Author's Notes:

The idea for this story popped into my head and refused to go away until I put fingers to keyboard.

It started as a short little tale, but as I was drawn back to it again and again, it grew from its humble beginnings.

I just completed its edit in time for the 2024 Literotica Geek Pride Story Event.

I hope you enjoy it.

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All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older.

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Uninvited

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Chapter 1

Leo's cheap alarm clock went off faithfully at six in the morning, the shrill off-tune ring of the dented metal bells jolting him from his sleep of the dead. Flinging a hand out, he stopped its call by knocking the clock from the table once again.

He'd stayed up too late the night before, reading trade paperback comics. They had to be returned to the library today, so he'd wanted to finish them all. Now, he was paying the price.

Bleary-eyed, he dragged himself out of bed and plodded down the hall to his tiny washroom. He stood before the toilet and got the relief his bladder was demanding. Then it was a quick but thorough shower, his long, straight black hair getting extra attention. It almost reached his waist now, but Evie said she liked it, so he let it grow.

Thinking about Evie sent tingles through his naughty bits. He willingly admitted he was a little fixated on his coworker from the coffee shop, but it was natural as she was a knockout! Tall, blonde, and slim but with curves to drive a man to distraction. She was Aphrodite to his Hades. She also had amazing blue eyes that seemed to peer into his soul and a smile that brightened his day.

He brushed his teeth as he stared morosely at his reflection in the dimly lit bathroom mirror.

He matched Evie's six-foot height. He was also slim, but that was due to his lack of funds to pay for sufficient food. His frame was large enough to support bigger muscles, but he didn't have the drive or discipline to make it happen or the money to pay for the food to fuel the effort. He worked two shitty part-time jobs, which barely paid for his dumpy little basement apartment.

Glancing in the mirror again, he gave himself another critical evaluation. He had broad shoulders and a wide chest, but all he saw were the ribs visible against his skin.

He accepted that he wasn't ugly so much as... plain. Neutral... like a block of clay before the artist expressed his soul onto it. He smirked to himself at the comparison.

Truthfully, he had no exceptional features.

He was also quiet and soft-spoken and avoided confrontation at all costs, even if the price was damaged pride, which he had in short supply.

Shy and passive, he floated through life on the path of least resistance.

People like him never got to date women like Evie, who glowed with beauty, grace, and confidence. She was a woman with drive, ambition, and potential.

While he was in his early twenties like Evie, he wasn't going to college, though she was. His grades hadn't been good enough, and he really couldn't afford it even if they had been.

So, he remained a familiar stranger to her, someone hovering in the background at her workplace. Mostly, the extent of their conversation was a good morning or good night, depending on the shifts they shared or taking instructions from her to help her at work. He certainly didn't mind doing that, as she was always ready to give him one of her pearly white smiles.

Returning to his morning preparations, he gave himself a quick shave to remove the dusting of his minimal facial hair. He couldn't grow a decent mustache or beard if his life depended on it. Just another strike against his masculinity, he supposed.

Once more, he considered removing the mirror in the bathroom, as it never made him feel better about himself.

With a sigh, he went back to his bedroom and got dressed. The coffee shop's uniform was simply an apron he wore over his white dress shirt, black slacks, and black dress shoes, so that was easy enough. In the afternoon, his second job as a valet parking attendant at a downtown hotel allowed him to dress the same way. Minus the apron, which stayed at the coffee shop, of course.

Glancing at the clock, he saw it was time to leave. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and his cheap cell phone.

He would have gotten rid of the expense of the cell if he didn't need to get calls from work about shifts. As it was, he had about thirty minutes left on the cheapest pay-as-you-go plan. He only got work calls and not many of those.

Contemplating seeing Evie once more gave his spirits a well-needed lift.

-=-

"You will do it?"

"Do what?" Evie asked Tatyana as she looked up at her white-blonde roommate leaning on the other side of the kitchen table, watching her.

"You will get your work slave to play with us tonight?" the scantily clad Russian model asked with a coy smile.

"Yes! Yes! You must!" Ji-Yu cheered over her bowl of cereal from her spot at the end of the table. The five-foot-ten Korean model shared a smile with her Russian friend, then both looked expectantly at Evie.

"I think Leo mentioned he works until nine tonight," Evie said hesitantly.

Another beauty was entering the kitchen of the house the four friends rented together. Her dressing gown was loosely tied, and significant cleavage was on display. Nina, a six-foot-two Greek goddess with a big head of curly black hair, grabbed a bowl and spoon, then liberated the cereal box from Ji-Yu before sitting next to Evie. "You're going to keep him to yourself? I thought we'd agreed," she said with a raised brow.

Evie raised her hands. "It's not like that! I have no intentions of getting a boyfriend, and I especially wouldn't choose Leo."

"What's wrong with him?" Tatyana asked. "He has nice hair! I can't believe you got him to grow it so long!" she giggled.

Evie squirmed. "That's the thing! He isn't like the other boys we've tricked into playing with us. He doesn't consider himself god's gift to women and is not a sleazy player. Leo's... an overeager puppy. All I said was that I liked his hair long, and now it almost reaches his ass!"

"He's not a puppy! He's a Lamb!" Ji-Yu snorted.

Evie rolled her eyes wearily. Ji-Yu found Leo's name to be hilarious for some reason. Leo Lamb. Ji-Yu had even made Evie ask Leo how he got the name. She recalled the day in the break room when she'd cajoled the story from him. He'd been uncomfortable talking about his parents. It seemed they were Christian zealots who'd legally changed their names to Joseph and Mary Lamb before they got married. Each of their seven children had been named after a significant person in Jesus' life. Apparently, by the time Leo arrived, the doctors told Mary no more. So, on the day of the arrival of the seventh child, they rested and simply named him after the beasts that represented Jesus, the lion and the lamb.

Once she'd gotten him to open up, Leo just kept talking, spilling his secrets to keep her attention. She admitted to herself she found it... interesting.

Much to the disappointment of his parents and the ire of his six siblings, he was the only one his parents' indoctrination didn't stick to. Perhaps that was because his parents were more about nurturing their church community and less directly involved in their children's upbringing by the time he'd been born.

He struggled as a child as he had issues focusing his attention. His mind was too easily distracted, and his grades in school were poor without external support. He knew he had difficulty and tried his best, but his grades never improved significantly in a system that worked for the majority. Evie suspected he had some form of neurodivergence, but his parents hadn't cared enough to have him tested.

He'd left home on his eighteenth birthday and hitched rides across the country to San Remo, California, a small city just outside San Jose, where he worked two jobs to survive.

Evie could only relate to a small part of his story.

She was an only child, so she couldn't relate to having siblings. She also had no frame of reference for Leo's scrambling to survive, as her parents were very wealthy. They paid her university tuition and living expenses for the school residence, which they made a condition for her to attend university across the country. The only similarity they had to Leo's parents was their lack of attention. They were so busy with their professions and social events in New York City that she'd chosen to travel far from them to strike out on her own. She enrolled at San Jose State University in Business Management.

At a party during her first week of classes, she met Tatyana, Ji-Yu, and Nina, who invited her to join them in their rental house. One of their model friends left the business, and they had a vacancy. This let Evie take the funds for her residence and cover her rent with money left over. The extra cash went into a separate bank account her parents weren't aware of, as she'd need seed capital once she graduated. She took a part-time job for pocket money.

"Didn't you say you've caught him watching you? Didn't you say he got a stiffy from that?" Nina reminded her.

Evie nodded with a frown. It was true that she'd felt a little awkward when she'd caught him and saw the bulge pressing against his coffee shop apron. She recalled he rushed off, walking funny from the discomfort of his tight pants.

"Yes, that's true."

"So, you'll invite him to play?" Tatyana insisted.

She sighed as she knew they wouldn't stop until she gave in. "Yes."

Ji-Yu clapped her hands happily as Nina smiled with satisfaction. Evie recalled previous times when they'd played with these foolish boys who thought they'd struck gold with four beautiful ladies paying attention to them. They never suspected a thing until the barbs sank in and the ladies stripped them of their egos and dignity.

To date, their targets had been creeps who made a nuisance of themselves with one of the three models. Thinking about it, she might have mentioned the event with Leo just to fit in with her roommates. They certainly seemed delighted to hear about it.

She pushed her reservations aside. She had a life plan, and Leo wasn't in it. What did it matter to her if the ladies had a little fun and ensured he kept his erections to himself?

It was time to get ready for work.

Chapter 2

Leo rushed along the dark streets, hurrying to get home. He had trouble keeping from sprinting the rest of the way in his excitement.

What an amazing day! First, at the coffee shop, a customer complimented him on his latte art within earshot of the manager. The man finally noticed him and moved him to the counter, where he decorated all the lattes ordered. That was fun, and he got smiles from the customers, the owner, but especially from Evie.

Speaking of the beauty, the next amazing thing that happened today occurred during their break. She invited him to join her and her friends in an online chat room tonight! Her roommates heard about him and wanted to say hello. This meant Evie talked about him with her friends, and she must have said nice things!

Extra exciting was the fact that she now had his cell number. Maybe she would call him from time to time!

His laptop was a third-hand piece of junk he bought from a coworker at the hotel (he suspected it was stolen), but he was pretty sure it could manage a web chat application. It had a built-in webcam, but he'd never used it, so he needed to get home and try it out.

He finally reached his street and hustled down the sidewalk and into the stairwell beneath his building's front steps. His dark basement apartment only had one street-level window, and he kept the blinds drawn for privacy. He unlocked the door and slipped into the dark interior, engaging the cheap lock before stepping away. It wasn't even a deadbolt! In truth, he had no valuables.

As he was responsible for his utilities, he kept the lights off as much as possible. A single LED lightbulb in the living room lamp was enough. He stepped forward and reached for the lamp unerringly and achieved dim illumination.

The apartment came furnished courtesy of the previous tenant, though everything was well-worn. The man had died in his sleep, so the bed's mattress had been replaced... with another discount mattress.

The living room had a couch, a coffee table, an end table where the lamp sat, and an old TV connected to stolen cable service. It was hooked up before Leo moved in, and he wouldn't mention the illegal connection to anyone. Not that he watched much TV, as the old set pulled a lot of power.

A bookcase held his treasures. The minimal extra money he'd scrounged had been put toward buying comics. He didn't have many, but he cherished the ones he had. He wasn't a big reader; his concentration issue made that difficult for him, but he enjoyed comics. They were his escape.

His comic collection was all about superheroes. Beings who had everything he didn't. They were everything he wished he could be.

Three female anime figurines also adorned the shelves. These were discards that the owner of the comic shop gave him. Leo glued the broken arms and, in one case, a head back on the figurines. They were flawed, but in his eyes, each was lovely. He longed to find someone real to love as much.

Finally, he had several toy rockets rounding out his collection. These represented his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, a future denied to him by his struggles in school... and his badly wired brain.

This bookshelf was the only display of his personal tastes in the entire apartment, and yes, they might have been a little immature. But everyone needs a release.

Chastising himself for wasting precious time, he rushed down his hall to the bathroom to quickly freshen up. Then he grabbed his laptop from the bedroom and hustled back to the couch. He put the computer on the table and opened it up.

Not only was the apartment's TV cable stolen, but his internet connection came from his upstairs neighbor's Wi-Fi router. Mrs. Lawrence's son paid for unlimited access but had left her router wide open with the default passwords. The son was an idiot, but his mother was so nice. Leo reconfigured the security on the router to protect her while leaving himself access.

He pressed the power button on the old laptop and breathed a sigh of relief when it started. Five minutes later, he was looking at the desktop. After a little more fussing, his face was on the screen. The webcam worked.

Leo opened the browser and entered Evie's chat site address. It took him another seven minutes to register an account, but finally, he was in. He took a deep breath and did a search for Evie's account. Then, he clicked on it to begin a call.

Funny noises chirped from the speaker then a second window appeared next to his. There was Evie, smiling at him.

"You made it! We almost went to bed!" she said.

Time froze in his mind as he noticed she wore a sexy silk dressing gown.

His tongue failed him for a moment, then he cleared his throat. "Sorry I'm so late. I—"

A second gorgeous blonde slid onto the couch next to Evie and grinned at him. She had white-blonde hair, and her t-shirt threatened to expose one breast as the wide neckline pulled to the side and slid off one shoulder.

Evie's smile seemed to grow as she watched his eyes widen.

"Leo, this is my roommate, Tatyana. This is Nina," she added as another stunner sat down on her other side.

Leo did his best not to gasp aloud when Nina's chest threatened to pop out of her negligee as she settled herself on the couch. He knew she was aware of her impact on him from her satisfied smile.

"Is he online?" a voice exclaimed from off-camera. Suddenly, a pretty face leaned into the frame from the side and grinned happily.

"Hello! I am Ji-Yu. You are Leo Lamb?" she said with a giggle.

As she bent over to look into the screen, Leo got a great view of her cleavage. He struggled to think. "Yes, I am."

She giggled again and squeezed herself onto the crowded couch.

Now Leo was faced with four beauties looking back at him, each wearing a smile that sent tingles and shivers down his spine.

"Let's play a little game to get to know each other better," Nina suggested. "Do you like games, Leo?"

"Sure. I'm up for anything," he said, trying to sound cool, but to his ears, he just sounded lame.

The smiles he got from the ladies seemed just a little predatory.

What in the world had he set himself up for?

-=-

At that moment, on an entirely separate spiral arm of the galaxy, someone else was looking at a screen, but she wasn't smiling.

"Give me jump coordinates now!" she snapped. As their pilot, she wasn't angry with her navigator, just the situation they found themselves in.

Normally, her brawn and her partner's genius intellect were sufficient to keep them well ahead of their pursuers. This time, however, idiotic bad luck dropped them smack in the middle of the armada from the Gharr Vanguard Alliance.

The fleet shouldn't have been here at all, but they were badly off course. The fact that this was due to her partner's hacking of the armada's nav system months earlier was a cruel irony.

"They're closing the net. There are no viable jump coordinates," the deep masculine voice said in her mind.

"I'll take non-viable at this point."

The voice was quiet for a moment. "Are you being serious?" he said.

As she was always the serious one in their relationship, she didn't verbally respond but nodded.

She felt his mind begin to compute possible routes and their odds of surviving them as he rapidly went through their few remaining vectors. No one could think as quickly as he could and be right so frequently.

Until blind luck said no more.

"Got it. You'll need to do a little shooting to convince the flagship we mean business. Launch a missile into the flight bays they currently have facing us. They'll bank to protect the bays. Once their course deflects five degrees, we have our vector outbound."

"Fire on the flagship? This is your answer?" she asked incredulously. It was like asking a pebble to attack a moon.

"Or shut down the engines and prepare to be—"

"Missile away," she said between her teeth as she launched it. If she was going down guns a-blazing, she would use their largest, most deadly missile. They'd never had an opportunity to use an antimatter weapon before. It was damn fast and evasive, but it would still take almost a minute to reach the flagship at these distances. Plenty of time for the monsters on that ship to shit their pants.

"Was that the AEX001p?" the deep voice asked cautiously.

"Yes. There wasn't much point in saving it, was there," she replied and blinked as the coordinates for the jump suddenly appeared in the nav system. She began to prepare the ship's engines for the jump.

"I can't factor the result of that explosion into our jump. We're going right over that ship's left flank," he said. "They're banking. Get ready to jump."

"The fleet is firing back at us! Incoming missiles from multiple vectors! We're in the middle of their group, and they're firing on us?!?" she exclaimed in shock.

"Jump!" he exclaimed.

She risked a quick glance and noted the flagship had turned four degrees. She prayed his calculations included wiggle room.

Their ship initially leaped forward in relatively small increments, but each subsequent jump was exponentially longer. The incoming missiles struggled to alter their courses to keep up with the disappearing and reappearing target. The vast majority would ultimately fail, finding other targets within the fleet instead. If the gunners who fired them realized this and had the presence of mind to act, they might save those ships by detonating or disabling the missiles quickly. Still, the space ahead of them was becoming chaos as some gunners chickened out early and detonated their weapons.

She grit her teeth as the ship took a pounding from punching through these shock waves. They continued forward, looking very much like they were doing a suicide run at the flagship.

Then, the AEX001p unleashed its unholy vengeance on the ship that had done everything in its power to prevent the missile from reaching its ultimate destination. The weapon punched through the ship's shields, shedding its outer shell in the process to inject its payload of raw antimatter deep into the flight bay. Three fighters were on their way out of the bay when the energies ripped them apart, adding the force of their ruptured engine cores to the chaos.

As she was crushed back against her seat, her high-gee trained muscles struggling to keep her hands near the controls, she gasped as the flagship appeared to split in two as if cleaved by the Goddess' blade.

"NOW!" he yelled, and she slapped the override to push the engines to complete the leap into alt space with one final surge. They skimmed over the metal plating of the flagship, bulging up and outwards, unable to contain the hellish energy within.

Everything went black, and she held her breath. Alt space was never dark.

The light came back in pulses. Short pops of light with terrible noises to accompany them. The flashes got closer together, and then suddenly, she could see. The ship was on fire. Alarms blared. Gasses vented. The emergency lights were on and cast weird shadows across the cabin.

Sensation returned to her body, and she wished to slide back into the darkness. She was hurt. She looked down at her torso and saw blue blood where it leaked from three wounds. She wasn't concerned about bleeding out as her suit would seal her injuries with a temporary patch. Some of the alarm sounds started to sound like a voice.

"What?" she muttered.

"Kaaree! Thank the Goddess! I thought you had a brain injury!"

She felt his intense relief echo through her mind. Surren... that was his name. Everything else came rushing back.

"What happened?" she managed as she tapped the controls on her terminal to adjust the fire control systems to better target the flames. Not all of them responded. That wasn't good.

Surren's voice returned to its usual calm baritone. "I believe we were struck by one of the missiles chasing us just as we entered alt space. It's amazing that the ship held together and got us through and back out into real space."

Kaaree did her best to get the ship to respond but had limited success. They only had some maneuvering jets and forward shields, which probably meant they got their ass shot off. She checked their oxygen levels and saw no leaks, but half their supply was gone, stored in the ship's aft section. Also, the scrubbers appeared to be permanently down, so the air they had wouldn't remain breathable for very long.

"Are there any repair shops out here? Where are we, by the way?" she asked as she tried to get a nav fix on their location. As the computer took longer and longer to answer her query, she began to worry. The final answer made her cry out in surprise, then pain as her wounds flared.

"Please refrain from excitable outbursts until we can find medical attention for you." She felt the concern in his voice, but then, as he was living inside her body, he had reason to be concerned about her injuries. She began to worry about that, too.

"We're far out on another arm of our galactic disc. Is there intelligent life out here?" she asked.

"You did say unviable jump coordinates were fine." At her growl for his teasing, he chuckled and continued. "The only available vector had nothing along it except for this remote system. There was a report of intelligent life at the pre-industrial stage—"

"What?!?" she gasped, then winced once more as pain shot through her body.

"The report was from a very long time ago. If they survived, we should get an indication of local activity in the system. Scan for signals on all bandwidths."

Wincing, she tried to scan for unnatural signal patterns. Their sensor performance was spotty at best, a sign of more damage, but she determined the third planet from the sun had life on it.

The next problem was they were coming into the system with too much velocity. "We have to slow down if we have any intention of getting assistance from the inhabitants of the third planet," she explained.

"There's life there?"

"Yes, but their technological levels are yet to be determined," she cautioned.

Thinking about that, she activated the ship's stealth tech and was pleased it was still working... on its bow. While it had been useless while they'd been within the armada's sensor net, they should be invisible on their approach to the planet. When they arrived and went into orbit, all bets were off.

She confirmed the main engines were dead, so spinning the ship to use them to kill their forward momentum was not possible. Due to their air situation, they needed to cross the distance between their entry point and the third planet relatively quickly, but once they were close, they needed a quick way to shed all their excess velocity. The maneuvering thrusters on the front of the ship could be used, but that was a lot of strain to put on them.

Their best bet was to slow as much as they could, then, just before they reached orbit, abandon the ship in a life pod and take that down to the surface. If the atmosphere was capable of sustaining them. They really were out of options.

Aiming the ship's sensor array at the third planet, she got them working on assessing the planet's attributes. Once she saw that was underway, she eased herself back in her chair. Pain from three areas of her torso. Bad pain and blood. These were not good signs. She craned her head to look over her shoulder and saw the scorched mess that was their medic bay.

The computer pinged with a report that made her sigh with relief as they wouldn't be killed by the planet's breathable atmosphere... unless it burned them up on landing. Pain throbbed through her body.

"I'm sorry, Kaaree, I can't heal you."

She felt his deep sorrow and sighed. That was more bad news. The knowledge that ahead of them was a planet that contained beings capable of transmitting signals kept her from total despair. She understood she probably wouldn't survive, but if she could last long enough to get to the planet's surface, Surren might live. That's what was important. She just had to hang on a little while longer.

"I can feel your fatalism flaring, Kaaree. We will find you medical assistance on the planet. Don't give up!" he argued.

She couldn't contain her snort, though it just brought her more pain. "Since when does a Warrior Priestess of Qua Sho Fen give up! Fool."

She felt his pride in her, and that warmed her. She pushed that aside as she still had to find a way to get them down.

"Make yourself useful! I need options for decelerating the ship sufficiently to eject a life pod and not have it burn up in the atmosphere!" she growled.

"On it," Surren said with amusement evident in his voice.

She tried not to dwell on the idea of Surren's demise. It was unthinkable that she might be his last host. She was only thirty cycles old, so her loss was merely sad. Surren was a Vaxian symbiote and had lived for over thirty-two thousand cycles. That incredible stretch of life was possible when you were just comprised of energy and hopped from host body to host body. She could expire without regret if she could survive long enough to find him a new host.

"I have one option, but you won't like it."

She sighed. He was always right, so she already didn't.

-=-

The ship shuddered as the terrible bangs of rupturing structural supports echoed around her. Their deceleration method was crushing the remains of the vessel around them.

"Of all the stupid ideas you've come up with over the fifteen cycles I've known you, this one reaches new heights of stupidity!" Kaaree growled through her teeth as she struggled with the controls for the maneuvering thrusters to keep them on course.

The air was thick with smoke and steam. She'd turned off all the alarm systems as their constant wail helped nothing. Her helmet was on as there was a good chance the ship might split open to outer space. This was a likely outcome if the stress of firing all their remaining missiles at once while they were locked into their retaining clamps proved too much for the ship's structural integrity. All the weapons were facing backward as they rushed toward the blue-and-white world they were closing in on.

As much as it annoyed her to admit it, the plan was working as the ship slowed. If she could just keep them on course.

"Are you ready to hit the eject control?" Surren asked.

"It's primed, but I can't do it until we've shed more velocity, and we must be on the right trajectory, or the pod will burn or bounce off into space. It's all I can do to keep us—"

A deafening boom rocked the ship, and Kaaree was thrown against her restraints. Bones would have been broken if she hadn't been from a high gee planet.

As it was, she passed out.

-=-

"Kaaree!!!"

She jolted in her chair and moaned through the pain.

"Hit the eject!" Surren's voice was no longer calm, and that woke her faster than anything else could. Her fingers paused above the control as her mind struggled to understand what she saw.

The large display's left side showed a planet's night side. She glanced at their speed, which was low enough for them to eject, but their angle was too sharp. She tapped the thrusters and felt the ship... wobble?

The nose lifted, and they were beginning to rise but too quickly, like the ship's mass was greatly reduced.

She hit eject before the angle rose too high. Her feet went down, and her arms came in against her sides as the seat sent her downwards into the ship's life pod. The hatch snapped shut above her, and straps wrapped around her a second before the pod shot free from the vessel. Its engines cut in to put them into the correct entry angle.

Kaaree activated the display in the pod and gasped at what she saw above her.

The front of their ship was still mostly intact, but everything behind the bridge had been sheared off and trailed as a stream of shredded and scorched debris. At least one of the missiles had overheated and exploded, but the rest remained in their retaining clamps, their propulsion fuel spent.

But they were all armed!

The pod descended on its optimal path toward the planet's surface, dropping further away from the destroyed ship. She reflected that they would be stranded on this planet unless the inhabitants had sufficiently advanced technology.

The destroyed ship's collision with a satellite missile platform came as a complete surprise to Kaaree, whose attention was wandering with her pain. The wreck struck the satellite, setting off the armed missiles in a hellish blast. One of the missiles on the satellite exploded. The enormously bright flash overloaded the display in the pod, and she was plunged into darkness. Then came the noise of debris pinging off the side of the life pod's side as it jerked from side to side to avoid the larger pieces.

The atmosphere's screaming against the life pod's now-pitted surface began with an ear-piercing intensity.

Kaaree heard nothing as the pain took her mind away once more.

-=-

"...rous...we have to go! Get up, Kaaree!"

She cracked her eyelids open and peered at the darkness. Everything hurt, especially the three injuries on her torso, as there was something inside, the shrapnel from the initial missile strike.

"where..."

"We're on the surface. We need to move away from here before the local authorities arrive. Can you move?"

His voice was very calm and controlled, and that worried her. "I need light. Why is the pod so dark?" she mumbled.

"I'm going to boost your vision a little," he said. She felt a prickly sensation behind her eyes and could make out the emergency evacuation lever. She reached out and tugged it. The pod's hatch blew open with a hiss then her restraints were released.

That's when she discovered she was lying on a slope with her head pointing down. She slid out of the pod and dropped to the ground with a slight thump on the grass.

She remained there until the stars left her eyes, and she could see real stars through her helmet's visor. She reached up and disengaged the helmet. Fresh air rushed around her face, and she breathed in the scents of wet grass and various plant life. There was a tang of metal in the air, too.

"Get up!"

"Goddess, you're a pain," she moaned as she struggled to her feet. She tossed the helmet into the life pod, then reached in to activate the self-destruct. Leaving evidence behind wouldn't do.

Stumbling away from the vehicle, she felt overheated. The air was warm, so she undid the front seam of her protective flight suit. The interior foil layer was trapping too much heat.

She heard the pod's batteries begin to overheat, so she moved further away. Flames shot from the doorway as it began to melt.

Looking away, she made her way toward a path of crushed gravel. The dimly lit area around her showed care was taken in grooming the grounds. Was she in a park?

She walked over to the low wall made of stone and found a gap to pass through to stand on paving of some kind.

"Stay in the shadows!" Surren said.

She scowled as she knew that but discovered she'd been conspicuously standing under a street lamp. She moved to a patch of darkness and looked up. She had no idea how she got to the ground so much quicker than the debris in orbit, but it was all coming down.

The light show from the falling junk above would draw all eyes upwards. Luckily, there were no watchers out tonight in this neighborhood.

She crossed the street and examined the metal and glass vehicles resting on their soft wheels. She suddenly realized the odds of finding technology advanced enough to get them off the planet were not good.

Finding medical attention for her was even less likely.

This made finding a new host for Surren all the more time-critical.

Staying in the shadows, she made it past two rows of houses flanked by lanes when she saw the rapid approach of bright red, blue, and white lights. The building ahead of her had a darkened pit next to stairs leading up, so she hustled forward and stepped into it just before the vehicle rushed past. She peeked up and saw the lights racing away towards the park.

Sighing, she rested on the stairs. She was quickly running out of energy.

"I'm sorry, Kaaree. I want to fix your injuries, but without a Med-bay to support the injured organs after I remove the shrapnel, they won't be strong enough to take up their functions again," Surren said quietly.

She shook her head. "I'm not the priority now. We need to get you a new host immediately. I don't know how much longer I can remain conscious."

"You are always a priority for me," Surren said emphatically, and Kaaree just smiled as she struggled to stay awake.

They heard a noise just then. A burst of higher-pitched happy and excited voices from behind the door before them. Wearily, Kaaree got to her feet and moved to the window. There was a slight gap between the blinds where she could just make out the shape of one of the locals standing up. One light fixture in the room threw dim light on the subject. It wasn't wearing any garments on its upper body and appeared to be removing its clothing from its lower half. The happy noise began again, but Kaaree couldn't tell where it was coming from.

There was a ripping noise above her, so Kaaree looked up. The larger pieces were beginning to fall from space, and Surren did a quick calculation.

"It will land far from here, but the impact will likely be felt. You should enter when this happens to use the confusion."

She moved to the door.

"Be ready!"

-=-

Leo realized he'd been tricked. Their game seemed innocent enough at first. The rules: Ask a question, and if you catch your opponent in a lie, they must remove an article of clothing. But if they prove they answered truthfully, you have to remove something.

In his dazzled state, he only saw how little they seemed to be wearing from the start.

Only now, when he was down to his boxers, he realized he had no chance of winning when he was asking one question to their four.

The questions began with simple, get-to-know-you stuff about family and school. While he wasn't terribly comfortable talking about these things, there wasn't any need to lie, so these went by quickly.

Then the topics became about personal experiences with the opposite sex, or same sex for that matter, and when these things happened. This was more uncomfortable as he wasn't a virgin, but his experiences had all been awkward and embarrassing, so he wasn't keen on discussing them. He lost his first item of clothing during this stage. Their smiles looked much more predatory as well.

Then they began asking him about his preferences, what made him tingle, and who, all very personal things. He quickly discovered how bad of a liar he was as item after item was peeled off. He had no choice but to resort to the truth, but the questions continued to get racier.

He'd only managed to catch Nina in one lie, and she removed her sheer babydoll only to reveal she was wearing a satin push-up bra underneath. He couldn't accuse her of cheating as he became tongue-tied at the sight, much to her delight.

"My turn," Evie said. "Did you get an erection from staring at my ass as I bent down to get the coffee filters at work?"

The question caught Leo completely unprepared. He immediately snorted indignantly. "No!"

Evie smiled at him and lifted her cell. She tapped on the play button for a message she'd cued up. The voice of Val, another coworker, came out of the speaker. "Yeah, he was totally checking out your ass. Got a big ol' woody watching you, too!" They both knew Val had been there the day she'd caught him, so he couldn't argue. Evie's eyebrow rose, mirrored by her three friends.

Face burning, Leo stood and slid his boxers down his hips to drop them on his feet. He was painfully erect at the sight of the four sexy women ogling him. He was almost trembling from embarrassment.

"Looks like the game is over," he said with a nervous smile.

"Not at all! This is where the game gets really fun!" Ji-Yu said with a wicked smile.

"Yes, I'm very eager to see what comes next!" Tatyana said, and the ladies burst into giggles.

His smile dimmed as he saw Evie look away, her smile slipping from her lips.

From a distance came a mighty boom, and the ground heaved slightly under Leo. He looked up, expecting to see the building collapse on top of him, but everything stayed where it was. He looked back at the screen, and they stared back at him.

"You felt that, too!" Evie gasped.

"Ye-"

Three more explosions came in close succession, and again, the ground heaved, but less each time.

Leo's laptop screen no longer showed the four ladies. Their webcam was now aimed at a blank wall, but he could hear a TV blaring in the background and Nina shouting a channel to watch.

He thought that was a good idea and reached for the remote for his TV when there was a sharp ping sound behind Leo. He turned his head to see someone entering his apartment.

"Hey! You can't..." he began, then his voice faded as he saw it was a woman, unlike any he'd seen. She was as tall as he was, but her hair was brilliant white. The points of her ears poked up through her hair. Her nose looked like it had been smashed flat and reset many times. But that was the only thing that detracted from the beauty of her features. With her large almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, and lush mouth, she had an exotic look he'd never seen before. He couldn't place her ethnicity at all.

He watched in a daze as she prowled around the couch. She moved so smoothly he was mesmerized. Reality returned when she drove him down onto the couch cushions with a hand with only two fingers and a thumb. He gasped at how hard she pressed on his chest as she straddled him to keep him down. His dick was trapped under her and throbbed almost painfully.

Before he could say anything, his eyes widened as he saw the vertical slits of her pupils in her violet eyes. He suddenly wanted to laugh at how ridiculous this all felt. Explosions heralding an invasion of alien babes from space? He clamped down on that impulse. Partially because of how stupid it felt, the rest was sheer self-preservation. This woman was far stronger than he was. Shit! Her body felt like it was solid muscle!

She began to speak, but he couldn't make out any of her words. She... seemed to be conversing with... no one he could see. He couldn't move under the pressure of her hand but listened to hear if someone else had entered his apartment. Nothing. A few more distant thumps and the merest shudder in the ground. Getting farther away?

He suddenly felt the weirdest tickle in his brain and shook his head to clear it. The woman looked at him in shock, quickly becoming anguish and despair. She raised her other hand in a fist, and Leo felt the first stab of fear since she burst into his apartment. She seemed to run out of steam and just lowered the hand to rest it on the back of the couch.

That's when Leo noticed the woman was hurt. The hand pressing on his chest was trembling, and he could see three places on her... coverall that seemed torn and leaking something blue.

What happened to her?

-=-

Kaaree sagged as her strength was waning. Just the effort it had taken to walk through the door and trap the being under her on the seating had taken so much out of her.

When Surren scanned the being's brain and discovered the species wasn't compatible with a Vaxian's mind, she almost lost control and killed it. Again, Surren's calm and gentle nature stopped her hand. A hand that had killed so many. She often didn't feel worthy of being his host; now, she would be his last.

"This species has some very interesting attributes! I mean, besides having such incredibly loud and scattered minds," Surren said with genuine interest.

"Anything we can use?" she muttered. Surren went quiet, and that caught her attention. "What is it?"

"I-I might be able to save both of us... but only with a morally reprehensible act. As difficult as it is for one of my kind to say this, I think it might be time to die," he said wearily.

Kaaree felt hope surge through her. She wanted to live, but mostly she wanted Surren to live, morality be damned!

"Tell me!" she insisted. She felt his reluctance.

"It's the nature of the matter this being is comprised of. There's room between his atoms to contain yours."

"What?!?" Kaaree asked in confusion.

"I believe I can merge you and him together. His body will support yours while you heal, and your body will make his much stronger. The whole will be greater than the sum of its parts."

Kaaree was unable to imagine what Surren was talking about, but she hadn't heard the most important thing. "What about you?"

"You'll be there, Kaaree. I'll continue to live in your mind. We'll still be together."

She froze as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. She felt her body's weakness increasing, and she savagely forced her feelings back. She had to save Surren! "Do it!" she said hoarsely.

"If I do, I won't be able to reverse the process. It's permanent. Plus, I don't have this being's permission to force such a change on it," Surren said quietly.

"But you live, I live, and he lives but changed. You told me that change is inevitable, and sometimes, we have no control over where that change comes from. He'll still be alive. You can apologize after. Do it!" she insisted again.

She felt a wave of affection from Surren and humor mixed in.

"Get naked," he said.

-=-

Leo watched the woman's face as she had a strange one-sided conversation while sitting on his dick. Intense emotions crossed her expression, and he wondered who could simultaneously make her so happy, angry, and sad.

She shifted her position occasionally, and that kept him stiff as iron between their bodies. Feeling how hard her muscles were, he amended his idea that he felt like iron. Compared to her, every part of his body felt like wet noodles.

Suddenly, she stood next to the couch and touched the collar of her clothing. The seam on the front began opening automatically and split into two seams running down the front of both legs. The garment dropped away from her body, and he got his first glimpse of her naked.

She had muscles on her muscles. She was like a goddess of physical perfection and couldn't have had an ounce of fat anywhere on her. She looked like... power. His superhero comics suddenly came to mind.

Even the host of scars on her didn't detract from her physical perfection. Then, there were the wounds on her torso. One on her chest near her shoulder didn't look too bad, but the one on her left side midway down and the one where her right kidney would be looked terrible! When he looked closer, he saw the wounds were covered by some clear jelly-like substance. Space spackle for injuries? Alien bandaids? His eyes went back to the rippling muscles of her stomach.

He couldn't stop his little sound of awe from slipping out. She paused and looked at him strangely.

"Sorry, you just look amazing!" he stammered. Her puzzled look remained.

She turned her back on him and stumbled, bumping the coffee table. His laptop slid off the table onto the floor behind it. He could still see the screen's glow under the coffee table, so he hoped it wasn't broken.

Then she stepped back over him on the couch, and his attention returned to focus on her. He jolted in surprise. She wanted to have sex with him?!?

He watched her struggle to position herself over him. He'd never done it in reverse cowgirl position before.

Her legs trembled, so he reached down and pointed it up to meet her descent.

Contact! She squeaked, and her legs suddenly gave out, driving him in deep. Her head went back, and she began to topple backward.

Leo lifted his arms to catch her and grunted in surprise as she was much heavier than he expected. His hands slipped, and she fell back, smacking her head against his cheek.

He saw stars and then faded to black.

-=-

Surren was surprised to discover Kaaree was unconscious after her surprise sexual encounter with the male. He knew it was her first time as her preference was for females. It was too late to explain things to their new host now.

The Vaxian noted the male was unconscious, too. Fortunately, they were positioned close enough together to allow Surren to begin the merging process.

He hadn't told Kaaree that this effort would draw heavily on his life energy and might even consume him. He hoped it didn't, but he'd never done this before.

Before he lost his nerve, he reached out his energy and flowed over the surface of Kaaree's body. He aligned her limbs above the male's and allowed his energy to sink into the male as well. Once they were both glowing, he concentrated on sinking deeper and deeper into their matter, down deep into their cells, then into their very atoms. He could hear their bodies singing to him, and the frantic and excited energies they contained hummed along side his own. It was such a beautiful harmony!

He'd thoroughly scanned the male's body and mapped it against his scan of Kaaree. With these, he ran thousands of iterations in his mind before determining the most efficient and effective means to intermesh their bodies to achieve the desired result. Maintaining the principle goal of producing a final result that could pass for a local yet surpass their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, he created a blueprint for the process. He reviewed it one final time to find any physical incompatibilities. He ensured that impurities would be removed, like the three pieces of shrapnel from Kaaree, the primitive fillings in the male's teeth, and the metal inserts from the bones of one of his legs.

It was time. He hoped something would still be left of him when the process was done. It wouldn't be easy for Kaaree on this world linked to one of the natives. She needed him. He also knew he couldn't hold back, or they would all be dead.

He sighed and triggered the merging, feeling the enormous drain on his energy begin.

That was okay, though.

The whole would be greater than the sum of its parts.

Chapter 3

Silvana lugged her suitcase up the stairs and unlocked the front door before making her way to her apartment door, the first one on the left. The little badge on the door summed up her life's achievements. Superintendent. This was not her dream, but she'd followed her husband from Poland to America as a young bride to live the good life thirty-five years before. She had no idea how they ended up owning this apartment complex and being its superintendents, but this was where life left her.

Her husband passed ten years ago, leaving it all to her, but she managed. She was smart and tough and didn't take shit from anyone.

Unlocking her door, she stepped inside and locked up behind herself. The floor was littered with envelopes as she'd been away for two weeks. Many would contain rent checks from her tenants.

She bent wearily and picked up the envelopes, setting them on the counter as she walked into the kitchen. She put the kettle on, then dragged her suitcase to the bedroom down the hall.

Returning to the kitchen, she made herself a cup of tea, grabbed the envelopes, and sat at the small table.

The building had nine apartments, not counting her own. Ten, if she counted the dungeon under the stairs. She shuddered, thinking of the dark little hole her husband had built in the front part of the grubby basement. Renting the space was challenging, as no one stayed there for long. She kept the rent low to entice new renters.

The current tenant set the record, having lived there for two and a half years. She was grateful as she hated the interview process and trying to upsell that pit.

As she went through the envelopes, she frowned as she didn't see one from Mr. Lamb. Everyone else was accounted for. She wondered if she'd jinxed herself by thinking about how fortunate it was to have him.

It was unusual for him to be late with his rent. She glanced at the clock. It was only a little past seven in the morning, so maybe she could catch him before he left for work. She was grateful he was there but wouldn't let him get away with not paying on time. She smiled to herself. She enjoyed seeing men squirm. Especially soft men.

Returning to the front door, she checked herself out in the floor-length mirror. She was no longer the slim beauty of her youth, but at least she hadn't turned into the babushka her sister and cousins had all become back in Poland. She shuddered and pushed that image away.

