How to Date an Alien (18 page)

He reached out his hand, laying it on mine.
It wasn't the same warmth that I would get from Ace's hands, but it
was the first time I ever felt real comfort from my dad.

"So what does her family think of you and
her?"

Dad sighed, picking up his mug with his free
hand. "She doesn't have any family. Her planet was destroyed when
she was just an infant. Earth is the only planet she knows and
Circe is the only family she has."

"Oh." I looked down at the swirling liquid in
my mug. Dad might have understood what it was like to fall for an
alien and even what it was like when your friends found out, but
the whole alien boyfriend's mother trying to kill you thing was
pretty foreign to him.

"But that's why we have a trained human and
alien army here. Taking a Circe resident was just the ammunition
they needed to fight." He smiled. "So hopefully things will get
back to normal soon."

"I'm not really sure if my life is every
going to be normal again." I took a sip from my mug.

He laughed. "Who said normal was all that
great anyway?"

"Sure, Dad." I blinked, taking my eyes from
his and looking down at my mug.

"Look, I know it hasn't been easy for you
since I left and I'm sorry for that. There were so many times that
I wanted to tell you what was going on and bring you here, but I
couldn't." He put his mug down and laid his hands on his lap,
pushing them back and forth.

"That's why when your mom told me about
Columbia, I thought that you doing an internship here would not
only help out your college resume, but could also bring us closer
together. You could finally understand what Circe is about."

I shook my head, trying to remain calm as a
storm of emotions rumbled through my head. "If you cared so much
about Circe bringing us closer together then why did you slap an
ankle cuff on me and refuse to let me see Ace? Why couldn't you
just tell me what was going on?"

I let out a puff of air, looking down at the
coffee table. "I’m not a little kid anymore, Dad, and if you would
have just talked to me like an adult in the first place all of this
probably wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have had to sneak out
and we wouldn't have to go to war with some stuck-up aliens."

"Alex." He put his hand on my shoulder. "I
had to protect you. I was afraid that something like this would
happen and I didn't know what else to do."

I pushed his hand off of my shoulder; his
comfort felt false to me. Like everything that he was saying didn't
make sense. "Didn't know what else to do? How about just, I don't
know, tell me that you were afraid that I could really start an
intergalactic war? Oh, or how about that you have an alien
girlfriend of your own?"

"Alex." He sighed.

"What, Dad? Explain it to me, I'm all ears
and ready to listen."

"I was scared, okay!" He threw his arms up,
before lowering them and drawing his eyes down to the ground. "I
didn't know what was going to happen. I knew it was a possibility
that the Caltians would attack, but I thought if I just kept you
from Ace then you might even forget about him when you left
here."

"But then the queen would just continue
ruling the universe with fear. Don't you see that? Nothing would
have changed." I shook my head. "Could you forget about Nerses and
just move on from Circe?"

He let his eyes trail up to mine; the fear
was shining brightly through them like a window to his inner
terror. "No." He shook his head, and set his arms down at his
sides. "And I should have known better than to expect you to do the
same thing."

"Then why did you try?" I pressed.

"I don't know. I think I just forgot what it
was like to be a teenager." He put his hands on his knees. "And I
should have realized how powerful a relationship is between an
alien and a human."

I didn't know what to say as I really saw my
dad for the first time in years. I didn't see him as the guy who
abandoned my mom and me, or the guy who put an ankle cuff on me,
but for the first time I actually saw him as another human being.
One of the only ones that actually understood what I was going
through with Ace, and one of the few people I felt like I could
actually talk to about it.

"I'm sorry Dad, for everything. For blaming
you for mom, and for blaming you for locking up Ace." I put my hand
on his back. "I know now that you were just trying to protect me,
in your own clueless way."

He laughed, shaking his head. "I guess I
should maybe start listening to you instead of being so
impractical."

"Believe it or not, sometimes I actually know
what I'm talking about."

