Fortified (5 page)

He'd been quiet for too long. “I haven't decided if I'm going to ask anyone yet.”

“Your sister says you have a girlfriend,” she said.

“She must have missed when we broke up,” he mumbled.

His mom frowned. “Think you two can make up?”

“Undecided,” he said. That was the only answer he could commit to without breaking out more details than he wanted to. If his parents found out the whole truth behind Tait, he'd definitely be on a one-way ride to Altura.

“Do you have anyone to take as just your friend?” she asked.

Orlando snorted. “No. My only other female friend in the school is taken. There's probably a list of eligible ladies who'd love to be my date, but if it comes down to going with someone for the sake of having someone to go with, I'll pass. Besides, I don't like dances much.”

“Liar.” His mother smirked back at him from over her shoulder.

He hated she was right. Hated and loved it. Because she still knew some things about him. Before Dallas died, Orlando had been Mr. Popular, the football team's future all-star, and a straight A- student with the blond hair and pretty blue eyes. The total package or so he'd been told. School dances of all levels had once been the highlight of his existence. After Dallas committed suicide, Orlando withdrew from all of his activities, dyed his hair black, and stayed as far away from socializing as possible. The only thing he maintained from his previous life was his desire to have a high GPA.

All the same, he still enjoyed busting some moves on occasion.
I can't let her know that, though.
So he shrugged and let out a small laugh. “Whatever, Mom. Dancing isn't something a guy likes to do, just a skill he knows so he can impress the ladies.”

“Then you should go and impress some,” she teased.

“Right,” he mumbled. While he appreciated the attempt at a pep talk, he wanted off the topic of prom and fast. “I've been thinking a lot about school, though and I want to see if I can take classes over the summer to speed up the whole graduation process. Maybe get out in December instead of next spring. Move on to college.”

His mother stirred the noodles in the pot. Orlando couldn't be certain, but he thought he heard a sniffle hidden in the sound of the boiling water and blowing of the stove fan.

“Are you okay Mom?” he asked, hesitantly, wondering what he'd done wrong
now
.

She shook her head, waving her free hand. “I'm fine.” She gave him a weak smile. “Are
you
okay?”

Great, is she going to try and be my therapist now?
“Why wouldn't I be?” he asked, nonchalantly, even though he could come up with a whole list of reasons from just that past month alone.

“I'm glad you haven't changed completely,” she said. The answer threw him for a complete loop.

He narrowed his gaze at her. “What's
that
supposed to mean?”

“I like that you still have your sights set high for your studies,” she explained.

“The changing comment was more what I meant.”

“You're different in surprising ways.”

Orlando barely suppressed the groan inside of him. “If Lyssa has you worrying, stop. Just because I dyed my hair and changed up my wardrobe doesn't mean it's a big deal. I'm experimenting with my identity. Things were rough for a little bit, but I pulled through them just fine. These past few months have been really good.”

It felt strange to admit. Things
were
in fact good. Something he never thought he'd experience again after Dallas died. Even if his best friend hadn't been resurrected, Orlando could still say he enjoyed life once more thanks to all of his new friends.

His mother's smile widened, becoming more genuine. “I was thinking about the recent splash of color you've been adding these days. You're a good different. Don't take it the wrong way, and don't go backwards just to spite me.”

How do you know so much about me without being here?
Those were two things he'd do, easily. If there was one thing that gave him a thrill, it was going against expectations—especially when spite was involved. Not his best quality, perhaps another thing about him he was changing. Eighteen seemed too old to be doing something so childish.
There are better ways to show them I know what I'm doing.

Orlando chose his next words carefully. “Like I said: I'm experimenting with my identity. It's what teenagers do here.”

“As long as you're being yourself, you can dye your hair purple.” She laughed.

That comment got a snort from his father, however. “Not in my house.”

“I'll wait until after I move then,” Orlando quipped.
Now I have to. I hate purple.

Once more, everyone was quiet. His mother pulled the pot off the stove to drain the water into the sink. “There's one question I'm surprised you haven't asked us yet.”

“What's that?” Orlando asked.

“Our powers,” she said. “I'd thought you'd want to know what they are. We've been waiting for you to bring it up thinking it'd be better to not push anything while it's all still fresh.”

“Farrah,” his father warned.

She shook her head. “We should talk about it sooner rather than later.” She gazed at her son. “It's important because it impacts what you can do…and what you could do in the future.”