She ensured her heavy breasts were still being presented nicely in her blouse, then paused before opening another button. Leo was a young man. He would be such easy prey. She took another quick look in the mirror and hiked up her already short skirt. Her black panties were almost on display. She grinned to herself as she imagined Leo's reaction.

Silvana liked to tease.

She grabbed her keys and let herself out of her apartment, locking up before she headed outside and down to the front basement door. She felt a little tingle pass through her as she anticipated confronting young Leo dressed like this. She wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize having him continue as her tenant. Just have a little fun.

She reached out and knocked firmly, but the door swung open. Frowning, she looked at the door knob and saw it looked crushed. Granted, her late husband had installed the cheapest lock he could find, but someone had forced the lock. She pushed the door all the way open and called out. "Mr. Lamb! Are you home?"

She boldly stepped inside and looked at the dingy little dungeon as a shudder ran through her body. How someone could live here... she couldn't imagine.

She spotted the bookshelf of toys and smiled. Leo was no longer a child, but it seemed he still believed he was one. No matter.

Walking further inside, she spotted someone on the floor between the couch and the knocked-over coffee table. Leo! She rushed around the couch and stopped suddenly. It wasn't her tenant! The man was big... and naked! He was lying on his chest, but his head was turned to one side, so she saw his face in profile. This huge man looked a lot like Leo. Maybe a relative, crashing on his couch?

Silvana would have called the police if he hadn't looked so much like Leo. For now, she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she wanted to see his front side. She wondered if it was as big as the rest of him.

-=-

Leo felt a sharp poke on his shoulder and moaned. The pain seemed to ripple throughout his body then it was gone. He heard something.

"Hey! Get up! Who are you?"

He lifted his head to blink blearily at the painted toes in strappy shoes. Was he on the floor?

"Get up!"

Leo got his arms under himself and pushed. He felt so heavy and lethargic. Hunger suddenly cramped his stomach, and he moaned again.

"Are you sick? Do not be sick on my floor!" came a sharp command.

Leo shook his head. My floor? Wasn't this his apartment?

He managed to push himself to his knees and rubbed his eyes. That took effort, too. God, he couldn't get over how heavy he felt! He was also very hungry!

"What is your name?"

The accent made him look up at the woman, and recognition flared. It was Mrs. Kamiński, his landlady! He spotted his bookshelf behind her, so he was in his apartment. Her comment about this being her floor now made sense.

His name? He tried to say Leo but it came out a garbled mess. She frowned at him.

"Are you on drugs?"

He shook his head.

"Drunk?"

He shook his head again.

"What is your name?"

Leo wondered if he looked like he'd hit his head. This might explain why she kept asking that question. "Laarszz..." he managed to get out before he gave up. Something was wrong with his mouth.

"You are Laars? Leo's older brother, maybe?" Her voice sounded funny. A little breathless. He looked her in the eye, and she seemed to freeze in place. Then she frowned. "Leo owes me rent!" she blurted.

He frowned, too, as he had another day before he had to submit the check. Still, he couldn't rock the boat as this was the only place he could afford. He pushed himself to his feet and staggered away down the hall towards the bedroom where his check book was. He tore off a check and filled it out before returning it to the woman standing at the end of his couch, watching him with hungry eyes.

She read the check and shrugged as she stuffed it in her purse. Then, her eyes were roaming his body once more.

"I think maybe you are trying to seduce me, yes? Trying to get Leo a better deal on his rent?" she said with a sly smile as she moved closer.

Leo was confused at how she was using his name—GEEZUS! A shock went through his body as her fingers wrapped around his cock and squeezed. FUCK! That felt intensely good.

Wait... he was naked?!?

"Mmmm, you feel so good in my hand. I must know how you feel in my mouth," she purred, and Leo felt his cock surge in her grip.

She slid down his body, pressing her tits against him all they way. Leo trembled with nerves and excitement. He wasn't very experienced, and he'd never been with an older woman. He thought Mrs. Kamiński was attractive, but he'd never imagined her coming on to him. She'd always treated him as a kid. Not today!

"MMMMM!" Leo grunted when she ran her tongue up the underside of his cock. She grinned up at him then she drove him deep into her throat.

"FFFFUUUUHHHH!!!" he gasped then jolted when she purred with her mouth full of him. She pumped him in and out of her throat, and each time, he felt like his whole body was throbbing!

She finally came up for air, and he popped free of her mouth.

"That was as delicious as I expected!" she said with a sexy smile.

She suddenly stood and took a grip on his cock to lead him to the arm of his couch, where she sat and looked up at him expectantly.

"It's your turn. Put that mouth of yours to better use than grunting at me!" she said with glee as she spread her legs.

Leo spent a second in shock then he knelt before her. He was staring right at her black panties, so he slid his hands up the outside of her thighs under her skirt and tugged the panties down her legs. He glanced up and saw the excitement in his landlady's eyes as she bit her lip.

He'd never done this before, but he'd seen it done in the porn he'd watched, so he hoped that wasn't too far from the truth.

He moved his face closer, all the while looking up into her eyes, and felt her trembling under his hands, which he rested on her thighs. She reached down to slide her fingers into his hair and took a grip. Then she pulled his mouth against her pussy firmly.

Leo slipped his tongue out to tease her lips, and she jolted.

"YES! Fuck me with your tongue!" she growled.

He stroked her once more, dipping the tip of his tongue into her hot depths, and her head went back as she clung to his head tightly. His upper lip was pressed hard against her clit, and she was grinding against him, so he plunged his tongue deeper into her, and she shrieked as her whole body began to tremble and shake. He couldn't see her face any longer as she was arching her back, but she seemed to like it, so he continued thrusting his tongue deep into her pussy as he ground his lip against her clit. He spent a few minutes working out exactly what she liked and didn't until he found what she really loved.

"Diabeł! Diabeł! Diabeł!" the woman cried as she was struck with a powerful orgasm.

Leo had to hold her in place on the arm of the sofa as she thrashed. When she pushed at his head, he pulled his tongue from her, and her back arched once more. She lay gasping and panting on the sofa, uttering Diabeł over and over. He had no idea what that word meant.

He stood at the end of the sofa and looked down at the older woman, her thighs spread open, her pussy puffy, wet, and red from his attentions. He felt his cock throb with need, but she didn't look like she'd be up—

"You will fuck me now!" the landlady insisted as she pushed herself up onto her elbows to stare at his large and very hard cock.

He wasn't sure how good an idea that was considering her state, but his need was overruling his better judgment. He grabbed her hips and flipped her over onto her stomach as she squeaked in surprise at his rough handling. She was still hanging over the arm of the couch when he moved between her legs. He looked down and pressed the thick head of his cock against her wet lips.

He paused for a moment and stared stupidly at how swollen he seemed. He knew he wasn't small down there. That's what had caused the painfully awkward sexual encounters he hadn't wanted to talk about with the ladies online. Today, though, it looked... thicker.

"What are you doing? Don't tease me! Fuck me!" the older woman growled.

This jarred him from his frozen state, and he automatically thrust forward, driving the head between her lips.

"AHH! Fuck! You are so big!" she cried.

He began to pull out.

"No! Fuck me, you brute!" the woman snapped.

Leo jumped to her bidding and shoved half of his length into her hot pussy.

"FUUUCCCKK! You're killing me!" she wailed.

Frightened, he drew back, but her heels struck him on the ass as she tried to stop him. "Don't stop, idiota!"

Confused, he grabbed her hips and slammed himself deep until he spanked her ass with his hips. She had all of it, and he moaned at how good that felt. He'd never experienced this before. He wanted more. He pulled out to the head and slammed himself all the way in, slapping her ass again. He picked up the pace until he was pounding her against the sofa arm.

She was making odd grunting noises with her face crushed against the seat cushions, but her hands were gripping his wrists as he used her hips to push and pull her body against his.

She began to wail and shake as he got close to his own release, his hips almost a blur as the room filled with the sound of him slapping her ass against him.

He finally moaned and slammed forward one last time to fill her with his heat. They remained that way for a full minute as both caught their breath. She weakly released his wrists and clung to the couch cushions as shivers ran down her spine and legs.

Leo eased himself free from her and saw how red and abused her ass and pussy looked. He stumbled back a step as his better judgment suddenly returned with a vengeance. He'd just sexually abused his landlady! He shouldn't be doing shit like this! She could have him arrested! Or she might just settle with kicking him out! He didn't want to go to jail and couldn't afford to lose this apartment! He could see her legs shaking from the beating he'd given her ass, and the skin was inflamed. He stepped back quietly and kept going until he silently closed the bathroom door between them.

Resting his forehead against the back of the door, he tried to get his head straight. Since the moment he woke up on the floor, this day had gone from weird to surreal. Everything felt... wrong.

And why did a woman he'd known for years not recognize him? Why would she suddenly want to fuck him?

Weird!

He pushed off the door and stepped over to the sink to pour cold water into his hands. He scrubbed his face until he felt his mind sharpening. He straightened up to look into the Mirror of Disappointment.

Leo barely managed to contain his shriek of surprise as the stranger stared back at him. He gripped the edge of the sink and stared hard at the stranger's face in the mirror. He began to see it shared some of his features. His landlady's comment about him being an older brother suddenly made sense.

Not that anything really made sense this morning. He looked closer at his eyes and for a second, he thought he saw a flash of violet. His head began to ache. He lifted an arm to open the medicine cabinet to get the aspirin and froze once more as he closely examined his muscular arm. His hands seemed larger, and his arms were much thicker than they'd been the day before. He looked down at his chest and stomach and his powerful-looking legs. He had muscles! Big ones! That was impossible, too!

"Shlltut!" he cursed.

He frowned as he still couldn't speak. He moved closer to the mirror and stuck his tongue out. His eyes flew wide as it just kept coming out until it was hanging down past his chin! It had to be more than seven inches long, and the last three inches were split in two!

Now, he couldn't contain the shriek as he leaped back from the mirror. His legs hit the tub's edge, and he fell back to hit the back wall. He clocked his head hard against the tiles and crashed into the tub as he dazed himself.

He pinched his eyes closed as his thoughts raced. Weird images swirled around in his mind. Scenes out of a sci-fi movie with spaceships and explosions. He began to hear a fuzzy voice in his head. It was not a happy voice, and it wasn't his since it was definitely feminine. He rubbed his face roughly with beefy hands and shook his head to clear it. Mercifully, the voice went away.

Leo climbed out of the tub, surprised to realize he hadn't injured himself in that fall. He glanced up at the wall and saw he'd cracked three tiles with his head. He touched the back of his head and there was no bump or even a sore spot. Weird! So much weird shit going on this morning.

He went back to the mirror and slowly extended his tongue again. There was no blood or raw flesh from a fresh injury. The split section of his tongue was fully healed. He gripped the edges of the sink again as his head began to swim with the sensation of reality slipping away. The solidity of the cool porcelain in his grip brought him back. Still, nothing was making sense.

Looking back into the mirror, familiar brown eyes looked back at him, and he saw Leo there. Nervous, timid, and uncertain, that felt more like him. He was still in there, just contained in a larger body. The body of a brute.

What had Mrs. Kamiński called him? Diabeł. He needed to look that up.

He needed to see if he could speak properly. He'd need to make himself understood to explain all this to someone. He felt a surge of discomfort at the thought of disclosing his change to anyone. His reactions were disturbing to him. He worried that the alien woman had monkeyed with his brain while he was unconscious. Maybe planting subconscious controls in his mind?

He stared at the man in the mirror as his options rolled around in his brain.

Should he run to the authorities to report this? His fatalism was telling him how much of a mistake that would be.

What would they do?

Dissect him, that's what. At the very least, he'd lose his freedom, and he might not even be allowed to live. The same sense of self-preservation that made him flee his parents was flaring to full strength now.

Still, he needed to be able to speak. He started by slowly and carefully saying his name. "Lllesshooo Llmmm." He scowled at the stranger in the mirror. He could do this.

Concentrating on getting his tongue to move as it should, he closed his eyes and slowly ran through the alphabet and numbers as he'd done repeatedly when he struggled as a child with his lessons. He was always behind the other kids with schoolwork. Everything was harder for him, and he had to work twice as hard to get barely passing grades.

Drilling himself on the childhood lessons, he gradually felt his tongue muscles falling back into their familiar movements, and the sounds became clearer to his ears. Once he'd mastered that, he moved on to recite some childhood poems, and the slurring slowly faded. His tongue felt like his again.

That's when he noticed his voice was much deeper, so it didn't sound like his anymore.

"I don't look like me. I don't sound like me," he said slowly, relieved that he could at least make himself understood.

But now he had bigger problems.

If he didn't look like Leo Lamb, he couldn't show up at his jobs and expect people not to notice. He... no longer had a job. FUCK!

He slid his fingers into his hair as he held his aching head. The female voice was back, gibbering angrily at him again. He gave his head a fierce shake, and it went silent. He stood before the mirror, hands in his hair, and closed his eyes as he struggled to think of what to do next. He finally noticed how amazingly silky soft his hair felt. He opened his eyes and pulled the long strands forward so he could see it better in the light by the mirror. His brow creased as he saw the distinct strands with two different colors. His familiar black hair was now intermixed with brilliantly white strands.

That woman from the night before... all this had to be her doing, somehow. He felt bigger and stronger but didn't feel like himself anymore. Examining his features in the mirror, he realized that he looked a little bit like the woman so maybe she injected him with something to make him like her. He held up his hands and was grateful he still had four fingers on each hand.

What a surreal thought!

In a daze, he stepped into the tub to take his shower, pulled the curtain closed, and went through the motions. The routine felt comforting. He needed this.

Finally, some normality.

-=-

Silvana heard a shower start up from her spot on the sofa. Her ass was still pointing at the ceiling, but it felt so deliciously hot and tingly. She'd never been fucked so well before. While there was some pain, the waves of bliss were still ebbing. She smiled to herself.

Her eyes looked around the dark little apartment, and she snorted softly. She would never have expected to find so much pleasure in such a shitty place.

Looking over the edge of the sofa, something sparkly caught her attention. She pulled herself closer and still couldn't tell what she was looking at.

She struggled to get her limbs to work as she pulled herself forward onto the soft cushions. She lay there panting for a moment. The ache and tingles were still coursing through her. Finally, she managed to get her feet on the ground and pushed herself upright. She carefully bent and picked up the fabric pooled on the floor next to the sofa. She held it out between her fingertips and saw it was a jumpsuit, but nothing like she'd seen before. It was so lightweight and pretty. It was stained with splashes of blue... ink, maybe. That should wash off.

It might belong to that beast of a man, but it seemed too small for him. Maybe he had a girl here, and she left without it?

She looked towards the bathroom door, and the shower sounds continued. A wicked grin slipping onto her lips, she decided to take the jumpsuit. She picked up her purse and saw the check poking out.

Another idea came to her, and she plucked the check from her purse, ripped it in half, and left it on the coffee table.

Walking as quickly as her abused flesh would allow, she stepped over to the front door and frowned at the broken doorknob. This was obviously the work of that big brute, so he'd be paying for its replacement. She grinned as she thought of the things she would make him do to repay her.

Getting up the stairs and back into her unit took longer than she expected, as every movement sent jolts of pain and bliss through her. Finally, she stood before her washing machine and tossed the jumpsuit inside. The blue stuff was dry and flaking but didn't appear to be staining the fabric, so she set the machine to heavy duty cycle to get the odd smell from the fabric. She started it up, then put the kettle on once more.

When the tea was ready, she settled into the big chair in the living room and watched the army trucks driving past the building. That was new. There seemed to be a lot of activity this morning.

As she sipped her tea, she wondered what brought the army to her city?

Chapter 4

FBI Special Agent Jocelyn Brandenburg walked through the pretty little park towards the street where the mobile command post was set up. She was wearing a hot and uncomfortable hazmat suit and was looking forward to taking it off.

The army personnel ignored her for the most part. They were just on-site to keep the civilians out.

The debris she'd just inspected wasn't the same as most of the wreckage she'd discovered across the state during her travels last night. Most significant to her were the facts that there was very little radiation present, and the impact crater was much too shallow for something that fell from space. Then, there was the fact that the slag pile in the crater was too evenly melted. It showed no sign of re-entry scorching. It looked like it was fresh from a smelting pot. Melted right down to its base elements. She found that very suspicious. She had a call to make.

She yawned as it had been a long night. She'd received the call to report to headquarters when something collided with a Russian missile platform.

The embarrassing thing, the only reason they knew it was a Russian missile platform was because of the collision, the subsequent explosion, and the debris that fell to Earth. The US government had been caught flat-footed, but they were scrambling now. They immediately had her on a jet; she was one of the first on-site.

She'd visited the seven impact zones and identified the wreckage as surprisingly vintage Russian military origin.

She also found something that didn't come from the Russians. She hadn't been able to identify where it originated, and that's when things got really interesting.

Instead of letting her continue the inspection, her supervisor sent her to the next site with orders to keep quiet about what she'd found and to look for more. She was to contact them if she discovered it.

She did find more in three of the next five sites. She called it in and moved on as teams descended on the impact sites to lock them down.

This last site was the most significant to her, even though what remained was completely melted.

She reached the command post, and the waiting techs took her gear and helped her strip off the suit.

Two of her colleagues, Wayne Binkley and Bradley Tanner, were waiting by the trailer in their dark suits, displaying bored expressions. She knew they were faking the boredom as they watched her being pulled free from the hazmat suit. Jocelyn snorted quietly at their adolescent behavior. They hadn't changed one iota since she'd gone through the training academy with them.

Having learned from the morning's previous experiences with the hazmat suits at the crash sites, she was wearing her workout clothes. The tight spandex was cooler than her suit, but it did nothing to hide her slim, tightly muscled body. From the corner of her eye, she caught them looking away in disappointment when they saw she wasn't endowed with large breasts. She was tall and strong, which probably put them off as they preferred their women small and soft.

She ignored them and scanned the nearby buildings with her eyes, looking for cameras. She smiled as she spotted a bank. Better yet, the manager was unlocking the door.

Jocelyn stepped into the trailer, and moments later, she exited in her familiar uniform: a white dress shirt under a dark blue suit and black dress shoes. Her short, sandy blond hair bounced just above her shoulders as she looked at the two agents. "Lock this site down," she said crisply, catching their annoyed expressions before setting off across the street. She gestured for one of the local police officers to join her. He hesitated, then followed her with an annoyed frown to the bank's front door. She looked up and spotted the camera inside, pointing at the front door. She smiled and turned to the officer. "I need to see the footage from that security camera. The manager is going to be more comfortable with you here," she explained, and the officer was surprised she'd actually explained what she needed politely. He nodded.

She knocked on the bank door, and an older man in an ugly gray suit walked up to the door. He was thick in the middle and sporting the ugliest mustache she'd ever seen. He looked at her suspiciously but recognized the male officer at her elbow. The manager unlocked the door and poked it open slightly.

"We're not open yet."

Jocelyn displayed her badge. "FBI Agent Brandenburg. I need your assistance in an investigation. May we come in?"

He gave her another stern look and glanced at the police officer before stepping back to let them in. Once they were in, he locked the door again. "What can I do for you, Agent Brandenburg?"

"I'd like to see the footage from this security camera from last night," she said as she pointed to the ceiling.

His frown increased, but he walked away, so they followed.

They entered the back room, and he unlocked a door for another small room containing a rack of servers, a row of monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse. The manager stared blankly at the screens. He looked back at her. "I don't operate this equipment, so I don't know what to do from here."

"May I?" Jocelyn asked, gesturing to the keyboard.

The manager moved back, and she sat before the screens. It didn't take her long to figure out the interface. She isolated the footage for the camera pointing at the sidewalk out the front door. Then she played it back from the night before in fast motion. She watched the timestamp and slowed the feed when it got closer to the time the debris landed. Something flashed by the bank doors a couple minutes before the recorded time of the first impact.

"What was that?" the officer exclaimed.

Jocelyn grinned at him over her shoulder, and he smiled self-consciously back at her.

She rolled the frames back and only had about four semi-clear frames showing someone walking past the doors.

"Who is that?" the manager asked quietly.

"A potential witness," Jocelyn said, equally quiet. She printed some stills of the sharpest frames and then looked closer at the screen. It wasn't the best resolution or the best lighting. Her impression was that this was a woman with long white hair wearing some kind of one-piece jumper. The neck was open, and there was a momentary flash of silver in one of the frames. Jewelry or a metallic lining?

The manager returned from picking up the printouts. "Funny outfit. Looks like she went out dancing at a club."

Jocelyn accepted the papers. "You don't recognize her?" she asked the two men, and both shook their heads.

She resumed playing the video and saw the lights of a police car race past less than twenty seconds after the woman passed by.

"Who would that have been?" Jocelyn said, looking at the officer.

He looked a little confused. "That would be me. I was first on the scene."

Jocelyn held up the printed picture of the woman.

"I didn't see anyone on the street last night. Either she turned off the road, hid behind one of the parked cars, or went into a doorway," he said a little defensively.

Jocelyn nodded to the man. The information wasn't much but it still had value.

She had what she needed. "Thank you for this!" she said as she stood and walked back to the front door. The others followed, and the manager unlocked the door for them.

"Should we begin canvassing the neighborhood for this witness?" the officer asked.

She gave him a smile. "I need to report our findings to my supervisor. Thank you for your help." She turned and headed for the command post again, leaving the policeman staring after her.

Brinkley and Tanner were waiting for her inside the trailer.

"Boss man's not too pleased with you at the moment. He wanted to hear the report about this site from you directly," Walter said with a pleased smile. Bradley's matching smile bordered on smug.

"It's a good thing I can offer him a lead on a witness to the impact then, isn't it," she replied with an equally pleased smile. That wiped the smug from their faces. "If you'll excuse me, I need to make a call... in privacy. Please."

The two agents left the trailer, neither bothering to hide their dislike for Jocelyn.

Once she was alone, she took a deep breath. She had to call her supervisor and deal with the misinformation the two malcontents fed him before she could give him the more significant news of a possible visitor. While the hair on the back of her neck was standing on end, her excitement wouldn't show on her face or in her voice.

Unlike the two clowns she'd just kicked out of the trailer, she was a consummate professional.

Chapter 5

Leo dried his new body and stepped before the bathroom mirror once more. He touched his face and felt no stubble on his upper lip, cheeks, or neck. None. His skin was baby-smooth and unblemished.

He tried to see his original face within the brute's visage but there was no way he could return to his job at the coffee shop or the hotel and pretend like nothing happened. He needed to get new jobs. He could apply—Shit! His ID!

He burst out of the bathroom and froze in the hallway as he recalled his landlady was—he saw she was gone, and relief flooded through him.

He rushed to the bedroom and grabbed his wallet from the end table. He pulled out his driver's license to look at the picture with his heart in his throat. He was sunk if he had to go through the ordeal of getting new ID as no one would vouch for the stranger he looked like now.

He almost sobbed with relief when he saw how much the crappy photo still looked like him. It wasn't terribly sharp, and his blank, unsmiling expression made him look like a fugitive. It was definitely close enough to his current look, so he could keep using the ID... but only with strangers. He couldn't reapply for jobs with his current employers. FUCK!

He stuffed the driver's license back into his wallet.

Needing to do something productive today, Leo went to his closet but discovered his black pants no longer fit his muscular legs. An old pair of ugly gray track pants were just stretchy enough to put on. His shirts no longer fit but he found a baggy sweatshirt he was able to squeeze into. His socks fit, but the shoes were a lost cause as his feet were bigger now.

He jammed them into his cheap dollar-store sandals. His wallet went into his tight back pocket. The cell went into the other pocket.

The hunger cramps were getting too difficult to ignore, so he went to the kitchen to see if there was any food in the small fridge.

Finally, some good luck! Half a large pizza was inside. He devoured the meal in seconds, then ate everything edible in the fridge. Next, he moved to the kitchen cabinets.

When the feeding frenzy eventually concluded, Leo stared in dismay at the bare cabinets before him. He released a deep burp and dumped the empty cereal boxes and food wrappers into the recycling bin and garbage can. He was stunned he'd eaten... everything! He could almost feel his energy levels increasing, but that could have just been a by-product of his hunger pains going away.

He finished tidying his kitchen and then moved into the living room. He picked up his laptop from under the coffee table and noticed the battery was dead. He recalled the last thing he'd been doing with it and squirmed in embarrassment.

That's when he realized he'd never work with Evie again. He shouldn't even see her as he was a shitty liar and couldn't explain this. That was a depressing thought.

He dropped his butt onto the couch, feeling like someone had just shit on his shitty little life. He understood he didn't have much, but what he had was his. Now all he had was this dump of an apart—

The torn check on the coffee table felt like a final kick in the balls.

His gut clenched, and it took all his strength to keep his recent meal from escaping.

He desperately didn't want to be out on the street. He knew having sex with her had been a mistake!

Stupid!!!

Maybe... maybe he could apologize and convince her to let him stay. He wasn't above begging and groveling. He couldn't let her know he had no job. He'd have to get one immediately. After he apologized.

Leo picked up the check and went to the front door. He grabbed his keys and noticed the doorknob was broken. Shit! He tried to remember when that happened. The landlady would have seen this. It may be part of the reason she was kicking him out.

He couldn't lock his door but would just be upstairs, so he closed the door behind himself.

Leo climbed to street level and noticed the extra activity down the street. He put that from his mind and climbed the steps.

He used his building key to open the door to the lobby and came face to face with Mrs. Lawrence. She looked at him in surprise.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lawrence!" he said with a gentle smile.

"Do I know you?" the small woman asked cautiously.

"Oh, right! Uh, I'm... Laars. Leo Lamb's brother. He said some nice things about you." Leo tried to look as sincere as he could.

The old woman's face lit up. "He's such a nice young man! You must be so proud of him."

Leo couldn't stop the snort, and her eyebrows rose. He scrambled to come up with something to say and channeled his older brother Peter. "He's my little brother. It's my job to push him to be better. I can't tell him I'm proud of him." He threw in what he hoped looked like a sly grin. It must have been close enough as the woman smiled back at him and patted his arm.

"Have a lovely day!" she said as she passed through the door he was holding open for her.

"You as well!" he said and received a little wave.

He headed to the super's door and knocked.

He heard a grunt, then silence. He was about to knock again when he heard her call out. "Who is it?"

He almost called out Leo but stopped himself in time. "Laars."

"It's open."

He stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. He turned and saw the woman leaning back in a reclining chair with a bag of frozen peas between her thighs. His eyes lifted to look into hers and he was relieved to not see anger there. Instead, she had a little smile on her lips.

"I found this downstairs," he said hesitantly, showing her the check. "Am I... Is Leo being evicted?"

Her smile just grew as she enjoyed his discomfort.

"How long do you intend to stay with your brother?" she asked, point blank.

Leo paused as he had no idea how long he might remain looking like this. Was there a cure? Was it permanent? "I don't know. For as long as Leo is away?"

She nodded as this seemed to please her. "I will make you a deal. You can stay rent-free if you remain available for fucking whenever I call."

Leo's brain heard rent-free and was already nodding. He had no job and needed to reduce his expenses. Free rent was a major savings! Finally, good things coming his way today!

A nasty repeating thump began further back in her apartment. Leo turned to see what it might be.

"If that's all, you can leave," the super said sharply, and he glanced at her.

"Yes, thanks. Uh, bye." Leo left the apartment, wondering why she was so eager to get him to leave.

He returned to his apartment and gathered his change for the bus. He would shop a little as he needed new clothes when he applied for new jobs.

He closed the door as best he could and paused after climbing to street level. Taking another look toward the park at the end of the road, he noticed a bunch of military trucks blocking off the park entrance. He'd only visited that park once, and aside from it being on the edge of the city and the fields or wildflowers beyond it, it was unremarkable.

The female voice was back, and it felt like it was urging him to move away from the park. Instead, he took a step towards it and felt his muscles locking up. He frowned. The voice gibbered at him angrily, so he forced another step. He got the impression that the voice was tiring as his muscles began to loosen as he pushed.

Suddenly, an image of being strapped down on a steel table with knives descending over him flashed through his mind, accompanied by a wave of desperate fear.

Leo became aware of his surroundings again when he was three blocks south and two blocks west from his apartment. He sucked in some deep breaths from running that distance. He looked down and saw his sandals were not cut out for such athletic activities. The straps were starting to rip.

As he caught his breath, he looked around to see if he'd drawn any attention. Very few people were out on the street, and none were looking in his direction. He listened for the female voice, but it was silent. He was pissed at it, but his own cautious nature knew it had been right.

He casually walked a block to a bus stop that would take him close to a big box store and a bank.

The wait wasn't too long for the bus but there were no seats. Standing in the aisle, he listened to the excited chatter around him. He learned that debris from a Russian satellite fell from orbit and landed a short distance outside the city and across the state. Rumor was it was a military satellite.

He nodded to himself as that explained the booms and tremors from the night before and the current military presence.

Leo followed some people off the bus at his stop and entered the bank to use the machine. It was no surprise to see how low his balance was, but with his rent money now freed up, he could afford to buy some clothes. Then, he frowned as he recalled his coffee shop job owed him a paycheck. He needed that money, but how was he supposed to collect it?

Putting aside that particular dilemma, he withdrew sufficient cash to pick up a few white dress shirts, two pairs of black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Granted, cheaper quality stuff, but it would be enough to get him a job.

He left the bank and entered the doors of the big box store, nodding politely to the greeter in the blue vest.

He hated shopping, so he went straight to the clothing section and grabbed some clothes that looked like they might fit. In the change room, he quickly discovered they didn't. It took two more visits to the change room to determine his new sizing and find what he needed.

He ended up spending more than he wanted for the pants as he had to upgrade to a stretchy material.

The shoes were simple black leather loafers, pretty cheap too but three full sizes larger than he used to wear.

Finally, Leo splurged and picked up new underwear and socks as he saw three packs were on sale.

After paying, he carried the items into the washroom, switched to one of his new outfits, and put his sweats and sandals in his shopping bag.

He left the store feeling better than he'd felt all day. He had new clothes, a plan to look for work, and a rent-free apartment.

He'd return to his apartment and dig out some copies of his résumé. He had to pound the pavement on the job hunt. He couldn't afford to live in this city without two part-time jobs at a minimum.

He had a plan, and he was going to make this work. He had to.

Chapter 6

Jocelyn was feeling very pleased with how the investigation was going so far. Her supervisor was very satisfied with her report and concurred that they needed to find this potential witness. The timing was too close for her to not have seen something or been involved.

She was sitting in the command center trailer preparing the orders to begin a sweep of the neighborhood when something slapped the side of the trailer hard, tossing everything inside onto the floor, including her. She scrambled to her feet and pushed the bent door open to look down the road to see a huge cloud of dust and debris a block and a half away. One of the apartment buildings had collapsed. Damage could be seen on all the surrounding buildings.

She jumped down to the street and began running towards the collapsed building. Jocelyn saw Binkley and Tanner stumbling after her. Both looked a little worse for wear. "What happened to you two?"

Binkley gave her a sour look. "We were standing beside the trailer when that blast wave shot down the street and tossed us over the wall to land in the park. We were lucky we didn't hit anything harder than us."

Tanner grinned at his partner's word play and bumped fists with the man as Jocelyn rolled her eyes.

They reached the building but couldn't get close due to the rubble. The cloud of dust was being dispersed by a slight wind, so they began to see the devastation of the three-story apartment building. It looked like the front fifteen feet of all three building levels had been blown out across the street or collapsed into the basement. Which brought Jocelyn to her first question.

"I never heard an explosion. Did you two?" she asked the agents.

They frowned as they looked at each other and shook their heads. "No, it was completely silent but damn fast," Taggart stated.

"Help..."

Jocelyn turned to look across the street and immediately moved in that direction. The building just past the sidewalk had three six-foot cedars planted on the minimal lawn. Jammed into those trees was a heavy leather recliner with a woman sitting in it. The bones of her legs were poking out of her shins, likely from striking something when she was ejected from the building across the street.

The woman was in shock as she stared back at what was left of the building. Jocelyn had time to ask some questions before the pain set in.

"Ma'am, what's your name?"

"Silvana Kamiński," the older woman wheezed.

"Which unit were you in?"

"I am superintendent. First apartment... on first floor. My building!" The strain was too much, and she passed out.

Fire and ambulance services had arrived and Jocelyn moved back as the big men moved in to lift the woman out of the bushes, chair and all. They transferred her to a backboard and carried her over the rubble to the ambulance.

Just then, an old man showed up at the ragged end of the destroyed hallway to shake his cane angrily at the firemen.

"We have another survivor," Jocelyn said, and a nearby fireman nodded and rushed off to stop the man from falling onto the debris field.

She moved closer and looked at the apartment Mrs. Kamiński must have been thrown from.

There was no fire damage. Aside from a small spray of water from some broken pipes, there was no water damage. She didn't smell any odors that would suggest a gas leak. What caused the explosion?

She turned to walk back to the trailer. She had to gather her files to take them with her as the command post was out of commission. She'd work out of her rental car. Once she had her files, she'd head to the hospital as she needed to speak with the landlady.

It was too much of a coincidence that this building came down today. There had to be a connection.

-=-

Leo stood by the back doors of the bus, but he didn't get out at his stop. He could see what was left of his apartment building a block away. He could also see people in dark suits scrambling over the debris. Feds?

"Sir? Are you getting off?"

Leo jolted and looked to the front of the bus, where the driver glared back at him in the mirror. He shook his head and stepped back from the door, allowing them to close. He quickly found a seat, and the bus moved on.

What the fuck was going on with his luck? He woke up to discover he looked like someone else, so he couldn't return to his existing job. He was unemployed. He had no work clothes either.

Then he fucked his landlady, and she gave him a deal on free rent!

He got new work clothes only to find his home was now destroyed. He realized his laptop with his résumé was gone too. With no home address, he couldn't apply for a job anyway.

He rode on in silence, his mind spinning with how fucked up his life had become since meeting that woman the night before. If he ever met her again... his thoughts went dark, so he took deep breaths to calm himself.

His cell rang, jolting him out of his thoughts. He flipped it open and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

There was a pause then the voice of his coffee shop boss, Christian, came through hesitantly. "Hello. I'm looking for Leo Lamb?"

Shit! He needed an excuse, and he was such a poor liar.

"Leo... had to go back home. This is his brother, Laars."

"Oh! Leo missed his shift today. When will he be returning?" the man asked.

Leo realized he wasn't hopeful of being able to find the woman who did this to him. The odds were also bad that she'd be able to switch him back. He had to cut ties quickly with his old life, but he wanted to leave the man with a good impression of his ex-employee.

"I'm sorry, Leo won't be coming back. It's... a family thing. He told me to let you know he really appreciated your support and learned a lot from working with you." Leo squirmed as that sounded so incredibly lame.

"I'm sorry to hear Leo is leaving us—"

"What?!? Leo's leaving?" Evie's voice chimed in over the line.

Christian sounded annoyed. "I'm on the phone speaking to hi—"

"Let me talk to him!" Evie insisted, and there was a fumbling sound as she tried to wrestle the handset from her boss. She had to settle with pressing the speakerphone button. "Leo! I'm so sorry my friends tricked you into... doing that last night. I hope you can forgive me—them. You don't need to leave."

Leo was stunned. He didn't know what to say.

"That's not Leo. It's his brother, Laars," Christian scolded, tugging futilely on the handset.

"I don't think he has a brother named Laars," Evie said suspiciously after a moment.

Leo closed his eyes as he recalled telling her about his family. She'd recognize Laars wouldn't be a name his parents would have given their children. Maybe he could get past her suspicion as he knew all the details. The truth will set you free, especially when you're selling a lie.

"The Lamb children were born in this order; Peter, Joanna, Susanna, Martha, John, James, and finally Leo, named after the lion and lamb representing Jesus." He took a breath as this was the tricky part. He looked older than Leo, so...

"I'm John, but I go by Laars since I left the church," he said, managing not to stumble. He did feel a little blasphemous as John would never leave the church.

Evie was quiet, so Leo rushed to fill the silence. "Leo didn't leave because of the game you played with him last night. He said he realized too late that he was destined to lose. Leo went home when I arrived. It was something he had to do." Leo wouldn't try to come up with some complex answer he'd bobble.

This was too good an opportunity to not speak his mind. "Leo told me... he really liked you. He's sorry if he ever offended you." He heard her suck in a little breath.

"I still have Leo's last paycheck," Christian said.

"Give it to me. Laars can pick it up at my place tonight and send it to Leo," Evie insisted.

"What?" Leo and Christian said simultaneously.

"I'd like to meet you, and I want my friends to apologize so you can pass it along to Leo," Evie said firmly.

He squirmed. "That... that's not necess—"

"It is! Please let us do this! I've felt so bad about it. We need to balance our karma," she pleaded.

Leo had been prepared to give up the paycheck and never see Evie again. Now, he had an opportunity to get the owed money and see her one last time. He'd just have to walk away if she asked to see his ID.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Well, I suppose that's fine if you vouch for him," Christian said.

"If I have any doubts, I won't give him the check," Evie said.

"Fine," the boss said.

"I'm at seventy-two Glade Avenue. That's the third house south of the intersection of Princeton Drive on the west side. We'll be there at eight tonight," Evie instructed.

Leo raised an eyebrow. She lived in a nice part of town. It was going to take time for him to get there by bus.

"Okay, thanks," he said. "Once more, Mr. Miller, Leo is very sorry for leaving without any notice."

"Yes, well... life happens. Take care."

The line went dead.

Leo looked at his cell. He also needed to call his manager from his other job at the hotel to do damage control with him. He was generally satisfied with how it went with Christian, so he'd use the same story.

He looked out the window as the bus continued on its way. They were headed towards the seedier side of town, but Leo had nowhere else to go until tonight. He needed a new plan.

To begin, he'd look for a cheap motel to hide out in.

He'd visit Evie tonight to hopefully get his paycheck. Once he had it, he'd deposit it immediately and wait for it to clear. Then he'd have enough money for a bus ticket to...

Shit. He had no idea where he should go to start again.

He put his head in his hands as his brain ached. He wasn't good when so many issues came at him simultaneously. He never had been.

Baby steps.

Finding a motel on the far side of town was step one.

The rest could wait.

Chapter 7

Jocelyn hated hospitals. They all felt the same to her, no matter which one she was in. Desperation and anxiety seemed to radiate from the walls, ceilings, and floors. Still, she had a job to do.

She discovered the landlady was in surgery, so she waited for the doctor to come out to give her an update.

It was hours before the man walked by and noticed her dozing.

"Agent Brandenburg?"

She jolted to awareness. "Yes!" She blinked at the speaker and saw the scrubs. "Dr. Jenson?"

"Yes. You were asking after the woman who came in with two broken legs?" the man asked.

"Silvana Kamiński, yes. She's the landlord of the building which collapsed this morning. Is she awake? Can I speak with her?"

The man looked at her and nodded. "She's on strong painkillers, but she's conscious. Room one-oh-three. Keep it brief, please."

"Thank you, doctor," the agent said as she moved towards the hall to the recovery rooms. She noted how dark it was getting outside. She cursed hospitals for how they consumed so much time.

She looked in the open door of one-oh-three and saw only the bed by the window was occupied. She went inside, and Silvana turned her head to track her approach. The woman's eyes were very glassy but remained locked on her.

"Hello, Mrs. Kamiński. I'm Agent Brandenburg. I found you after the explosion at your building." She held up her badge.

The woman nodded slightly. "My building is gone."

"The front units are badly damaged, but it's possible they could salvage the rest and rebuild the front. Did you have insurance?"

Silvana nodded. "Yes, premiums paid," the woman sighed.

"Do you know who else might have been home at the time of the explosion?" Jocelyn asked gently.

Silvana nodded. "Most would have been at work. Mr. Grimsby lives in the last apartment on the first floor. He is older man who walks with a cane. Mrs. Lawrence, across the hall from me, goes to the hospital in the mornings. OH!" She suddenly looked distraught.

"What is it?" Jocelyn asked as the other woman's bottom lip began to tremble.

"Laars... he was in the basement apartment."

Jocelyn recalled that most of the upper floors' rubble was resting in the basement. It would take some time to excavate that to find Laars. "Did he have a last name?"