"Like that time you told your mom and me that
it was evil garden gnomes who painted the living room furniture
blue?" He arched his eyebrows.

"Exactly like that." I laughed.

Dad reached over, placing his arms around me
and pulling me into a hug. He rubbed my back while I tried to choke
back the tears that were threatening to break through my
eyelids.

"I love you, Alex."

"I love you, too, Dad."

He pulled away, leaving his hands on my
shoulders. "And I want you to do me a favor."

"Anything, Dad."

"I don't want you to join in the war. I want
you to stay with Nerses in the underground bunker until it all
blows over. Can you do that for me?"

"What?" I shook my head, staring at dad and
wondering where he came up with a question like that.

He sighed, removing his hands from my
shoulders. "I don't want to lose you again and if you go up there,
I know you may never come back."

"And you expect me to just sit hunkered down
in a bunker somewhere hoping when it's all over Earth will still be
here?" I focused in on him, not letting my eyes leave his.

"Alex, there are plenty of trained aliens and
soldiers who are more than ready to handle an attack like this." He
patted my shoulder. "It will be fine."

I stared at my dad, narrowing my eyes. "It
will be fine? My boyfriend is stuck up in a spaceship, I was
tasered by some creepy dude with a name I can't even pronounce, and
you're telling me that it's going to be fine?"

"Alex, there is no reason to worry. The
trained soldiers will take care of this. I really don't want to see
you get hurt and I’m sure Ace wouldn't want that either."

I threw dad's hand off my shoulder. "You have
no idea what Ace would want. You know nothing about our
relationship and all the time that you had to get to know us, you
decided to just ignore what you saw." I jumped off the couch,
leaning over dad and stepping closer, not letting my stare waver
from his. "You knew when you walked in on us that day we said we
were looking at people's e-mails that there was something going on
between us. But instead of talking to me about it, you decided not
to say anything until you knew that you could just walk in, smack a
tracker on my ankle, and try to control me."

"Alex, it's not like that." He put his hands
out, whispering, "And keep your voice down."

"Keep my voice down?" I crossed my arms over
my chest. "Dad, you can't expect to just lead me into your suite,
make me a pot of tea, blow a bombshell like that, and expect me not
to freak out."

He sighed again. Dad was becoming a
professional sigher. "Alex, I've already lost you once. It was hell
not being able to see you the past few years. There were so many
moments that I thought I had lost you forever, and if something
were to happen to you, I don't think I could live with myself. I
just want to protect you."

I nodded, holding back my tears. "I
understand, Dad."

"You do?" Wrinkles creased his forehead and
made him look years older.

"Yeah, you're just being a dad and I'm sure
it would be pretty hard to explain to mom if anything happened to
me." I forced a tight-lipped smile. He didn't need to know what I
was really thinking.

He let out a deep breath. "Okay, well how
about you get to your room and pack up? Then I'll come and get you
when we're ready to go down to the bunker?"

"Sounds great." I tried to get as much
enthusiasm in my voice as I could muster. I left him standing in
his suite, thinking that he had actually made headway.

"So how would someone go into an
intergalactic battle without their dad knowing?" I called as I
stepped in the room. Jen was perched on the bed, her computer on
her lap and her bag packed and ready on the floor beside her.

She put her computer down and sat up. "You're
not serious, are you?"

I ran over to her bed and sat down by her
feet. "What else am I supposed to do, Jen? Just sit back and watch
almost everyone I know and love possibly die at the hands of some
evil queen?"

"But you've never flown a plane. It could be
really dangerous. You would be an immediate target." She leaned in
closer, making sure I fully understood her words.

"Yeah, I've realized that, but don't you
think Ace would do the same thing for me? Don't you think he would
have already taken a plane and started fighting before anyone gave
him the go ahead?" I widened my eyes.

Jen shook her head, smiling. "From what I've
seen of Ace, I think we both know that he would definitely do
that."