Orlando leaned toward her, about to ask what exactly it was his parents could do. He'd wondered, briefly, but in the chaos of processing the fact that he was an alien along with all of the other drama of his life, it didn't seem like vital information. Now he was beginning to rethink that decision because she made it seem awfully serious.

Before the words could come out of his mouth, however, his older sister walked into the house.

As if caught red handed, he sat back in his chair, putting his hands in his lap. “Perfect timing, Lyssa. Mom is just about to taint the spaghetti.”

“I'm doing nothing of the sort. How about you inspect this jar of sauce while you use your big boy muscles to open it,” his mother countered, putting a jar of classic tomato sauce in front of him.

Rolling his eyes, Orlando picked it up and popped the lid off with ease. “Man muscles, mom. You call five-year olds big boys.”

“Hate to break it to you, bro, but you're always going to be the baby,” Lyssa said. She ruffled his hair as she walked by him on her way to greet their father. “Anyway, I came home with the intent of eating with you all. The spaghetti won't be tainted either because I walked Mom through the whole thing this weekend.”

“If you say so.” Orlando stood to go get bowls. Helping would keep his mind off of their interrupted conversation. And of course he was dying of curiosity now that he was suddenly aware of what he
didn't
know.
Wouldn't surprise me if she did it on purpose. Something to hook me into staying at home more.
He shook his head, serving dinner before taking his seat at the kitchen table.
I'll play along, for now.
And just like any good son would, he ate two bowls of spaghetti even though it tasted like tomato-flavored cardboard.

T
he goal
for when Alan returned to his ship was to avoid Jaes until he'd gotten a good night's sleep while chewing on Cadence's advice. Already, he'd been able to steer clear of his roommate's path with ease. If Jaes was in the gym, Alan chose to eat in the cafeteria. He even went so far as to spend extra time exploring new, irrelevant areas on Earth, just for something to do to pass the time until bed. Unfortunately, when he walked through the front door of their luxury suite, Jaes was sitting on the couch reading over some papers. While he did his best to seem casual, he gave off the impression he was waiting.

“The Yumsaltanz want the Ilotus back,” he said, in the same way one would talk about the weather. It grated on Alan a lot more than he expected.

Alan gave a slight nod, encouraging his friend to talk so he didn't have to. Perhaps he could get through the rest of the evening with ease if Jaes said everything and steered the conversation as far away from the leak as possible. Other business was interesting enough, and perhaps Alan would be able to do a little bit of Cadence's second suggestion and feed his friend some false secret information just to see what happened.
Even though doing so makes me the furthest thing from a good friend.

“I told the Yumsaltanz we aren't finished with it yet, and they didn't seem to care. I understand their tribe owns the device, but we were told we could use it in exchange for our help. Seems like they've gone back on their word, to me.” Jaes huffed, looking more like the young man he was instead of the old man he tried to be. As the prodigy, a lot of pressure was on his shoulders to be mature, intelligent, and ready for anything. Since he was only nineteen years old, the moments where he made mistakes happened more than he probably would have liked.

Because whether anyone else believed it or not, Jaes was flawed. Part of why he liked Alan so much was because he wasn't treated like some kind of a god. With Alan, he let loose, let himself be more vulnerable. The blind trust Jaes had in him almost left Alan feeling guilty since he didn't reciprocate the sentiment.
It's not like I asked him to spill his guts to me, and I don't mind listening either. In fact, I prefer it.
And Alan wasn't sure he was ready to divulge the deeper, darker, parts of his life. The things that would betray his true feelings about the war and the work they did together. Because another thing about his roommate was his fierce loyalty to the tribe, something they shared, but unlike Alan, Jaes didn't seem to question orders. Alan's reservations might be seen as an act of betrayal.

When they both stayed quiet for a long moment, Alan realized Jaes was waiting for a response. He cleared his throat. “It does seem that way, yes, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. There has to be a reason they need it back now, and even if there isn't, I don't want things to get worse. We don't need more enemies, especially over something so...small. In the grand scheme of things, I mean. We'll get our chance to use it again. I'm sure of it. There's so much work to be done using the Ilotus, we could probably keep it forever. Perhaps they could have a turn to play with their own toy for a bit.”

“Don't lose your optimism. It's admirable,” Jaes said, though he did follow that up with an eye roll. “We didn't plan on keeping it forever. It'd just be preferable to process the rest of the data we collected before giving it back. Transferring it all is going to take time. More than the handful of days they've offered us.”

