve seen enough here,”
she said. “Shall we move on?”

Each and every plot of land she saw from then on, ten in
total, were very nearly all the same. The earth was always in more or less the
same state whether it was wet or not, and the plants were wilted or currently
in the process of wilting. Her heart sank as she realized the impact this was
having on them. How many seeds fit into a field? How many seeds were wasted
when the entire crop died? Even those plants which were bearing fruit,
producing grain, could not make up for the sheer amount of loss.

The animals were not faring much better, though she was glad
that they lived in such immaculate and clean conditions. Disease was not a
factor. They simply were not able to breed quickly enough, resulting in only
three different rooms.

When they stepped out of the last one, Saffron wiped mud off
her hands from where she’d been petting a slim pig-faced rabbit creature. Then,
she looked far off down the hallway. 13 doors out of dozens. This whole
situation was out of hand.

“Eban?” she asked. “Can I see the seed stores? Take some
samples of everything, and the soil you’re using? I think that after seeing
this, I need to get a lab up and going as soon as possible or else everything’s
just going to get worse.”

The commander nodded and started to lead her towards what
appeared to be an elevator down at the opposite end of the hall. “Do you think
you can help?”

“I can if I study the seeds, the soil, and figure out where
the problem is. If I can help you with just basic farming, that would be best.
Everything needs a solid baseline.”

“And your serum?”

Saffron shook her head. “I’ll get started on that but I’ll
need to do some studies first to adapt it to the differences in your plants
versus the plants on earth. And, you guys need a lot of help.”

“Then, let us get started, yes?”

By the time the lights started dimming around her, Saffron’s
back was aching, her eyes were sore, and she had no idea how she’d managed to
stay focused so long. She couldn’t help humming to herself though, as she sat
up from her work and stretched luxuriously. Even though she’d skipped dinner and
opted not to join in for exercise, she felt so extremely satisfied with
herself. A full day’s learning and exploring this new world of seeds beneath a
microscope was like jumping into a novel. The main difference was that she
could look for herself and actually touch what was right there in front of her.

Most of the seeds were similar to those on earth, which
didn’t quite surprise her now that she knew the reason
everything
was
similar. The differences could be catalogued and accounted for easily, and she
found that her noted observations were identical with the descriptions found in
the logs which Eban provided for her. Learning how to use the little handheld
screen was relatively easy, since there were so many things like it on her own
planet.

The peas were denser-shelled, and the potatoes light and
sweet enough to eat raw. Beet seeds were nearly four times the size of those
she planted in her garden, and sprouted terribly slow but were hardy
afterwards. After the preliminary outer examinations, she then sliced off
pieces to examine under a microscope, and then just cut them in half in their
various stages of growth to watch the germ be absorbed and the sprout develop.
She also spent some time observing the farming techniques out at the actual
plots.

The Icari were awful at farming, and she made a note to
start writing down some new rules for them to follow tomorrow. There was no
saving the damage done today, but she immediately knew that some minimal tweaks
would help even without her serum. They were watering every plant the same, but
obviously potatoes did not need as much moisture as carrots; in the same vein,
some crops responded better to a large overall watering every few days, while
others flourished under a light soaking one to three times a day.

Everyone was trying their hardest, but she could fix some of
their struggles immediately.

The next few days were much the same. She settled into a
steady routine, mingling amongst the Icari as part of their flock. Eban spent
as much time with her as possible but for the moment, the most she saw him now
was when he walked by with that first mate of his at his side. Her name was
Karee or something like that.

If Eban was attached to anyone, it would be her. Saffron
never saw them even do something so much as hold hands but why would they?
Maybe he didn’t see hand-holding as anything special, especially when she’d
just been wandering around behind him at first. Or perhaps the Icari were just
as strict on relationships and work as humans were. Whatever it was, she didn’t
know.

All she knew was that it made her stomach hurt to think of
Eban with someone else, but it wasn’t like he belonged to her or even knew she
was interested in him.

At the end of her fourth day with the Icari, she finished a
full catalogue of the various types of seeds and animals. Sitting back and
stretching, she looked up and then let out a yelp of surprise. Someone was
standing in the doorway, just watching her.

Gradually, she realized who it was and pressed her hand to
her heart. “You scared me!”