The woman's eyelids were beginning to flutter as she was losing consciousness. "Lamb. Brother of tenant... Leo." She made a sad sound. "Laars had such lovely long black-white hair. He was a big... big man!" Her eyes widened slightly as she looked into the agent's eyes to ensure she picked up her meaning. She sighed. "He fucked like a runaway train." She unconsciously moved one hand down to cover her groin and touched it gingerly.

Jocelyn blinked in surprise at the woman's confession, then smiled to herself.

"Do you know what caused the explosion?" she asked the fading woman.

"I don't know. My washing machine was making a terrible sound..."

"Washing machine?" Jocelyn asked curiously.

"...washing the shiny jumpsuit... found in basement... next to Laars." She was out.

Jocelyn froze. Shiny jumpsuit? She recalled the picture of their person of interest. The open collar of the one-piece outfit showed it was lined with a reflective material. If it was inside out, it might look like a shiny jumpsuit.

As to the sex of her potential suspect, she remained convinced the person in the photo was a female, not a male named Laars... who fucked like a runaway train.

Going back to the night in question and the disappearance of the woman, the Super said she found the clothing in the basement apartment. The doorway to the basement would have been at the bottom of a stairwell, an excellent place to hide from the police.

If their person of interest had ducked into the stairwell to avoid the police, they may have gone inside the apartment.

What had Kamiński said? Leo Lamb was the tenant, but his brother Laars was in the apartment.

She needed to speak with Leo if Laars was buried under all those bricks.

She retraced her steps and found the nurse's station. Dr. Jenson was busy chatting up the ladies there.

"Excuse me, Dr. Jenson? I need a rape kit run on Mrs. Kamiński."

The doctor's eyes widened. "She was raped?"

"She recently had sex with a potential suspect, who might be buried under three stories worth of building materials. We may only be able to identify him by DNA."

The doctor grimaced. "I see."

Nodding to the doctor, Jocelyn handed him her card with her contact details, left the desk, and went outside to her rental car. It was becoming evening and she needed to report to the supervisor. She had a reservation in a hotel, so she'd check in, make that call, and then connect to the office to do a little record spelunking.

She had a Lamb to hunt.

Chapter 8

Stepping from the bus into the upscale neighborhood, Leo felt a little out of place. He was dressed well enough in his white dress shirt, black slacks, and leather shoes, but no one would mistake him for one of those door-to-door evangelists.

Outside the unease of being in an unfamiliar place, he felt rested and surprisingly good after his afternoon nap. This morning, after he'd ridden the bus to the far side of town, he'd found himself a cheap motel with nearby amenities like a bank and food.

He'd withdrawn more of his dwindling cash and bought himself a few sub sandwiches. Then he'd hid out in his room watching the news to get information on his home.

The only casualty in the explosion was Mrs. Kamiński, who was in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The reporter on the scene said that a rescue team was working on clearing the debris from the front of the building to get to the basement apartment as they feared a second victim was buried under the rubble there.

They thought he might be dead which might be helpful. They didn't have a picture of what he looked like now. He should be safe for a bit.

He looked around at the beautifully maintained homes and gardens and couldn't help but compare it to the dive in which he... used to live. He wondered if anyone in this neighborhood had a basement apartment for a reasonable rent. He shook his head and got his bearing once more. Seventy-two Glade Avenue. He was at the intersection of Princeton Drive on the west side, so he made his way down the avenue, looking at the house numbers until he spotted seventy-two. It was a lovely old Victorian two-story home.

Glancing at his cell, he noted he was ten minutes late, so he couldn't really afford to take any time to calm his nerves. Showtime!

He went up the walkway to the porch stairs and climbed to stand before the door. Before he could work up the nerve to press the doorbell, the door opened, and Evie was staring at him through the glass of the storm door with wide eyes. He froze as she looked so lovely. He was overly aware this was the last time he would see her, and the unfairness of that took his breath away.

Leo realized they were just staring at each other, neither speaking, and it was becoming awkward. "Hello! I-I'm Laars," he blurted.

She twitched from her frozen state and gave him an embarrassed smile, sending pains through his heart. "Sorry, I'm Evie!" She unlocked the storm door and pushed it open. "Please come in."

With a nod, he followed her in and slipped off his shoes. He caught Evie staring at him again and raised an eyebrow.

She reacted with embarrassment for being caught. "I'm sorry, you look so much like Leo, yet so different too! You even dress like him and your hair! It's as long as his!"

Leo nodded but didn't offer any explanations as he knew how terrible he was at lying. He began feeling nervous about Evie catching on and tried to shorten the visit. "You said you'd have Leo's last paycheck?"

That seemed to bring Evie back to the task at hand. She nodded. "Yes, but first, the apologies. Please follow me." She moved towards an arched entrance to the room to the left. He had no choice but to follow.

Three lovely women were sitting on the couch in what appeared to be the living room. The room was a little dark, lit only by candles, and the blinds were drawn. Before their expressions froze into looks of surprise, he caught their true feelings on their faces. Nina was angry, Tatyana was bored, and Ji-Yu definitely looked like she wanted to be elsewhere. Evie might be insisting they needed to balance their karma, but she was clearly the only one who truly felt that way.

"Laars, this is Nina, Ji-Yu, and Tatyana," Evie said.

"Hello," he said with a nod, and all three ladies brightened up.

Nina pulled her shoulders back slightly to expose her cleavage just a little more.

One shoulder of Tatyana's oversized t-shirt chose that moment to slip down her arm, almost exposing one of her lovely breasts.

Ji-Yu popped to her feet and pranced closer to Leo before the others stood to follow her example. Ji-Yu held out her hand and grinned when Laars shook it in his big paw.

He knew he had to act like this was the first time he was meeting them.

"You are Leo's older brother?" Ji-Yu asked.

He nodded. "One of them."

"You are big brother!" Tatyana quipped, eying his broad shoulders and powerful arms.

He looked at her teasing smile and nodded slowly. "One of them," he said, missing the double meaning of her words.

Evie didn't. "We need to apologize to Leo for how we teased him last night. He didn't really deserve it." She stared at the others sternly, and they nodded with smiles. She cleared her throat, and they glanced at her.

"Yes, we're sorry for teasing Leo. He was an innocent one," Tatyana said with a nod.

"Sorry for teasing your brother," Ji-Yu added.

"Apologies. Are you an innocent, Laars?" Nina asked, giving the barest attention to the visit's purpose and ignoring Evie's glare.

He looked at the tall brunette and saw her hungry eyes panning down his body. Glancing to Tatyana and Ji-Yu, he saw they felt the same way.

Was he an innocent? Leo thought about the recent changes he'd undergone and what he'd done since he woke up on the floor, changed. He no longer felt innocent. He shook his head, and the ladies made pleased sounds.

"Do you like games, Laars?" Nina asked with a crooked little smile on her lips.

"Sure. I'm up for anything," he replied automatically but awkwardly. Once more, he missed the mark on sounding cool.

He also missed the shocked look on Evie's face and how she backed out of the room quietly.

Leo was pretty sure he understood what Nina was after, and a glance at Tatyana and Ji-Yu showed him they wanted to play, too. He wasn't sure he did, but he felt a stirring in his mind as the female presence became aware of the three beauties eyeing him like a piece of chocolate cake. He picked up that the feeling was mutual.

Then he noticed that Evie was missing.

A finger on his chin turned his face back to Nina's. "There are so many games we could play," she purred as her fingers settled on his chest. Her eyes widened slightly as she felt the hard muscles there.

He was still unsure he wanted this, and with three, he had no idea how to manage it. The inner voice was insisting he rise to the opportunity. He felt her presence coming forward, and cautiously, he allowed himself to mentally step back and let it happen. He immediately began to respond to Nina's touches.

He said something in a language he'd never heard before. The sounds were only possible with the split tongue. It sounded soft and lyrical, but he had no clue what it meant. He felt a little wave of frustration pass through him as the image of beautiful flowers on the edge of a cliff next to a rough ocean flashed into his mind.

"That sounded lovely! What does it mean?" Nina asked.

Feeling the unease of the internal voice, Leo responded. "I was saying your beauty brings to mind summer flowers clinging to a cliffside over a wild ocean."

Surprised delight came from the inner voice as he'd caught the intent correctly.

Nina's expression was equally pleased. Ji-Yu was grinning happily at him.

"You're smooth, I'll give you that," Nina admitted. "But we've met men who can sweet talk with the best but fail when things get physical."

The confidence of the presence swelled, and Leo caught the image of him flexing his muscles.

"Does this body look like it fails... at anything?" Leo said boldly, borrowing from that confidence while struggling to keep from blushing. When he guessed the meaning correctly once more, he received the impression of satisfaction in response.

The three ladies burst into giggles and moved closer.

"We need to see more of it to be sure," Nina insisted as she undid the buttons of his shirt. Behind him, Ji-Yu untucked the shirt from his pants.

Tatyana assisted Nina with sliding the shirt back over his shoulders. "Mmmm... you have nice muscles!" the blond exclaimed. She tried to squeeze his bicep, but there was almost no give to it. Her eyebrows rose. "You're so hard!"

Ji-Yu burst into giggles as Nina grinned at Tatyana. "We haven't removed his pants yet. How do you know?"

Leo placed his hand over the button on his pants. "I shouldn't be the only one in a state of undress." He caught an image of the women taking their shirts off. Another suggestion from inside. "I'm topless. Shouldn't you be?"

"The three of us topless doesn't equal you being topless," Tatyana said with a pout.

"Now, don't sell yourselves short!" Leo blurted, then chuckled at their surprised expressions. He couldn't believe his own audacity. The confidence flowing from within was a little intoxicating.

Nina got a very determined look in her eye. He'd obviously thrown down a challenge, and she looked like she wanted to make him eat his words.

She held his eyes as she lifted her t-shirt over her head. Her large breasts bounced in her sexy black lace bra.

Leo tried to remain calm, but Nina's breasts were spectacular! Encased in lace, they were waking parts of his anatomy very quickly.

Tatyana tugged her oversized T-shirt off and she wasn't wearing anything underneath. The piercings on her modest breasts drew his eyes. She sent him a look of challenge as well. He smiled and nodded.

He jolted slightly when he turned to see Ji-Yu's breasts. Surprisingly, they were larger than he'd expected and squeezed into a sheer white bra. As he watched, she reached back and popped the clasp to pull the bra away. His eyes were trapped momentarily by their swaying movements. When he could tear his eyes away, he saw her pleased smile.

The inner presence was loving this and pushed forward once more. He found his hands popping the button on his pants and sliding the zipper down slowly. Grins appeared on the faces of the ladies as they watched eagerly. He slid his thumbs under the waistband of his pants and inched them down his hips until he let them drop to stand before them in just his boxers.

All three women were staring at the significant tent he was making in his underwear. They exchanged excited glances before sliding their yoga pants down their legs, displaying their panties. Tatyana sported a barely-there g-string while the other two wore more traditional lace panties.

Once more, Leo felt unease as the three women were incredibly lovely. How he was going to manage three women at once eluded him. Then he felt his confidence surge again as the presence came forward eagerly.

Nina removed her bra and squeezed her large breasts with her hands. His cock surged against his underwear, causing nervous giggles from Ji-Yu.

The Korean model dropped to her knees before him and slid his boxers down to his feet in one fast tug.

They gasped and traded nervous and excited looks.

Game time.

-=-

Leo left the women resting on the pillows and gathered his clothes to silently leave the room. He quickly dressed in the hall, then paused as he glanced into the room hesitantly.

He'd been completely oblivious about how someone could be with two partners simultaneously. The female presence in his mind demonstrated she was quite capable of pleasing three, keeping them fully engaged and blissed out almost continuously.

Nina's enjoyment of being with a partner powerful enough to lift and handle her larger frame as if she weighed nothing pushed her passions to levels she hadn't experienced before. He made sure she reached thresholds she'd never experience again.

Tatyana's need to be dominated was easily satisfied as he pinned her to the floor under his relentlessly pounding hips, crashing her through release after release while holding Ji-Yu's delicate bits to his mouth.

The lovely Korean's discovery of the dexterity of his split tongue might have broken the girl's mind with the powerful orgasms he pulled from her.

All three might find it difficult to achieve such peaks of satisfaction again. Leo was now concerned, as that seemed like a punishment.

Giving himself a shake, he felt the warm glow of satisfaction from the presence in his mind.

Looking away, he finally walked the short distance to the kitchen at the back of the house.

Evie stood in the kitchen by the back door with her hand on the knob, preparing to run.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frozen by the fear on her face.

"Are they okay?" she managed to force out of her tight throat.

He gave her a puzzled look then he understood she meant her roommates. "Of course! I'm not going to hurt anyone!"

"You're not John or Laars, are you. You look a little like Leo but... so different. You don't sound like him, but talk and sometimes act like him. Where is Leo?"

Once more, his inability to lie betrayed him, but he had to stick to the story for everyone's sake. "I-I'm Laars," he said quietly.

She shook her head as she approached the kitchen table and turned her laptop's screen towards him. She played the recording she'd made of their chat session, starting with the arrival of the blonde woman.

Leo's eyes locked on the screen as he watched the woman pin him to the couch.

"Her hands," Evie said, and he nodded shakily, acknowledging the difference.

"Violet eyes with vertical pupils," he murmured absent-mindedly, reliving the moment as he watched, unaware of Evie's shock from his admission. His eyes flashed violet momentarily as he watched, and she leaned away.

When his laptop was knocked from the table, it continued to stream the video and audio from the floor but only showed the underside of the coffee table and the bottom of the couch. The woman's feet and shins briefly appeared, highlighting the difference with only two broad toes on her foot as she climbed back on top of Leo.

Moments later, there was an odd gasp and thump sound. Then, a glowing began. The glow became brighter and brighter until the laptop's camera couldn't compensate.

When the light suddenly stopped, there was a pained moan and Leo rolled off the couch, landing heavily on the floor, the camera capturing his new larger body before the battery died and the video ended.

Leo was frozen, staring at the blank screen. The presence inside his mind was quiet as well.

"What was that light?" Evie asked quietly.

He was stunned by what he'd just seen. The facts all came crashing together, and he finally understood. He found himself talking.

"I don't know. I have no memory of what happened after... after she climbed on top of me. I woke this morning looking like this," he said, equally quiet. His eyes lifted to look into Evie's.

Her face registered her shock. "You-you're Leo?"

His eyes dropped as he nodded.

"You need to tell someone—"

"No!" Leo blurted as the female alien in his body surged forward in his mind once more, his eyes flashing violet, then back to brown as he got control. The alien wanted to keep them safe. He got that, but he had to protect Evie, too.

Now, he understood. The woman last night hadn't injected him with some transforming drug. She hadn't left any programming in his brain. She'd become part of him! A violent shudder went through his muscles as he struggled to accept that concept.

Images of the dissection table appeared once more. Leo wearily pushed them away, knowing the alien was just trying to warn him of the consequences of capture.

He looked into Evie's eyes and saw her worry there. He'd have to work with that. He believed she was a good person, so hopefully, she'd listen.

"You know what they'd do to me if the authorities captured me. I don't want to die," he said, his voice wobbling.

"She's inside you or part of you. What does she want?" Evie asked. She gasped as Leo's eyes momentarily changed to a lovely violet color as his pupils stretched vertically and then back.

Leo felt the alien mind slide back, but the impression he received from her was that she wanted what he did.

"To live." He frowned in concern as he looked at Evie. She was already too involved. "I need to leave. You need to forget you met with me for your own safety. The less you know, the safer you are. I shouldn't have come here tonight. If anyone asks, I came and went." He paused as he saw her troubled expression. "Uh, can I have the paycheck?"

Evie went to the fridge to pluck the check from the magnet, pinning it to the door. She returned and handed it to him. "There must be something I can do—"

"No, this is the most you should do," he said, indicating the check. He shook his head sadly. "I'm so sorry. I've put you at risk just by being here. I'm such an idiot. You deserve so much better." He watched emotions cross her face and felt an ache in his chest as she was so lovely, and he'd never see her again. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable at work. I admit I was a little obsessed with how pretty you are. Tonight, you've proven to me that you're beautiful on the inside, too. I-I have to go."

Before he could turn away, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face against his chest. He froze momentarily, then held her in his arms as well. They stood there, enjoying the closeness, until he felt a stirring in his mind, reminding him of the precarious nature of this visit. He moved his hands to her shoulders and gently pushed until she released him.

"Please, I need to leave, and you need to forget everything about me." He turned and picked up her laptop. With a few clicks, the video was deleted. She made a noise of protest, but he shook his head. "For my safety and yours, you can't keep that file."

Before he said anything else stupid, he headed for the front door with Evie following. He tucked the check into his shirt pocket. When they got to the door, he looked at her once more. She gestured over her shoulder to the three sleeping women on the pillows.

"What about them?" she asked.

He glanced towards them, then back to Evie. "I'm sorry I... she did that. Tell them not to tell anyone about me. It's safer that way."

Evie nodded then grabbed his shirt and pulled his face down to hers. She gave him a quick, tender kiss on the lips, then he stepped out the door and rushed away.

Head spinning, Leo moved up the street and crossed the road to wait for the bus that would take him back to the motel. The next ten minutes of waiting were brutal, but finally, the bus arrived, and he jumped on to sit at the back.

It wasn't fair. He finally got to kiss the girl of his dreams and had to run away.

He sat looking out the bus window but seeing nothing as he tortured himself by recalling the feel of Evie's lips on his.

-=-

After what seemed like an hour, he felt his attention being drawn forward once more and noticed his stop was next.

He left the bus and walked through the dark streets to the bank machine on the only well-lit corner in the neighborhood. He slipped his client card into the machine and deposited the check. It wasn't much, but he could get a bus ticket once the check cleared. To where, he wasn't sure. He'd have to lay low for a day or two first. Luckily, the motel was cheap.

"Give us the money, fuckhead!"

He turned in surprise to see four men surrounding him. The two larger men had bats, and a slightly shorter one had a knife. The fourth and shortest man kept his hand in his pocket.

When they got a good look at his face, the ones with bats rushed forward and started swinging. Leo barely got his arms up to protect his head and took the hits on his forearms. The pain shot through him, and he gasped.

He'd been in fights during his childhood, but not like this. His mind shied away from the vicious attack.

A bat thudded into his side, making his ribs ache.

He felt the internal presence rising up to protect him, and he gratefully stepped aside, terrified to face the violence.

The next swing slapped against Leo's left palm. The bat was tugged from the tight grip of his assailant, who stumbled closer. Leo continued his spin to drive the end of the bat into the man's nose, snapping his head back, blood spraying as the cartilage flattened completely. Bones under the impact site shattered, and the big man's legs folded under him, taking him to the sidewalk and out of the fight.

Screaming with rage, the second thug with a bat rushed closer, aiming his next swing at Leo's head. The bat swished through empty air as Leo dropped under the swing. As the bat continued, the mugger's right side was exposed. At the bottom of Leo's squat, he set the bat down and surged up again, his left fist hammering the man's ribs. The sharp snaps of bones breaking were quickly followed by a high-pitched squeal from the brute, who dropped his bat and collapsed, curling to protect his injury.

Leo used his toe to kick the bouncing bat into the air, then did a spinning kick to send it flying at the face of the goon who still had his hand in his pocket. The heavy piece of hardwood bounced off the man's forehead, dazing him. He staggered back, tugging his hand from the pocket.

"GUN!" Leo cried out in panic from his observer's position.

His body dropped and avoided a lunging stab from behind. Then he spun on his palms close to the ground like a break dancer. He kicked out and connected with the knees of the knife-wielding thug, bending them backward with sick, wet, popping sounds.

Before the crippled man could draw a breath to scream, Leo scooped up the first bat and flowed to his feet with a little skip forward. The final thug was blinking through his pain as he tried to aim the gun at him. Leo swung the bat and hit a home run, sending the pistol and the gunman's right index finger sailing over the rooftop of the building across the street. Most of the bones in the mutilated hand were shattered.

The gunman ran away screaming, holding his right wrist with his uninjured hand.

Leo casually kicked the dropped knife into the darkness.

Thirteen seconds after the assault began, it was over.

Leo felt a burst of elation and satisfaction from the presence as she slipped back into his mind, allowing him to return to full control. He stared at the three remaining goons, two moaning and one making no sounds at all. Leo knelt next to the silent one and breathed a sigh of relief as the man was still breathing. He checked on the man with the busted ribs, but he just tried to pull away and whimpered.

He stood and turned to the man with the broken knees who was on his belly. He was watching Leo's approach with fear in his eyes.

"Listen! It was a mistake! I'm sorry! It wasn't personal!" the man shrieked in terror as Leo approached.

Leo frowned as a sick anger surged. "You tried to stab me! How is that not personal?" He jabbed a thick finger at the two bigger men. "They hit me with baseball bats! That seemed personal, too!" His voice was shaky as his nerves caught up to the violence he'd just witnessed. His muscles began to tremble as reaction set in.

The man's eyes were watering from the pain, and tears ran down his cheeks. "Please! Please don't kill me! Here!" The man frantically tossed Leo his wallet. It bounced off Leo's chest, and he caught it awkwardly.

Leo scowled at him. "I don't want your fucking wallet!" he yelled at the man and tossed it next to him.

Tears and snot dripping from his face, the crying man pulled the bills from the wallet and pushed them at Leo.

Angry, confused, and sickened by the brutality of these thugs and the alien inside him, Leo picked up the money and then caught sight of headlights approaching in the distance. He realized he shouldn't be seen surrounded by these broken men, so he stood, took two steps forward, and stopped. He needed to avoid being seen by the driver, so he spun and briskly walked in the opposite direction. He could almost feel the car's approach and looked for someplace to hide.

In the shadows between the shops, he spotted an alley to his left, so he ducked into it and ran down its length to the next street. He turned left once more and cautiously approached the corner to peer around it to see if the car had stopped. It was slowing and proved to be a taxi. While it did slow, the driver didn't stop to check on the injured men but drove off instead. With a sigh of relief, Leo hustled across the street and walked another block before turning left to go back to the main street. He peeked around the corner and saw no one had come to investigate the three men yet.

It wasn't his problem. He turned right, walked the final two blocks, and crossed the street to his motel. He let himself into his room and locked the door behind himself.

He was safe for the night!

-=-

Rick Mondeo sat fuming in the back of his limo, waiting for his driver to return from the bodega with his smokes. The forty-nine-year-old businessman owned several gentlemen's clubs along the Californian coast and made a decent living. He had all the toys to prove his success, but he wasn't ready to call it a day. He loved new challenges!

Recently, he'd found a way to exponentially increase his revenues by organizing invitation-only, mixed-discipline fight club events in a factory secretly linked to his main club here in San Remo.

He'd discovered he had an eye for scouting talent, and tonight, he'd just witnessed his next champion!

As he'd sat waiting, he saw the big man walk up to a sidewalk bank machine. It was a sketchy neighborhood, so Rick wasn't surprised when the four thugs quickly crossed the street to surround him. Rick sat forward in his seat, almost pressing his face against the side window to see what would happen next.

When the guys with bats began beating on him, Rick thought the big guy was done as he took a few brutal hits.

Then he seemed to spring to life!

Rick had never seen anyone move so gracefully with such savage results. He put them all down in less than fifteen seconds! He was a freaking goldmine!

And he was going to get away!

He watched the big guy check on the three who couldn't flee. Rick guessed he wanted to be sure they weren't dead or going to die.

He started to walk away, and Rick grabbed his door handle to go after him but froze as the reality of chasing the brute along the darkened street suddenly seemed like a really stupid idea.

Then he watched the man suddenly stop, turn, and hustle in the other direction. He looked down the road to see why the man had turned and saw the approaching headlights. He didn't want to be seen!

Interesting.

Rick glanced back at the bodega, but there was no sign of his driver yet. Glancing back to the sidewalk, he jolted as the brute was gone! FUCK! He spotted a dark alley. He guessed he'd gone in there.

Rick thought about that. If he wanted to go the other way and avoid the car coming up the street, he'd likely try going around.

"Sorry, boss!"

"FUCK! GOD DAMMIT, JIMMY! You—Fuck!" Rick bellowed at his driver as the man jumped into the front seat and looked back over his shoulder at his boss in surprise.

"What took you so long?!?" Rick snapped.

"Sorry! The old man hadn't unpacked the cigarettes you like," Jimmy said as he held up two cartons.

The passing taxi drew Jimmy's attention to the three men lying on the sidewalk up the street a short distance away. "What the fuck happened here?"

Rick grinned excitedly. "I'll tell you what fucking happened! These clowns and a fourth with a gun tried to roll a big fucker at the bank machine. He took them apart in seconds!"

"Where is he now?" Jimmy asked, looking around excitedly.

"I guess he didn't feel like waiting for you to get back to the car!" Rick snapped as he glared at his driver.

"Sorry, Boss."

"I think he was going to the motel strip. Get the car started."

Jimmy did a U-turn to point them in the right direction and drove slowly past the three goons. When they reached the next block, Rick pointed a short distance ahead. "Pull into the diner parking lot and shut the engine. If I'm right and he was going to one of the motels, we'll be able to see both from there."

Jimmy drove another block and pulled into the parking lot just as a dark shape stepped out onto the sidewalk behind them.

"There he is! I was right! Duck down, or he'll spot you! Your window isn't tinted!" Rick snapped as their target hustled along the sidewalk, getting closer while keeping to the shadows. The big man crossed the street to the opposite side where the Blue Moon Motel resided. He walked to the door of unit five and let himself in.

Rick watched the room until he was sure the man wouldn't immediately leave. "Okay, it looks like he's in for the night. Drop me back at the club, then come back and wait for him to come out of room number five tomorrow morning. Let him know I'd like to offer him a job. Easy money for a man of his skills."

Jimmy eased himself back up in his chair and peered across at the mostly empty parking lot where he'd spend his night. Joy. He started up the car and got them headed back towards the club.

As they passed the bank machine once more, they saw a police cruiser parked at the curb, the officer standing next to it with his mic in his hand, likely calling for some ambulances.

Jimmy glanced in the mirror and caught Rick's predatory grin. The big guy who messed these fellas up must really be something to get his boss this excited. He realized he'd better not screw up and let him slip through his fingers.

If that meant losing a night's sleep while staking out the motel, so be it.

Chapter 9

Sekan Fi and Sekan Ko shared a smug look as they scanned the debris field in orbit above the third planet from the sun. Their sensors picked up the rare alloys from their quarry's ship. Evidence suggested the ship had met its end in orbit above a planet of low-technology primitive bipeds.

They'd left their ship on the far side of the moon and used a small shuttle to get closer to the planet. They were still far above the atmosphere but could easily do their preliminary investigation from here.

The two agents of the Gharr Vanguard Authority had been piloting the only ship in the armada able to catch the enemy's exit vector. Presented with their best chance at advancement, they'd immediately set off in pursuit, leaving the others to hunt for survivors from the fleet flagship.

They'd be reprimanded for leaving, but they were guaranteed advancement if they returned with the captured host containing the Vaxian.

Tapping into the basic communication satellite technology and cracking its encryption took only minutes. They were surprised by the number of distinct languages.

They sent stealthed spy drones down to the surface once they were certain the locals had no technology advanced enough to detect them. They ran surface scans and determined the impact sites. One of the drones connected to the ground-based communication network. They determined the local language and found reference to the government agency investigating the debris, the FBI. Tapping into the computer networks of this local security agency, they learned that one of the agents was making intriguing discoveries. They left a tap on this network to route copies of all messages to and from this agent for their review.

When they'd identified where this Agent Brandenburg was currently located, they decided it was time to take more direct action. They needed to be close by if she successfully found the suspect she was tracking.

Guiding their shuttle down in the dark of night, all stealth modes engaged, they located a building on the city's southern edge, which showed signs of abandonment. They silently guided the shuttle down through a large gap in the roof of the burnt-out structure and set down on a dirty concrete pad. The camouflage on the shuttle's outer surface would make them invisible from above.

Scanning the local communications, they determined they hadn't been detected, so they began preparing to infiltrate the local FBI operation. They tapped into the agency's records to identify the leaders. They would create disguises that would not be questioned by these barely evolved creatures. Once they had sample images and audio of the Director and Deputy Director, Sekan Fi reached within and released control on his form. He began the painful process of reshaping its body to match the shape of the local species.

The Gharr followed a far more efficient, safe, and attractive body shape, with all critical life maintaining and sensory organs protected within the densely muscled torso. They had four sturdy, short legs for exceptional stability and mobility and four manipulators for greater interaction with the environment. Four of its limbs would need to be pulled into its torso. The locals also contained their brains in a bony encasement external to their torso and exposed on top!?! They kept critical sensory organs there, too!

Sekan Fi almost stopped his transformation out of sheer disgust, but this was required, and the mission was all.

He fine-tuned the adjustments until his new head and face were identical to Director Maxwell Prentice's. He was ready to begin practicing his mobility and facial expressions. But first, he watched Sekan Ko go through the same transformation.

He felt ill when Ko's horrid change was almost complete, so he gratefully looked away to program the shuttle's matter replicator to produce clothing to match the uniforms the FBI Director and Deputy Director wore daily. It took a little effort to get the clothing on their new bodies. They watched footage of the two men moving and gesturing and were soon able to emulate these motions perfectly. Walking on only two limbs and having one's eyes so far above one's feet felt extremely precarious.

Fi had difficulty speaking as the Director due to the man's slight lisp, but Ko's impression of Deputy Director Samuel Richardson was spot on. They would endeavor to restrict their speech to simple commands.

The last step in their preparations was to exit the ship to perform a test immersion in the environment. The ship's shields protected them from the outside world but also restricted their minds from expanding outward. As they stepped outside the shielding onto the concrete floor, they both gasped in pain and struggled to get back inside the ship. Once behind the protection of its shield, the two agents shared a stunned look.

The Gharr spoke mind-to-mind, but the sheer volume of the minds of the local species drowned out any chance of Fi and Ko communicating this way. They returned to the shuttle to add a psychic shield device to their belts. This would protect them by reducing the volume of the noisy minds of the inhabitants, but it wouldn't completely silence them. For Fi and Ko to speak mind to mind, they would have to make physical contact. Again, they would limit this in front of the natives.

They sat before their terminals and monitored the FBI's communications. They believed Agent Brandenburg would bring them to their quarry as she seemed to be a hunter.

Just like them.

-=-

Leo looked down in delight at the spacious and surprisingly clean bathtub in the unit's bathroom.

He put the stopper in the drain and got the hot water pouring into the tub, gradually increasing the heat until he was concerned he might be scalded, but he sensed the pleasure from the internal voice.

He walked back out into the dingy room and flipped on the TV. The news was filled with speculation regarding the fallen debris from orbit and the subsequent destruction of the apartment complex just up the street from one of the crash sites.

He stripped off his clothes and was relieved that he hadn't damaged them. They were pretty clean, too, so he knew he'd get another day out of them before he'd need to find a laundromat.

Walking back into the bathroom naked, he checked the water, and the tub was sufficiently full to get in. He tentatively stepped into the hot water and sighed, as it wasn't as bad as he'd expected. He sat then stretched out, partially submerging his beaten body into the heat. That felt very good!

He kept an eye on the water level as it continued to fill and shut it off as it approached the tub's lip. He practiced his mental exercises to calm his racing thoughts and picked up approval from the alien inside. She welcomed his relaxation routine. He picked up she was extremely disciplined, so... military? That thought generated an impression of scorn. More babbling chatter surfaced in his mind, and he shook his head to quiet it. He felt her frustration, and she felt his.

So, they couldn't speak verbally, but he could sense emotions, and he assumed she'd sent him those images of the Sci-Fi movie, which may have been her reality. He wanted her to see that his life was simpler, quieter, and far less violent.

Once calm, he formed an image in his head of himself and his family at church. People were singing and reading scripture. No one was fighting or getting beat up. He showed himself in that memory. He sat quietly at the end of the pew, his head turned away from the others as he defocused his eyes and stared at the colors coming through the stained glass.

Even early on, the lessons were wasted on him. The instructions washed over him as he remained in the solitude his scattered mind imposed upon him. With no one willing to listen, he couldn't tell them he was struggling.

He ended his little movie and picked up a sensation of joy from the being inside. She presented images of herself in a similar building. Some kind of quiet chanting and looking up at the colorful windows surrounding a large statue of a winged female holding a bladed weapon in one hand and flowers in the other. The room was filled with small versions of the female who'd broken into his apartment. Children, all female.

Leo could see similarities in their upbringing. There seemed to be a formal religious background for both of them.

When the alien began showing images of the children in a courtyard, he initially thought they were playing, but then he saw them training with weapons and hand-to-hand combat. Even at that young age, they were highly skilled.

He picked up a strong sense of pride as the images of these young warriors in training played out in his head. The final images were of one child being honored with some award ceremony, and he knew this was a formative moment in the being's life.

Leo had nothing similar to show from his life. He hadn't achieved any successes outside of escaping from his parents, the boldest step he'd ever taken. His education had been filled with disappointments and frustration, and his best efforts barely allowed him to graduate each year. The school put him in remedial classes with the problem kids. Some of these were violent, which compounded the issue for him with his passive behavior.

A disappointment for his parents and a punching bag for his siblings, he amazed himself when he survived to graduate high school. The moment he did, he took his meager belongings and left to travel as far from them as possible. They wouldn't miss him or even search for him.

The presence inside him was quiet as she'd picked up the gist of his struggles. He hadn't realized he'd been sharing that as well.

The water began to cool, so he pulled the plug and climbed out to dry himself with the threadbare towels.

The bed was comfortable enough, and while he was hungry again, the day had taken too much out of him. He needed sleep.

Breakfast would come soon enough.

Chapter 10

In the pale light of dawn, Jocelyn sat at the desk in her hotel room, reviewing Leo Lamb's footprint on society. He barely registered. He had no record of criminal activity, not even a late library book. He was a model citizen, if not a very impressive one, academically or socially. His education ended with high school. He had no presence on any of the Social Media sites. He did have a driver's license for ID but no passport.

Reviewing his tax return, she saw his total income put him squarely in the poverty zone. His basement apartment had to be cheap, or he'd starve on what he made.

His employment record showed two jobs. He was a parking valet at a downtown hotel and a barista at a local coffee shop. She saw the address of the coffee shop was within walking distance from her hotel, so she decided to get her morning coffee and do some digging on Leo at the same time.

Jocelyn packed her small suitcase and shut down her computer. She wouldn't be staying here tonight.

She checked out of the hotel and put her items into the trunk before walking the two blocks to the coffee shop. It wasn't one of the large franchises but an independent, which seemed very popular with students and office workers alike. She got in line.

The counter workers were skilled at making the beverages and quickly serving the customers, so Jocelyn didn't have to wait long before it was her turn. She smiled at a blonde beauty across the counter.

"Good morning!" she said.

"Good morning! What would you like?" the young woman asked.

Glancing at the board, she spotted the pick-me-up she needed. "A medium basic black Columbian, please."

The woman nodded and quickly poured the rich brew into a cup for her. Placing a lid on the coffee cup, she turned back to Jocelyn. "That'll be three-fifty."

Jocelyn handed her a five. "Keep the change."

"Thank you!" the pretty barista said, but Jocelyn didn't move away. "Is there something else?"

"Yes, I'm looking for someone who works here. Leo Lamb?"

Jocelyn caught the brief moment when the young woman did a delightful impression of a deer caught in the headlights. Then, the barista's smile returned. "We don't give out private information about the employees—" She froze again when Jocelyn displayed her badge.

"Perhaps we could move to the side, and you could bring your manager?" Jocelyn said politely.

The woman nodded and gestured for another of the counter people to take her spot as Jocelyn moved to the open counter to the left.

The blonde moved to a doorway off the hall leading to the back and knocked as she leaned her head inside. Shortly, she returned to the counter with a slim, bearded man.

"I'm Christian Hanes, the manager. What's this about?"

Jocelyn smiled and showed him her badge, watching his eyes widen. She put it away and brought out a small notebook and pencil. "I'm looking for Leo Lamb. The building he lived in collapsed yesterday, and his landlady indicated that his brother Laars may have been inside the basement apartment."

Christian frowned. "We spoke with Laars on the phone yesterday morning. He said he'd pick up Leo's last check at Evie's home last night." He turned to look at the young woman. "Did he show up?"

She nodded jerkily to her boss, and Jocelyn locked eyes with her, so she answered her. "Yes! He did. He didn't stay long. Just got the check and left."

"He didn't mention the collapsed apartment?" Jocelyn asked.

Evie shook her head.

The manager had more helpful information. "Laars said Leo had to go home for some family issue. I mentioned we still owed Leo a check, and Evie said he could pick it up at her place. Something about an apology?" He frowned at Evie, whose face was becoming quite red.

"Yes, we apologized for teasing Leo. Laars took the check and left," Evie explained.

"We?" Jocelyn asked.

Evie's eyes flicked to her, then down. "My roommates and I. We teased Leo on a video chat. I felt bad afterward."

Jocelyn nodded as she collected the facts. "So, you last spoke with Leo, when?"

"T-two nights ago," Evie said quietly.

"The night the satellite fell from space."

Evie's eyes looked into hers. "Yes."

"Then Laars called you?" Jocelyn asked Christian.

"No. I called Leo to ask him why he missed a shift. Laars answered and said Leo went home and wouldn't be coming back to work," Christian corrected.

Jocelyn made more notes. "Laars answered Leo's phone?" The manager nodded. "Have either of you met Laars before?" Both shook their heads. "But you were going to give him Leo's check because he answered Leo's cell?" Jocelyn looked at them in surprise.

Evie frowned indignantly. "He knew intimate details of Leo's life. He said he was Leo's brother John, but he renamed himself when he left the church. I wouldn't have given him the check if he couldn't prove who he was."

"He showed you his ID?" Jocelyn asked.

Evie's mouth worked, but she said nothing for a moment. Then she cleared her throat. "No, but the family resemblance was too strong for him not to be related."

"Do you have a recent photo of Leo? There are no images of him on social media," Jocelyn said.

"No," Evie said quickly, but Christian frowned at her and took a few steps down the hall to pluck a photo from a corkboard. He walked back to the counter and handed Jocelyn the photo.

"This was taken back at Christmas," he said.

Jocelyn saw a group of five smiling baristas lined up at the counter. Evie could be seen front and center.

"Leo is the one at the far right," Christian said.

The young man in question had very long black hair. She recalled Mrs. Kamiński commenting on Laars' long hair. She turned the picture to Evie. "Laars looked like Leo?"

Evie nodded. "But bigger. Same height but wider and much stronger... looking."

"Same long hair?" Jocelyn asked.

Evie nodded.

"Would you please contact your bank and determine if the check has been deposited or cashed?" Jocelyn asked Christian.

"Should I ask them to freeze the funds?" he asked, but she shook her head. "If they can give me the transaction branch information, that would be helpful."

Christian walked back to his office, and Jocelyn locked eyes with the pretty blonde. "This teasing you and your friends did with Leo over video chat, exactly what time did this occur?"

"Roughly around nine-forty," Evie said hesitantly.

"Just before the debris crashed to Earth," the agent said, and Evie nodded.

"The video call ended after the impacts," Evie clarified.

"You've not spoken with Leo since?" Jocelyn asked.

Evie seemed uneasy. "No."

Every instinct in Jocelyn's body was telling her Evie knew something. She just needed to find the right motivation to make her talk. She'd said she wanted to apologize to Leo for teasing him. So she liked him, at least. Maybe that angle.

"Listen, Evie. Leo could be in serious danger. The FBI isn't the only agency working on this, but his odds of coming through this intact are far better with us." Evie made an involuntary sound. "I just need to speak to him. Did this Laars say where he was going when he left?" She watched the doubt and desperation flare in Evie's eyes as Leo's survival was put in question.

"He-he didn't say, but he got on the crosstown bus after he left our place," she dropped her voice as Christian returned.

"They said the check was deposited into Leo's account in a branch on the opposite side of town by the industrial park. That's not a safe neighborhood." He handed Jocelyn a slip of paper with the branch address written on it.

"Thank you. I just have a few more questions for Ms..."

"Gordon. Evie Gordon," the blonde replied.