“Optimism is not a hard thing to hold onto. Make the choice to see the best in our situations instead of the worst, and you'll understand what I mean. This might end up being better for us.” Alan felt like a hypocrite saying as much, seeing as how he wasn't choosing to see the best in his friend, let alone the circumstances surrounding his life at that moment.

Jaes peered at him, as if catching him in the lie. “Or things could end up worse. Mistakes aren't something we can easily recover from right now.”

“All I'm saying is it won't hurt to listen to them when you ask for the reason why,” he said softly.

“I'll take that into consideration when we return the device,” Jaes muttered. Louder, he said, “Do you want to come with me when I do so? Having two of us might encourage them into being more honest about their plans.”

Frowning, Alan finally chose to sit down in a nearby chair. “Are you expecting trouble from them? The Yumsaltanz have always been peaceful and supportive. I don't think that'll be changing now. All they want to do is get the support of the Alturan Unification Committee so the war can stop. Last I checked, their nation is suffering a great deal back home.”

“And they want to find their lost royal family, don't forget that part. If I thought it was to simply help aide in the ending of the war, I'd have less reservations over the matter. Finding ancient bloodlines doesn't seem like a good priority. It won't help them win.”

“Their royal family all ties in with their ultimate goal,” Alan stated. “Part of the reason the royal family disappeared in the first place is because of the conflict with the Gelandrosimbol. Do you have a reason to think our allies would be capable of deception?”

With a sigh, Jaes shook his head. “Not necessarily. My last conversation with Kimantkel was strained. She is not a good liar. Something else is going on.”

“Then I'll come along if it will help ease your mind,” Alan said. “But do not expect me to strong arm them into letting us keep the Ilotus. It isn't ours and never will be.”

Jaes's jaw tightened for a moment, and then his expression softened into a smile. “How are things going with your team? Are they taking to the new addition well?”

“They seem to get along with Gideon, yes,” Alan said, carefully. The sudden change in topic was exactly why he had problems wanting to tell Jaes everything. It seemed shady to only want to discuss issues on his terms. Alan got the suspicion that Jaes was not accustomed to being argued with, let alone being told he was wrong.

I thought he didn't want me to be his “yes man.” He said he was tired of those.
More importantly, it implied Jaes
did
have secrets. For some reason that bothered Alan even though it was more than in his right to keep some things to himself.
Is he capable of treason, though? He's always been good at following orders, regardless of personal feelings. Unless his personal feelings have always lined up with the work?

Thankfully, Jaes didn't seem to notice Alan lost in thought and continued to keep talking.

“Good, I thought he'd be a good fit there since he'll provide Orlando with an ally at his school. I also saw good potential for him to help Cadence with her projects. She needs another person to bounce intelligence off of, and I'm not always able to do so since my schedule is so tight,” Jaes explained.

And I'm incapable of this task?
Alan scoffed. “She and I talk too.”

“I didn't mean—”

Alan held up a dismissive hand. “Gideon's ability to get information from computers will help a great deal with her research. I understand the logic.”

A soft sigh left Jaes's lips. “How is she?”

“Hmm? Gideon is male...” Though, Alan knew exactly whom Jaes referred to. It was another reason he didn't want to discuss
his
team in detail. Jaes only cared about one person…

“Cadence,” Jaes said. “How is she?”

I don't want to talk about her with
you. But he also wasn't surprised. Jaes was smitten with her, and it bothered Alan, a lot. Especially since he got the suspicion that his friend wanted to evict him of his role as leader just so he could have the opportunity to get even closer to her.

“She's well,” Alan said carefully. “The same as usual. She does the best at balancing her school life and her work with me. I often wonder if she feels less useful, so I am trying to think of more ways for her to be more active in our missions.”

“She should come with us when we go meet with the Yumsaltanz.”

Of course, so you'll have a good excuse to sequester her from me.
..
us, her team.
“How about I bring a few others along as well, then. I'd hate for anyone to feel left out. A lesson in diplomacy might do them some good.”

He'd been expecting Jaes to back down from the idea at the mention of the others. When a full on grin appeared on his face instead, Alan realized he'd just shot himself in the foot. “I'll let Sir Orioltogorthan know!”