Eban looked sheepish, rubbing his hair with one hand. “Sorry
about that.”

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked, suddenly
realizing that even if he’d only been there for a few seconds that he had seen
her breasts pressing against the fabric of her tight-fitting Icari tunic. With
her back arched like that, he might even have been able to see her nipples.

“A few minutes,” he admitted, looking more embarrassed than
ever. “You looked so busy that I didn’t want to bother you.”

“I just finished examining everything,” she explained.
“Tomorrow, I should be able to start figuring out ways to change your
procedures. Is everyone going to be able to follow through with some different
directions, though?”

“How different?” he frowned.

Saffron gestured to her pages of notes. “Just some
variations on what you’re already doing, is all. You’re treating all the plants
and animals the same way but every single organism is different. If I wrote
down some changes, how would I make sure that everyone knew about them?”

“That’s easy enough. I told you the family that runs the
bakery runs the farming. If you spoke with them and explained that this would
mean increased production, I don’t think you’d have a problem.”

“Good,” she said, relieved. People in certain professions or
positions were often insistent that their way of working or thinking was the
best, and wouldn’t even consider a change. “I’ll stop by there on my way back
to the lab tomorrow. In the meantime, I suppose I should get some sleep.”

The lights had only just dimmed, which meant she had about
an hour before everything was too dark to see, but she was so tired that she
didn’t think she’d have a problem falling asleep.

“Ah,” Eban said, looking surprised. “Well, if that’s what
you want to do, I won’t stop you.”

Her heart fluttered a little in her chest. “Did you have
something in mind for me to do?”

Like…you?

“Actually, I was hoping to invite you out for a flight.”

Her hand went back to her heart as the nervous fluttering
increased. “What do you mean? I can’t fly.”

“No, no!” he waved his hand. “I didn’t mean it like that.
Just, this is a day we take to break from our normal nightly routines. Work
ends early and we all gather in the atrium to spend time with each other. It’s
been quite a bit since I’ve worn my wings, so I thought I might want to make
sure that I haven’t lost my edge.”  He paused, lowering his head a bit to think
about it. “And you haven’t seen me fly, have you?”

Her thoughts raced. There was no reason for her to think
this was anything but an invitation, to get her out and mingling with her new
people, but she couldn’t help the butterflies. If a man said this to her
anywhere else, she would have considered it a personal interest. A date. And
she was getting excited, old habits and former meanings urging her to think too
much into this.

“I…don’t think I have,” she managed, trying to calm herself.

Eban nodded, pleased. “Good. I should tell you right now
that the commander of the Icari is meant to be one of the best of the fliers.
Shall we go?” He held out his hand.

Deftly and politely, she pretended she misunderstood and
walked past him like it was a gesture for her to head out first. He said
nothing though, and she wondered if her pretend misunderstanding had led her to
the correct choice after all.

He sped up a bit to walk beside her, and they headed down
the empty white halls flanked on either side with metal doors. “I was starting
to think you were afraid of heights,” she teased.

He smiled a little bit. “Not quite. And it’s not like I
couldn’t fly where I needed to go, so I’m not afraid of being seen as
frivolous.” He seemed to search for more words as they turned the corner and
walked out into the atrium where most of the flock had already gathered. “I
just think that change is difficult. We have had to change once before but now
we’re settled into this like it’s actually life. I wish so much that soon,
there will be more changes. I want to make sure that my people are ready, and I
have to start small in order to do that. Not wearing my wings is just one of
many things they consider an oddity of mine.”

“I see,” Saffron murmured. “It must be difficult to be the
start of change.”

The commander glanced sideways at her, and it was only then
that she realized what she’d said. After all, she’d done exactly the same thing
once before and was meant to do it again. He patted her shoulder with a fond
laugh, and then guided her towards a bench.

With the lights low like this, it was such a calm and
romantic settling. Couples ancient and new were wrapped in each other’s arms.
The flights were luxurious and slow, wings stretched to their fullest length.
That was one of the things she loved the most about watching them. No one was
the same color. The biomaterial of their feathers could be changed at will by a
visit to a doctor, but Eban told Saffron that most people stuck with their
original color or made just a single change during their entire lives. Looking
up now, she saw two pairs of shimmering black, and plenty of shades of downy
grey and pleasant off-white. One little girl scrambling around a set of monkey
bars had blood-red speckles melded in her tawny feathers. They were beautiful
and so graceful.