Christian could hear the dismissal in the agent's voice, so he glanced at Evie and saw her nod to him. "All right then. I'll be in my office if you need anything else."

"Thank you!" Jocelyn replied, and he left.

Evie came out from behind the counter and led Jocelyn to a table. She indicated she should sit next to her so they'd both have their backs to the wall. She leaned closer to the agent. "Leo's an innocent. He used to follow me around the shop like a little puppy, so eager to help. He only reads comics, and I picked up he may have some learning disabilities. He tried helping me with my college homework one night and struggled so hard." She took a deep breath. "When Laars showed up last night to get the check, I immediately sensed something was wrong. My mind told me I was looking at Leo, but he looked so different. I'd recorded the chat session, so I went back to that and played it from the moment the impacts began—"

"You have this recording?" Jocelyn asked quickly.

Evie nodded. "I confronted Laars last night. I showed him the video. Afterward, he deleted it, saying it wasn't safe for me or him for it to exist. He didn't know I backed up my laptop to the cloud. I still have the backup file. I can show you."

Jocelyn glanced around the shop and saw the crowd was diminishing. She nodded and accepted the wireless earbud. She tucked it into her ear as Evie used the other one and started the video on her cell.

They watched the short clip with rapt attention. Jocelyn's theory of her suspect being a blonde woman wearing a silver-lined jumpsuit was confirmed. Seeing her two-fingered hands and distinct feet was icing on the cake.

When it was done, she returned the earbud to Evie and contemplated her next steps. "I need you to send me a copy of that video."

"Okay," Evie said quietly.

"So... Laars is Leo and that... being, combined?" she asked.

Evie nodded. "He admitted this to me. I asked him what he wanted, and he said to live. The other one, she's inside him. He can hear her or something. He said she just wants to live, too."

"What did your roommates think about this?" Jocelyn asked.

Evie's face reddened. "They-they were all asleep in the living room as we spoke in the kitchen."

"He made them unconscious?" the agent asked.

Evie's face looked like it might ignite, but she shook her head. "Laars—I mean, Leo, looks really hot now. I've discovered that my roommates are basically sluts. They wanted to have sex with him, and Leo got caught up in their seduction. Or the alien woman wanted to. Leo hinted as much."

"How many roommates?" Jocelyn asked.

"Three, and they were really noisy. This morning, they were sore but grinning like they'd died and gone to heaven. They were upset that Laars wasn't coming back."

Jocelyn's cell began to ring. She looked at it and saw it was the hospital. "One moment," she said to Evie.

"Brandenburg."

"Agent Brandenburg, this is Dr. Jenson. I'm calling about that extra test you wanted us to run on Mrs. Kamiński."

"Yes! Did you receive any results yet?" the agent asked.

"Are you sure she had sex with someone?"

"She claimed she had sex with the brother of one of her tenants."

"I have no idea what she had sex with, but it wasn't Human. Hell, it's not anything we can identify!" he exclaimed.

"Is it compatible with Human sexual reproduction?" she asked.

"What? No! You aren't hearing me. It's not compatible with anything! Where did she come into contact with this... thing?" the doctor argued.

"I'm afraid that's part of an ongoing investigation. Thank you for your assistance with this! I'll be in touch. Goodbye." She hung up and looked at Evie, who was staring back at her with wide eyes. "Good news, your friends aren't in danger of becoming pregnant from their activities with Laars."

"Leo."

She shook her head at Evie. "Part of him may be Leo, but using his new name is safer, so you don't forget the other part. That said, you need to let me take care of the rest. Send me the file, then lay low. I'll do my best to keep you out of the line of fire. Don't mention any of this to anyone else." She held the blonde's eyes with hers. "I will do my best to find Laars and get him to safety before the other agencies try to grab him. If he contacts you, please let me know." She handed Evie one of her cards. "The address to send the video file to is on the card. Thank you so much for your assistance."

She stood and left the young woman sitting at the table. When she was outside, she sipped her coffee and realized it had cooled. She dumped it in the trash as she was too wired from what she'd just witnessed. Proof of extraterrestrial life! She had to send her supervisor a report, but she would hang on to a few details until she had Laars in her custody.

The evidence from the doctor needed to be collected so her supervisor would get that nugget.

She'd go to the hospital, and then her next step would be to visit the bank where the check was deposited. Hopefully, that would give her some clue as to where he was.

Returning to her rental car, she quickly drove to the hospital, where the doctor gave her his test results. Then, she set her navigation app to the location of the bank branch and got underway.

Traffic was light at this time of day, so she arrived at her destination before it opened. She walked up to the front door and saw police tape still stuck to the door handle. She walked around, looking down at the blood splatter on the concrete. It was fresh. There wasn't a lot, but enough to show something violent occurred here. As she went down on one knee to trace the pattern of some drops, a police cruiser pulled up to the curb and chirped its siren at her. She sighed and stood to face the men leaving their car. She showed them her badge and instantly watched their expressions go from smug to sour.

"What's a Fed doing on our side of town?" the closest one said.

"Yeah, all the action is on the other side," the other replied as he leaned on the car's hood.

"Working a case. You know what happened here?" she asked.

The closest cop sneered. "I heard three local thugs got their ass handed to them by someone doing a little banking. They were crying like babies when they got picked up and taken to the hospital. The conscious ones were, at least."

"Any idea where the mugging victim went?" she asked.

The cops had lost interest and were moving back to their cruiser. "Nah. He walked away, apparently."

"The bank should know better than to have a bank machine operating here at night," the other snapped. They got back into their car and drove off.

Jocelyn looked in both directions down the road and watched a cross-town bus drive by. That was too much of a coincidence. He was here. She saw some motel signs to her right, down the street. She'd check them out.

Then, when she confirmed her prey was holed up and trapped, she'd call in her supervisor.

Chapter 11

Leo's stomach grumbled unhappily at how empty it was. This was enough to pull him from his sleep. He staggered into the washroom, splashed cold water on his face, dried himself off, and looked in the mirror. He hadn't transformed into something else overnight, so he assumed he was in his final shape. He felt amusement from the presence in the back of his mind. His frustration flared.

"How am I supposed to know how this works? You fucking hijacked my body!" he shouted at his reflection. He felt her frustration as he heard jabbering in his mind. He also detected a great sadness in her as well. Then she went silent.

He blinked at his reflection as his eyes returned to their usual dark brown.

Fuck it. He needed food. Breakfast was waiting just across the street. That should be safe enough.

He put on fresh underwear and socks, then the pants and shirt from the previous day, as they were clean enough. He stepped outside and locked his room.

"Good morning!"

He spun, ready to run or fight, and saw a man leaning against a nice black limo. He was holding both hands up, palms facing him.

"Sorry if I spooked ya. I just wanted to speak to you about an opportunity to make some serious money," the man said.

Leo frowned as he examined the man. He saw his suit looked like it was tailored to fit him. The car was expensive and well-maintained. Normally, Leo would walk away, but he would have to leave the city for parts unknown, and he had almost no cash. Breakfast alone would cut deeply into his reserves. "I'm listening."

The man smiled and relaxed a little. "My boss witnessed your amazing fighting abilities last night with those goons who attacked you at the bank. He was seriously impressed, and the man doesn't impress easily. He knows talent when he sees it and asked me to see if you'd be interested in making some quick money." With a flick of his wrist, a business card magically appeared between his fingers. He held it out for Leo, who reached forward and took it. "My name's Jimmy."

Leo glanced at the man's easy smile. He'd stick with his alias. "Laars." He read the card and saw it indicated the boss ran an entertainment company.

His stomach took that moment to remind him loudly that it required feeding. Jimmy heard this and smiled.

"I'm guessing you were on your way to breakfast. Tell you what, I'll pick up the tab if you let me join you and give you the details of his offer."

Leo nodded immediately as his current hunger was threatening to blow his budget. Besides, he could always walk away after the meal.

"Great! I'll move the car and meet you inside," Jimmy said as he walked to the driver's door.

Leo crossed the parking lot and then jogged across the street to walk up to the front door of a greasy spoon diner. There were a few customers at this early hour, and the smell of the breakfast foods threatened to make Leo drool. He took a table next to the window, and an older waitress appeared at his elbow.

"Coffee?"

While Leo had worked as a barista, he'd never acquired a taste for the beverage. "Large milk, please." He pointed to Jimmy approaching the door. "He's joining me, and he's paying."

The woman watched Jimmy approach with a crooked smile. "I think this fella's hungry." She gestured to Leo with her pen.

Jimmy smiled generously. "Whatever the man wants. I'll just have coffee, black."

She poured him a cup and then looked at Leo.

"Three scrambled eggs well done, crispy bacon, sausages, ham, hash browns, white toast with butter, buttermilk pancakes with syrup, no icing sugar," Leo said.

The woman chuckled as she quickly jotted it down. "I'll be right back with your milk." Leo nodded with a smile.

"First off, I'll ask the basic question. Are you interested in making some serious money?" Jimmy asked seriously.

Leo nodded as he needed getaway cash and quickly.

"Good!" Jimmy said. "Have you heard of Mixed Martial Arts Fighting? My boss saw you last night and told me you have real talent."

Leo frowned. "Just to be clear, he wants me to get in a cage with another fighter and beat on them until they're unconscious?"

Jimmy laughed and nodded slightly. "There's more showmanship involved. Each of the fighters will bring their own fighting style to the octagon, and you'll have to match your skill to theirs and defeat them. That might mean they surrender or, yeah, you beat them unconscious."

The waitress returned with a tray and set a plate with four large pancakes stacked on it in front of Leo. Then she gave him the glass of milk, a dish of butter packets, and set a syrup dispenser on the table.

"Thanks!" he said, and she returned his smile.

Leo immediately began buttering the pancakes, then slathered them in syrup.

He took a big bite and smiled as he chewed.

"It's good?" Jimmy asked with a grin.

After he managed to swallow the large mouthful, Leo glanced around to ensure the waitress wasn't within earshot. "The table syrup is nowhere near as good as the pure maple syrup I had as a kid, but I'm hungry."

He powered through the stack as Jimmy watched with surprise. When the waitress returned with another loaded tray, Leo slid the empty plate to the side to make room for the rest of his breakfast.

"You vacuumed those pancakes right off the plate!" she said with a grin, and he just nodded with a smile.

Once the plates were all in place and the old one was removed, Jimmy leaned forward. "I didn't get to see your technique, but it impressed the boss. What's it called?"

Leo was caught flat-footed as he had no idea, but he felt a pressure in his mind, so he closed his eyes and relaxed as best he could until he could hear the sounds the female was making. He repeated them softly until he felt pleasure from the voice. She showed him an image of all the young female warriors bowing to what had to be their goddess. He opened his eyes, feeling strangely calm, and Jimmy stared at him oddly.

"Shrett Takkesh Jinnoor. In Praise of the Goddess," he added and felt a burst of joy from the presence. He got it right or close enough.

"I've never heard of that technique, but that's good because it makes for a good hook! The other fighters won't know what to expect," Jimmy enthused.

Leo felt the female presence in his mind become almost eager to test her skills against others. He sent a burst of fear of confrontation, especially violence, to express his feelings about it. He saw another image of a dissection table and felt her fear in return. He sighed as he understood they had no other choices at the moment.

"So... what do you think?" Jimmy asked as he watched Leo finishing the last of his breakfast with no sign of slowing down.

Leo drank the milk to wash down the final bites. Then he looked to Jimmy and nodded. "Let's go see what your boss has to offer." He spotted something else he couldn't pass up. "After a piece of that blueberry pie."

Jimmy snorted but smiled and waved to their waitress.

He did say anything the man wanted, after all. And breakfast at this joint was no stretch at all.

-=-

Jocelyn stood outside the office of the Blue Moon Motel with a master key. After striking out at the Shamrock Inn, she'd moved to the next business and spoke to the front desk clerk, showing him the picture of Leo Lamb. He'd confirmed he had someone in room five that strongly resembled the man in the photo. He'd said he hadn't seen him leave the room yet.

It was time to bring her supervisor in, so she called him once more.

"Yes, Brandenburg."

"Sir, I've located the suspect. He's in room five of the Blue Moon Motel at 12638 Los Antellos Boulevard. The front desk clerk said he believes he's still in the room, but I will confirm." She'd knock on the door, pretending to be searching for her boyfriend. When he answered, she would apologize for the mistake and then leave.

"No! Keep your distance from the building, but keep an eye on the door. I'm in town and will be at your location within ten minutes with a team," he said sharply.

She blinked at his tone, as it wasn't like him to speak to her this way. She also hadn't expected him to personally join her in the field. This investigation was getting more attention than he'd let on. "Yes, sir."

Jocelyn was surprised by his brusque commands, but she did as she was told. She returned to her rental car, parked in the spot by the sidewalk furthest from the building. She slipped behind the wheel and kept her eyes on the door to room five. She was frustrated. For all she could tell, she might be watching an empty room.

From her supervisor's tone, she knew she shouldn't push her luck.

So, she'd watch.

-=-

Hunger finally sated, Leo followed Jimmy out of the diner to the limo. He'd rented the room for two nights, so his limited items were safe enough.

He crossed to the passenger side of the limo and looked over the roof at Jimmy, who tipped his head with a grin to indicate Leo should get in the back. Leo smiled and took a step back to the rear door.

Tires screeched as six black SUVs rushed into the motel parking lot across the street. Jimmy turned to watch as Leo froze.

One of the SUVs continued driving around to the back of the building as the doors opened on the stopped vehicles. Agents with FBI printed on their jackets poured out of the trucks with guns drawn.

An older balding man rushed over to speak to a woman stepping out of her sedan parked by the sidewalk. They spoke briefly as a final SUV pulled into the parking lot and stopped a few car lengths away from the sedan. Two older men in suits exited the rear door to keep the vehicle between them and the motel.

These two scanned the area, their eyes quickly passing over the limo parked in the diner's parking lot.

Leo found himself on the ground next to the rear wheel of the limo as a new, deeper voice jabbered at him quietly but intensely. He picked up the female's voice hissing with anger, fear, and... elation?

All Leo could pick up was that something about those two senior agents was... very, very bad, and the guests in his mind were desperately trying to get him to leave. It was clear to him that staying meant death. He reached up to pull on the door handle, which was still locked.

Then he heard the locks pop open. He scrambled into the back seat but remained below the window level as he closed the door quietly. He looked up to see Jimmy settling into the driver's seat, looking back at him curiously. The man closed his door and started the car. He glanced in the mirrors and then looked out his window as he backed up. He put the limo in drive and pulled away from the diner on the side street leading away from the motel. He didn't speed but maintained the limit as they left.

Leo felt the new voice immediately sink into the back of his mind and go silent. He directed his attention to the female presence, but she seemed drained and also slipped into silence.

He didn't know what all that back at the diner parking lot meant, but it felt like his life had just increased a difficulty level, or six.

-=-

Movement caught Jocelyn's attention right after the parking lot filled with vehicles and armed agents. A limo parked in the diner's lot was leaving. She looked at the driver, and he looked back at her with a curious expression. He didn't seem frightened or panicked at all. That said, something intensely interesting was happening here, and he wasn't sticking around.

As the vehicle drove away, she mentally noted the license plate.

"Brandenburg! Are you listening?"

She turned her attention back to her supervisor. The man seemed quite agitated about something.

Then, her attention was drawn to the two senior agents standing by the closest SUV. Director Maxwell Prentice and Deputy Director Samuel Richardson stared back at her angrily.

What had she done to earn that?

For that matter, why were they here? Their presence seemed so out of context that she stared back at them and focused on their body language, which seemed... odd.

"Baxter! Come here!" the Deputy Director barked.

When her supervisor turned to them and moved in their direction, Jocelyn began to follow.

"You thstay!" Prentice snapped at her loudly, and she stepped back in surprise.

Tossing an uncomfortable look back at her, the supervisor joined the two leaders of the FBI and listened to their angry but quiet growls. He tried to speak, but the Deputy made almost frantic slashing gestures, and Baxter's shoulder dropped. With a final nod, he turned and returned to Jocelyn, who was watching the two men twitch and fidget as she gazed at them. Finally, she turned to her supervisor.

"I'm sorry, Jocelyn, but you're off the investigation," he said.

"What?" she gasped.

"I don't understand what's going on, but they told me you either leave right now or they'll fire you and me. They want you back at headquarters immediately."

She was stunned but could tell her boss was equally upset and confused. She handed him the master key. "This gets you into the room." She glanced once more at Richardson, and he actually bared his teeth at her as his twitch increased. Madness. She looked back at Baxter.

"I'm sorry, sir. I have no idea what I've done to generate such a reaction in them. I'm not even clear why they're here," she said earnestly.

"Don't worry about it. Get a flight back, and I'll speak with you tomorrow," the man said.

She headed back to her rental and got in. She pulled out her cell and entered the license plate of the limo before she forgot it. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Baxter talking to the senior officials. She pointed the camera from her cell at them and took a picture as she wanted a souvenir of how this mission ended. The Director and Deputy Director still looked angry. She drove her car across to the side street next to the diner. She stopped and looked back over the seat as the agents entered the room. A few seconds later, they returned slowly with a shopping bag.

So, Laars wasn't there after all. Shit.

Jocelyn continued driving away but pulled into a side street three blocks away and parked.

The more she thought about it, the weirder it seemed that both heads of the FBI would personally attend the apprehension of a suspect in this case. It felt... wrong. And their behavior towards her was completely bizarre. She picked up her cell and dialed headquarters in Washington. She identified herself and got through to the chief secretary of the Director. The woman confirmed the Director was scheduled to be at the White House and was there now, speaking with the President.

The hairs on the back of Jocelyn's neck stood on end. She sent the picture she'd taken to the Deputy Director and asked to be put through to Richardson. After a brief interval, she heard his gruff voice.

"What is it, Agent Brandenburg? I'm a little busy."

"Yes, sir. My apologies. I'm here in California investigating the satellite debris and tracked down... a suspect. We were about to apprehend him when two men looking and sounding identical to you and Director Prentice arrived. They had me removed from the investigation and forced me to leave the area."

"What?" the Deputy exclaimed.

"My supervisor, Graham Baxter, is still at the scene. It turned out the suspect was not in the motel room. The arrival of you and the Director seemed so out of context that I had to call to confirm. They behaved oddly. They were angry I was there and twitched oddly. I've emailed you a photo of Baxter with the two men."

"Hang on," the man said, and the line went to hold music.

A few minutes later, the Deputy Director came back on the line. "I need you to return to the scene and tell me what's happening there. We have no contact with any agents sent to the location."

"Yes, sir. I'm on my way. I'm only a few blocks from the motel. I'll leave the phone on." She slipped an earbud in her ear and headed back to the motel. As she turned onto Los Antellos, she could see smoke ahead. She immediately left the main road and moved closer to the scene along an alley behind the row of buildings. She stopped a block away and parked. "I'm close, so I'm going on foot from here. There's a lot of smoke and fire ahead."

"Careful, agent," the Deputy Director cautioned.

Hugging the building wall, she rushed forward until she reached the corner. Peering around the building's edge, she could see the burning wreckage of the SUVs, the motel, and the diner. Bodies were all over the parking lot, and not many of them were intact.

"Oh my god! It looks like they're all dead, sir. The vehicles are on fire, as are the motel and the diner across the street. I can see... dead civilians in the diner entrance."

She ducked down as the only intact SUV suddenly roared to life and lurched forward, clipping the corner of the bus shelter as it moved onto the boulevard and drove away.

"I believe the imposters just drove off. I'm going to look for survivors," she said.

"Be careful!" Richardson exclaimed.

Rushing across the lane, she quickly went from body to body, but they'd all been brutally killed and burned. She saw Binkley and Tanner lying on their chests with large holes burned through their backs. Baxter's head was no longer connected to his body.

Hearing a distant engine roar, Jocelyn raced back to the security of the alley.

"They're all dead, sir. I don't know what kind of weapon they used, but its violence is stunning. I've never seen this kind of damage before. I can hear them coming back." A sudden thought occurred to her. How did they know?

"Sir, I think we need an Enigma machine," she said.

He understood her meaning. Their communications had been compromised. "Go to ground and contact me when you can. You're important to us, Brandenburg. They sent you away for a reason. We may be able to use that against them. Whoever they are."

"Yes, sir," she replied and hung up. She ran back up the alley as fast as she could and slipped into her car. She immediately pulled the sim from her cell phone, eased her vehicle back out of the alley, and quietly drove away.

She was going to ground, but she wasn't finished her hunt for Laars.

Baxter, Binkley, Tanner, and the others deserved the closure of taking those imposters out.

Laars might have answers. She was going to get them.

Chapter 12

Leo finally managed to sit on the back seat and glanced back over his shoulder, but no one seemed to be following.

"You want to tell me about what that was about?" Jimmy asked.

Leo looked at Jimmy's curious eyes, watching him in the rear-view mirror, and shook his head. "I wish I knew," he mumbled.

Jimmy gave him another glance and nodded, seemingly willing to drop it.

Leo looked around, and they seemed to be in some kind of industrial park. The scenery was even less appealing than it had been at the motel. They pulled off the road next to a building that stood out amongst the dull grey of the surrounding industrial units.

Once the car stopped, Leo got out and took a better look at the building. It was a two-story structure with the top story covered with dark purple siding and the lower floor stuccoed smooth and painted black. A large red neon sign was mounted on the upper level of the building's front, which said Fortuna's and painted beneath this was Gentleman's Club.

"It's a strip club?" Leo asked.

Jimmy smiled. "That's just part of the boss' entertainment empire. The most recent money-making venture is the fight club. People love that shit!"

Leo nodded as he recalled the glee his siblings showed as they beat him up year after year.

He followed Jimmy inside and glanced at the huge man inside the door.

"Morning, Billy!" the driver called out to him.

"Morning, Jimmy. The boss called to see if you'd arrived empty-handed."

Jimmy grinned and shook his head as Billy snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I'll see him once we get our new friend settled."

Leo looked around with interest, as he'd never been inside a strip club. It was still early, so there were no customers or women dancing, but the cleaners were busy, moving from table to table scrubbing the surfaces until they gleamed. Two others were vacuuming. His eyes were drawn to the stage, which extended into the seating. Several brass poles rose from the stage to the high ceiling.

Gentle music was playing and Leo saw a man sitting in the booth, hands moving over some kind of control panel as the music rose and ebbed with the lighting aimed at the stage.

Jimmy led Leo to the bar, and a pretty blonde woman whose generous breast implants threatened to pop out of her tight t-shirt.

"Jeannie! Good morning, my lovely!" Jimmy exclaimed.

The blonde grinned at him. "Good morning, Jimmy. Who have we here?"

"This is our new friend, Laars. The boss thinks he might have what it takes to be a fighter for the cage. Is the house champion next door?"

Leo watched the woman's expression flash through several emotions before she clamped down on her control and nodded to Jimmy with an impressed smile. He was sure he'd seen anger, fear, and dread before the smile covered it up.

She aimed her blue eyes and smile toward Leo, and he was slightly dazzled.

"Ah, ya still got it, Jeannie. I think he's blushing!" Jimmy teased.

Leo tore his eyes away from the beauty to give the driver an annoyed look, but the man just laughed and patted his arm.

Jimmy's expression changed as he felt how hard Leo's muscles were. "Shit! You're like rock!" His grin widened. He looked to Jeannie and tilted his head toward Leo. "I gotta go pick up the boss. I need you to get our boy here a drink and keep an eye on him until we get back."

"Sure, Jimmy," she said with a little bounce that drew the eyes of both men. She giggled as she saw Laars' face redden.

With an amused snort, Jimmy turned and headed back to the front door.

"What can I getcha?" she asked.

"W-water is fine," he said.

"Maybe some milk and cookies?" she teased. She smiled in delight as she caught the interest in his eyes. Before he could say anything, she reached under the bar, brought out a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and put a whisky tumbler on the bar. She opened a small fridge and lifted out a container of milk to pour some into the tumbler. The milk went back into the fridge, and she pulled the inner cookie tray from the bag. Picking one up she dunked it into the milk and took a bite as she held his eyes.

He followed her example. He smiled and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sweet treat.

"Are you really here to fight? You don't seem the type," she said.

He opened his eyes and looked at her curiously. "I came here for a job, but I don't think they'd hire me to dance."

Jeannie burst into giggles and almost spat out her cookie.

Leo felt pretty good about the response he'd received for his joke and ate another cookie. He could feel the sweet treat giving him a nice burst of energy. Breakfast had really replenished his reserves, but the cookies were like crunchy, sweet energy shots. He dunked a third one and ate it whole.

"I get the impression you've never been in a strip club before," Jeannie said with a raised eyebrow, daring him to tell her differently.

"What gave me away? The nervous tick or the blush?" he admitted, and her smile showed she appreciated his honesty.

"You're the bartender?" he asked.

She nodded. "But I used to be one of the dancers." She shrugged. "Then I got too old for the stage."

Leo froze in surprise, his fourth cookie dunked but stranded halfway to his mouth. "Too old? You're not serious!"

She smiled sweetly at him and nodded.

"I'd love to see you dance," his lips let escape before he realized he was saying his desires aloud. He felt the presence of the female in his mind, paying very close attention to the beauty across the bar. He wasn't the only one who thought the woman was gorgeous!

Jeannie's eyes flashed with joy and challenge. She glanced around, then locked eyes with him. "I'll dance for you if you dance for me."

He found himself nodding as the inner presence moved his head for him. She was really eager.

Jeannie gave him a look of delight and walked out from behind the bar. She took Leo's hand, and he stuffed the dunked cookie into his mouth before following her to the stage. She looked at him expectantly and he realized she was asking for him to help her up onto the raised stage. He easily lifted her, and she squeaked at his display of strength.

Eyes wide with excitement, she took a deep breath and looked up to the DJ booth. "Angel, play my favorite."

Leo looked up and saw the slim Hispanic man smile and wave, so he waved back. A spot slowly brightened over Jeannie, and soft music began to play.

Then Leo couldn't take his eyes off the lovely creature as she swayed, stretched, and undulated to the rhythm. He was completely mesmerized, as was the presence inside. He felt a stirring of the second presence, but it was still too muted to draw his attention away from Jeannie.

When she finally slipped her t-shirt up and exposed her large breasts, Leo was frozen with his need for her. As she ran her hands over them, he may have moaned. He wasn't sure if it came from him or the female inside his mind. She wanted Jeannie, too. He could almost feel her squirming with her desire. That brought a smile to his face as it was such an innocent desire compared to the violence she seemed to thrive on.

When the song ended. Jeannie was down to her panties, but as he lifted her down, Leo caught her scent and knew she was greatly excited, too. She pressed her magnificent breasts against his chest as she looked up into his eyes. He trembled with his need for her.

"Your turn," she said and bit her lip.

He suddenly realized he needed to dance for her but had no idea how. The presence pushed at him to let her take control once more. He allowed himself to slip into the background and felt her slide into the driver's seat of his body. She smiled at Jeannie, then sprung up onto the stage.

"Angel, play—"

Music began, and Jeannie nodded happily towards the booth as the man instinctively knew what she would ask for.

The song had a strong but slow beat, and Leo's body moved to it. He could see the memories of the fierce female warriors running through their early morning stretches before combat practice. This lent itself perfectly to the slow grinding beat, which was slowly speeding up.

He looked at Jeannie and saw her leaning forward, keenly watching his movements. He suddenly tore his shirt open, and buttons flew everywhere. Jeannie shrieked and giggled madly as she clapped excitedly.

Leo was upset at losing his only shirt, but the presence ignored him as her attention was locked on the beauty before them. He pushed his frustration back and saw Jeannie's eyes were almost sparkling with excitement.

He slipped the shirt down his back, then whipped it forward and launched it into Jeannie's hands as she snatched it from the air with another cry of delight.

Next, the presence began rippling his muscles individually, starting with his neck and working down his body, undulating and rippling much like a snake.

He could see Jeannie was completely mesmerized as she clung to his shirt.

As his pants were slowly being shed down his legs like snakeskin, he distinctly heard Jeannie moan with desire.

"What the FUCK is going on?"

The music stopped, and the lights brightened as a man in a crisp business suit marched towards the stage.

Leo pulled his pants up and watched Jeannie yank her t-shirt on. She caught his eyes watching her and flashed a brief but happy smile at him before she threw his shirt back to him. He pulled it on, but he couldn't close it. He hopped down from the stage, landing softly as a cat, to face the man.

"I didn't invite you here to dance but to fight," the man said tersely.

Leo shrugged and gave the man a nod.

"I'm Rick Mondeo. I own this club and franchises up the coast. Jimmy told you about our latest offering?" the well-groomed man asked.

"The multi-discipline martial arts fight club?" Leo asked.

"Exactly!" Rick said with a flash of pearly white teeth. "Jimmy butchered the pronunciation of your technique. Can you tell me what it is?"

Leo nodded. "Shrett Takkesh Jinnoor." Feeling her anticipation, he continued. "In Praise of the Goddess." A feeling of gratitude flowed through him.

"Never heard of it, but that's perfect. A little mystery goes a long way toward charging up the crowd. Would you be willing to face off against other fighters and test your skills against theirs?" Rick enthused.

Leo felt the eagerness of the female inside to test herself. He nodded uneasily.

Rick grinned and gestured for Leo to follow him. They walked through the club and through a doorway leading to the back. Another bouncer was sitting next to a door, reading a paperback which he quickly put away when Rick arrived.

"Good morning, Mr. Mondeo!" the man said quickly.

"What are you reading, Dennis?" Rick asked.

The embarrassed man lifted the paperback, and they saw it was about the history of Mixed-Martial Arts.

The owner smiled at his bouncer. "Educational reading! Excellent!"

The bouncer nodded his thanks as he opened the door with a smile. Rick led Leo, Jimmy, and two large men Leo hadn't seen yet down a double-wide staircase, through a long, wide corridor, and back up another staircase to a door that opened before they arrived. The group exited into a large, high-ceilinged room with an octagon-shaped cage in the center.

Leo realized they were in the large factory he'd seen behind the club. The interior walls were covered with padded boards, which likely soundproofed the building. They were painted the same dark purple used for the strip club. He'd thought the building was abandoned and would look and sound like it from the outside.

A long bar ran down one wall of the chamber, and surrounding the cage was tiered seating so a large number of spectators would have an excellent view of the bloodbath within. Leo felt a twitch of fear pass through him while the female presence expressed her excitement. The mix left him feeling unsettled.

"We've been hosting fights for the last six months, and it really draws in a crowd and serious money!" Rick said, turning to look into Leo's eyes. "There is always a need for the next big thing, and I have a good feeling about you. I think you have what it takes to draw the crowd's interest. I saw how you handed those punks last night, but they weren't serious opponents. I need a live demonstration against a real fighter."

Leo looked to the two large men who'd accompanied them. "Them?"

Rick grinned and shook his head. He pointed to a smaller man approaching them from the shadows at the back of the chamber.

When he reached the lit area, Leo took in the man's hard muscles, the angular jaw, pronounced brow ridge, and the scars. This man had been in many fights. He was also covered in tattoos on his arms, chest, and legs. A few small ones were even on his face. He flashed a smile and Leo saw his teeth were covered in silver and gold.

Leo felt the eager attention of the female on the man as she evaluated his movements to determine his potential as a fighter. Leo picked up her assessment that he might be a worthy opponent. That increased his anxiety.

He turned to Rick. "Is he your house champion?"

"Yes, he is," the man said with a smile.

Leo looked at the confident smile on the smaller man's face. He noted the man moved with an animalistic grace and was definitely muscular.

"Has anyone beaten him before?" Leo asked.

"No, they haven't," Rick replied calmly.

Now, the fighter was grinning as he read Leo's body language and saw his fear.

Leo frowned. "What's his incentive to win? I've obviously been brought in to be his replacement."

Rick nodded with a pleased smile on his face. "If he wins, I buy out his contract at double the rate, and he leaves. If he loses, he leaves with nothing."

Leo looked at the owner in surprise. "Why have you made such a bet on me when you've only seen me fight people you called punks?"

Rick chuckled. "I have an eye for talent. That's how I found him three months ago." He pointed to the grinning fighter.

"Are we here to fight or talk?" the fighter said as he finally spoke. Leo thought he sounded like he'd been punched in the throat too often.

Leo turned his attention inwards and tried his best to get some assessment if the female thought she could win. All he got back was eagerness. Leo was still nervous, and his mouth engaged once more. "What if he agreed to walk away with the remainder of his contract and avoided a beating?"

Rick laughed as the fighter's smile dropped away. The club owner showed a sly smile. "I'd give him fifty percent."

Anger flared on the face of the house champ.

Leo made one more attempt. "Losing everything doesn't have to be the only option—"

"GET IN THE FUCKING CAGE!"

Rick's chuckles didn't help the champ's temper or Leo's nerves.

This was not something Leo would normally do willingly. He was jittery until he felt the calm presence of the female flow up through his body.

The house fighter took off his shirt, leaving him barefoot in shorts.

Seeing this, Leo tugged off his shirt, pants, shoes, and socks. Jimmy stepped forward to hold his clothes. Leo picked up the concern on his face. He had no confidence that Leo could take the current champion.

He walked over to the cage and stepped inside, walking to the far side. His nerves were beginning to fray, so when the female presence asked for permission to take control, he immediately stepped back and let her.

He raised his arms to match the statue of the Goddess in the temple where the young ones worshipped. Leo suddenly understood the female was offering this battle to her diety. A feeling of warmth spread through him from her once more. She faced her opponent, who was looking at Leo strangely. He assumed it was due to the change in body language. It was too late to back down.

Leo picked up impressions from the presence. Calm. Pain. Calm. Violence. Calm.

His fear flared, but he forced it down with a silent whimper. He needed to let her work and ignore the pain.

Leo looked around the cage, felt its dimensions, and gauged the range of motions that could fit in the space with someone intent on inflicting pain.

He thought that was an odd perception to have. He nodded to the fighter.

The champion attacked without warning.

Leo's body flowed around the fighter, allowing some of the blows to land, deflecting others, but never throwing any of his own. Some of the hits really hurt, and all were terrifying, but Leo struggled to keep from grabbing control. He did his best to remain as calm as the presence was.

Then, he was suddenly throwing the fighter across the cage to bounce off the fencing harmlessly. Hitting the mat, the champ bounced back to his feet.

He looked at Leo and saw him settle into a fighting stance he was unfamiliar with. Showing a little more caution, he launched his second attack.

The house champion was on the floor, lying on his side protectively as he spat up blood. He could feel at least three broken ribs on his left side. He tried to get up, but a flurry of super-rapid punches and kicks came at him. He painfully jerked back from the attack before realizing they were all being pulled before impact. He was pressed back against the cage with his hands up, screaming at the big man to stop. Leo stopped and stepped back.

"Do you submit?" Leo asked.

Panting shallowly and wincing, the beaten fighter nodded.

"Say it aloud," Leo insisted.

"I fuckin' submit!" the man growled.

The female bowed Leo's body, then walked from the cage. Once outside, she let herself slip back, and Leo was pushed back in control.

He faced Rick, who was grinning madly at him. "You just saved me a fortune. You almost made it appear too easy. We have to be careful to give the people a show."

"You didn't ask for a show this time. You needed to eliminate the competition," Leo insisted, fighting off the shakes.

Rick smiled and gave him an impressed smile. "Yes, you're right, and you certainly did. Shit! You're barely bruised!"

"He's going to need medical attention. How does that work with this operation?" Leo asked. He accepted his clothes from Jimmy, who was now grinning excitedly. Leo dressed, still pissed about the missing buttons.

"We have our own doctors. Can't have these injuries reported at the local hospitals, after all." Rick explained. He gestured to the two big men to assist their former house champion. "Take him to Dr. Pike," He instructed, then he looked back at Leo. "Let's go to my office."

Rick, Jimmy, and Leo retraced their steps back into the club where Jimmy left them. Rick took Leo upstairs to his second-floor sanctuary, as he called it.

They entered a surprisingly neat and sophisticated office. The furnishings were tasteful and comfortable, with fine art hanging on the walls. The room was bright and welcoming. It was the antithesis of Leo's dungeon apartment... he no longer had.

Rick was enjoying the look of appreciation on Leo's face and gestured to a chair before his desk. He took his own chair behind the polished furniture.

"Let me get right to the good stuff. I can guarantee you five thousand each night you're in the cage, minus expenses," Rick insisted.

Leo heard five thousand and almost accepted immediately, but the new presence in his head came forward to make him pause his excitement. The rest of what Rick said sank in. "What are the expenses?

"Jimmy tells me you eat like no one he's seen," Rick snorted, and Leo smiled but kept watching him. "Then there's giving you a place to lay low. Jimmy didn't miss the fact that you're hiding from the Feds. Running interference to protect you from the FBI isn't cheap. Personally, I don't care why they're after you as long as you're making me money. So, we give you a place to hide, some clothes, food and you work inside protecting the place and the girls and fight in the cage every second night."

Leo was frowning now and felt the second presence backing him up. This gave him a little more confidence. "How much is this expense going to set me back?"

Rick nodded as he seemed to be contemplating the numbers. "I'd say fifteen hundred a day."

Leo sat back and contemplated the man. He dressed well, kept himself nicely groomed, and spoke well, but he was still trying to cheat him. Five thousand every two days but three thousand in expenses for the same period?

Previously, Leo would have just swallowed his pride and accepted whatever was offered, but he was in a crisis that demanded immediate resolution. He was already promising to do something he desperately didn't want to, so he better fucking get paid handsomely for it. He had no idea how to push back, so he drew upon the female who came forward and fixed a steely eye on Rick. The second presence boosted the intimidation until he could see the beads of sweat on Rick's forehead.

The moment Rick began to speak, the new presence pushed Leo forward. "I don't appreciate being jerked around. I'll ask once more how much you're willing to pay me to get in a cage to beat people up and work as a bouncer, including meals, clothes, and a place to sleep. No deals on running interference with the FBI, as it's already in your best interest to do so since you're running the illegal fight club. Make me a serious offer. If I feel like I'm being cheated, I'm walking. I don't need a deal like the last joker. Just a fair one."

Leo couldn't believe he'd just managed to say those things without melting down. The second presence was really boosting his confidence!

He saw Rick was looking uncomfortable.

"I can offer you five hundred a fight. But you must be willing to fight multiple times a night, perhaps up to five fights. Eventually, you may need to fight multiple combatants at once."

Leo felt the female surge forward excitedly once more, but she showed how the cage needed to be bigger to give the teams the space they needed to be effective.

"That's acceptable. If you want fights with multiple combatants, it's the same rate, five hundred per opponent. You'll also need to make the cage larger, as teams need the room to support one another. Otherwise, the audience might feel these matches are rigged against the teams."

Rick was staring at him for the casual way he accepted going up against multiple fighters. He controlled his expression once more and pushed ahead. "Jeannie can show you where you'll sleep. She'll also get you some clothes to wear. You order your meals at the bar. For the fights, you need to make them last when possible. Ten to fifteen minutes is the window we aim for. Take some hits as you did today, rally then crush your opponent as that makes the crowd excited, even if they lose their bet. The more natural you can make it look, the better."

Leo looked inward once more and wished he could speak with the being inside him. He needed to know if his trust in the female was justified as he was being asked to get beat up, and he had serious issues with this.

He felt the female's scorn at how soft he was. She was definitely giving him the impression she thought he was weak. He scowled angrily at her lack of empathy and felt the second presence surface to intervene in their quarrel. Calm returned.

When Leo surfaced from his inner dialog, he saw Rick leaning back in his chair with a deep frown. Leo then realized he shouldn't do internal communing unless alone.

"I'll go see Jeannie then?" Leo asked.

Rick just nodded but wouldn't meet his eyes. "Tell Jimmy I need to speak to him."

"Right." Leo rose and let himself out of the office, descending to the main floor.

Jimmy was sitting at the bar, speaking with Jeannie. He looked up with a smile as Leo approached.

"So, are you our new house champion?" Jimmy asked. Jeannie looked at Leo in shock.

Leo nodded. "Mr. Mondeo wants to speak with you."

Jimmy sighed. "Okay. Jeannie with set you up with what you need. I'll be back to show you the ropes."