She put her hand up before I could respond.
"But, Ace is also a trained Caltian and Army Air Force fighter, so
it's safe to say that he probably has a lot more experience than a
high school girl from Illinois."

"I can see your point, but do you really
think that it's going to stop me?"

She shook her head, letting out a deep puff
of air from her nose. "No, I really don't think that anyone could.
You're kind of stubborn."

I shrugged. "I take after my dad's side."

She rolled her eyes. "So what's your
brilliant plan then, Helen?"

"Helen?"

"You know, Helen of Troy? The whole reason
they started the battle of Troy? Well, of course, she actually
didn't fight anyone. I think the gods were the only mythical
creatures that actually kicked butt." She smiled.

"Maybe I need a more kickass nickname instead
of all these star-crossed lover ones. Have you ever seen any of
these damsel-in-distress-type characters just go off wielding a
knife and start fighting back?" I scooted farther onto the bed.

"No, I guess that's what history will have
you for. The first kickass damsel in distress." She looked down at
her comforter. "And after seeing the way you handled that guard's
weapon I have no doubt that you can at least get a few shots in
against the Caltians."

"Some dads just send their daughters a card
with money for their birthdays. My dad sent me certificates for
shooting lessons and self defense classes." I laughed.

Jen shook her head and looked up at me. "So
what's your plan then, damsel?"

I shrugged. "That's why I came here. I'm not
really the planning type as you may have come to realize."

Jen pulled up her computer. "Well, you should
be lucky then that you have a friend like me who's done her
research."

I looked at the screen to see a map of a
triangular Caltian spaceship with some notes typed at the
bottom.

"Where did you get this?" I adjusted my
glasses and leaned in closer to the screen.

Jen pushed a few buttons, making the ship
light up on the screen. "I spend my day working in an alien
laboratory and reproducing cells, but you don't think that I can
find a copy of an alien mothership?"

"Touché."

I stared at the dark blue screen with white
lines tracing the triangular shape of the ship and labeling the
different locations. It looked nothing like any of the planes that
I had seen when I lived with my dad on base and couldn't believe
the intricate levels and details. Everything seemed meticulously
planned and positioned, from the large engines that sat near the
back of the ship to the command center spreading across the
front.

I tried not to tremble as I wondered what
kind of artillery they had lying in the bottom level marked
"weapons chamber," and feared if one little Taser could take me out
of commission, then something in that chamber could probably kill
me with only the push of a button.

Jen pointed to a small area at the back,
lower chamber of the ship that was lit up in green. "Every ship has
its Achilles heel, and even though the Caltians really don't have
much of one, there is still a way for you to get on board."

"You want me to board the ship? How am I
supposed to do that? Are you going to beam me up there?" I looked
over at Jen.

She rolled her eyes, looking off the screen.
"Have you learned anything while you've been here or do you still
believe everything you see in science fiction movies?"

"A little bit of both."

Jen tossed her hair over her shoulder. "The
beaming technology has been looked into, but it's still in the
trial stages and it is usually only used when you know exactly
where you are going and aren't guessing."

My eyes widened as I looked from the screen
back to Jen. "So you don't exactly know where I'm going?"

Jen bit her lip. "This is a few decades old,
but I'm pretty sure that it's accurate enough to get you in."

"And then what happens?"

"Justin," Jen called, pushing a button on her
computer.

Justin's freckled face popped up on the
screen. "Yo, Jen." His eyes trailed over to me. "Oh, hey, Alex,
heard you have one hell of a kill shot. Can't wait to see it in
action." He winked.

"Justin, this is serious right now." Jen
narrowed her eyes at the screen.

Justin rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, but
if you aren't nice to me I'm not going to show you the new toys
that I made for Alex."

"Toys?" I questioned.

"Toys, or weapons of mass destruction, but
that's your call." He bent over, letting his head go off the
screen. He came back up holding a small instrument that looked like
a silver banana.