She even felt graceful sometimes, sliding around the hallway
even though she still had none of their control and lifelong dexterity.

Eban touched her shoulder again, but it wasn’t merely a pay
this time. He kept his hand there, leaning over her shoulder to speak softly.
“I have to fetch my wings. Just relax and I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay,” she replied, but he was already gone.

Someone handed her a scrap of muffin, and somewhere in the
distance strange music began to play. It sounded like plucked, discordant
strings being tugged on and it was terribly beautiful. Closing her eyes,
Saffron let the music wash over her and mingle with the faint lilt of accented
voices, conversations all around her. The scene reminded her of the saloon
she’d been in once during her travels, where everyone knew everyone else and
acted like they did even if they didn’t. It was such a homey, loving atmosphere
and she had no idea how long she spent there just listening to lovers whisper
sweet nothings in each other’s ears. Even those who were just friends had only
sweet words and calm conversation.

No one spoke to her but she didn’t mind, lost inside herself
as she was.

Then, someone murmured, “Would you look at that?”

Saffron opened her eyes. The music had changed, and was
fading away as the player brought their song to a soft end. The talk slowly
died down, and she followed the direction everyone was looking in.

Up above, all the way up to the uppermost balcony. Saffron
craned her head back and saw a pair of blazing white wings, shimmering with
health and gloss. Eban stood with his toes at the very edge, arms outspread.

“It’s been ages,” a teenaged girl whispered to her friend.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw him do anything. He’s so amazing though!”

Her friend trilled back, “I know! I can’t wait!”

Saffron turned her head slightly to watch the girls,
wondering exactly how much they knew. She’d never be able to try to talk to
anyone about her feelings because she just didn’t want anything accidentally
getting around her consent, and that would definitely happen if she talked to a
stranger. The problem was that everyone was Eban was a stranger to her.

From above, Eban’s faint voice drifted down. “This is your
commander speaking,” he said lightly, earning a polite smattering of laughter.
He had his hand up by his mouth as though he was speaking into an intercom
microphone. “You all deserve this. Take your time. Be happy. Celebrate, and
when the morrow comes, we’ll be able to work even harder.”

He spoke calmly, but was tilting dangerously more and more
during the last sentence until finally, he dropped and fell like a stone with
the final word. Saffron gasped, vertigo lurching inside her, but his face was
so calm and mesmerizing that she didn’t feel worried after that initial jab of
fear. His position was perfect as he hurtled down, looking like a professional
swimmer diving from the high board. Then, his wings flashed out and caught the
blue glare of light, sending broken rays outward as he brought himself around
and spun in the air. His hair tossed about his head, he flapped just once and
hovered for a moment mere feet above the ground before turning and lofting
himself higher with only a few strokes.

For all that he didn’t fly, she couldn’t see any stiffness
or warming up in him like the others. He was smooth immediately, swooping
effortlessly in spirals that caught hoops, tucking his wings in close to his
body with a mere flex of muscles. Sliding through the circlets easily, he moved
on to grabbing the side of one as he passed. The motion of his stopped arm and
continuing body movement sent him careening rapidly back the way he’d come.

With no apparent goal in mind, he played like no one was
watching. Reaching out, he turned out acrobatics faster than she could even
register. It was a dance, a flicker of wings and a subtle motion of his arms.
Every gesture pulled at the straps and tight harness, which was connected
tightly to the wings and threaded through with a system of complex pulleys and
joints that translated into flapping, or banking, folding or spreading.

It was second nature to him, to all of them. And out of them
all, he was easily the best.

He said the commander is expected to be the best. Did he
become commander because he could fly like this, or did he work for it? I bet
he worked for it. A man like him wouldn’t settle for anything less.

After Eban had been alone in the air for about five minutes,
someone else finally lifted off from their perch. It was a young man, and they
wove around each other for a moment before breaking away. After that, the air
was filled with flapping sounds and soft, jubilant calls as most of the Icari
took to flight to celebrate their own existence. Saffron could hardly imagine
being so happy. What if it felt like that every single time she walked around?
Such an amazing way to live.