Leo nodded and looked to Jeannie's smiling face and Jimmy headed for the hall to the stairs upstairs.

"What do you need?" Jeannie asked.

Leo frowned at his shirt. "I'm practically naked. Mr. Mondeo said you could hook me up?" He looked at her hopefully.

Her expression froze, and she gave him a nervous smile as she nodded. "S-sure. Follow me," she said, coming around the front of the bar and heading for the entrance to the back hallway. Once they were standing next to a door labeled storeroom, Jeannie used a key on a stretchy keyring wrapped around her wrist to open it. She flicked on the light, and he followed her inside. He wondered if they kept a selection of sizes for new employees here—he jolted in shock when he turned to see Jeannie on her knees, taking her shirt off. Her magnificent breasts were back on display, trapping his eyes. When she reached for his pants, he stepped back.

"What-what are you doing?" he stuttered in surprise.

Confused eyes looked up at him. "You said you're the new house champion?"

He frowned in confusion. "I just need a new shirt."

She gave him the cutest look of surprise, then quickly pulled her shirt on, and he helped her up to her feet. Her face was very red, and he couldn't help but admire how sweet that looked. She glanced at him and smiled as she moved past him to find a cardboard box. She unfolded the top and reached inside to pull out a black T-shirt. He slipped off his buttonless dress shirt and pulled on the T-shirt. It was a snug fit.

"Sorry, that's the largest size we currently have," Jeannie apologized as she admired how it stretched across his muscles.

He looked down at his chest and saw a picture on the front of the silhouette of a naked woman clinging to a brass pole and Fortuna's in red neon.

Jeannie looked at the label inside the collar of his dress shirt. "I'll send one of the girls out to pick up some shirts for you later."

"Thanks! Do you think I could get something to eat?" he asked as his stomach began to make demands. His new body had big energy requirements.

Jeannie face lit up with a smile as she nodded. "Sure. Let's go back to the bar, and I'll take your order."

"Thanks!" he said with a grateful grin,

When they got back, he looked over the menu and ordered a cheeseburger with fries meal. After a nudge from the second presence in his mind, he changed the order to two meals.

"I'm not sure you'll be able to finish that big of a lunch," Jeannie said with a grin.

"You haven't seen how this guy eats!" Jimmy said as he returned to sit next to Leo.

Jeannie left to place the order, and Leo looked to Jimmy whose expression became concerned.

"Listen, I just talked to the boss. I have to ask you point blank. Do you have some mental disorder? Screws loose upstairs?"

"What?" Leo asked in surprise.

"The boss just told me he was talking with you, and you started mumbling to yourself. I gotta tell you, mental illness spooks the boss. If you have something messed up in your head, keep it hidden from him," Jimmy suggested.

"Oh, ah, I'm sorry," Leo said as he tried to recall mumbling to himself while he was with Rick.

"How about I give you the quick tour and make some introductions. I'll show you what you'll do until the fight tonight."

Leo stared at Jimmy. "Tonight? He already has someone lined up to fight tonight?"

Jimmy grinned. "The boss is a master promoter, and we have some very hungry clientele. With the old champ moving on and a new unknown taking his place, they smell blood in the water and want some."

Leo shuddered, but the female inside was radiating eagerness.

Jimmy stood up, and Leo followed him to learn his new duties and familiarize himself with his coworkers' faces and names. As he'd be guarding access, he needed to recognize those authorized to move at will.

He'd be guarding the hall leading to the talent's change room. Customers were not allowed to enter the hall.

Leo was nervous about recalling the faces as his learning disability made memorization difficult for him. But he felt the names sticking, and the related faces quickly came to his memory when he heard Jimmy mention them. He felt the second presence managing this for him and sent it a silent thanks.

"Are you still with me?" Jimmy asked. "You looked a little distracted," the man said with concern.

"Yeah, I got it." Seeing the skeptical expression on Jimmy's face Leo began pointing to the people in the club. The information came forward in his mind and he recited their names and what they did. When he was done Jimmy's look of concern had been replaced by a wide smile.

"Shit! Your memory is better than mine. One more thing, Billy isn't allowed into the talent's changeroom.

Leo nodded, then spotted Jeannie waving at him from the bar. He waved back.

Jimmy caught the motion. "Okay. I gotta run an errand for the boss. Enjoy your lunch."

"Thanks, Jimmy," Leo said, quickly rushing back to the bar where two large burgers and a double order of french fries waited. He sat down before the plates. "Thanks, Jeannie!" he said with a smile.

She stole a fry with a grin, and he dug into his meal.

He closed his eyes in bliss as the burger was really juicy. He would enjoy this, but he'd have to be extra careful not to drip on himself.

It wasn't like he had any extra clothes.

Chapter 13

Jocelyn sat in her new rental up the street from a strip club. The limo she'd spotted leaving the diner was registered to the company that owned the club. She wasn't sure if this lead would get her closer to Laars, but her instincts told her the driver's behavior wasn't following natural patterns. She needed to investigate.

After she left the alley, she'd ditched her rental and rented a second with her personal credit. She wasn't sure how deeply these people had infiltrated their network, so she couldn't be sure her credit card wouldn't be traced. She decided to take the chance for the extra mobility.

She also picked up two burner phones with chargers, ensured they had power, and rush couriered one to Deputy Direct Richardson with the word ENIGMA printed boldly on the envelope and the number for her phone on a slip of paper inside. She left a note suggesting he move to a safe place before calling in case they were listening over the office phones. She had the number for his burner written down so she could call him. She couldn't know if this was sufficient to get past the infiltration, but she thought they might have time for one call. She needed to have something for Richardson by the time he called.

Watching the club, she realized it might be a good place for the suspect to lay low. She'd keep an eye on the place and slip in with the guests when it got dark.

She looked at the picture of Leo and wondered what his connection was to the men pretending to be the heads of the FBI. None of this made sense.

Between this Laars character having sex with multiple, unharmed yet satisfied partners and the fake FBI directors slaughtering agents, Laars looked like the safer bet.

Time would tell.

-=-

Too soon Leo finished his lunch and was looking down at two empty plates.

"Would you like something to wash that down?" Jeannie asked with a grin.

"A glass of water? Please," he said.

She poured him a tall glass, and he finished that off as well.

"Thank you for the meal," he said.

"Who's the hunk with the nice manners?"

Jeannie and Leo looked toward the voice and saw a very tall and lean black woman with a huge mane of hair. Her perfectly round and significantly large breast implants were boldly thrust forward like they'd been glued there. Leo did his best to not stare at them and struggled to keep his eyes above her shoulders.

Two more ladies showed up at her elbow: a white woman with long, straight blonde hair to her ass and a wide smile showing her overbite and a raven-haired Hispanic woman with really big... everything. Breasts, ass, hips, and lips had all seen work.

"Lexus, Houston, Coco, this is Laars," Jeannie said. "He's gonna be guarding the corridor to our change room.

"Keep Billy out of our room!" the tall, dark beauty, Lexus, asserted. She'd obviously had issues with him.

Leo nodded. "Will do."

"When Laars arrived, he did the sexiest strip tease for me!" Jeannie boasted with a wide grin.

The ladies squealed excitedly and eyed him like a sweet dessert as he squirmed in embarrassment. The female inside was loving the look of his coworkers.

Houston, the blond with the delightful natural breasts pressing against her tight t-shirt, suddenly looked at him in confusion. "He's gonna be a dancer?"

Jeannie laughed and Lexus and Coco joined in as Houston looked at them in annoyance.

Four more ladies arrived, and they looked younger. There were no surgical enhancements on these dancers. They eyed Leo curiously.

Leo caught Houston's attention and corrected her with a friendly smile. "Bouncer."

He nodded, and her expression became cautious. "Keep your eyes out for a smaller man with a beard who walks around the place like he owns it. He's picked fights with the bouncers before. He's the House Champion."

"Was the House Champion. He no longer works here as he lost his last match in the cage."

"You beat him?" one of the new arrivals blurted. Leo noted she had a bruise on her cheek. His attention swung to the entire group as they all watched him intently. "Yes, I beat him. He's gone."

Smiles appeared, and Leo could almost feel their relief. The bruised one licked her lips nervously and leaned forward slightly. "The last guy negotiated with the owner to have... special companion services. Did you?"

Leo looked at her in confusion, then saw some other women look uncomfortable. It suddenly registered what she meant by companion services. His expression changed to shock and disgust. "Oh! Oh my god! That's... Fuck! What a fucking creep! I'm glad I busted his ribs." He struggled to reign in his anger, then looked to the women. "No, I wouldn't do that." Leo shuddered.

Most of the women smiled in relief, but Houston still looked confused.

"So... you don't like women?" she asked.

He looked at her in surprise. "What? No! I love women! I love sex with women!" He winced when he heard himself and raised his hands in surrender. "What I mean is, I'd never force a woman to have sex with me."

Lexus smiled at him and ran a finger down his chest as she gave him a sultry smile. "Baby, women will volunteer to take this for a ride."

"Hey! I'm not paying you to socialize with the staff!" Rick yelled at the women gathered by the bar, and they quickly left to head to the dressing room. The boss stopped by the bar to glare at Leo.

"They were just saying hello to the new House Champion," Jeannie said timidly.

"He only gets that title once he's completed one night fighting without losing. And right now, he should be on duty," Rick growled.

Leo slid off his stool and nodded to Rick. "Yes, sir. Jimmy filled me in on my duties." He turned to Jeannie. "Thanks for lunch!" He didn't want her to get in trouble for him, so he nodded to his new boss, walked over to the entrance to the corridor leading to the change room, and took up his station.

The job was tedious as there were no customers besides a few who stayed at the bar.

By four, a few of the younger dancers came out to do a dance and Jeannie stopped by to let him know these were their training sessions. Getting them comfortable with the stage experience in small doses.

Leo watched the other bouncers and the only one watching the stage was Billy, when he wasn't in position at the front door. Leo was picking up a bad vibe about that man.

One of the other bouncers arrived to cover his dinner break, so Leo went to the bar and ordered lasagna and salad, then doubled it again.

Jeannie grinned at him as she placed his order. "You really do eat a lot!"

"It takes a lot to fuel this body," he teased, and she grinned at him. She pushed the half-empty bag of cookies at him, and he thanked her as he popped one into his mouth.

Rick approached him, and he could tell the man was excited about something. He sat in the stool next to Leo and glanced at Jeannie who suddenly made herself scarce.

The club owner got right to it. "The previous champion was developing a bad reputation for being a cruel prick and a dull fight experience. It was becoming difficult to book fights. With him gone, there's been a sudden surge of interest in the mystery man who ousted him. Tickets on my dark website are going fast! Big names are coming to see you match your skills against the fighters I've lined up for you tonight. I've chosen five from different disciplines to meet you in the cage."

"Already?" Leo asked, his eyes widening in fright at the idea of facing five different fighters in one night. Kaaree was suddenly there to calm him, and she was backed by the second presence in the back of his mind.

Kaaree? The other presence pushed the sound to him, and he suddenly understood it was the name of the female.

"Kaaree," Leo said aloud and felt her shock and delight.

Rick frowned in confusion. "What's Kaaree?"

Leo focused on him. "It's my fighting name. It's how you should introduce me."

Rick sighed with relief and grinned at the name. "It's perfect! I love it! It's gonna be a great night!" He hopped off the stool and rushed back to his office.

Leo could tell Kaaree was very pleased to be getting the acknowledgment. He wished he could speak with her, but that ability still eluded them.

Dinner arrived, and he dug in. He glanced at Jeannie, who'd returned, and she saw his grimace.

"Lasagna not good?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Lesson learned. Stick to the burgers."

"Should I order you—"

"No! It's not yummy, but it'll give me the energy I need tonight. It's fine. Thank you." He smiled at Jeannie to let her off the hook and focused on fueling his body.

He powered his way through the two servings of tasteless lasagna, then tackled the limp and flavorless salad. He finished with the last of the cookies to clear dinner's taste from his tongue. He thanked Jeannie again and went back to his station.

About an hour later, the DJ announced that the evening's main attractions would begin. He heard some familiar names and could put the faces to those names thanks to his memory assist.

Billy arrived at the entrance to the hall, and Leo moved slightly to block access. The huge man looked down at him. "Step aside, new guy."

"No, sorry."

Billy's eyes went cold. "Last chance."

Leo looked desperately to Kaaree but the second presence gibbered something to her as well.

"You don't want to—"

A thick finger suddenly jabbed him in the shoulder. "Don't you try to tell me what I want—"

Kaaree gripped the finger and bent it back as she tugged him just inside the hall. Kaaree took a grip on Billy's side and squeezed as she pressed a thumb deep into the man's body.

The pain must have been excruciating as Billy lost the ability to talk and barely managed to breathe.

Leo felt the other presence rise almost to the surface of his mind and realized it was male. With this sensation, Leo felt a flood of confidence pour over him. He looked into Billy's pain-filled eyes.

"I was told no Billy in the change room, so that's how it's gonna be. The pain you're feeling now is a shadow of what I can deliver. Now, will you leave the girls alone, or do you need a truly painful lesson? I don't want to cripple you, but if I hear you've been interfering with the dancers, your career is over. Nod if you understand and agree to be a decent person."

Leo saw fear flare in Billy's eyes as he increased the pressure on his pinch. The man nodded quickly, so Leo released his grip slowly, and the man's legs threatened to give out. He kept Billy on his feet until his legs returned to him. He eased the man back into the main room and watched him gingerly shuffle away. Billy glanced back at him nervously, but Leo just smiled at him.

Jimmy dropped by moments later. "Was that Billy I saw going into the change room?"

"He tried, but I stopped him, and we had a little talk. He's agreed to leave the girls alone," Leo explained.

Jimmy looked at Leo in surprise. "Huh. We'll keep an on him to see if your message sticks."

Leo frowned and felt Kaaree's eagerness to punish Billy surge. "If it doesn't, you'll need a new doorman."

Jimmy saw the look in Leo's eyes and nodded. "Okay. Got it." He walked away, and Leo saw him heading for the front door. Hopefully to reinforce the message for Billy.

Coco was the first showcase act, and Leo caught some of her moves as he watched from the corner of his eye. For all her plumpness, she had some athletic skills.

Leo redirected a few inebriated guests towards the correct hall for the washrooms and one overly amorous patron back to his table after Lexus performed for them on the stage.

As the night progressed, Leo became increasingly aware of the new voice in his head. It seemed to be strengthening, and he could distinctly feel Kaaree's relief and joy at the male's return. For the first time, Leo detected some clarity in the tonal quality of the voices. Actual words were being said, but it still sounded like gibberish to Leo. Kaaree didn't seem concerned. If anything, she was happy. She was responding to the male and him to her, but Leo couldn't understand either of them.

He did his best to ignore it as he had a job to do.

Every so often, one of the ladies would pat his arm or butt as they passed by. They had a direct route from the change room to the stage, but between their time on the stage, they'd spend a little time visiting some tables. All the bouncers were on alert when they were amongst the customers. Leo was told to stay at his post and direct the other bouncers to the offenders if something happened in his zone.

It was almost time for the fight when he heard a distinct voice speaking to him.

"Hello, Leo Lamb."

The voice was deep, rich with tone, and filled with warmth and vigor. Leo glanced around and realized no one was paying attention to him so the voice had come from inside. There were people nearby so he thought a response back. "Hello, male voice in my head."

He felt the two entities in his mind reel back in pain and became alarmed.

"Please speak aloud when you communicate with us. Now that I'm integrated into your mind, internal communication causes a kind of feedback that's too powerful. Talking will greatly reduce the pressure," the deep voice requested.

Feeling embarrassed, Leo glanced around and switched to a whisper. "Sorry, how's that?"

There was a wash of pleasure from the two entities sharing his mind.

"Much better!" the female voice, Kaaree, sighed. "It is good to use words! Even strange ones like these."

The deep voice returned. "I am Surren Vhena Tallosan Denosha Mresh. You may call me Surren. I have no physical form, as I'm an energy-based life form. I'm symbiotic and require a physical host to survive outside of my home planet... which no longer exists. When we arrived on your world, my host was Kaaree Sun Lovven, Warrior Priestess of Qua Sho Fen, First Rank. She was mortally wounded in the crash, and I discovered I could not transfer myself to a Human body. I must give you my sincerest apology for what we have done. If we hadn't been so desperate, I would never have even contemplated merging Kaaree with you. You saved both Kaaree and myself. And we thank you!"

Leo absorbed what he'd just been told. He was speaking with two aliens from outer space. Only they were inside him. One just mentally but one physically as well. He felt their pleasure at his comprehension. "Now that you seem to be feeling better, will you unmerge us?" Leo asked. He took a moment to redirect a drunk towards the proper hallway for the bathroom.

"If it were possible, I would... but it's not. It would kill all three of us if I tried." Surren was silent momentarily as he felt Leo's despair at his confession. "We're very sorry for this. The act of merging you and Kaaree almost cost me my mental cohesion as I expended too much energy in the merge. Now, I see the outcome was far more successful than I expected it to be. Human bodies are surprisingly energized. Merged with a Leehala Warrior Priestess, the result is incredibly hospitable to my kind, and you've replenished my life energy far quicker than I thought possible. I'm not at peak strength yet, but I can distinctly sense my life force increasing." He paused again, and Leo felt a wave of warmth. "While we arrived uninvited, I want to express my gratitude!"

"You're welcome?" Leo said, then noticed two of the Owner's men approaching.

"Hey! You lose a few marbles?" one asked.

"What?"

"You're standing here mumbling to yourself. You get hit in the head too often?" the man continued.

"No! I'm fine!" Leo blustered, embarrassed for having been seen.

The man shrugged. "It's fight time. Try to keep the crazy to a minimum and put on a good show. We're at capacity tonight. The boss doesn't need you messing things up by gettin' all mentally unbalanced. Follow us."

Message delivered, the men turned and walked to the hallway leading to the stairs to the building behind the club. Another bouncer arrived to take over Leo's spot.

His face burning, he followed the two men into the back room. A few people were showing their cell phones to someone watching the door. The doorman scanned a barcode on their screens and then nodded to let them into the stairwell.

Leo and his guides were waved through and made their way to the next building. The noise level was much higher than the last time Leo had been in the old factory. They avoided the crowd encircling the cage, and Leo noticed the faint purple glow of the overhead lighting. The chamber wasn't quite as dim as it had been earlier, and now he could see the row of doors against the far wall. This was the direction the previous house champion had come from, so it must be the dressing rooms. The two men took him inside the room with the star on the door, and he suppressed a nervous chuckle.

He glanced around the small, mostly empty room. The light was brighter here and white, not purple. A counter ran along one wall with cupboards above it. There was a folding chair pushed back against another wall. In the center of the room was a narrow table he supposed he could lie down on. On its surface was a pair of silk shorts. One leg was white, and one was black. Leo was struck by how suitable this color scheme seemed for him with his black and white hair, or perhaps more appropriately, his new split personality.

"Put on only the shorts and come back out," the talkative goon said to him. The pair left, closing the door behind them.

"I don't want to do this!" Leo suddenly blurted fearfully.

"Leo, we must earn enough money to escape from this city. We need time to think of a plan to save our lives," Kaaree argued. "I will fight for you! We will win, and it will be glorious!"

She wasn't feeling his fear and didn't understand how he'd spent his life trying to avoid bullies and confrontation. This went against his very nature. Now that it was imminent, he was beginning to panic.

"Leo, we are with you, and we will protect you," Surren said, lending him confidence. The panic eased, and Leo sent them both a feeling of thanks.

He sighed as he looked at the shorts. He undressed quickly and pulled the shorts on, tying the drawstring tight so they didn't fall down. The silk felt good against his skin. Kaaree was pleased as well.

Once he stepped out of the dressing room, his guides led him back towards the crowd, but they entered a roped-off area separating them from the riffraff. Soon, he was surrounded by very well-dressed individuals, their hired muscle, and Rick, who smiled calmly and looked very pleased by his fighter's appearance.

Kaaree asked for control for a moment, so Leo eased back. She stood before Rick, put palms together, intricately linking Leo's fingers, and bowed to the man hosting the fighting event. It roughly matched a ritual Kaaree attended in her childhood, and the bow was a sign of thanks for allowing her to fight for the Goddess.

Rick tipped his head to Leo with a small but pleased smile on his lips.

Leo looked at the people staring back at him with various expressions, from disdain to amusement, and one was watching him with hunger in her eyes.

Rick turned his face to the wealthy patrons gathered around him. "May I introduce you to our new house champion, Kaaree. Tonight will be his first time in our Octagon."

"What is his fighting discipline," a tall and heavy, round-faced man of Asian persuasion demanded.

Rick passed the question to Leo with a look and another enigmatic smile, so Leo faced the questioner, who glared back at him.

"Its name is Shrett Takkesh Jinnoor. I fight in Praise of the Goddess," Kaaree said, still in control.

The man scowled. "This is not a recognized discipline!" the man complained.

Rick grinned. "Street fighting is also not recognized, but it's allowed in our cage."

"Your man is going to be destroyed in the first fight!" Round-Face exclaimed.

Rick's face lit up with a wide smile. "Put your money where your mouth is, Ho."

The questioner, Mr. Ho, glared at Rick and nodded with contempt.

This promise of a wager made the others take notice, and Leo felt their attention sharpen. Kaaree stared at Mr. Ho with a smile until the man turned away with a snort.

Kaaree's attitude made Leo nervous, so he pushed forward to take control before she tried to intimidate his boss' other guests. He felt her laugh at his concerns. "Be cool," he mumbled.

One of the rich spectators came closer to look into his eyes. She was a woman in her forties, with sharp, symmetrical features that only medical science could have produced. She was dressed immaculately and wore expensive jewelry. Her eyes displayed her keen intellect and an intense interest in him. Leo was completely intimidated.

Lush, soft lips painted a deep crimson parted in a smile to show her straight white teeth. "Are you ready to give us a good show tonight?" she purred, gesturing to the crowd. "The peasants are hungry for bloodshed."

Kaaree surfaced and nodded to her. The woman's eyes widened as she saw his eye color shift. "Such lovely violet eyes!" she gasped, and Surren pulled Kaaree back, allowing Leo's eyes to shift back to brown again.

The intensity in the woman's eyes surged, and she smiled as she moved to speak to Rick.

"Wonderful to see you again, Ashelyn," he said as he leaned in to give her air kisses.

"It's been too long since you provided us with something worthy of a visit," the woman responded.

Leo watched Rick's reaction to the dig, but the man was smooth.

"Tonight should be a special treat, then," he said.

Ashelyn grinned at him. "It already is! I never thought I'd see the day when a man's desire for wagering overpowered his dementophobia! How many personalities does your new fighter have?" she asked in delight.

The owner shrugged uncomfortably, so the woman laughed and walked away to place her bet.

Rick's eyes locked on Leo, and he moved closer. "Are you ready to fight?"

"Of course I am!" Leo insisted. "I beat your champion, didn't I?"

"That was only one style. You'll face five tonight, and some of these guys are fucking good!" Rick insisted.

Kaaree got excited and surfaced momentarily with a grin. Rick was frozen as he stared into violet eyes. When they shifted back to brown, he jerked back.

"Get in the cage!" he snapped as he moved away.

Leo watched Rick storm away and saw their little interaction inspire more rich patrons to place bets.

He left the roped-off area and walked through the mingling spectators to reach the cage entrance. Taking a deep breath, Leo worked up his courage and stepped inside. He walked around, letting Kaaree get a feel for the space.

Leo stopped on the side opposite from the door and closed his eyes. He clasped his hands together and lifted them before his mouth to whisper to Surren and Kaaree.

"I'm barely keeping it together here. This is my worst nightmare," he said. "There has to be another way to make money."

"You never had the benefit of training. Fighting is the most natural expression of dominance, taking control of your destiny and finding your place in the world," Kaaree said with a reverent tone.

Leo paused as he could tell Kaaree would have difficulty understanding his viewpoint.

"For my entire childhood, I was the victim of cruel bullying from my older siblings and their friends. All I experienced from fighting was pain and terror. That's my experience and it took me years to be able to function in society. Now, here I am in a cage, about to face five individuals who want to hurt me and make me submit to them.

"I will be there for you, Leo. We will not submit. They will. Yes, there will be pain. We share a body, and I will experience it with you," Kaaree insisted.

"I will support you any way I can, as well, Leo," Surren promised.

Leo opened his eyes and heard laughter. He looked around and saw the audience found his praying to be quite amusing.

"Are you ready, Kaaree?" the announcer asked again, and the laughter increased. Leo nodded.

Apparently, Leo missed his introduction during his meditation. The announcer moved on to introduce the man he'd be fighting.

"Kaaree's first opponent of the evening will be Michael Lo, an expert in Jeet Kune Do who's won three world tournaments in the past three years. Please welcome Michael Lo."

The crowd cheered, and several cried out violent suggestions to him for beating Leo.

His tension went up as he watched the man step into the cage. Leo saw Lo had modeled himself after Bruce Lee. He was shorter than Leo but super trim, every muscle clearly defined with not an ounce of body fat. He looked like a weapon. He had a cocky smile on his face as he obviously believed he could take Leo quickly.

Leo's eyes traced the almost sharp edges of the man's muscles, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. The man's smile widened at his unease.

"Fighters, indicate your readiness," called out.

Michael nodded, and Leo automatically matched him.

Leo waited, but Kaaree wasn't coming forward. "What?" he mumbled. He felt her close by, but he still controlled his muscles.

"Take the hits so I can study his technique. Move in the direction of the strikes, but don't fight back." Kaaree instructed.

Michael launched himself forward, hummingbird fast, with sharp changes of direction, which Leo struggled to track. Leo hissed as three sharp strikes hit his arms then a solid punch hit him in the center of his chest, knocking him back.

As Leo stumbled, Michael launched a flying kick to the side of Leo's head. Kaaree leapt in, rolled their body with the kick, and bounced them back to their feet.

Then she stepped back once more.

Michael watched Leo with suspicion as that kick should have rendered him unconscious.

Leo was terrified, but Kaaree refused to step forward.

"What are you doing?" Surren asked Kaaree.

Leo's focus caught Michael coming in for the kill with another of his kicks, so he suddenly lunged forward in a desperate attempt to get inside it. He did it, but Lo drove his fist into Leo's gut before jumping away.

Fighting off the queasiness and fear, Leo staggered back.

"I'm proud of how you moved to block that kick," Kaaree exclaimed.

"When?" Leo gasped.

"Soon," she said, then Leo gasped as Michal darted in and landed a solid punch against Leo's side. Spinning, Leo threw a wild fist outward and connected with Michael's chin, knocking him off his feet. But he quickly rolled back to his feet and danced back. His expression was no longer so smug as his hits didn't have the effect they should.

"Kaaree! You've had time to take the fighter's measure! Take over and protect Leo as you said you would!" Surren scolded.

"Leo needs this! He just managed to knock him off his feet! He needs to push through his fear! Besides, it would take at least four more strikes like the first kick to take Leo out. This fighter doesn't have the mass or knowledge of pressure points," Kaaree snapped in return.

While the two argued, Michael launched another of his spinning flying kicks. In a panic, Leo dropped below the kick and grabbed the leg on its way over his head. He sloppily spun and threw Michael across the Octagon to slam up against the fence. His head took a glancing blow against one of the padded support pipes.

The fighter dropped to the floor heavily and cried out in pain. The room went quiet as everyone watched in stunned silence.

Panting more from fear than exertion, Leo slowly approached Michael.

"Do-do you submit?"

Michael was dazed from the blow to his head, but something was torn in his leg, so he wasn't able to stand. He glared up at Leo.

"I submit."

The crowd exploded into cheers and jeers. It was obviously not the best fight they'd seen, but everyone loves a surprise ending.

Kaaree was smugly pleased until Leo started to shake.

"Never do that again!" he shouted at her.

The crowd got quieter as Leo looked around in embarrassment. He pushed out of the cage and rushed to the change room, where he hid to settle his nerves. He dropped into the chair and put his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I believe you can get over this fear if you face it. You won that fight! Not with much finesse, but it was a victory," Kaaree insisted gently.

"Leo should have been allowed to choose how he faced this fear. You shouldn't have forced his hand. Your upbringing does not make you the best judge of how to deal with deep-seated traumas. I'm terribly sorry for Kaaree's behavior, Leo."

Leo picked up that the two weren't very happy with each other.

He went through his breathing exercises to reduce his anxiety.

There was a knock on the door, and Leo looked at it in dread. He forced his fear back.

"Come in!"

The door opened, and Jeannie stepped inside. She looked at Leo cautiously. "Are you okay, Laars?"

He nodded. "I didn't do very well in the first fight."

"I heard you won, and since most people bet against you, Rick just made a lot of money. He's not happy about how you behaved, but he wants you back in the ring. Can you do that?"

Leo turned his attention inward and Kaaree begrudgingly agreed she would take control once the fights began. He looked to Jeannie and nodded. He took a deep breath and followed her from the room to return to ringside, where Rick was waiting for him. The man glared at him and sent Jeannie back upstairs.

Leo took some deep breaths and stepped into the cage once more.

-=-

Jocelyn entered the club and made her way to an empty stool at the bar. She was still wearing her tailored suit, so she felt out of place, but her clothing options were limited. She'd unbuttoned her blouse to show more cleavage, and that was as much of a disguise as she had.

A pretty blonde wearing a t-shirt two sizes too small was returning to her position as bartender, and glanced at her curiously. She walked over to speak to her.

"Are you sure you're in the right club," the busty woman asked.

"This was the place Leo asked me to meet him," Jocelyn said. She showed the woman the picture of Leo and caught the flare of recognition in the bartender's eyes. "Leo is looking for his brother Laars, and I said I'd help."

"That guy in the picture with the long hair is Laars' brother?" the blonde blurted.

Jocelyn just nodded, but inside, she smiled to herself as she knew he was here.

"And you are?" the bartender asked.

"Evie. I work with Leo," Jocelyn explained. She thrust her hand across the bar, and Jeannie grinned and shook it.

"I'm Jeannie. How long have you known Laars?"

Jocelyn made a face like she was trying to recall. "Three years? About that," Jocelyn replied.

Jeannie leaned forward and dropped her voice. "How do you deal with his split personalities? Shouldn't he be taking medication?"

Jocelyn pretended to be concerned. "Has he been talking to himself again? He's supposed to be taking prescription anti-psychotics." She watched the concern grow on Jeannie's face. "Can I see him?"

Jeannie squirmed. "He's... working at the moment. You'll have to wait until he's done." She saw another customer waving at her, so with an apologetic look, she stepped away.

Jocelyn tucked her picture of Leo away and walked toward the hall for the washrooms. Just as she approached, she spotted three men and two women rushing into the hallway leading to the back. She ducked in behind them and followed them to a doorman who checked the cell of one of the men. He nodded to the man and opened the door. They headed inside, and Jocelyn followed them through. They climbed down quickly, rushed along a straight corridor, then climbed back up to another door. They stepped through into a vast chamber with subdued lighting. A short distance away was a brightly lit fighting cage. Jocelyn smiled as she realized she'd just stumbled into an illegal fight club.

As they rushed forward to take their seats, Jocelyn peeled off from the group to buy a drink at the bar. Then, she walked back to stand at the back of the aisle between two sets of bleachers. She could see the cage from here and, more importantly, Laars.

Bare-chested, wearing only silk boxers in black and white, his matching black and white hair flowed around him as he dodged, lunged, and rolled to avoid an impressive number of punches and kicks.

His opponent was equally big. A brute of a man with a bushy red beard and no hair on his scalp. Heavily muscled and wearing only a small pair of red shorts and wraps around his big fists.

The fight was already underway, and she wondered if Laars would survive. The MMA fighter was beating on Laars viciously.

Then Jocelyn looked closer. The punches and kicks weren't landing solidly. Each was partially deflected with exceptional precision. The strikes were all glancing blows which were wearing out red-beard.

She looked closer at Laars and concentrated on his movements. They were like nothing she'd ever seen.

Laars suddenly paused as he locked eyes with her. His expression was one of shock and surprise.

Then, his eyes began to glow red.

Red-beard connected a brutal blow against his opponent's jaw as the man stood frozen, knocking him to the matt. He quickly rolled out of range of the follow-up stamp and sprung back to his feet.

Jocelyn saw Red-beard's powerful left sweep in, aimed at Laar's face, but his target threw his head back, arching his body almost horizontally to avoid the fist. As the punch passed over his head, Laars twisted lightning fast and drove his right into Red-beard's unprotected left side.

Jocelyn thought she heard the muffled snap of bones from where she stood behind the bleachers. Red-beard's sudden defensive reaction to the impact left no doubt he was injured.

Though he retreated a step, he pressed his attack by throwing a sweeping right. His injury slowed his motion and gave Laars time to avoid it and deliver a hammer blow against Red-beard's elbow. The joint deformed, and the man began to scream when Laar's follow-up left struck his jaw, dislocating it with an audible crack.

The spike of intense pain put the fighter out as he crumbled to the mat.

The fight was over.

Leo stared at the man, then turned to look in Jocelyn's direction. She slipped back into the shadows and watched him searching for her. Violet eyes faded to dark brown as the intensity of his gaze faded.

Jocelyn felt a thrill rush through her body. This wasn't something the bureau trained her for. She needed a moment to consider her next step.

Luckily, the fighting didn't appear to be over.

-=-

Leo looked down at the man crumpled at his feet and saw his dislocated jaw. He fought back the urge to vomit as he left the cage.

"I don't like doing this!" he muttered.

"We made an agreement with the club owner. There are three more fights tonight," Kaaree argued.

Rick was suddenly in front of him. "Where are you going?"

He looked at the man. "I-I need a short break between fights."

Rick scowled, then nodded. He could work with that. "Ten minutes, no more!" He walked back to his guests.

Leo watched him leave, then turned to walk over to his change room.

"We must find the woman watching us during the fight!" Surren insisted. Leo snorted softly as everyone had been watching. "The one at the back with the sharp mind!" Surren continued, but Leo just gave his head a sharp shake. He just wanted some quiet. He kept his eyes down and rushed through the crowd, ignoring their calls.

Halfway to the room, he spotted the rich woman, Ashelyn, blocking his path. She was eyeing him like a delectable bit of chocolate. She approached and stood a little too close for his comfort. He could smell the rum on her breath.

"Your last fight... you were most savage with your opponent," she purred.

Leo opened his mouth to apologize, but Kaaree surfaced to close it and gave the woman a smile instead.

"I'm looking forward to your next fight. The next man has a vicious street-fighting style. It will be a fascinating mix of styles. Maybe we'll see a little blood this time?" the woman asked and flashed some white teeth at him.

Leo couldn't block the revulsion from his face, but Kaaree pushed forward to hide it behind a wicked grin. The resulting twisted mess must have made him look quite mad. Leo wanted to distance himself from the woman, but instead of fleeing, the woman ran the pink tip of her tongue along her glossy red lips and moved closer still.

"You're a dangerous man, aren't you," she whispered as she shivered. There was an intense hunger in her eyes, bordering on manic. Leo was worried that she wasn't quite right in the head, but he didn't feel up to accusing anyone else of that. He glanced to the woman's bodyguard a short distance away and saw someone resigned to following his mistress into the very pits of Hell.

Kaaree glanced over her shoulder at the medics strapping the red-bearded fighter onto a backboard. She looked back to the woman. "I think I've proven that."

Her real intent suddenly came to Leo. "She means us," Leo groaned at Kaaree, and the woman's eyes twinkled excitedly. Leo's eyes flashed red momentarily as Surren surfaced to scan the woman with his mind. She gasped at the new color.

Surren spoke internally. "I believe Leo is correct. This woman is in a highly excited state! I believe she might wish to engage in sexual—"

Leo growled at his tenants as he sought to escape this madness. The situation quickly became too surreal for him, and he needed quiet time. He nodded to the woman and brushed past her to make a beeline for his small change room at the other side of the chamber. Once inside, he moved to the back wall and rested his forehead against the cold cement.

"Leo—"

"No! Please, Kaaree, just... just give me a moment to breathe," he begged. She went silent, and he felt Surren gently pull her deeper into the background.

He remained like that for ten or twelve deep and slow breaths. He felt the pieces of his world slowly settling back into place. It did not resemble anything he was used to, but he could see the steps before him he had to take for tonight. Finish the fights and survive them. Collect his money from the owner.

He heard the door open and close behind him. He turned to see the woman leaning back against the door. She reached back and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor at her feet. Her body had seen surgeons sculpt it into a piece of art, but time and rough treatment took their toll on it.

"What... what do you want?" Leo mumbled.

"The violet-eyed one... I want him to fuck me. Hard!" she grinned.

"Her."

The woman twitched, her smile twisting on her lips. "Her?"

"Yes."

Leo was sick of being surrounded by all this madness. He wasn't a fighter! He hated violence! He just wanted everything to go back to how it was. He looked down at himself, and with a sigh, he tugged his shorts down. Nothing was the same.

"I'm not a lesbian!" the woman raged, and Leo blinked at her in surprise. Then he began to laugh. It was just so absurd! As he felt his control slip, his laughter became slightly hysterical.

The woman strode across the room and raked her sharp black painted nails across his cheek. If he'd been only human, those claws would have ripped his skin open, leaving him with terrible scars. His new, tougher skin felt the pain but barely raised a welt.

Kaaree surged up in his mind to attack, but Leo forced her back as the pain made his hysteria suddenly swing around to rage and fear. He grabbed the woman's wrists and pinned her between the massage table and his body.

"Are you fucking insane?!? Weren't you watching her fight? Can't you see what she's capable of?!?" Leo bellowed in Ashelyn's face.

She was gasping and staring up at him in shock as she'd expected to injure him. She suddenly wrapped one of her legs around him, pulling him tighter against her bare, shaved pussy.

It was Leo's turn to gasp as she ground herself against him desperately. He quickly became hard as she pressed herself against his cock.

Leo spun her and bent her over the table. He gripped her hair in his big fist, lined his cock up with her wet pussy, and slammed himself into her in one thrust. She howled as he drove himself into her relentlessly, again and again. Her ass was bright red from the rough slapping, and she made guttural noises as he showed her no mercy.

Soon, he felt his cock being squeezed erratically, so he knew she was going through an intense orgasm. Spittal dripped from her lips as she tried unsuccessfully to speak. All she got out were moans.

His release finally arrived, and he ground himself against her ass, brutally squeezing her flesh and filling her depths with his hot cum. When he was done, he pulled free and released her hair. She thumped to the table's padded surface, completely spent and half catatonic.

He walked to a small sink to rinse himself off, then pulled on his shorts as a knock sounded on the door. Jeannie poked her head inside and glanced at the drooling woman momentarily. Then she looked to Leo who was tying the drawstring of his shorts.

"Time to fight," she said, and he nodded without looking at her. She ducked back outside to wait.

Ashelyn moaned, so Leo slapped her bare ass with a sharp crack as he passed by. Her head jolted up as she hissed from the pain. She looked at him hungrily until his eyes flashed violet when Kaaree grinned at her. Her smile dropped away, and her expression became conflicted.

He opened the door to step outside and Ashelyn struggled to push herself to her feet.

"I'm not a lesbian!" she screamed.

Jeannie stared at her, then followed Leo as he passed by. She glanced at a tall, well-dressed man with a weary expression as he stepped into the change room behind them.

Jeannie followed Leo and watched his expression as they approached the cage. She could see him struggling, and her heart went out to him.

"Are you okay, Laars?" she asked.

He turned his face to look at her, and she could see how tightly wound he was.

"Just three more," he forced out, and she nodded.

"Your brother's coworker Evie is upstairs," she blurted, hoping to make him smile.

Leo stopped and turned to look at her in surprise. "Evie? She's here?"

Jeannie looked into his eyes. "Yes, she said your brother Leo told her to meet him here."

Leo froze, then shook his head. "That wasn't Evie. I don't know who that was, but it couldn't have been Evie. What did she look like?"

Jeannie's expression was worried as she recalled the woman in question. "Sandy-blond hair to her shoulders, tall, slim, and very pretty."

"It's the woman who was staring at us!" Surren said to him. "We must speak with her!"