Great, and he'll still find a way to keep Cadence all to himself.
Alan rubbed at his forehead. “Yes, be sure to do that and let me know what he thinks about the idea.”
Hopefully he hates it and sees it as a waste of time. Because it would be one. Knowing my luck, because Jaes will be the one proposing the idea, Sir Oriol is going to think he's invented the wheel.

“Are you okay?” Jaes asked.

“Headache,” Alan said. It wasn't a total lie. A splitting pain was beginning to form between his eyes.

The genuine frown of concern on his friend's face almost had him regretting all of his hostile thoughts. “Has it been a long day?” Jaes asked. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate.”

“You haven't done anything wrong,” Alan said. “My day has been long, but there is nothing to share about it. Thank you for keeping me informed. I should go lie down.” A quick exit before he let the wrong words slip from his mouth. Every phrase had to be carefully constructed. Jaes couldn't lie to him, and he wanted to at least give his friend the same kind of courtesy. Alan didn't like being rude, though.
I've got to figure out how to clear him soon because being around him is just uncomfortable. I don't know how to talk to him without spilling the beans. Maybe I should just tell him? No, I can't. Not until I know the right way to do it.

Jaes continued to frown as he nodded. “By the time you wake up, I'll have the clearance you need to bring your team back when we meet with Kimantkel.”

“Great.” Alan tried to hold back as much sarcasm as he could. It was a newer form of expression for him, one he didn't particularly enjoy. In moments like this, however, it did come in handy. Too bad for him, Jaes knew about the mannerism as well so Alan couldn't use it as often as he'd like. Not like he wanted to be mean to his friend, but he had a hard time getting excited over this particular assignment since Jaes was clearly only putting it together to be close with Cadence. He stood and headed back to his bedroom before he got any more sidetracked.
That wasn't as bad as it could have been. The next time we meet, I'll have a better handle on what I want to do.

Rather than climb right into bed, he went to his window and gazed out at Earth. He'd chosen a room where he could view space. Unlike most on the ship, he found it comforting. His love for the universe was part of what inspired him to enlist in the first place. That and the desire to find his fiancée at the time—Alona. She was placed in charge of a group of Earth teens as well. The group that Sprout belonged to. Alona was from a rival tribe, one that had, up until a few nights ago, been aligned with the green one. The green tribe was trying to commit genocide on the yellow. No one seemed to truly get along. A trend Alan found in the Earth nations as well.

They handle their fights differently here,
he observed.
There is war and death, pain. But they fight it on their lands. Why did the Gelandrosimbol think it a good idea to take this conflict off of Altura? There's so much I don't understand.
He'd joined the army for one reason, and soon lost sight of it. Because while Alona might have been forced into doing the horrible crimes she'd committed against the people of Earth, she'd still chosen to do them. She didn't fight back. She showed no remorse. The woman he'd been in love with on Altura no longer existed.

Altura felt like a fictional place to him. He'd been away for so long. Earth was so much like home, even with the culture shock. At the core, where it mattered most, Earthlings and Alturans were exactly the same. They processed the same emotions and had the same motivations. Alan couldn't fathom hurting these people. It disgusted him that there were some from his planet who saw the people of Earth as lesser beings.
Alona is one of them and she is poisoning the minds of her charges into thinking the same way.

His stomach churned at the thought, and yet he understood completely the spectrum of feelings Orlando went through in regards to his feelings with Sprout, because he often found himself going through them as well. Because just as quickly as he latched onto the anger he held toward Alona, in a second it would fade into sadness over the hollow feeling that'd been left in his heart.

He could still remember the good moments they shared. Moments where they shared similar dreams and goals with one another, where he saw the goodness inside of her and not the evil. Each day they faded a bit more as his heart healed from the trauma of realizing she wasn't the woman he'd once thought her to be.

I've changed too, though. Maybe part of the reason we didn't survive this circumstance is because I'm just as different. What happened to the guy who used to play pranks on his teachers? The guy who broke curfew when he couldn't sleep? I can't think of the last time I had any fun.
Alan used to be all about fun. It might have been good for him to gain some direction in his life, some sense of responsibility, but he wasn't so sure he liked the cost. The closest he felt to being his former self was when he was with…

“Cadence,” he whispered her name, his eyes closing. With her, he was a normal person. No pressure, no responsibility. He was just a guy.
And there is no way I can fall for her. She doesn't need another potential suitor to stress her out. I'm lonely, nothing more. It's been so long since I've experienced any kind of companionship, and with Alona out of the picture everything feels worse, amplified.