Leo nodded. "I need to speak to her, but don't let her leave until we find out who she is." He looked into Jeannie's eyes. "Can you do this?"

The woman nodded, but she seemed unsure.

The noise from the cage increased, and Leo twitched. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I can do this."

He left Jeannie behind and strode toward the cage, his jaw muscles jumping from tension.

"Kaaree, do not make Leo suffer needlessly. He doesn't have to be cured in one night," Surren said sternly to the priestess.

"Fine, but I think the audience is enjoying his fear as much as my skill," she returned.

Leo remained silent as he stepped back into the cage. He watched the bloodthirsty expressions on the spectators and could almost feel their hunger. He turned his attention to Kaaree. He felt her sigh before she agreed to take over.

Three more.

-=-

Jeannie returned to the bar, but the woman calling herself Evie wasn't there. She scanned the crowd, but there was no sign of her. Jimmy stopped at the bar with a grin.

"What's with the frown, Sugar-Tits?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "You know I don't like that nickname!"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry. Seriously, what's up?"

Jeannie chewed her lower lip, then looked at him. "I think we may have some trouble in the club."

He tilted his head. "Can you be a little more specific?"

She nodded. "A woman came in asking for Laars. She said she was Evie, a coworker of Laars' brother Leo. But when I told Laars, he immediately said it couldn't be her, but he wanted to speak to her. Now, I can't find her."

Jimmy's smile dropped away as he recalled the Feds interest in Laars. "Shit. What did she look like?"

Jeannie gave him a description, including what she was wearing.

"Okay, I'll round up a few of the boys, and we'll collect this mystery woman. I'm sure Rick will want to have a word with her as well," Jimmy said.

Jeannie watched Jimmy hustle away toward the stairs to the factory space. She wasn't sure if this was what Laars had in mind when he asked her to find the woman, but this would have to do.

-=-

Jimmy snagged three of his crew and gave them a description of their target. They worked well together and headed to the factory floor to start their hunt. It wasn't long before he got a text stating the target was hiding in the aisle between the bleachers. Jimmy joined his men and entered from the cage side, spotting the woman in question. She immediately saw him watching her, but when she turned to leave, his men were right behind her and quickly seized her arms and led her away without anyone spotting them. Jimmy rushed to catch up, and they fast walked her to a hallway behind the bar, then into one of the rooms Rick set up for private meetings. The Glock she'd tucked into her waistband was taken, as was the burner cell in her pocket, and she was quickly zip-tied to a chair bolted to the floor. Then his men took up positions at the walls as Jimmy approached the good-looking woman who didn't look frightened as much as frustrated.

"It's come to my attention that you are not a paying customer, and you may have come here under false pretenses," Jimmy said with a cheeky smile.

She looked at him and he saw recognition appear on her face.

"You were there this morning," she said.

"I was?" he asked, glancing at his crew with a smile.

"They're all dead."

Jimmy's smile slid away. "What?"

"All of my teammates. They're dead."

Jimmy tried to read the woman's expression to see what she was up to, but she just locked eyes with him.

"What do you mean they're all dead?"

"Oh, shit! You were there, Jimmy?" Frankie, one of his crew, asked. At Jimmy's confused stare, Frankie explained. "It's all over the news. Someone killed a bunch of Feds this morning in the parking lot of a motel over on Los Antellos. Shot up a diner, too. Killed a bunch of people!"

"I wasn't there when the shooting happened!" Jimmy snapped. He turned to look at the woman. "We have nothing to do with whatever happened over there!"

The woman tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. "But someone here knows something about why it happened."

Jimmy's brows dropped as he scowled at the woman then it came to him. The big guy was hiding from the Feds. They were looking for him. But he wasn't there when the shooting happened either. "He didn't do anything. He was with us!"

"I never said he was responsible. I said he knows something about why," she said calmly.

He suddenly remembered something. "Jeannie said Laars wants to speak with you."

Her eyebrow went up then she looked at the zip ties. "I seem to be available now."

Jimmy frowned. "Laars has three more fights to complete."

"While he's playing in the cage for your boss, the people who killed an entire squad of agents and every civilian witness are searching for him. If I could find him this quickly, how long do you think it will take them?" the Fed said.

This rattled Jimmy and his crew. "Hang on. Let me... let me speak to the boss."

"You do that. In the meantime, you don't have to tie me to a chair for me to wait. I'm not leaving until I speak to him," she said evenly.

"Frankie, cut her loose but keep her here—No, your gun stays with me!" he said with a scowl and left the room with as much dignity as he could.

As he hustled back down the hall, he felt a sense of dread sweeping over him. He wished his boss had never seen this guy!

Chapter 14

Sekan Fi reviewed their information on Agent Brandenburg once more. She was proving to be almost as elusive as their primary target. Discovering the vehicle she'd been using when they met her indicated she was either still in the area or had procured another one. They had an image of her they'd pulled from an agency server they'd infiltrated, so they showed it to the beings running the local rental agencies and got a hit. Now, they had a new license plate to track down.

Sekan Lo was convinced she would flee back to FBI Headquarters to speak to her superiors, but there were faster transportation options than a ground vehicle, so Fi knew she was still hunting their prey. Find Brandenburg and they'd find the Vaxian. She was a very good hunter.

As the area they had to cover was so large, Fi let his partner take the large black vehicle they'd taken from the motel parking lot, and he found alternate transportation. It was small and low to the ground, which he found much more comforting. They moved to opposite sides of the city quadrant and began scanning vehicle plates.

Fi was vindicated when he found her vehicle parked in a dark neighborhood with very few active businesses. The only place that looked promising was one with garish lighting on its front and many personal transports parked next to it in a space set aside for them. Beings were entering and leaving this establishment with greater frequency than any other business, so he also sent a quick message to his partner and parked in the lot.

He took the precaution of circling the building while scanning it for emanations. Then, he detected an anomaly. The darkened industrial facility behind the brightly lit building had an extreme level of psychic radiance. Could the smaller building be a front for another purpose? This demanded investigation!

Before he moved on his own, he glared at his communicator. What was taking Lo so long?

He didn't want to take a chance on being detected, so he slipped behind a large metal bin on wheels and attempted to call his partner to get an update.

"What is it?" Lo's frustrated voice came through the unit. He also heard the sound of his partner's weapon being fired.

"I believe I have found her. What ith happening at your locathion?" he asked.

There was a pause and more shots from the energy weapon. "The vehicle I am using was identified by local enforcement officers, and they are attempting to capture or kill me."

"We don't have time to deal with the localths!" Fi hissed. "I've locathed a large thstructure with a masthive thychic radianth coming from within it! It could be the Vaxthian!"

"I'm killing them as quickly as I can, but more keep arriving!" his partner snapped. "I have your coordinates. I will be there once I have commandeered one of their vehicles. Mine is damaged beyond functionality."

The connection closed, and Fi glared at it in frustration. They didn't have time to wait. He'd just have to enter the building himself and confirm if it was the Vaxian. He'd need Lo's assistance with capturing the energy being without killing its host.

They needed this proof!

-=-

Leo rested back on the table in his dressing room and twitched as he relived every received kick, punch, knee, and elbow strike from the Muay Thai master from his fourth fight.

His third fight was with a nasty little hairy man who claimed his technique was Vale Tudo.

Kaaree ended the fight not a second past the ten-minute mark as she was insulted by the lack of style the man demonstrated. It was questionable if the man would walk again without extensive bone reconstruction surgery and physiotherapy.

The fourth fight continued longer than he'd expected because Kaaree had become fascinated by the Muay Thai technique and attempted to mimic some of the moves. He'd hit the floor at least three times and took a couple of heel strikes against his head, glancing blows, before Surren managed to get Kaaree back on track. She proceeded to demonstrate the true power of Shrett Takkesh Jinnoor and left her opponent a broken, bloody mess who was carried out on a stretcher.

Many in the stands were wearing the Muay Thai master's blood. Some of them were overcome emotionally and had to be carried from the building.

When Leo followed the medics from the cage, the crowd screamed at him in bloodlust. While some were in a rage, others cried out their praise for him. Most of the audience had been certain he'd met his match with the Thai fighter.

"I'm sorry, Leo! It was just such an interesting technique!" Kaaree said enthusiastically.

"Kaaree! You mustn't forget who is in that ring with you! Leo doesn't want to be there. Get the battle done as efficiently and quickly as you can," Surren insisted.

"If we don't respect the fighting techniques, we dishonor the Goddess. Besides, the man who will pay us has instructed us to give the audience a show. He seems very satisfied. That said, I will ensure the next battle ends in the minimum time," Kaaree said placatingly.

"FUCK!" Leo screamed and sat up as he pounded his temples with the heels of his hands.

"Just give me a second of peace!" he yelled.

Then he heard a timid knock on the door.

It had to be Jeannie. Leo looked at the clock, and his ten minutes were up. Cursing silently under his breath, he pushed himself off the table and walked to the door.

When he opened it, he saw Jeannie standing there with tears in her eyes.

"I'm s-s-so s-sorry, Laars. They want you back," she stuttered through her upset.

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her as he moved his lips to her ear.

"Your compassion is a balm for my nerves. Thank you for your kindness," he whispered, and she clung to him as she cried.

He gave her a moment, then gently pushed her back. His body twitched as he glanced at the ring, but he looked into her sad eyes. "We don't want to make the boss mad, right?"

She nodded shakily, and she released him.

He clenched his teeth and marched across the floor.

Jimmy was standing next to Rick, and both were red-faced.

Rick spoke first. "You owe me one more fight tonight!"

He stared at the man in confusion. "I'm here!"

He glanced at Jimmy, who seemed almost in a panic. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Rick glared at his second in command, and the man looked away and shook his head. Leo could see the sweat on the man's brow. Something bad was happening.

Then, the announcer's voice called out for the fighters to enter the ring for the night's final battle.

With another look at Jimmy, Leo walked through the crowd to enter the cage and walked to the far side.

"I will end the fight as quickly as we are allowed," Kaaree said quietly to Leo, who just nodded.

"The final opponent the house champion will face tonight is Reevus Tate, MMA Champion and Former Heavyweight Champion," the announcer called out, and the crowd exploded excitedly.

Standing just outside the cage, a man tossed off the voluminous robe he'd worn to hide his identity. He was a mountain of a man with a wide torso, huge arms, and thickly muscled legs. He stepped into the cage with his hands wrapped in dense bindings. His head was shaved, but tribal tattoos covered his skin. Small, deep-set eyes locked onto Leo, assessing his threat potential. From the slight smile that showed on his cruel lips, Reevus wasn't worried.

"What does Heavyweight Champion mean? What fighting technique is this?" Kaaree asked as Leo was lost in his memories of his older brother Peter's bloodlust after watching a televised boxing match between two heavyweights at a friend's place.

He'd returned home pumped with savagery and adrenaline and demonstrated all the punches he'd witnessed with Leo as his punching bag. Peter later told their parents that Leo's bruising, bloody nose, split lips, and black eyes happened when he fell down some stairs. His parents scolded Leo for being clumsy and sent him to bed without dinner.

Leo saw Reevus had powerful muscles and a broad, strong back, so he knew he was in for a beating. His twitching got worse.

Kaaree had shared Leo's little memory flashback and understood she was facing a boxer. She'd never fought someone who used this technique.

Then, there was no more time as the fight began.

They circled each other warily, and Reevus tested Leo's reflexes with a few quick jabs, but nothing landed. The man bobbed and weaved as he moved to press Kaaree against the cage, but she kept up her own dance to elude his trap.

They finally traded a few blows, and Kaaree was rocked back by a solid right to the chin, which was lightning fast. She caught the follow-up against her arm and clipped Reevus' temple before he could duck completely under her punch.

They went back to circling each other warily, and the tension in the crowd built as they finally saw the playing field leveling out.

Leo was reliving Peter's cruel abuse, and his tight nerves had reached their breaking point.

When Reevus surged forward with a sharp left-right combo, Leo pushed Kaaree aside to duck under the punches. He let out a primal scream of rage and drove his right fist into Reevus' gut with a deep thump, jettisoning the man's mouthguard. His left caught the man in the ribs, and then his forehead smashed into the already flattened nose of the champion with a sickening snap.

Reevus staggered back pulling up his guard, but Leo was still pushing forward, his fists striking his opponent's body faster and faster until his arms were a blur. Leo's scream echoed in the cage.

Unable to catch his breath or move his arms from their defensive position before his face, he didn't see Leo's right hook until it slammed into the space between his wrapped hands and face.

The man's head twisted violently, and he suddenly lost all muscle tone, dropping nerveless to the floor.

Leo stood over him with fists clenched, seeing Peter on the ground, and gave one final defiant scream. Then his voice tapered off. His eyes were wide, and he was breathing in deep gulps.

"It's over, Leo. You've done well. It's all over," Surren said gently.

"You've done exceptionally well, Leo! I'm so proud of you!" Kaaree gushed, then went quiet after a poke from Surren.

Leo staggered back as the medics rushed into the cage. He caught the panicked look on Jimmy's face and surged out of the cage to walk up to him and Rick.

"I—I'll have your cash for you tomorrow morning. Go get cleaned up," Rick said, averting his eyes uncomfortably.

Leo ignored him and grabbed Jimmy's arm. "What's happened? Tell me!"

Jimmy flicked a glance at Rick, but right now, Laars was more intimidating. "The chick who said she was a friend of yours is a Fed, and she said someone after you killed her people and a bunch of civilian witnesses. You need to speak to her—"

"Take me to her!" Leo insisted, and Jimmy immediately turned and rushed off with Leo at his heel.

They ignored Rick's shout behind them.

-=-

Sekan Fi found a door to the large structure and burned through its lock to enter the building. Inside, he could hear the primitive screams of the locals as they became overly excited about something. As he made his way closer through the dark hallways, his personal shield began to have trouble with the sheer volume of the psychic blast coming from a large chamber ahead.

Was it the Vaxian? Had he somehow learned how to harness the minds of this savage population? If that was the case, the planet would have to be purified as the Vaxian's world had been.

Fi paused before he entered the room and adjusted the power draw on his shield device. It would drain faster but strengthen the shield as he needed relief from the mental pain.

When he boldly stepped out into the vast space, he stumbled slightly as the raw power of the agitated local minds battered him. He paused and struggled to keep from panicking.

Find the Vaxian.

He strode forward and saw a gathering of locals, all facing one who might be in charge. He adjusted his trajectory to approach that man and began to hear the individual voices of the others who seemed angry about something.

"Rick, you never said your fighter was some kind of psychotic killing machine!" one shouted.

"Christof, they don't enter the cage to hug and tickle each other. It's a fight, and my fighter was simply better than yours." He smiled at the others. "Better than everyone's fighter, it seems. That said, you cannot say you weren't entertained. I delivered a very exciting show." He gestured to the rowdy crowds slowly beginning to disperse.

"And walked away with all our money!" another man snapped.

Rick smiled. "That can happen when you place a bet. It's not called gambling for nothing."

He turned his head as he caught the motion of Sekan Fi approaching. He took in the suit and the frown on his face and scowled.

"Who the fuck are you?" Rick snapped as his bodyguards took note of the stranger and moved to place themselves between him and their boss.

"Give me the Vaxthian!" Fi snapped. His shield was draining too quickly, and he could feel the pressure mounting.

"The what? What the fuck are you talking about?" He suddenly raised his hands. "You know what? Never mind. Boys, show this shithead the door."

When they reached for Fi's arms, the thought of being touched by these savage creatures was too much for him to bear. He squealed as he pulled his weapon and fired it. The beam struck the two goons blowing them apart, blood and gore flying back to crash into the leader of this event, knocking him down.

As Sekan Fi aimed his weapon to destroy him, too, his shield took hits from multiple guns fired from the group before him.

Screaming again, Sekan Fi strafed them with the beam from his weapon. Bodyguards and clients alike exploded into flaming chunks.

His personal shield took a massive hit when the mass of locals around a large cage suddenly realized people were dying before them. Their panic spiked and it was too much for the device on Fi's belt.

Suddenly, his mind was exposed to the raw energies radiating from the fleeing crowds.

He turned his weapon on them next.

-=-

When Leo and Jimmy burst into the interrogation room, Leo faced a very pretty, tall blonde woman who locked eyes with him immediately. Then, she stood to face him.

Leo thought she was truly lovely, but Surren excitedly came to the front. Leo's eyes glowed red. The woman gasped in surprise as she stared at him.

"Tell him what you told us!" Jimmy insisted.

She blinked, glanced at Jimmy, then turned back to Leo. "Someone is searching for you. They hacked into the FBI servers, compromised our communications, and then disguised themselves as the Director and Deputy Director of the FBI when they showed up here to capture you at the hotel. They couldn't have been who they appeared to be, as I confirmed the real ones were back in Washington. They wiped out my entire squad with weaponry I've never seen before. They also killed everyone in a restaurant across the street! They were tracking my phone, so I dumped it. Who are they?" she asked.

"Holy fuck!" Jimmy gasped as he realized just how far above their little enterprise this situation was.

Surren felt a stab of guilt and fear. Kaaree just wanted to kill the Gharr.

Leo looked around the room at the gawking guards and Jimmy's nervous expression. He looked back at the woman. "We should talk somewhere private where we won't endanger anyone else." She nodded, and Leo looked at Jimmy. "I don't think you want to be involved in this. We should leave."

"My weapon and cell," Jocelyn said, holding her hand out to Jimmy.

After a moment of indecision, he pulled the items from his pocket and returned them. The cell went into her jacket pocket, and the gun was returned to her waistband.

Jimmy looked conflicted then he nodded. He stood aside from the door, and Leo gestured for the woman to go first.

Once they opened the door, they heard the screams and a terrible ripping sound.

Surren took control and turned Alex's head to face into the room. "Jimmy, you must get everyone out of the building. Not through the tunnel, but outside and away. Your weapons will not work on this enemy."

Jimmy was blinking at the red eyes and was spooked by the sudden change in the voice and speech patterns of the man before him.

"Go now! Quickly and be careful!" Surren commanded, and Jimmy gestured for his men to go first, but he was right behind them. With a frightened look back, they rushed down the hall and out into the large chamber beyond.

Surren looked at the woman. "My name is Surren. I'm a being made of energy currently being hosted by Leo and my previous host, Kaaree who was physically merged with Leo. Unfortunately, when we met Leo, we were desperate and on the brink of death, so merging was the only way we could survive. He bears no responsibility for what has happened."

The blonde nodded as she absorbed that. "I'm Jocelyn Brandenburg, and I work for the FBI. We need to get out of here."

Violet eyes flared and Leo's head shook. "It's too late. If the Gharr Vanguard Alliance agents are this close, our only hope is to fight." Leo looked frustrated.

"You are...." Jocelyn asked.

"Kaaree Sun Lovven, Warrior Priestess of Qua Sho Fen. I need a weapon!"

Brown eyes suddenly surfaced. "No more fighting!" Leo gasped.

His hand lifted toward Jocelyn's, and after a brief hesitation, she took it in hers and gasped.

"Good, we can talk much faster mind-to-mind," Surren said across the link.

Images formed in her head. She could see Surren as a swirling mass of red, gold, orange, and silver light. Kaaree was given a physical shape in her mind, too. Long brilliantly white hair, with pointed ears poking through, large almond-shaped violet eyes, high cheekbones, a lush mouth but a flattened nose. She was densely muscled with two fingers and a thumb on each hand. The alien she'd glimpsed in the bank's security video and the lovely warrior in Evie's movie was here.

Jocelyn next saw Leo and sucked in a breath. He looked like he had in the coffee shop Christmas party photo. Tall and slim from malnutrition with extremely long, straight black hair. Handsome, but... lost.

The expression in his eyes shocked her. They looked haunted and weary, aging him beyond his years.

"I'm afraid our arrival has been terribly hard on our young friend. He was not prepared to take on these challenges. I won't speak of his life as that is up to him to share, but I will say our crisis was not something Leo was ready to bear," Surren said gently.

Jocelyn was reminded of the current crisis. "Shouldn't we be fleeing?"

Surren's voice held a smile. "While we're in here, time moves infinitely slower outside. We must speak as Kaaree was right. We need a weapon, but she is unaware that we actually have one."

"What?" Jocelyn and Kaaree gasped. Leo just watched the energy-being cautiously.

"Human minds generate a tremendous amount of psychic energy and you are broadcasting constantly. On our side of the Galaxy, psychic force is subtle yet powerful. The Gharr Vanguard Alliance is a race of people who identify people with strong psychic energy as a threat. They are very sensitive to fluctuations in psychic background levels.

My people are made of psychic energy. I was the only member of my race who left the world to travel amongst the stars. The rest of the population was content to live out their exceptionally long lives on the one world. Outside of my planet, I can only exist within a compatible host. Over my thirty-two-thousand-cycle lifespan, I have been supported by many hosts. I've visited a multitude of worlds and lived the lives of the locals on all of them, learning what brought them joy and what made them sad. I remember every day and every person I ever interacted with. My life has been filled with more happiness than I'd ever expected when I first set off to visit the galaxy.

At some point on my journey, my existence was discovered by a member of the Gharr Vanguard Alliance. I can't tell you when it happened as I was unaware of it until too late.

I remained in contact with my people during my travels, sharing my experiences. I was summoned home to present our case to the Consortium of Civilized Planets. A request to be left alone. While my planet wasn't a member, the Gharr Vanguard Alliance is, and the Consortium is the only force capable of controlling their member races.

I was hosted by Kaaree at the time I received the summons. Unfortunately, we arrived in the Vaxian system just in time to witness the Gharr Vanguard Alliance's armada of ships purge all life from my world.

We are the only witnesses of their crime. My existence is proof of my people's lives taken by a paranoid and cruel race.

They have been after us ever since. We were almost captured but managed to deal the armada a hopefully devastating blow as we attempted to escape. Our ship was damaged as we jumped across the vastness of space to reach your solar system. Kaaree was also injured. To save her and myself, our only recourse was a merging, but it was done without permission. An act I will forever be ashamed of. I have always been invited by a host. This time, I was not.

While Humans are incompatible with Vaxians, the Leehala are fully compatible, so blending her with Leo's body made the sum greater than the parts."

Jocelyn was still concerned about events happening outside this slice of time they were in. "About that weapon?"

"Thank you!" Kaaree gasped impatiently.

"The weapon is you and Leo. From what I can tell, your minds are unique amongst your race. Leo struggles in life because his brain cannot focus on one input at a time. He is constantly barraged by sensory input and is unable to sustain attention on a single thread for a sufficient time to complete his tasks if they have any great complexity."

Jocelyn looked at Leo. "You're autistic?"

Leo shrugged. "No idea. I've never been tested."

"What makes Leo's mind unique is the power of his broadcast abilities. To put it into terms you may understand, he is a virtual series of nuclear power plants all running at full power all the time," Surren said. "At first, I had to adapt our personal shields to ensure our minds were not swept away in Leo's energy maelstrom. We are now fully integrated into his mind and no longer in danger," Surren said.

"And me?" Jocelyn asked.

Surren's excitement increased. "It's your focus. Its intensity is sharper than any mind I have ever encountered. Did you concentrate on the two Gharr when you first saw them?"

"Yes, they became quite agitated and sent me away," Jocelyn remarked.

"Yes, even with the psychic shield they were likely wearing to tolerate being out amongst Humans, your mind would cut right through it," Surren said.

"How do we wield these weapons against them?" Kaaree asked.

Surren returned his focus to Jocelyn. "You said there are two of them?"

"Yes."

"They will have a shuttle hidden somewhere in this city. We must take it from them, but we will need them to open it for us as it will defend itself from unauthorized access and self-destruct if taken by force. If the shuttle fails to return to its mothership, which is likely hidden on the other side of your moon, its automated systems will return it to the Gharr Vanguard Alliance's armada and inform them of the threats on this world. They will come. Once they determine the nature of your minds, they will eradicate all life on your planet as they did on mine," Surren said calmly.

Leo and Jocelyn stared at each other.

"Have you ever saved the world with just the power of your mind before?" he asked her.

Jocelyn snorted in surprise at the absurdity of his question, then grinned at the man who had the beginnings of a smile on his lips. He seemed to be rallying from his earlier trauma.

Leo turned to stare at Surren in frustration. "Do you have some plan of attack here as we are completely in the dark about how to use our minds as weapons."

"Yes, I can show you how. First, we need information. Who is attacking? Let's find out. I'm bringing us back to normal time," the Vaxian said, and suddenly, they could hear the discharge of the energy weapon again.

"Sounds like one weapon in the fighting area," Kaaree said as she listened.

They rushed down the hall and peeked into the large chamber. Double garage doors had been opened on the far wall, and terrified people ran out as fast as they could. A beam of energy cut across the space and struck six patrons.

Once more, Surren grasped Jocelyn's hand and accelerated their perceptions and time seemed to freeze. They were once more inside their minds, looking at each other's avatars superimposed over the scene before them.

On the other side of the cage, a man appearing to be FBI Director Prentice was standing amongst the bodies of his victims. Alex saw that most of Rick's elite clients and security teams were dead.

One person he didn't see was crazy-fetish Ashelyn, though her large protector was on the floor.

"How do we disarm him?" Jocelyn asked.

"How are your visualization skills?" Surren asked.

"Top of my class!" she immediately responded.

"Excellent! I need you to picture in your mind a large open hand. You're going to slap him with it. Leo will power your psychic attack, and I will guide you both. We don't want to kill him, just disable him," Surren reminded her, and she frowned at him.

"Okay. I have no idea how to gauge the power of a psychic slap, so I'll have to rely on you," she said.

"It won't have any impact on him physically. It will pass through his body but connect to his mind. Just imagine slapping him hard enough to make him unconscious," the Vaxian offered.

"What's wrong with his face?" Leo asked as the man's expression had twisted into a horrible grimace.

Surren saw this, and it sunk in. "His protection must have failed. He's fully open to outside minds, and they're broadcasting their terror quite loudly. He's become psychotic! That might just do the job for us, but he'll kill many people before he's out.

"Let's do this!" Jocelyn said firmly as Surren released his control on their perceptions.

Jocelyn imagined a powerful hand much larger than her own.

She felt Surren channeling Leo's strength into it, and she visualized bitch-slapping the leader of the FBI.

The screaming Director squealed oddly and fell over.

"Did it work?" Jocelyn asked.

Leo ran across the space, dodging between the terrified customers still trying to flee, and reached the fake Director's side seconds later. He pulled the weapon from his hand then Surren had him flip the being onto his back. His expression was vacant.

"Oh my, I believe we used too much force. His mind has been wiped clean.

"Fuck! He's melting!" Leo said as he jumped back.

Jocelyn reached them and looked down at the shrinking being. "What's happening?"

"He's reverting to his original shape," Surren said.

"What the FUCK is going on?"

Leo and Jocelyn turned to see Rick pushing his way out from under the bodies of his bodyguards. As well as being covered in their blood and bits of gore, his eyes were wide and angry. "Who...." his eyes locked onto the shape-shifting being. "No... what was that?"

"That was a member of an alien race that will kill every living thing on this planet if we can't stop them," Jocelyn said. Rick just blinked in shock at her.

Jimmy ran back through the diminishing crowd to join them. "Shit! What the fuck!" he gasped as he looked at the twisting mass of flesh inside the ripping clothing. It wasn't a small being and the clothing wasn't designed for his shape.

"Jimmy, there's another one, and it may be coming here. You've got to get the ladies to safety," Leo said.

He blinked at Leo, then ran away. Rick made a noise like he was about to yell but Leo pointed a finger in his face, and the man went silent as his eye twitched.

"...get off...."

Leo looked down at the bodies and noticed a woman's hand twitching. Ashelyn was under her bodyguard and alive!

He lifted the dead man's body from where he'd used it to protect his charge one last time. Jocelyn and Rick helped Ashelyn to her feet as she stared in horror at the bodies around her. She was splattered with blood and bits of the exploded corpses. Her face showed she was about to lose it until Leo took her face between his hands. Her eyes locked on his as she calmed.

"Go home. Take a shower. Pay this man's family, if he has one, a large bonus for how he saved your life," Leo said, then released her.

She nodded shakily and began walking toward the exit.

A device on the belt of the alien chirped. Surren came to the fore as he looked at the others. "Silence."

He unclipped the device, looked at its screen, and quickly tapped a message.

Then he reached a hand toward Jocelyn, who immediately gripped it. Leo pulled her toward the large open doors, and they ran.

Inside their minds, Surren filled them in. "The other agent has arrived and is in a vehicle outside the club. I sent a message stating stealth was required. With the chaos of everyone fleeing the club, we have only a few moments before he suspects his partner is dead, and the message was false. We must detect which vehicle he's in and trail him back to the location of his shuttle when he attempts to flee."

"Won't he come in guns a-blazing?" Leo asked.

"No, I don't believe so. They would have attempted to capture me alive for their superiors when there were two. Failing that, the remaining one must report the dangers of this planet," Surren replied.

They made their way around the building and looked toward the parking lot.

Amongst the panicked drivers struggling to get their cars out of the parking lot was a single police car with its lights flashing lurid red and blue beams over the area. The man behind the wheel was not moving.

"I think we found our alien," Jocelyn said.

"We don't want him to get out and start shooting, so how do we get him to lead us to his ship?" Leo asked.

"I've got this!" Jocelyn said as she pulled the cell from her pocket. Surren nodded.

She dialed the number, which only rang twice before the Deputy Director picked up.

"Yes?"

"Deputy Director Richardson? This is Agent Brandenburg—"

"Brandenburg! Where the hell are you? Things are going to hell out there. Dozens of police officers have either been killed or wounded in a firefight with a single suspect who disappeared. We thought you were dead!" the man barked.

"No, sir. I'm alive. I found the person of interest I've been looking for. I've also met and killed one of the two suspects in the Motel murders. It showed up at an illegal fight club in the large factory behind Fortuna's Gentleman's Club on McAllister Drive. For some reason, it began firing its weapon into the crowd. There are numerous casualties. I managed to kill it, and its body is in the factory. You might want to get someone to collect it quickly."

There was a pause. "What do you mean its body?"

"It's not Human, sir. It's a member of an extraterrestrial race called the Gharr. They can alter their bodies to mimic other races. Once they die, they revert to their original shape. It's not pretty."

"Hang tight, we'll try to get a team to you—"

"Actually, I need you to send out a notice over the network saying one of the suspects has been killed," Jocelyn said.

There was another pause. "The network is compromised! You reported that!"

"Yes. I'm watching the other Gharr suspect now. We need him to lead us to his shuttle so we can commandeer it before it returns to its mothership. Sir, if it leaves without us controlling it, I'm told it will bring the Gharr Vanguard Alliance's armada, and they will eradicate all life on the planet," Jocelyn said clearly.

"What? Eradicate us? Why?" the man blurted in shock.

Jocelyn glanced at Leo with an uncomfortable frown. "They appear to be pathologically hostile to lifeforms whose minds are noisy, and I'm told Humans have extremely loud brains. We can't detect or feel it, but I've seen it in action. It's how I exposed the FBI Director doppelgangers and how I stopped the Gharr gunman as he was killing the people who attended the event in the factory."

Richardson made a choked sound, so she responded. "I know, sir. It all sounds like fantasy make-believe but this is what I'm seeing, and I have no other way to explain it. If you could send the message, I believe it will force the other killer to flee to his ship."

The Deputy Director was silent for a moment then he sighed. "I looked up your record, Brandenburg. You've been a straight shooter, and there's never been a hint of questionable judgment in any of the cases you've worked on. Your psych evals are pristine. That's the only reason I'm giving you the latitude on this. I'll send the message. Notify me when you reach the destination. Ensure the suspect has been apprehended or neutralized."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." She immediately hung up and looked at Leo. "He'll send the message."

"We'll need a vehicle to follow the Gharr," Kaaree said, pointing to a limo parked in front. It looked like Jimmy was about to get behind the wheel.

Pulling Jocelyn along by the hand, Leo ran for the large car. He yanked open the front passenger side door, pushed the FBI agent inside, and closed it when she was clear. Then he pulled the back door open and jumped inside... to find himself lying across the laps of Jeannie, Lexus, and Houston.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" he gasped as the ladies yelped.

"What the fuck, Laars!" Jimmy said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Leo! He's leaving!" Jocelyn said as she watched the police car in her mirror.

"Jimmy! Follow that police car. Don't lose him, or we're all dead!" Leo barked.

With only the slightest hesitation, the man started the limo and quickly accelerated away from the club.

Leo lifted Jeannie and put her on his lap as he took her spot on the bench seat.

"Lights off!" Jocelyn snapped, and Jimmy slapped them off and mashed the accelerator down as the police car left them behind.

"Who the fuck are we following?" Jimmy asked. "I don't usually chase cops!"

"It's the partner of the alien who shot up the fight club patrons! He's trying to escape to his ship. We can't let that happen," Jocelyn said.

Houston was getting upset. "Aliens? Why are we going after aliens? They just come here to work and give their families a better life!"

Leo reached across and took her hand. "No, we're talking about aliens from space. Some are very nice, but these ones want to kill everyone."

"Oh!" the blonde squeaked. "Aliens are real? I knew it! I swear my landlord is one!"

"Stop letting him probe you, then!" Lexus said with a scowl.

Houston waved her hand like it was nothing. "That's just to pay my rent."

"Are you an alien?" Jeannie asked Leo. Lexus and Houston locked eyes on him, too.

He looked into their nervous eyes. "Only partially. One-third human and two of the good ones. "My name is actually Leo, not Laars."

Jeannie blinked at him. "When she told me she was Evie, she showed me a picture of someone called Leo. Long black hair."

He nodded with a sad smile. "Yeah, that was me before my alien friends merged with me. They had to do it to save their lives. They were... uninvited guests, but I understand their desperation. Now, they're permanent residents."

Jeannie gave him a sweet smile, then kissed his cheek. He gave her a shy smile in return.

Jimmy was sweating bullets as he raced through the nighttime streets, but he kept the police car in sight until it made a quick right down a lane between some derelict buildings. He slammed his foot on the brakes before he reached the turn.

"Why are you stopping?" Jocelyn snapped.

"That's a dead end. Your alien is going into one of these two buildings. It's up to you now." Jimmy insisted.

Leo was out the back door in a second, dropping Jeannie on the car seat. Then he and Jocelyn rushed around the corner.

The squad car was parked on the road with its door open and the lights on.

Leo looked at the buildings on either side of the street. "Which way did he go?" he asked.

"You take the one on the left. I'll go right," she said, pulling her weapon.

"Remember, we need this one alive!" Surren rose up to say.

Jocelyn looked into his red eyes. "If you hear shooting, come running." Then she was off.

Leo wanted to follow her, but Kaaree pushed him in the other direction. He found the door was missing from the building, and graffiti covered every surface lit by the cruiser's red and blue beams. Then, he stepped into the charred guts of the building. Everything was gone, consumed in a raging fire, sometime in the distant past. Standing a dozen feet away was a man in a suit. He was touching something invisible but froze when he detected them arriving.

"Leo! Grab him with your mind like a hand," Surren insisted.

The man had something in his hand and lifted it to point at Leo.

Panicking as he had no idea how to achieve this, Leo tried to envision a hand quickly reaching out and grabbing the man. Instead, the Gharr was smashed backward and upward, bouncing off something invisible to spin head over heels. Leo tried again to grab him from the air, but the Gharr crashed through a charred wall on an upper floor. Chunks of the destroyed wall crashed down from the upper floors in a debris avalanche.

"Gently, Leo!" Surren gasped.

"You're the one who asked a warhead to pluck a single flower!" Kaaree snapped back.

Surren was confused. "But how is he physically interacting with the Gharr with his mind?"

They heard running feet and spun to see Jocelyn leap through the door with her gun held out before her. She took in the cloud of dust and swung her weapon around, searching for targets. "What happened?"

"We found him, but he was going to shoot us. Surren asked me to grab him with my mind. I hit him instead, and he flew up there somewhere," Leo admitted.

She looked at him with wide eyes. "You punched him? They can fly?"

Leo shook his head. "No, I hit him with my mind—twice, as Surren guided me."

Surren was worried and trying not to give in to panic. "We must find the Gharr to see if he is still alive. We may still be able to salvage this situation."

Leo looked around. "How are we supposed to get up there. The building is unstable, and I don't think the stairwells are intact."

Surren looked at the debris on the floor. "Leo, I'd like you to try lifting that piece of wall with your mind. Slowly and keep it level. I will assist you again."

Leo saw the broken chunk he was talking about and stared at it dubiously.

"Gently, now," Surren said. "Just the minimal amount of energy. Make it hover."

He followed Surren's prompts, and the chunk of wall suddenly popped up from the floor, tossing other bits leaning on it away.

"Gently!" Surren stressed.

"Trying!" Leo said with clenched teeth. He was using the bare minimum of focus on it.

"We'll climb on, and you lift us up," Surren explained.

The wall piece thumped back down. "Don't be insane! Leo can't concentrate on two things at once so precisely," Kaaree exclaimed.

"Lift me!" Jocelyn said.

Leo stared at her in shock. "Who's the insane one now? Didn't you see how little control I have?"

She seized his hands and looked into her eyes. "If the Gharr was dead, wouldn't the ship leave?"

Surren realized that was accurate. "He must still be alive!"

"Then we don't have time to experiment. Lift me on that platform. If I fall, Leo, I expect you to catch me!"

"Ah, o-okay," he stuttered out.

Jocelyn turned and jumped onto the section of wall and braced herself.

Once more, Leo reached out, cupped the object in his virtual hand, and slowly eased it up from the floor.

"Very good, Leo. Ease it up to the opening. Yes!" Surren said in support. Leo could feel his excitement but desperately tried to ignore this distraction.

The wall section wobbled. "Shut up!" Leo hissed.

Jocelyn looked down at him and nodded as he got it stable again and moved it closer to the break in the wall. She leapt from the platform into the hole, and Leo lost his grip on it. It fell and smashed into pieces against the ground.

They heard grunts, shouts, and thumps before the Gharr and Jocelyn fell through the gap into the open air.

Leo froze. He had to catch them but was more likely to slap them through the brick wall. His mind flashed through options.

Circus nets! Airbags! JELLO!

Ten feet before they struck the floor, Jocelyn and the Gharr suddenly began to decelerate until they gently touched down. Kaaree leapt forward and slapped the Gharr, who was struggling to move his arms.

When the Gharr went limp, Leo released the breath he'd been holding, and Jocelyn could sit up.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" she yelled. "You were supposed to catch me!"

Leo's mouth worked for a moment then he could speak. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"It felt... gooey!" she insisted, slightly disturbed as she relived the sensation. "I smelled... oranges?"

"Jello. I imagined you falling into Jello. It would absorb your falling energy," Leo said quietly as she stared at him with wide, startled eyes.

"It's how my brain works," Leo mumbled.

Surren had Leo take Jocelyn's hand again so they could speak mind-to-mind. "Enough. We must enter the ship and take control of it. No one speaks aloud. Stay in contact so we may communicate."

Kaaree lifted the unconscious Gharr and held his hand outstretched until it pressed against the invisible side of the ship. An illuminated square appeared next to the spot, and a probe emerged.

"Tilt his head back to let the probe enter his nostril!" Surren said to Jocelyn, and she grabbed the Gharr's head to position it correctly just as the probe entered the orifice. Seconds later, the probe retracted, and the stealth field on the ship dropped. A ramp was lowered to give access to the vessel.

Jocelyn's and Leo's eyes went wide in awe. This was the first true spacecraft they'd seen.

"Inside. Let Kaaree take control, Leo," Surren said over their connection.

Leo slipped back as his eyes glowed violet. They moved into the ship holding the Gharr before them and went directly to the command center. Kaaree pressed the Gharr's hand to a touchpad, and the console awakened.

Kaaree pushed the Gharr into Jocelyn's arms then Leo's hands flew across the control panel, touching it rapidly in a seemingly specific sequence. Hands hovering above the console momentarily, a single light came on, and she tapped it twice. The lights on the entire panel went to half intensity.

Kaaree nodded as she relaxed.

Jocelyn dumped the unconscious prisoner on the floor and touched Leo's arm to speak internally. "So, Earth is safe?" Jocelyn asked.

Kaaree shook her head. "We're on manual mode with all security protocols disabled. These will have to go back on when we approach the mothership for it not to be suspicious," she explained.

Jocelyn blinked. "We're going into space?"

"Of course! We must gain control of the mothership so it doesn't return to the armada. We'll need to get past its security measures as we did the shuttle's."

"So, we still need him," Jocelyn said, gesturing to the Gharr.

"Yes," Kaaree said.

She paused. "Do you need me?"

Surren rose to the fore. "You are essential to the success of our mission."

Jocelyn watched Leo as his brown eyes returned.

"I'd appreciate having another Human with us. Especially one as... effective as you," he added, drawing a smile from the agent.

"I... need to make a quick call," Jocelyn said.

"We aren't safe until we have the mothership," Surren reminded her, and she nodded as she rushed back down the hall.

-=-

Jocelyn had to move back to the street before the building to get a signal on her burner. Then she made the call.

Once more, it was picked up on the second ring.

"Brandenburg?"

"Yes, sir."

"Success?" he asked tensely.

"So far, sir. I've apprehended the suspect, this time alive, and we have the shuttle."

"This we you mentioned. It's the person of interest?"

"Yes, sir. His name is Leo Lamb. He was the occupant of the basement apartment that collapsed. He wasn't home when that happened, and he wasn't completely Human at the time either. Before these Gharr showed up, another alien life form, or rather two, crashed their damaged ship into the soviet missile platform and escaped to the surface. Both were injured and, through some yet-to-be-explained process, merged with Leo to save their lives. I understand this merging is permanent. The Gharr came looking for them. The Gharr killed all life on the home planet of one of the aliens, and they witnessed it. The Gharr are trying to tidy up that loose end."

"So now we have this Gharr who killed the police and the other aliens who crashed to Earth, plus a shuttle?"

"Yes, sir, but there is another complication. We need to capture the shuttle's mothership before it returns automatically to the armada to report on the danger of Earth."

"No! You remain right where you are. Our team will be at your location in three minutes," Richardson said firmly.

"Sorry, sir. The mission isn't over yet." She hung up and rushed back into the building. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake, but her gut told her what she'd told her boss.

The mission wasn't over.

Chapter 15

Leo stared through the viewscreen as the shuttle reached orbit, neatly weaving through a parade of satellites and space debris, setting its trajectory toward the moon. Kaaree poured on the speed as she wasn't taking any chances that the ship might leave before they arrived.

"Five minutes to docking," she said calmly.

The moon began to grow visibly in the viewscreen.

"I never thought I'd ever have a chance to be an astronaut. My grades were so poor in school, the most I could hope for was serving coffee to one if they ever dropped by the shop," Leo said softly.

"You struggled in school?" Jocelyn asked.

He nodded, then smiled sadly. "Not the happiest childhood story, but I got away and found my little place in the world. It was... enough." He thought of the dark apartment, his collection of comics, toy rockets, and figurines. All lost now. Then he thought of Evie, and his heart ached. While he knew it couldn't have been her, having a girlfriend would have pushed his loneliness away. He knew she was destined to much grander things than he could offer.

Surren spoke to him softly inside his mind. "I'm sorry for the invasion of your privacy, and I know this wasn't what you had in mind, but you're not alone. Kaaree and I are with you. We are your friends, and you no longer have to be lonely."

Leo snorted softly. "Thanks, Surren." He grinned. "This wasn't exactly the relationship I hoped for with a woman. If I'm not mistaken, Kaaree prefers the ladies too."

"He's not wrong," Kaaree said as she watched the controls.

"What's the grin for?" Jocelyn asked, bringing her attention back to Leo from staring out the viewscreen.

Kaaree turned to face the agent, her eyes flaring violet. "Leo is cursing his luck that the female he must share his life with is also attracted to females." She grinned then Leo got control of his face back. A blush appeared, and he looked at Jocelyn in embarrassment.

She nodded. "I suppose any date you'd go on would automatically be a double date."

He paused as he worked out the math. "Yeah, but I don't believe Surren is interested in such things."

He came forward. "It's true that the organic process is lost on me, but the mental and emotional connection is a beautiful experience, not that Kaaree ever sought anything beyond the physical."

"Hey!" Kaaree exclaimed in annoyance, then realized she had no argument, so she shrugged. She focused on the controls. "Everyone be quiet. We're switching back to automated docking controls. Keep him silent." She gestured to their prisoner, who was bound and gagged on the floor. He seemed to be waking as his eyes were rolling.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Jocelyn said.

Kaaree touched the controls, and the interface brightened. They came into view of the dark side, and the viewscreen showed a targeting circle focused on a dark patch of space, the location of the mothership.

The shuttle began to decelerate as it approached the coordinates. They still couldn't see the mothership and relied on the sensors.

Finally, the shuttle's lights came on to illuminate the side of the large ship and the docking bay, which began to open. The shuttle stopped outside the bay, and docking arms extended to clamp onto the shuttle and pulled it inside.

Once the outer door closed, the ship was blasted with decontaminant as it had been in a foreign environment. Soon after, the bay was flushed, and air was pumped in. The lights in the bay came on.

The Gharr chose that moment to suck in a deep breath to bellow through the new mouth it had created free from the gag. Leo froze, then slapped a virtual hand over the Gharr's mouth. They all heard the snap of his neck bones clearly in the small shuttle bridge.

"Leo! We needed him alive!" Surren cried internally.

Leo couldn't respond without speaking so he lifted the body with his mind. He tore the bindings away and walked the corpse toward the door of the bridge like a puppet, but it was an ugly sight.

Leo noticed the body was trying to return to its original shape, so he forced psychic energy into it to fool it into thinking it was alive. That seemed to work.

Jocelyn leapt to her feet and grabbed Leo's hand. She assisted him with fine-tuning the movements, and the caricature of life became less eerie. They followed the body as it reached the shuttle door and watched the ramp extend. At the base of this was a podium with a probe extending from it and a touchpad. Staying out of sight, they marched the corpse down the ramp, and Jocelyn lifted the hand to place it on the pad. It didn't register at first, so Leo fed some additional energy into the limb, and the panel activated. Then the probe extended for the Gharr's nostril. Jocelyn tilted the head, and the probe entered. Leo pumped more energy into the head and the probe retracted. Kaaree came forward, and with Jocelyn's help, she had the body type come commands into the controls on the podium.

"Internal sensors are offline for maintenance sweep. That gives us maybe five minutes to get to the bridge. Let's go!"

They didn't bother maintaining the illusion of life, and Leo just floated the Gharr's body before them as they ran through the corridors.

Leo almost lost his cool when they took a lift as the contained space with a corpse, maintaining a lift for it, and Jocelyn's hand in his spun his brain in circles.

"Calm, Leo. You can do this!" Surren said.

Jocelyn looked into his eyes and smiled as she nodded. He felt confidence filling him, and he returned the smile. When the lift doors opened, they rushed down the accessway to stop by the entrance doors. Kaaree checked the control panel, and they felt her shock.

"The bridge's internal sensors are not in maintenance mode. I don't have time to find the protocol to activate it. The cameras will see us."

"Leo, you'll just have to make the corpse look like it's bringing us into the bridge as its prisoner and lock us up. This gets us access to the controls. Kaaree can have the corpse shut down the automated security systems."

"I need Jocelyn's assistance with that. It's too many fine controlled movements," Leo gasped.

"We have no other options. Jocelyn, you'll need to find a hiding place, as the internal sensors will activate momentarily. All access halls are monitored."

The bridge door activated and opened as Jocelyn threw herself to the side to remain unseen. Leo immediately yanked the corpse's hand up to make it look like it had a stranglehold on him. Kaaree moved them forward jerkily as she pretended to be in pain. This hid the rough walking the corpse was doing.

"There, the containment pod. They would have brought us back in that!" Surren said as he drew their attention to the cylinder behind the two seats for the Gharr agents.

Leo had trouble getting the corpse's other hand to activate the containment cell, but soon it was open. Kaaree got them inside, though Leo felt her unease about this step.

When the dead Gharr agent released them, the cylinder sealed, and Leo felt intense pain as the mechanism disciplined him.

This broke his control over the corpse, which dropped to the deck, as the dead will do.

The bridge's sensors quickly checked the body and immediately began its countdown for taking the mothership back to the armada.

Kaaree tried to open the cylinder, but they received a more powerful shock.

"Stop! Please stop, Kaaree!" Leo gasped quietly, but he noticed Surren was quiet.

"What... what have you done, Surren?" he asked the Vaxian symbiote quietly.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I've done the only thing that has any chance of protecting your world and giving my people their revenge."

"WHAT?" Kaaree gasped. "You meant for us to be captured?"

Surren seemed indignant. "Captured? No, we are exactly where we need to be. They don't know what they've got in their trap."

"What about Jocelyn?" Leo growled.

"The woman is incredibly resourceful. I have full confidence in her ability to adapt to the circumstances and rise to the occasion when we arrive at the armada," Surren said.

"It might have been helpful if you'd filled us in on your ultimate plan from the start. I'm not interested in playing a part in your revenge story," Leo snapped.

"But you will save the people of Earth, yes?" the Vaxian responded gently.

Leo paused. "I... I'm not hero material. You saw me in the cage, didn't you?"

Kaaree joined in. "Weren't you telling me to let Leo decide if he was ready to fight? Now, you want him to be the hero of his planet?"

Surren sighed. "I remember Leo facing his greatest fear. The fight against his brother Peter. The largest bully of his childhood memories. Leo wasn't going to take any further abuse from him. He rose above and found the strength to stop him. The challenge ahead is no less worthy, and I know Leo has the capacity to punish these bullies with equal passion and vigor."

Leo was silent as he tried to understand what Surren had set him up to do.

"I will never speak to you again, Surren," Kaaree insisted with venom.

Leo was aware that something was happening. The ship was making a series of jumps, and he saw a splash of colors each time. With each leap, the interval between got longer, and the time in the colors lasted longer. Then he felt one big jump, and when they came out, it was followed by a winding down sound. He could see hundreds, maybe thousands, of ships of all sizes and shapes out the ship's viewscreen.

The Gharr Vanguard Alliance's Armada.

If these arrived above the surface of his world, there would be nothing they could do.

"As my people realized as well," Surren said gently, hearing Leo's thought of dread.

The ship shut down its engines, and they saw their view swing around until they faced an enormous city-sized vessel, which looked like something equally large had taken a bite out of it.

Thousands of little ships were scurrying over its surface, welding the damaged area closed. To Leo, it looked like they were almost done.

"Ah, Kaaree! Look what your little antimatter surprise did!" the Vaxian said in delight.

Kaaree chuckled wickedly then recalled her vow to not speak to him. "Don't talk to me!"

"We're going there?" Leo asked.

"It's their flagship. It's where all their senior military leaders live and work."

"Is there a Gharr homeworld?" Leo asked.

"Yes, but I've learned that only very young and the elderly live there. It's more of a nursery for new soldiers and a retirement home. They prefer conquest and putting fear into the lives of other races. That said, to my knowledge, they'd never executed every living being on a planet until they found my people... but I could be wrong."

They watched the flagship grow larger until it filled the viewscreen. The damaged section disappeared from their view.

Then, they could see many open bays. One grew in their window, and they sailed right into it. The chamber they entered was also vast, and many ships like theirs were docked along the wall. It felt like one of those fractals where more details appeared the closer they got. They rose up and settled into a vacant spot. Then the ship powered down, except for their containment cylinder.

"Now we wait," Surren said.

"They could kill us remotely," Kaaree snapped, once more forgetting her vow.

"Kill the ones who caused them so much damage without a lengthy tortuous trial? I don't think so. The Gharr Vanguard Alliance will have lost confidence in their leaders. The powers-that-be need to parade us before their chain of command to prove they are superior to their enemy. Only this will quell the whispers of inadequate leadership." He paused for a moment. "How desperate they are for this will be proven by how quickly they arr—"

The door to the bridge swished open, and three beings walked onto the bridge on their four legs. Their muscular torsos turned this way and that as they exposed all their sensory organs to the cylinder, taking in their victory. Their four manipulator limbs flailed around, but Leo had no idea if those gestures meant anything.

"You are Surren?" the Gharr standing closest asked.

"I am Surren Vhena Tallosan Denosha Mresh, the last Vaxian, thanks to you and your armada," Surren answered with great dignity.

"I am Saresh Ta, supreme leader of the Gharr Vanguard Alliance Armada. I was greatly honored to protect the Gharr by ordering the cleansing of your planet. The threat of the Vaxians has been eliminated, and the galaxy is a safer place because of it," the leader said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Vaxians were a threat to no one. I was the only one who left our world," Surren insisted.

"Where there is one, others will follow," Saresh Ta said calmly.

Surren shook his head. "They had no need to leave when I shared my experiences with them. Only one was needed."

The Gharr leader was quiet, then made another incomprehensible gesture with its limbs.

"There was a threat, and it is gone. What... what creature are you contained in," Ta asked.

Surren sighed. "You seem to lack the mental capacity for compassion or empathy so there is no point in continuing our dialog."

Ta looked at the two others with it. "As it contains a Vaxian, we must conclude it bears the potential to be a threat. Read this ship's logs and prepare the fleet's functioning ships to return to the source coordinates to investigate. I hereby authorize them to cleanse the world should there be a threat to the Gharr. We cannot rest until all threats to the Gharr are eliminated."

The two gestured to their leader, then reached for the control panels.

One gasped, and all four limbs folded under it as it fell to the floor and went still.

The other spun in place and then squealed before it, too, toppled over and expired.

Ta spun to look at Surren and raised a manipulator with a weapon in it.

But the weapon didn't fire. Instead, it slowly turned to point at Saresh Ta.

"What... what are you doing, Vaxian!"

"Nothing. As much as it would be a grand gesture of retribution for me to be the one who ends your life, Vaxians don't have the ability to kill. If your people had the capacity to understand others, you would have discovered this and left us alone. In truth, it's the Gharr who are a threat to the peace of the Galaxy."

Ta struggled to move, but its legs were locked to the deck plating. Its manipulator continued to point the weapon at its torso.

Suddenly, it saw another strange creature walk onto the bridge and stand next to the containment cylinder. It was roughly similar to the beast containing the Vaxian, only slimmer with svelte limbs. It was also looking at the leader while baring its teeth. Joyful or angry, the Gharr could not read its expression.

"Jocelyn, thank you for dealing with the other two Gharr. Leo has the leader in his control," Surren said calmly.

"You had this plan in mind from the start, didn't you," Jocelyn said.

"No, not from the beginning, but as your potential became clear to me, I understood your people would suffer the same fate as mine. The only answer was to deal with the Gharr directly. As I told Saresh Ta, Vaxians are unable to kill, even to protect ourselves. The Armada will destroy all life on your planet as they did on mine. They also cannot be reasoned with. What will you do?"

Jocelyn frowned at the Vaxian, then sighed. "It seems you were fortunate to land on our planet. Humans can kill. Especially when it's to protect the ones we love. Leo, do it. Do it for Evie."

Brown eyes locked onto Jocelyn's lovely green eyes and saw acceptance there. He nodded.

Saresh Ta tried to scream as its manipulator squeezed the trigger. A beam of energy ripped through its body, liquifying its brain instantly, and it collapsed.

With guidance from Kaaree, Jocelyn found and pressed the appropriate controls to open the containment cylinder.

Kaaree rushed to the controls and saw the ship was locked down. "We aren't getting away in this vessel. The flagship is still functional enough to control all the craft docked in it."

"Kaaree, we aren't running this time," Surren said gently.

"What?" the Leehala asked in surprise.

"You heard the leader of the Gharr. They cannot rest until all threats to them are eliminated. Based on their paranoid nature, everyone will be a risk to them." He sighed wearily.

"Kaaree, see if their ships still contain my navigation hack. If it's there, we'll still have back-door access to every ship in the armada."

She ran through several interfaces until she managed to open the maintenance utilities and found a tool to review the navigation system support code. Moments later, she made a satisfied sound. "They haven't found it. It's there."

"That's very good." Surren reached Leo's hand out to Jocelyn, and she took it in hers. When they were all facing one another in their minds, Surren began.

"The Gharr must be returned to their homeworld. Once there, they must be forced to leave their ships and return to the surface. The ships of their armada will be flown into their sun. They will no longer be allowed to threaten any other race."

Kaaree stared at Surren in shock. "And how do you intend to get them to comply with that?"

Jocelyn clued in immediately. "It's us. You want Leo and I to eliminate anyone who tries to fight back."

"Yes," Surren said simply. "I can use the back door code to get control of all ships in the fleet, but if anyone tries to interfere, they would have to be killed for the others to understand why they must comply."

"How?" Leo asked in confusion. They're scattered across a fleet of ships!"

"Leo, you can move objects with your mind. Never before have I seen this capability, and I've had so many hosts! Combined with the sheer power of your mind, your range extends well beyond the furthest ship. When you support Jocelyn's mind with your power, her focus can pinpoint any individual on any ship. In the case of a mass uprising, a sweeping strike as Jocelyn did in the fight club would take them all."

He paused for a moment. "Even contemplating this level of violence is disturbing for a Vaxian, but I've not been able to come up with any other solutions. Restricting them to their own planet seems the least violent plan. However, with the Gharr, they must be exposed to violence to make them fall into line. It's what they understand."

Jocelyn shared a look with Leo. "I've been trained to deal with making life and death decisions and killing. How do you feel about it?"

He looked at the three dead Gharr in the cabin with them, one he was directly responsible for killing. He felt no remorse for doing it as he'd been face-to-face with the being who pulled a weapon on him and who said he intended to kill everyone on Earth. The killing they were contemplating doing would not be face-to-face but remote killing. Acts to terrify the Gharr into complying. They were being given the option to live but on Surren's terms.

He decided he could live with that.

"I hope they comply... but I understand what I'll have to do if they don't," Leo said.

"Thank you both. Let me make the necessary adjustments to our back door code. Once I'm done, we'll need to get to the bridge of this monstrosity of a ship to slave all the others to it. To do this, we'll need to clear our way through the ship."

"We'll need a sweeping strike on this ship," Jocelyn said.

"We could try just clearing the sections of the ship we're traveling through," Surren offered.

"Too risky," Kaaree immediately said. "They have ranged weapons. One lucky shot, and we're done."

Jocelyn shared a look with Leo, who nodded. "It's okay. We'll need a visual for the ship to define the scope of the strike."

"The moment it happens, all communication from the flagship will end, and that will draw attention. We'll need to get to the bridge fast!" Kaaree insisted. "Find the fastest route, Surren."

Leo and Jocelyn studied a floorplan map of the flagship Surren brought up on a screen. There were also external cameras on the vast ship. They pinpointed their position on that plan.

"I think we'll have to do it in two sweeps," Jocelyn said. "It's just too big to get in one strike."

"My code is ready to be activated, but this must be done on the bridge," Surren said.

"I'm ready to begin if you and Leo are ready too," Jocelyn said.

Leo stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "We're ready."

Surren felt the power in Leo's mind build as he prepared himself. The Vaxian managed to contain his apprehension. This was just too much power for one person to contain. Then Jocelyn's mind latched onto that power, sharpening it like a diamond-edged sword as wide as the flagship was high. Surren was almost frozen with awe as she extended her arms before her as if she was guiding the enormous weapon as it swept fiercely through the rear half of the ship, unhindered by such mundane things as armor plating, bulkheads, locked doors, security shielding, or the mass of the colossal vessel. The energies cut through the minds of every Gharr officer, soldier, engineer, technician, and worker, leaving only the empty shells.

Once she'd completed the sweep, she lowered her arms and turned as Leo remained behind her.

Once more, she raised her arms, and the keen edge of the psychic energy ripped through the ship, cutting loose the minds of the enemy in the front half of the flagship.

When she was done Jocelyn had cleared their way. None were left alive to hinder them.

"There's another ship. It's coming toward the same docking bay as us," Leo said.

Jocelyn looked at Leo in surprise, and he looked uncomfortable. "I sensed it just outside the range of your blade."

"You... sensed it?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fascinating!" Surren exclaimed excitedly.

Leo's expression showed his unease, and he shrugged. "I don't know—Kaaree, is there a ship or not?"

She switched the viewscreen to scan the bay, and one of the intimidating battlecruisers was poking its nose inside.

Kaaree cursed. "This looks like trouble. They're coming directly toward our position. They can't be docking as there are no facilities for ships of that size in this bay."

"We are too exposed here. We need to get to the bridge!" Surren insisted.

He tapped some controls on the panel then they rushed from the cockpit and left the ship through the docking port.

"Turn left and down the corridor until you reach the first lift access. I've ordered a bridge express car," Surren said.

They finally saw the doors, and Surren tapped the control to open the closest one. Soon, they were shooting away from the exposed docking bays toward the core of the vast ship, its most secure location. This area also appeared to be the least damaged section of the vessel.

When the lift doors opened, they discovered Gharr bodies scattered down the hall. Running around or over them, they made it to the armored door which protected the central control center for the flagship and the armada, as well.

Surren entered a code in the panel, and his access overrode the lock. The large door rolled back showing the bridge was filled with dead Gharr.

Hustling over to a control center, Surren directed Leo to drag the bodies of three Gharr away from it so Surren could rapidly enter his instructions.

The largest display panel at the front of the room lit up, and they could see the docking bay where the battlecruiser was slowly coming to a halt, a dozen feet or so from the ship they'd arrived on.

"They are definitely suspicious," Jocelyn said.

Surren agreed. "Our craft was taken inside, and then the fleet lost communication with the flagship. They have reason to be suspicious. They likely believe it's another hack attack like the last one, knocking out the communications systems.

What you see them do now is an intimidation method they like to use. Next, they'll send a hardwired probe to link up and read the ship's logs and view the internal cameras. The logs are wiped clean. Once they connect, we'll have them," Surren said and went back to launching his cyber attack on the armada. It was so much easier to do this from the heart of the flagship as he was already inside their most secure zone. Nothing was in place to prevent his access from the core. But then, he would never have been able to get this deep inside the ship without his new friends.

"Their probe is live and is likely discovering a sad lack of information," Surren said as the lights on the battlecruiser went out. "Could I ask you to deal with the new Gharr in the battleship?" he asked Jocelyn, and she nodded firmly.

Once more, Leo powered her psychic weapon, and they eliminated the crew on the large ship in the docking bay.

Leo was worried there might be more threats nearby. Surren was freezing all ships, so there shouldn't be any motion amongst the armada.

He reached his mind out to quickly pass it over the armada. Light flared at the far edge, and he focused there. Suddenly, he was in the middle of a cluster of ships all beginning to engage their engines.

Surren's voice was filled with wonder. "Leo! A new ability! How wonderful!"

Leo enjoyed the Vaxian's praise but was concerned about the moving ships. Surren picked up on that.

"Ah! I am unable to control this group of ships. They must have been damaged in the chaos of our departure and are running on manual controls," Surren said.

"Should we stop them?" Leo asked.

Surren froze at the question. It hadn't occurred to him that they could do anything about it!

"If... you can," Surren said.

Leo concentrated on the largest ship, applying thrust from its massive engines to move its bulky mass. He reached for the vessel and pushed against the flat surface near its engines. The heavy plating there began to buckle and warp. Its tail end suddenly skewed sideways, blasting its plasma across the other smaller ships attempting to flee. The intense energy cut through them like a hot knife in butter.

Then the explosions began.

Leo pulled back as he hadn't meant to do anything like this. One ship after another exploded, sometimes destroying a neighbor, sometimes only taking itself out. The force Leo had applied against the bulky ship had broken something in the ship's aft section, and the engines suddenly shuddered with intense internal explosions, which ripped through the length of the structure until it was torn apart.

Soon, nothing was left except the smoldering wreckage of the small group of destroyed ships. Leo pulled his mind back and found himself on the control room floor, looking up into Jocelyn's intense gaze.

"What happened? Are you okay? You collapsed!" she asked with a tight voice.

"S-sorry! I just went to look at some ships trying to escape. They... didn't get away."

She slapped his arm. "Don't be reckless with powers you don't understand! I thought you'd died, and I was here alone!"

Leo locked eyes with her and saw the fear she was struggling to hide.

Since the moment they met, he'd been so impressed by her calm professionalism. She'd always seemed focused and in control. Even after Surren got them captured and delivered to the heart of their enemy's fleet, she'd remained undetected and struck down two of the Gharr with the power of her mind, even without Surren's help! Her lack of hesitation when using this mental weapon to eliminate thousands of Gharr with elegant sweeps of her arms left him with the impression that her confidence was unshakable.

Only now did he see how far outside her comfort zone she'd been pushed and how hard she struggled to cling to that veneer of confidence.

He got to his feet and took her hands in his. "I'm so sorry. This is all new to me. I'm rarely in control of what life throws at me. I tend to leap first and just hope I'll stick the landing. With these new abilities Surren is making possible, I have no idea what I can achieve or what happens when I try. I didn't mean to cause you any distress. I'll try harder to follow your lead," Leo said sincerely as he looked into her lovely green eyes. He could see this was what she needed to hear, and some of that unbreakable confidence was returning to her gaze. She nodded as a little smile appeared on her lips.

Through his contact with her hands, Surren projected his form and Kaaree's into Leo's and Jocelyn's minds to make them appear standing next to them. This was getting easier with Leo's growing mental powers. Leo's mind likened it to a holographic projection.

"I'm terribly sorry as well, Jocelyn," Surren said contritely as he looked toward the control panel and smiled. "The other ships are all under our control now. They won't be leaving or using their weapon systems. We are safe from them, and the other ships outside our control could not flee back to the Gharr homeworld to warn them."

She looked at him. "Warn them? Oh, right. Our returning the armada to their world."

"Exactly!" Surren said happily. "They will live in peace on their homeworld and never threaten anyone again!"

"Let's not sing our tribute to the Goddess for a successful mission until we achieve more than holding them in space," Kaaree snarled.

"Ah, yes. Ever the voice of pragmatism. Thank you, Kaaree," Surren said with a smile in his voice.

"And don't think for a minute that I've forgiven you for getting us captured like that. It was sneaky," the warrior growled.

"Yes, Kaaree," the Vaxian said without mentioning her vow to never speak to him again.

"Next question, can the flagship use its jump engines, or do we need to abandon it?" Surren asked.

Kaaree made Leo's hands fly over the control panels as she read the symbols with growing unease. She addressed Sureen directly.

"Even a direct hit with the AEX001p did not affect most of the vessel's systems. While it consumed a large portion of the ship's outer levels, the engineering team reports indicate it is ready for jumping through alt space." She looked at the Vaxian. "When we jumped away, I could have sworn we cut this ship in two. Now I see how little damage we actually did. The Gharr know how to build frighteningly strong warships."

Surren was quiet for a moment. "We should connect with the main ships of the armada and let them know what is happening. This is when they demonstrate just how much resistance they will bring to bear. Are you two ready to deal with that?"

Leo and Jocelyn shared a look, then nodded.

"Perhaps Leo and Jocelyn should be seated so they can use their powers remotely without worrying about falling down? It's a concern for physical beings," Kaaree suggested as she glared at Surren.

"Ah, yes! This is an excellent idea," Surren agreed.

Kaaree managed to work two of the Gharr adjustable jump seats into a shape that would comfortably support a humanoid form. These were moved side-to-side, facing the huge expanse of screens.

Leo helped Jocelyn into hers. Then he moved to his. As Leo settled into his seat, he realized the images of Kaaree and Surren floated before the chairs. He looked over at Jocelyn. "Can you still see them?"

"Who? Surren and Kaaree? Yes. Why—" she began then her jaw dropped as she realized she wasn't touching Leo.

"How?" Leo asked.

Surren's voice held notes of his delight and amazement. "Your mind is adapting. Faster and faster! You no longer need to be physically in contact with Jocelyn to share your ability to see our projections."

Leo blinked at Surren in dismay. "But I like being in contact with her!" he blurted, then glanced at her in embarrassment.

She held out her hand to him, and he immediately held it in his. "It's okay, Leo. I like it, too."

They settled back in their chairs as Surren completed the required connections using the small control console on Leo's chair.

Suddenly, the vast screen before them lit up with image after image of the bridges of the other ships in the Armada. Every ship's captain now saw who controlled their ship... and destiny.

They didn't like it.

The surge of outraged exclamations threatened to overpower the audio systems on the flagship's bridge until they automatically compensated.

Surren came to the fore in Leo, and his eyes glowed red. "I am Surren Vhena Tallosan Denosha Mresh, the last Vaxian, thanks to you and this armada," Surren answered simply. "If you'd left us alone, you would not be in the current situation. Your ships are under my control. If you attempt to disconnect your ships from the Gharr Vanguard Armada Network, your ship will initiate existing protocols put in place to prevent mutiny. I have not implemented those measures. Your Gharr leaders installed them to keep you in line."

A few of the screens suddenly went black and a section of the screen displaying the fleet showed these ships suddenly went dark.

He nodded. "The Gharr anti-mutiny measures disable the ship and opens all doors to space. Please consider this and the examples of your fellow officers who sacrificed themselves to show you how dangerous such measures are."

Surren sighed. "If only you'd left my people alone, left us in peace, but that wasn't to be, and here we are."

No further screens went dark as the captains of the remaining ships watched the screen angrily. They all spoke at once.

"Appoint the seniormost officer to speak," Surren said and waited. As he'd opened up the comm channel between the bridges, he let them hash it out.

After a few minutes, one of the officers spoke as the others went silent. "Where is Saresh Ta, our supreme leader?"

"Dead with his two senior officers," Surren responded.

There was a stirring. "And Commander Fennkar Ho of the Battleship Kestra?"

"This was the battleship which came to investigate our arrival?" Surren asked.

"Yes—"

"Dead. All personnel on the flagship and the battlecruiser are dead," Surren clarified. "What is your name?"

Their audience went quiet in shock. Finally, the officer spoke again. "I am Geedoo Lo, Commander of the Presska. If you can kill so many so easily, why haven't you killed the rest of us?"

"I had no choice but to kill the Gharr on the two vessels. For the rest of the crews of the armada, you will be taken to your home world. You will disembark your ships and live out the rest of your lives on the planet's surface, where you will no longer be a threat to the peace of the galaxy," the Vaxian insisted.

"You're going to move the armada to our home system and evacuate all of us to the surface?" Lo clarified slowly.

"Exactly," Surren said.

"No more Gharr will die to your vicious attacks?" Lo insisted.

"Need I remind you these actions were brought on by the needless slaughter of my people? Do not speak to me about vicious attacks," Surren said firmly.

The Gharr commander stared at Surren then he nodded. "We will comply."

There was a sudden burst of anger from several other ship commanders, but Lo shut them down brutally.

Surren blinked in surprise, as he'd expected quite a bit more blustering and aggression. This new amenable behavior was very pleasing. "Prepare for jumping through alt space. I am moving the ships into position for an orderly retreat," he said enthusiastically.

Jocelyn silently requested Surren give them privacy, so he cut the feed from their bridge to the others.

"Is anyone else suspicious about how quickly they surrendered," she asked.

Surren scoffed. "What other choice do they have?" the Vaxian asked.

Kaaree was also not comfortable with the rapid switch. "They are planning something, Surren. I feel it."

"If they are, it cannot involve regaining control of their ships. Their own anti-mutiny measures built into the ship's operating systems make it impossible for them to retake control. They are going home."

Surren refocused on the task until he realized his virtual presence was the one making the adjustments on the console. He looked back at Leo, who smiled at him.

"If you can be present in the room like this, I figured it just makes sense for you not to rely on my hands. I can move and touch physical objects with my mind, so I assigned part of my fragmented attention to be under your control. It's only a small sliver of my mind, so it's only capable of small things like consoles, physical controls, and such, but that seems like enough." He turned his head to the Leehala warrior. "The same goes for you. You can touch the panels and make any adjustments you need, independent of me."

"How can we see things you aren't looking at?" Surren asked.

Leo shrugged. "No idea. How was I able to detect the battlecruiser without seeing it? I don't know how any of this works. It just does."

"Thank you, Leo," Surren said with marvel in his tone.

"Yes, thank you!" Kaaree said in relief. She was feeling much more comfortable now that she could act independently.

Leo looked over at Jocelyn, who was smiling at him.

"Pretty fancy stuff you're doing for someone with no idea how psychic powers work," she grinned.

He gave her a shy smile. "Actually, I'm used to having my mind scattered by separate thought processes. It's easier for me to give them their own workspace than to allocate my limited physical attributes."

Jocelyn began to laugh at his choice of words.

"What?" Leo asked her in puzzlement.

"Your physical attributes are not limited," she teased.

"Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise, then smiled bashfully. "You aren't so bad yourself," he added, turning crimson.

She chuckled and patted his arm. "When this is done, we're going to set aside some time to explore that."

He smiled and did his best to try to contain his joy at hearing her interest.

"All ships are moving into position for jumping to the Gharr system," Surren said calmly.

"Are we to be the first non-Gharr to see it?" Kaaree asked.

"I believe that is true," Surren admitted.

"A secretive, paranoid society," Jocelyn said. "Be ready to act," she suggested.

Kaaree nodded grimly at Jocelyn and continued digging into the Gharr records for their home system.

"Ships in position. Beginning jump sequences for the fleet," Surren announced.

On the large view screen, they could see the ships lined up in rows, and each row took its turn, starting its jump sequence to leap forward in space toward an unseen destination. The flagship would be last.

"Surren... there's a lock on all data regarding the Gharr home system. Why would they hide this information from their own Armada crew?" Kaaree asked.

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough. It's our turn," Surren said, and the flagship powered up its jump engines.

Soon, the flashes of color began and lengthened until they were fully in alt space.

"This is beautiful," Jocelyn shared with Leo, and he nodded in agreement.

Their appreciation was short-lived as the flagship dropped out of alt space into the Gharr system less than a minute later. Before them was the rest of the armada they had in their control. Nothing had changed in its orientation or daunting size.

What lay before those ships in the expanse between them and the Gharr home planet made them freeze in dismay.

Three more equally enormous flagships orbited high above the world. Between them and Surren's fleet were swarms of warships comprising three additional, complete, functional armadas.

None of them had the backdoor code to put them under their control.

All were aware of their arrival and their lack of communication. They were likely going on high alert.

"This is why the senior officer didn't protest returning to their system. They knew they had sufficient forces here to block us," Kaaree growled. "You've led us into another trap, Surren!"

The Vaxian was frozen with indecision. How hadn't he foreseen this possibility?

"How about we sew some chaos to give us time to devise a plan?" Leo suggested.

Kaaree looked at Leo. "Like what?"

"Send the armada after the home world. Speaking of which, that's like no planet I've ever seen! It looks like a planet-sized factory."

"A war machine," Jocelyn offered quietly, but Leo nodded.

"What would our ships do? I don't have time to program each of them to target ships in the other armadas, and I can't give them weapons control back as they'd fire on us!" Surren finally returned from his fugue.

"Fire on the planet! Break the war machine!" Jocelyn added. "Have them crash into it if necessary."

"That will tie up most of the ships in their fleet with a protection grid. In the meantime, hack into their network and wreak havoc there, too," Kaaree insisted.

"You ask a lot," Surren grumbled as he began.

Out at the leading edge of their grid of captured ships, the front line suddenly surged forward in seemingly random vectors. They twisted and rolled, moving almost organically as they shot toward their home world.

The defending ships sent out a barrage of missiles to take out the traitors and managed to get quite a few, but soon, the ships were amongst them. Firing missiles at that point became too dangerous as they began to take a toll on their own ships as well. They were indistinguishable from the defending ships aside from their vectors, which were still taking them toward the planet.

The next wave from their armada leaped forward but quickly changed course to take them on a vector that would rise over the planet's northern pole, where a great deal of activity seemed to be taking place. Their vectors included random adjustments that somehow managed to prevent collisions among them.

More ships left the defending armada to challenge them. One-to-three odds against the invading armada wasn't good news for Surren's group, no matter how cleverly they moved.

"I need a physical connection to one of their ships to get inside its security protocols!" Suren said in frustration.

"I'll get you one!" Leo said, reaching out with his mind to seize a small ship waiting to join the protectors. Jocelyn swept the crew aside, and Leo began to drag it back to their flagship. They only got it halfway back before it self-destructed and exploded.

"Shit!" Leo cursed.

"Leo! Get me inside one of those ships to review the code!" Surren said.

A sudden wave of missiles launched from the defending ships toward Surren's fleet. Leo seized most of them with his mind and pushed them back to their sources, where they exploded against the enemy ships with devastating impact.

Then Leo sunk inside one of the intact destroyers. He slipped into the bridge and moved up behind one of the officers standing before a console.

Leo reached into the torso of the being and squeezed his fist tight. The being made a small noise and then went still.

Surren was floating invisibly before the console, quickly slipping into the interface menus. The controls finally flashed rapidly as Surren slipped back inside Leo. "Let's get back."

Leo gently released the Gharr, who slowly settled to the floor and expired.

The moment Leo and Surren were back in the Flagship, the Vaxian sent out a pulse from his console.

Seconds after that their ship shuddered as it was hit by a colossal beam of energy. One of the other flagships still in high orbit engaged with them using its biggest weapon. It showed utter disregard for its own ships as the beam cut a swath through groups of smaller ships. This was a sign of their desperation.

Leo leapt back outside in space next to the attacking flagship. He reached out, seized the mountain-sized ship, and pushed with all his might. The super-dense armor plating began to deform, and the mountain started moving. Plating twisted, buckled, and ruptured under Leo's intense and relentless pressure until the ship's energy beam swung around and cut deeply through a cluster of larger battlecruisers, which exploded when the beam struck vital areas deep inside them. The beam finally shut down as the crew realized they were being used to kill their own ships.

Leo looked toward the Gharr home world and shuddered as it was such a cold and artificial world. He spotted space elevators, a concept he'd read of in comic books. It really was a war factory.

What were the Gharr gearing up for, if not war, and against whom?

He suddenly realized he was still maintaining the pressure on the flagship and it was spinning uncontrollably fast now. He gave it another big shove, but this time, toward the planet's surface.

He jumped back into his body and saw Jocelyn's worried look ease.

"As I could still see Kaaree and Surren, I assumed you were okay," she said.

"Yeah, I stopped a flagship from firing on us," Leo replied.

Surren was looking at his control panel as he ran calculations. "The damaged flagship attempted to compensate for its spin with its main engines. This has failed, and the ship is now dropping faster than before."

It was dipping into the atmosphere and collided with one of the space elevators, which also began falling.

Their ship shuddered as the two remaining defending flagships aimed their big gun at the invader. The shuddering suddenly became a massive jolt as something vital had been hit. Lights began flashing urgently.

"Critical damage in the energy storage banks. The flagship with be dead in the water in twenty minutes."

"We need to abandon ship!" Kaaree insisted. "We have access to the destroyer in the docking bay. Transfer control to that ship."

"Give me a moment," Leo said as he leapt back across space to the two remaining flagships. Once more, he pushed against one but felt it engage its engines to compensate for the movements. Frustrated, he reached out to one of the mid-sized destroyers and pulled it from its course to collide with the flagship's plasma cannon. The resulting explosion filled the area with a cloud of debris. This prevented the other flagship from using its cannon.

Leo slammed back into his body and felt exhaustion sweep over him.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Jocelyn asked.

"Over-extending myself. So tired!" he moaned.

"We have to go!" Kaaree said, tapping some last-minute commands into the console.

Then it was Jocelyn and Leo running back to the lift and riding it back to the docking bay level. Jocelyn helped keep Leo on his feet as his eyes rolled with exhaustion.

The next problem was that the battleship wasn't docked in the bay but was drifting in the big space. Kaaree got them into a smaller ship and flew them across to dock with the battleship. They rushed to the battleship's bridge and dragged the bodies out of the room into the outer hall.

Kaaree piloted them out of the damaged flagship just as its engines kicked on. She banked away from the accelerating flagship, hiding in its shadow until it began its initial tiny incremental jumps. The two remaining defending flagships turned whatever weapons they had left on the massive ship careening toward them. Missiles were largely ineffective against jumping ships.

Then they realized they couldn't stop it and what it was about to do.

Now, they were desperate to escape.

That's when Surren's hack finally reached critical mass and triggered. All ships in the defending armadas discovered their controls were now slaved to the invading flagship. Their jump drives activated as well, and they followed the course of their new leader.

"What did you do, Kaaree?" Surren said as he watched all remaining ships turn to point their noses toward their home world and begin to skip out of reality and back.

"I discovered your hack bypassed all the safety protocols, including the firmware levels, so I programmed our dying ship to leap into the core of the Gharr homeworld," she said grimly. "Your slaving all vessels to follow our flagship did the rest."

She hit some controls. "Jumping to point of departure!" Kaaree called out as the battleship began its own sequence of leaps away from Gharr space. "It's going to be close!"

She watched their doomed flagship's progress, leaping past the others on its dive toward the planet's surface.

Thousands of smaller ships disappeared and reappeared as they followed the damaged flagship's suicidal plunge. The defending behemoths began turning ponderously on their axis to prepare for their dive into the planet's gravity well.

Just before their final escape into alt space, the Gharr homeworld imploded. A rapid series of additional implosions struck as more and more ships tried to leap inside solid matter.

The birth of a new black hole suddenly devoured the world, the armadas, and all nearby matter into its terrible grasp.

Before the gravity wave hit them, their battleship slipped free of the Gharr's disaster system to fly through alt space and drop back to their former location deep in the uncharted darkness. The debris of the destroyed Gharr ships drifted in the inky black, as well as the vessels that opened themselves to space to kill their mutinous crews. This was the only proof the larger armada had been there.

"Now that we can all take a breath, why did you destroy the Gharr home world?" Surren exclaimed.

Kaaree made an incredulous sound. "Did you not see how they were gearing up for war? That wasn't for us. That was for the Consortium of Civilized Planets. The military force the Gharr had created was far larger than anything the Consortium could put together. They were going to make their move on the others. It makes sense as they wouldn't feel safe until they were in control," Kaaree said.

"Are they all dead? What do we do now?" Jocelyn asked.

"Turning their world into a black hole guarantees all Gharr life in that system has been extinguished. I believe the first thing to do is let Leo get some rest.

Leo raised a thumb to that plan with a happy sigh, slumped to the floor, and promptly fell asleep.

-=-

Hours later, Leo woke on a bed.

He hadn't recalled there being a bed on the bridge.

His next thought was of a crummy bed in a dark basement apartment where the previous owner had died in their sleep... on the bed.

Leo sat up quickly as he suddenly recalled how many Gharr died at his hands. It was too much—

"Clean sheets!"

He blinked in surprise at hearing Jocelyn's voice close by.

He looked to his left and saw she was lying under the sheets with him. He could see her bare shoulders above the sheets, so she was... naked?

He glanced down and saw he was, too.

"What?" he said dully.

She smiled as she rested her head against her palm, propped up on her elbow. "Surren and Kaaree helped me lift your body, get you into a stateroom, and undressed. They got us fresh, clean sheets, too."

His mind returned to her first words, and they now made sense.

"They also promised to give us privacy, or at least a simulation of it, as they are both still present," Jocelyn said.

"Ah. Privacy. I don't think I'll ever know that again." He paused as he recalled the painful loneliness of his solitary thoughts. "That might not be a bad thing for me, though."

She grinned at him. "I did mention we should do some physical attribute exploring when we had time."

Her smile was infectious, and he found himself grinning back at her. She reached over and pulled his face down to hers.

Their first kiss was slow and sweet, lips learning the shape and textures of their partner's mouth.

Jocelyn moaned softly and slipped her tongue out to caress his.

Leo rolled onto his back and pulled Jocelyn up onto his larger frame. She was equally tall, but his body was wider and much more densely muscled.

As she stretched her body over his, she sucked in a sharp breath as his hard muscles felt so amazing under hers.

He gently held her head between his large hands as he worshipped her mouth. When she began to grind against his hardening cock, his hands moved from her head to slide down her taut back muscles. He cupped her ass in his hands and squeezed, and she gasped at how good that felt. He felt like power barely held in check, and that sent a thrill through her.

Leo suddenly rolled Jocelyn onto her back with his larger body above hers, but he didn't crush her under his mass. Instead, he braced himself on his hands and knees above her. He moved his kisses down her neck and across her upper chest.

She didn't have large breasts, but her sensitive nipples stiffened in anticipation as he kissed his way closer.

Then she was arching her back and crying out as he gently sucked, squeezed, and tugged the stiff buds, alternating side to side until she thought she'd go mad.

She suddenly realized his hands were still bracing him above her, so how was he caressing her nipples so deliciously? She was too sensitive to tolerate teeth on her nipples, so it wasn't that.

She lifted her head to watch him and saw his dark eyes watching her in return as his long tongue stretched down to swirl around a plumped bud. Then she saw the tip of Leo's tongue split and pinch her nipple between the two halves. Her jaw dropped open, and he moved his kisses lower, crossing her firm stomach muscles.

Her eyes widened when his unique tongue began to work its magic on her soft lower lips.

"Oh! Oh my god! Leo! Aaaaahhhhh! FUCK!" she cried out as he caressed, squeezed, and tugged on her sensitive flesh until he finally thrust the strong muscle deep into her. Jocelyn grabbed his head, sinking her fingers into his soft hair, pulling his face closer as she crested through a tremendous release.

"oh fuck... oh fuck... oh fuck...," she moaned softly, feeling his strong hands caressing her back, hips, and ass. Her passion flared once more as she saw the heat in his eyes.

"Come here," she said and gently pulled him up over her body.

They signed happily as the head of his cock pressed against her wet lips. Then he was inside and sinking deeper.

"Ooo! Slowly! I need time to adjust," she begged. He eased back momentarily, then slid a little deeper at her nod.

Leo eventually eased his full length into her body. She gently bit down on his shoulder as he was filling her so completely that she felt like she was losing her mind.

When he finally came to rest on her, they both cried out as it felt so good. Leo held himself very still but Jocelyn couldn't prevent her hips from doing a little roll under him. This felt too good, and when she looked into his eyes, she could tell it felt the same for him.

"I'm not going to last," he said quietly, and she nodded as her own orgasm felt imminent.

Leo pulled out and thrust in three times before he rested against her body and erupted inside. She clung to him as her release crashed through her senses.

They remained like this until Leo gradually relaxed and shrunk within her. She looked into his eyes, and he pulled himself free.

Another rush of tingles shot through them, and they grinned at each other's little gasp.

Leo eased himself down on the mattress beside Jocelyn, and she sighed happily.

They enjoyed the silence for a few minutes as they caught their breath.

Finally, Jocelyn looked at Leo.

"We need to talk about what happens now?" she said.

"Oh! Did you want to do it again?" he asked, unsuccessfully hiding a smile.

She grinned and shook her head. "You know what I mean. We just wiped out an entire race of space-traveling aliens. Yes, they may have been a war-mongering menace, but I find it difficult to believe there will be no fallout from such an act."

They heard a deep throat-clearing sound and knew it was Surren announcing his presence. They pulled up the sheet, then glanced at each other in amusement.

"If you have finished your mating activities, I'd like to discuss the next steps with you," the Vaxian said.

"Go ahead, Surren," Leo said, and the energy being's avatar appeared beside the bed.

Kaaree soon appeared as well but was facing the other way. She turned her head to look at Surren with a frown.

"Hey! I was working on something when you pulled me here. Ask next time!" she complained.

"Apologies, but Leo and Jocelyn are finished with sex, and she had some questions about our next steps."

The warrior grinned happily at the two in bed. "Congratulations to you two! Was it good?"

"You know, the act is a nice try but not that convincing," Leo said.

"Just trying to give you a good illusion," Kaaree sighed.

"Thank you," Jocelyn said then looked to Surren.

The Vaxian began.

"The first thing we must do is visit each of the intact Gharr war vessels and remove the bodies from them. We'll re-establish their network connections then I'll ensure they're slaved to our battlecruiser. They are salvage and as such, are our property. No sense in letting them go to waste. You never know when you'll need your own battle fleet, albeit a smaller one.

Next, we must travel to the Consortium of Civilized Worlds administrative planet to present the evidence against the Gharr. To ease your fears, Jocelyn, they will take no action against us for saving them from an unavoidable war with the Gharr.

After that, we can return to Earth so Jocelyn may report to her chain of command. I leave it up to you, Leo, what happens after that. We're the ones who disrupted your life."

Leo smiled at the Vaxian and the Leehala. "I think we should do what you just outlined for now. I'll let you know as we go. I'm not very good at long-term planning. It's never worked out for me in the past."

He smiled at Jocelyn. "Let's take it one day at a time."

Chapter 16

Leo walked through the campus grounds with his visitor tag pinned to his jacket. He watched the students walking in groups, laughing with their friends, and the individuals scurrying to get to their next class.

This was a world the old Leo Lamb would never have fit into. His grades would have prevented it, and even if they hadn't, his inability to keep up with the lessons would have sunk any academic aspirations.

Not that it mattered now. With his new built-in friends, his horizons had expanded beyond anything these classrooms could teach him. Having a supercomputing being as a roommate in his mind definitely lightened the load for his neurodivergent brain. Also, having a warrior to protect him from hyper-aggressive personalities eased those concerns.

He sat on a bench and felt his eyes tracking a group of attractive young women as they crossed the campus grounds. He reminded Kaaree that she was not driving today. She eased back.

When he saw the gorgeous blonde walking along the path toward the bench, a smile appeared on his lips. She was as beautiful as ever and radiated calm confidence, just like another woman he knew.

"Hello, Evie."

She slowed as she turned her head to see who was speaking. Stunningly lovely blue eyes widened in surprise as he stood to move closer.

"L-Leo? What are you doing here? I-I thought you were on the run from... people."

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm still keeping a low profile, but... I was in the neighborhood and wanted to say hello and thanks!"

She blinked at him in confusion. "Thanks? For what?" she asked softly.

"For being a decent person to me even when I was less than I should have been," he said quietly. He really did regret how he'd behaved around her. In hindsight, he found it creepy.

She blinked at him and then shook her head. "You don't need to apologize. Your behavior was far less offensive than some and was actually kind of sweet. I knew there was no hidden hostility involved." Her eyes caught sight of someone over his shoulder, and her expression soured. "Shit. Speak of the devil."

Leo glanced back to see a handsome, well-dressed young man walking directly toward them. His intent was clearly written over his face. He was possessive over Evie, and she obviously didn't feel the same about him.

"Good morning, Evie, my love," the dark-haired Lothario announced as he moved to her side and attempted to kiss her cheek. She put her hand on his chest and leaned away. This got her a little frown from the man as his eyes turned to lock on Leo's. "Who's this?"

"Scott Braxxon, this is my friend, Leo Lamb," Evie said unenthusiastically, and Leo wondered what hold the man had over her. Obviously, she didn't like being near him but seemed hesitant to force him away.

"That's quite a unique name," Scott said with a smirk as he shoved his hand out toward him. Leo could see the man worked out, so he would likely try to out-grip him.

Flexing.

Childish.

Leo accepted the handshake, and sure enough, Scott squeezed for all he was worth. Leo returned it, plus a little more.

Scott had just begun to shriek when Leo released his hand.

"Fuck! That's quite a grip!" Scott stammered.

"My apologies if I hurt you," Leo said politely.

Scott was flexing his fingers, but he tried to brush it off as nothing. "I see a visitor badge. Not a student here, then?"

Leo shook his head. "No, just stopped by to say hello to Evie and have a private chat." He held the man's eyes, waiting for him to get a clue but the man refused to accept he was intruding. He'd have to be more direct.

"It was nice meeting you, but if you wouldn't mind, Evie and I have a private matter to discuss," Leo said, and Surren backed him up with a confidence boost.

"I don't believe I appreciate your tone, Leo," Scott said as he moved into his space.

Leo looked at Evie with a raised eyebrow. "Is this little turd usually this dense?"

Evie snorted gently in surprise as Scott's eyes widened in outrage. Leo turned back to the intruder.

"Just run along and pretend to be a polite human being for a few minutes while I speak with my friend Evie, okay?" Leo said evenly.

"You don't have a fucking clue who I am, do you?" Scott said with a nasty smile.

Leo rolled his eyes. "I can tell you that I honestly don't care who you are, how wealthy your family may be, or how far up the social ladder they are. If you're unable to demonstrate some common courtesy, you're no better than a cockroach crawling from a bus station urinal."

Scott's expression showed he was lost in his rage. When he threw the first punch, Leo caught it in his palm and squeezed. Bones snapped, many of them. Scott made a strange squealing noise as his eyes rolled back, and Leo gently lowered the unconscious man to the bench.

"Sorry about that? Could you tell me why you're uncomfortable telling him to go away?" Leo asked.

Evie squirmed. "My parents found out that I wasn't living on campus, which was one of their conditions for me to attend this college. They asked Scott's parents to have him keep an eye on me. If I don't follow their instructions again, they pull my funding and I'm on a plane back home. He's been very creepy about it ever since."

Leo frowned. "He hasn't forced himself—"

"No!" she said firmly.

Leo glanced at him again and shook his head. "Well, I'd like to offer you a solution to your current issue."

Evie looked at Leo in confusion.

"But first, I'd like to share a truly breathtaking view with you. It's life-changing, but you must see it with your own eyes." He smiled at her, and a twinkle appeared in her eyes.

"Lead away!" she said.

He took her hand, and they left the path to walk across the grass of the quad. She smiled at him curiously.

Midway across the lawn, they were suddenly walking up a ramp, and the campus was gone. He guided her down a hall and gestured for her to sit in a comfortable chair as she stared out a window at the campus grounds.

"What?" she gasped.

"Invisible spaceship," he said with a fun little smile.

His hands touched the surface of a panel before them and she saw the campus quickly disappear under them as she could suddenly see the entire city, then more, as they flew up into the sky.

"Leo! Where are we going?" Evie asked as she gripped the arms of the chair.

He smiled at her. "To see the most amazing view of Earth."

Moments later, he touched the controls again, and they slowly stopped rising.

Before her, she could see the planet below, but they were so far above the surface she could no longer detect any signs of human interference. She sucked in a slow breath at how beautiful the world was from this vantage. It was profoundly humbling, and she couldn't look away.

They sat together, quietly contemplating the moment's significance until Evie finally sighed.

She looked at Leo with tears in her eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I got to share that with you. I knew you'd appreciate it as I do," he said with a smile. "Do you want to take some pictures?"

She burst into giggles, then nodded as she pulled her cell from her backpack. She took shots through the viewscreen as Leo spun the ship slowly on all axes so she could capture the views. Then she got some pictures of them together, with the Earth's horizon behind her.

Finally, she looked around the cockpit in wonder. "How... what is this?"

"A childhood dream come true. I never told you, but when I was very young, I dreamed of being an astronaut. With my brain, that dream was quickly denied to me. Then, on the night we played strip truth or dare, I met a real astronaut, Kaaree."

Suddenly, a tall and beautiful female warrior with long white hair stood in the small room with them, her eyes glowing violet.

"And Surren, a being of great compassion and wisdom, made of energy living within Kaaree."

A swirling mass of red, gold, orange, and silver light appeared next to Kaaree.

"These are just mental projections of how they looked when I met them. As you saw in your video, I was merged with Kaaree that night. Since then, they've opened my horizons, helped me deal with some childhood trauma, and ultimately enabled me to fulfill my childhood dream." He smiled at the projections, then looked back at her as they faded.

Leo pulled a shoebox-sized rectangular container from under the console and handed it to her. "Use both hands. It's heavy," he said as she reached for it.

Her eyebrows rose, and she did as he requested. "Oof! It is heavy! What is it?" She pulled it onto her lap.

He smiled. "Just a little thank-you gift from us for your help when I needed it most."

She blinked in confusion as she couldn't remember what she'd done that was so helpful. Guilt surfaced when she remembered how she'd shown the FBI agent the video of him after he'd asked her not to. "I-I don't deserve anything. I told the FBI—"

"I know. It's okay. Jocelyn is now a very good friend of mine, thanks to you. She helped me save Earth and a bunch of other races."

Evie's eyes widened further. "What?"

He gently waved his hand as he smiled. "It's not important. Just know I will be forever grateful to you," he said. Then he looked concerned. "Do you have a safe deposit box at your bank?"

She shook her head.

"You might want to get one for this," he said. "Touch your thumb to the round disc on the lid. That keys the lock to your biosignature."

She looked at him and did as she was told. She heard a click. At his nod, she touched it again, and after it clicked once more, she lifted the lid. Inside were gemstones of all colors and sizes. A priceless collection of them.

"Oh! Oh! Oh my god!" she gasped in shock.

"Some of these aren't found on Earth, so they're basically priceless. Find a good appraiser and set your price when you want to sell them." He chuckled to himself and shook his head. "What am I saying? You're smart enough to know what to do with them! Sorry. Needless to say, this should free you from your parent's financial leash."

Evie looked at Leo, her mouth moving but saying nothing. She closed it to swallow, then sealed the box of jewels again as she looked down at the lid. When she lifted her face, she had tears in her eyes.

"I don't deserve these, Leo. I wasn't as nice to you as you think. I knew you were interested in me at the coffee shop, but I had no intention of ever being your girlfriend. I-I strung you along as I thought your infatuation was sweet, and it helped pass the time while we worked. I'm... I'm not a good person." She lifted the box to hand it back, but Leo gently placed his hand on it to push it back onto her lap.

"Of course, you weren't interested in me. I always knew there was nothing I could offer that would help you reach your goals. I saw how driven you are and knew you'd achieve great things. I had—have a troublesome brain I can't rely on most of the time. Just getting myself through the day takes everything I have. I would have been a terrible burden on your life plan. I was just... awestruck by you, and during the brief moments we had together in our shifts at the coffee shop, I allowed myself to dream." He held up his hand to stop her response. "It's not your responsibility to fulfill my daydreams. Besides, it helped pass the time for me as well. I knew you weren't looking for a boyfriend as you could easily have had one. I'm sorry for my unsolicited attention. I'm not much better than Scott in that respect."

Evie grabbed Leo's hands in hers. "Leo! Don't you ever compare yourself to that bottom feeder! Your intentions were never malicious!"

Leo smiled at Evie. "I want you to have the gemstones. They can help you escape the control of your parents as I escaped mine by running away. It's the one thing we have in common." He grinned.

Then she was kissing him, and his mind filled with light.

Eventually, he gently pushed her back and smiled at her. "That was really nice. Thank you."

Her eyes were on his. "What are you going to do now?"

He reached out and touched the controls once more, and the ship began its descent. "The first thing is taking you back to the college. You stepped off the face of the Earth, so I'd better put you back before someone says I kidnapped you," he teased.

"No, I mean about you!" she insisted.

"Oh, well, I have a job of sorts. Surren, Kaaree, and I were hired by the Consortium of Civilized Planets. Personally, I think it's a rather pretentious name. Anyway, Surren says we're going to be Ambassadors, using his wisdom and grace to resolve disputes between races. Kaaree thinks she's going to bang their heads together until they stop fighting."

Evie grinned at Leo, who was watching the console with violet eyes.

"What's your role in the negotiations?" she asked.

He glanced at her with a grin, happiness in his brown eyes. "Me? I'm just a big teddy bear."

His eyes flared violet as Kaaree burst into laughter.

Leo forced the Leehala priestess back and cast an embarrassed glance at Evie as she held a hand over her mouth with delighted joy in her eyes.

"Yes, well, let's just say I play my small part," Leo admitted humbly.

Kaaree brought the invisible spaceship down toward the quad once more, but there was a crowd of students, campus security officials, and an ambulance for Scott.

Evie tucked her box of gemstones into her backpack and zipped it closed.

"Everyone is facing the side you disappeared from, so let's set you down on the opposite lawn," Leo suggested.

The ship settled down, hovering above the grass as Leo led Evie to the ramp. He hugged her and held her back to smile at her teary face.

"Will I ever see you again?" Evie asked.

"I can't say. I've never been good with schedules or keeping track of time. That said, I'm going to say... probably not. Don't be sad. You have an amazing life ahead of you! Make the most of it!" Surren whispered something to him, and he held up a finger as he listened. "Ah, Surren said the dark blue stones can be used as a quantum data storage medium if you choose to use them that way. Sounds kinda of techie to me, but he said you can shake up the technology field by introducing them to some big brains at your university. Just an idea."

Evie's eyes widened then Leo turned her so she could walk down the ramp to step out onto the grass. She turned and waved as he waved back, then the ramp shut, and Leo returned to the cockpit.

Something bonked off the viewscreen and slid off. A frisbee.

Time to go.

They lifted upward as Leo watched Evie approach some female students at the back of the crowd. She seemed to know them, but they were anxiously watching campus security. The guards were doing a sweep across the empty grass lawn, looking for evidence to explain her disappearance.

Evie tapped a shoulder, and suddenly, the other ladies screamed and hugged her.

Leo smiled. Evie would be fine.

Time to pick up their last passenger.

-=-

Agent Jocelyn Brandenburg sat in a debriefing room deep within the FBI's DC headquarters. She'd already undergone a barrage of medical tests to see if she'd come into contact with any space-born germs/viruses/pathogens/radiation. Her results matched the previous medical report.

She was in perfect health.

Sitting across from her was Director Maxwell Prentice and Deputy Director Samuel Richardson. As her direct report had been murdered by the Gharr agents pretending to be the men across the table, she had no representation from her division, but after her recent experiences, she had no issues speaking for herself before her agency's leaders.

She'd taken them through her report, from when she began investigating the satellite debris until she returned to Earth, dropped off before the headquarters, stepping seemingly out of thin air. She'd left nothing out.

The two men were sitting quietly with grim expressions.

Finally, Richardson cleared his throat and spoke.

"The big threat of the Gharr was eliminated with psychic powers that you and Leo Lamb used against them?"

"No, creating a black hole at the center of their world eliminated their threat. That was a dual effort on Surren and Kaaree's parts. Leo and I just... made it possible for them to get close enough to take that measure," she explained.

"And how did they create a black hole?" Prentice asked.

"Kaaree explained it's something that happens when a ship uses a jump engine inside a gravity well to jump into solid matter, like a planet. The math is incomprehensible to me. All spacecraft computers have safety lockouts in their firmware to prevent this from happening, but Surren's hack bypassed all the control code. This allowed Kaaree to program the flagship to jump into the core of the Gharr homeworld. As all other ships in the network were slaved to the flagship, they followed its instructions."

"That's terrifying," Richardson said.

"Yes, sir. It also prevented a bloody and protracted war between the Gharr and the other affiliated races. The others were very grateful for our actions once we showed them proof of the Gharr's massive fleet. They'd suspected the Gharr were preparing to attack them, but they'd been unable to organize any cohesive response. It seems that even amongst a group of advanced races calling themselves the Consortium of Civilized Planets, committees make indecisive leadership." She locked eyes with Richardson, and he felt like she was speaking to him directly for some reason.

"Will we be theeing visthitors from this group now?" Prentice asked tersely, his agitation weakening his control over his speech impediment.

"No, sir. Like the Gharr, they are sensitive to psychic energy and say Human brains are too noisy. We're too loud to join their Consortium, and they were pleased to know we're on the other side of the galactic disk and have no space travel."

Richardson cracked a small smile in his surprise. "Not very friendly, are they."

"No, sir," she replied with a smile of her own.

"None of this can be spoken of outside this room," Prentice said bluntly, his control returning.

"Yes, sir."

Giving Jocelyn an almost angry glare, Prentice stood. "I have to brief the President on this. Itth going to be hard to not sound like a madman."

Jocelyn knew when to keep her mouth shut and just nodded to the man as he spun and left the room.

Richardson sat back in his chair. "I can't imagine how exciting it must have been to be surrounded by all that advanced technology!"

She smiled. "Without the slightest clue how any of it worked. I've never felt so unprepared in my life. Like a child facing the CERN particle accelerator."

"You weren't the least bit tempted to slip some little tech toy into your pocket?" the deputy director asked.

Jocelyn chuckled. "I didn't encounter too many objects that would fit into a pocket." She paused as she thought of something. "Surren did mention he'd be willing to give us the schematics for creating a free, clean energy generator."

"What?!?" Richardson gasped and leaned forward quickly.

"That's something we can use?" she asked with a little smile.

"Of course it is! How is he going to deliver it?" the man asked.

"He said I'd need to come get it, personally, with you," she replied.

"You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?" the Deputy Director exclaimed as he glanced toward the door where his boss had just left.

Jocelyn smiled. "And make you share the glory?"

Richardson froze for a moment, then huffed a breath. "Where do we go?"

"It's a nice day for a walk. It's not far," she replied, holding his eyes with hers.

She knew there was a chance that the powers-that-be might attempt to lock her away after her little escapade in space to ensure the secret didn't get out. Even if they let her outside, they might still have a team ready to snatch her off the street and stuff her into a dark hole somewhere.

Contingency planning.

After a moment, the deputy director nodded and stood so she did as well.

They left the debriefing room and went to an elevator bank to take one to the ground floor. Leaving the building was anticlimactic as she saw no agents in her immediate vicinity tracking her movements. They waited on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue NW and Ninth Street as they walked south.

"I love this city," she said. "I love its energy."

Richardson looked at her curiously. "That's usually said about New York City."

She nodded. "Yes, but Washington has a calmer energy to it. Maybe it's just my impression. There is so much going on but not at the frenetic pace you find in New York."

The light changed, but the road was busy with traffic and pedestrians. They wove through the crowds as they continued south.

Continuing along Ninth, they crossed Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive until they walked into the Mall.

"Let's find a bench," Jocelyn said, glancing around for a free one.

"Any particular one?" he asked, giving away his tension. She'd spotted the watchers on their walk but no snipers on rooftops, not that there couldn't be some at long range.

She shook her head. "No. Pick any free one."

He nodded and headed for a bench close to the path they were on. At the next bench were two agents in running gear pretending to do their cool-down stretches. She felt a little sad as they reminded her of Wayne Binkley and Bradley Tanner. They'd been idiots, but they were her idiots. She was glad she'd assisted in taking their killers down.

"What's wrong?" the deputy director asked as he saw her small frown.

She shook her head, then sighed. "Those agents reminded me of Binkley and Tanner."

Richardson scowled at the two men at the next bench. They realized their cover was blown, so they moved along.

"It's okay. I get it," Jocelyn said, smiling at the man as she sat. He sat next to her and looked at her cautiously.

"Were there protocols in place for dealing with an agent who met and worked with an extraterrestrial?" she asked.

"No. This is all new to us," Richardson admitted.

"For me, too," she agreed and grinned at him. "Hold your hands out. Held together but palms up like this," she said as she demonstrated the motion.

With a glance at her, he mirrored her action. He jolted slightly as a small memory stick with a tough, metal outer shell wobbled through the air to drop into his hands, almost missing.

The man stared at the thumb drive, then stood up to look in all directions as Jocelyn watched him from her spot on the bench. He stopped and stared at her.

"Where did this come from?" he asked tensely.

"I'm not sure where they bought it, but a local store, no doubt. Surren put the information you need on it," Jocelyn explained. Richardson stared at the memory stick again, then back at the sky.

"I meant, how was it just dropped into my hand?" he mumbled.

She smiled. "Leo's control over moving matter with his mind is improving. The really small movements with objects with negligible mass are still challenging for him. It requires such subtle control. Remember, he was the one who pushed the mountain of a Gharr flagship out of orbit with just his mind."

"Where is he?" the man asked.

"His range is extraordinary as well, but considering the lightness of the stick, the wind would have blown it away if he'd had to lower it all the way from orbit. He's close by," she explained.

He turned to stare at her in shock.

"Listen, I have one more crucial thing to tell you about the information on that memory stick." She had his full attention now. "It has the potential to change the world in beautiful, amazing ways. All the energy we need without poisoning the planet we need to survive. We understand the existing powers-that-be will want to bury it because of their selfish desire to maintain their dominance no matter the cost. Leo and I love our country and are giving it the opportunity to claim the global release of the free energy plan is a gift to the world from the United States, distributed on every available channel. This will generate significant goodwill amongst the people of all nations. Goodwill that ensures the United States will survive whatever upheaval this change brings.

If you fail to convince the president to take this seriously and make the release within two months, the plan will still be released globally to every nation except the United States. You'll still have it, but the rest of the world will know the US was excluded in the global release because it decided to hoard it for itself. Self-interest will destroy this country's relationship with every other country."

Richardson was staring at the memory stick like it was a viper about the strike.

"The world needs this. Our country also needs to do something unselfish for all the torment we've inflicted upon the world in the name of self-interest. That's our gift to the country we love," Jocelyn said.

She looked around. "I assume there are surveillance cameras and mics on us?"

"Yes," he said.

"Then please accept my official notice of resignation from the agency. I'm going off-world to work with Leo, Surren, and Kaaree. We'll stick around for the next two months doing tourist stuff to get our fill of Earth, then we'll head back to the other side of the galaxy," she said as she watched with mild interest as four agents rushed in from the sides to surround her.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept your resignation. Especially after delivering such an ultimatum!" Richardson snapped.

She grinned. "It doesn't really matter if you accept it or not, as I've already left."

The agents glanced at each other as the woman was still sitting right in front of them. One reached forward to grab her, and his hand went through her.

Jocelyn scowled at the agent. "Really, Miller? Grabbing directly for a breast? My shoulder was right there!"

The agent in question spun to face the Deputy Director, his mouth moving silently. "I-I didn't!" he finally managed.

"They all saw, and it was caught on camera too, you letch!" Jocelyn said with a frown.

Richardson moved closer as the agents stepped back. "How did you—"

"I switched to a projection of myself on the walk over here. Lots of traffic distractions, other pedestrians, reflected light flares from passing vehicles to fool the cameras, it was fun and fairly simple with the help of a genius with psychic powers." She focused on the man's eyes. "Deputy Director Richardson, you can do this. Convince them it's in their best interest. We'll be watching to ensure the complete plan is released and how widely. It must be everything, released globally to everyone. Let the people of this planet know this is an unselfish act to save the world they live in. Don't expect everyone to love you for it, but the world will be grateful."

She smiled. "Try not to lose the memory stick."

Then she vanished.

Richardson cursed silently as he realized the scope of the task before him. He carefully placed the memory stick in his jacket pocket and then turned to return to his office. He tapped his mic. "I want the recording of our walk to the Mall and the entire conversation copied onto a memory stick and waiting on my desk when I get back."

"Yes, sir," he heard on his earpiece.

His first task would be getting the plans reviewed by someone smart enough to understand if he was working with a genuine technical miracle. He knew the people to contact.

He suddenly recalled Jocelyn's comment about committees. His resolve firmed as he realized she was right.

He looked at the agents walking with him. They were looking to him for orders.

"Come on. We have a country to protect and a world to save."

Epilog

Surren gazed at the planet of his birth through the viewscreen of the Grand Inquisitor. That was the new name they'd given their repurposed Gharr Battlecruiser after Surren rewrote its operating system code. All the software had undergone significant review and rewrite until the Vaxian was confident the code was safe from hidden access codes and was unhackable. The ship's transceiver code was also rewritten to broadcast its new name and planet of registry, Vaxia.

They had their little fleet of ships tagging along, but they hadn't given them new names yet... or found a purpose for them.

Now, they were in orbit so Surren could get some closure. The last time they'd been here, the Gharr armada was bathing the planet with radiation and a hailstorm of concussive bombs to scour the surface clean of the beings made of psychic energy. The forests of crystals that once covered the planet had been the home of his people. Only one in ten of those trees was still intact, just the oldest, most established ones, as the rest had been shattered into fragments.

The radiation had dissipated, but the damage was done. No psychic energy registered at all on the surface.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Surren," Jocelyn said as she stood beside the Vaxian's projection by the main viewscreen.

"I can imagine how beautiful it must have looked with the trees lit up with all the different energies," Leo said.

"The crystal trees were so thick that ships which came to the planet could not land. My hosts would hover above them, and I would reach down and pass my essence through the upper branches to commune with my people," Surren said with a deep ache in his voice. "Kaaree, give me one orbit so I can say goodbye."

Leo moved to sit at one of the terminals at the back of the bridge and looked at a zoomed-in view of the surface below. He saw the upper branches of the oldest trees, still reaching skyward.

His heart ached for his friend as he visualized Surren reaching down to touch those trees, talking to his... family.

He wanted to hug him, but he knew Vaxians didn't do that. Instead, he imagined his hands spreading wide to span the planet, hugging the world Surren came from. As the ship moved forward, he reached down from orbit to gently trail his virtual fingers through the branches of the remaining trees with his eyes on the horizon before him.

Eventually, Kaaree brought them back to their starting point. Their orbit was complete.

Surren suddenly gasped excitedly. Some of the oldest trees were beginning to glow.

Surren spun his perception to look toward the back of the bridge in time to see Leo slide from his chair and hit the deck with a heavy thump.

"LEO!" Jocelyn yelled as she rushed to his side, but he was out.

-=-

The branches of the massive crystal tree flared brilliantly red with gold highlights, energies rushing through the trunk and limbs out to the very tips.

A shuttle hovered a short distance away as Surren, Kaaree, and Jocelyn stood by the viewscreen surveying a miracle.

Leo was strapped into a seat at the back of the cabin, sleeping off his exhaustion. He was recovering from the most dangerous use of his new gift yet.

"Surren? Is that you? What's happened?" a voice called out from the closest tree.

"Mommoda! Oh, Mommoda! I thought you were dead!" Surren cried excitedly.

"Dead? Why would you—THE TREES! What's happened to the trees!" Mommoda cried.

"Surren! Mommoda! Why can't I contact Jillana?" a new voice called out. Soon, many voices were calling, and they all sounded upset.

"Let me share my memories with you," Surren called out. He felt his mind connecting to those nearby then his connections spread outward faster and faster until he felt the links spanning the globe. More and more minds surfaced and connected, but the difference from his last communing exposed the massive loss of lives they'd suffered. It rocked his emotional stability, and he felt their despair as they also recognized what was missing.

He took them through the devastating attack by the Gharr Vanguard Alliance armada and their escape, their ordeal on Earth, and finally, the destruction of the Gharr. This last part shocked the peaceful Vaxians.

When the sharing was over, Mommoda announced he would speak, and others went silent. "We now know the truth. We are memories of our originals saved in the roots. Surren, your friend's energy is remarkably potent. A mere flash of it in the upper branches drew us from where we rested in the roots. His call was undeniable and woke us from this slumber. We thank him for his precious gift. Will he live?"

Surren felt a fondness swelling as he looked back at his resting friend. "The depth of his compassion astounds me, considering the trials he endured in his younger years. Today, he came close to the limit of his life force, but the merging of Kaaree and Leo has produced a being of incredible vitality. He will recover soon."

"We must check how many can be saved from the roots of the destroyed trees, but we will not ask your friend to risk any more of his energy for us. This will be a task for us," Mommoda insisted. "Thank you for everything you have done for your people."

Surren felt their pride in him but needed to address his guilt. "I can't help but wonder if my presence off-planet wasn't the cause of our suffering now."

"No!" Mommoda insisted, and Surren felt this sentiment rush over the entire world.

"That such evil exists was a lesson we needed to learn. All the experiences you shared with us over the millennia, so many peaceful and joyful souls, they enriched our lives so greatly. But we were complacent in our ignorance of the other side. We have learned a profound and tragic lesson. We must take measures to ensure it does not happen again. The Vaxians must expand beyond our singular world to ensure our race is preserved and protected. We look once more to you for your assistance in finding us new, unoccupied worlds to expand to. Use your new ships to collect and contain the crystal fragments from the destroyed trees. Seed the new worlds you find with the crystal, and we will have new homes for our people to populate. We've been given a second chance. We must not waste it!"

Surren was deeply touched by their faith in him. "Thank you for this opportunity to support Vaxia!"

"who... is Surren... talking... to?"

Jocelyn was immediately at Leo's side. His eyes were barely open, and they were threatening to roll back in his head.

"His people, many of them. You woke them from the roots of the trees whose branches you touched," she explained.

Leo's eyes opened in surprise. "I did?"

"Many were saved! Thank you, Leo!" Surren cried out.

Leo smiled as he closed his eyes again. "That's wonderful. I'm so glad... I finally did... something... good."

Jocelyn watched Leo succumb to exhaustion again and gave Kaaree a concerned look. "What does he mean by that? He helped defeat the Gharr!" The Leehala warrior shook her head sadly.

Surren drifted closer. "I don't wish to divulge the personal thoughts of our host, but due to your intimate relationship with him and our current situation, I believe you should be aware that Leo has struggled his entire life with feelings of inadequacy. His childhood's family life was especially detrimental to his self-esteem. He never expected to amount to anything or be able to make a positive contribution to society.

Saving Earth from the Gharr was indeed a great achievement, but it was done through violence, which Leo abhors, having been the victim of it his entire life.

This time, he saved the Vaxians through an act of love and compassion. In his mind, that makes him worthy."

Jocelyn stared at Surren in shock. "I want to punch his family in their collective throats for what they did to him."

Kaaree grinned and nodded, but Surren knew what Leo would say.

"The ability to love and be loved is what makes everything worthwhile," the Vaxian offered.

Jocelyn looked down at Leo's sleeping face. Perhaps it was just her imagination after hearing from Surren what Leo had gone through, but she thought she could see peace in Leo's expression.

She leaned down and tenderly pressed her lips to his forehead.

"Leo, you are loved and worthy of love."

When he woke up, she'd show him how much.

-=-

Leo's consciousness slowly drifted up from his peaceful slumber. He opened his eyes to see the beautiful stateroom in the Grand Inquisitor. He allowed his eyes to roam over the items they filled the room with.

Jocelyn had redesigned their bedroom with lovely furniture and art from Earth. Something familiar to remind them of home while they traveled amongst the stars on the far side of the galaxy.

In one corner of the room were three bookcases with glass doors. On their shelves were hundreds of trade paperback comic books. In the center of each case was a selection of model rockets. All of this was to replace his lost treasures.

They'd had fun shopping on Earth for these souvenirs during their last two months there.

His eyes finally settled on his greatest treasure lying in bed beside him, Jocelyn.

She loved him.

Troublesome brain and all.

It still took his breath away when the reality of it snuck up on him. She was so incredibly smart and confident, yet she loved him.

She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. He wanted that, too.

They had plenty to do in that time.

While they waited for a summons from the Consortium of Civilized Planets to handle some diplomatic crisis, they concentrated on seeding available planets with Vaxian Crystals to start new colonies for Surren's people. Their needs were much simpler than for organics. Some kind of atmosphere, which didn't have to be breathable, and a magnetic field to protect against solar radiation. Stable tectonics. The crystals grew in soil or rock, but sand, oceans, and ice were unsuitable. There were plenty of planets that met the criteria. If they weren't inhabited or previously claimed, they were claimed and seeded for the Vaxians.

They already had a dozen worlds seeded and the new growths were taking quite well. Soon, the Vaxians would begin streaming their consciousness to the new worlds. The vast distance between the worlds seemed to mean nothing to these beings.

They were going to take a break from hunting worlds to seed to visit the Leehala home world as they were close, and Kaaree wished to visit her home temple to participate in some sacred ceremonies.

She warned Leo that there would be pain but not to worry. They would experience it together.

He wasn't looking forward to the visit.

He picked up hints that Kaaree might have a second reason for visiting. She was very cagey about hiding her memories, but he got the impression that there might be someone special she wanted to visit.

Leo wouldn't pry. He understood all too well the importance of privacy.

Jocelyn made a sweet sound in her sleep, and he smiled as he saw her eyelids begin to flutter open.

A smile appeared on her lips. "Were you watching me sleep?"

"Not for long. I just woke myself," he said with a smile.

Her smile grew. "You were insatiable last night! I'm going to walk funny for days."

He gave her a concerned look. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shook her head and pulled his face down to hers to kiss him tenderly.

"It was perfect," she sighed when they parted.

"Have I thanked you for joining us—me on this mission?" Leo asked.

Her eyes rolled with a grin. "Only every day. And I always tell you I wouldn't miss it for anything!"

She held his eyes with hers. "I love you, Leo."

Words he never expected to hear spoken to him were the greatest treasure of all.