The Nature of Predators - Star Crossed (6/13)

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Memory Transcription Subject: Chloe de Vries, United Nations Consultant

Date [standardized human time]: January 6, 2150

The first thing I noticed when I woke was a comforting sense of warmth, as if I were secure in someone’s grasp. My makeshift cocoon was a place of safety, shielding me from all of the ills of the world. I snuggled deeper into the blankets, not wanting to leave this peaceful embrace; there was no sunlight flooding against my closed eyelids, so it must still be nighttime. My head rested against a pillow on its side, though I noticed that this didn’t quite feel like my bed at home. Wait, now I was certain—someone’s arm was wrapped around my waist, though the skin was so smooth against mine that it’d seemed surreal at first. Beyond confused in my half-awake state, my eyes snapped open.

A jolt of fear stabbed at my heart, spotting a sky-colored tentacle ensnaring my midsection. What the fuck, what the fuck?!

As my skull jerked in the creature’s direction, positing that this couldn’t be real, I caught a glimpse of the eternal void; I remembered where I was. The events of yesterday came rushing back to me, and the terrified scream died in my throat. Kelvanis hadn’t been awoken by my startled outburst, so I took a moment to calm my breathing. His eyes were sealed shut, their spherical shape noticeable with how they protruded. His expression was peaceful and happy, still gently clutching my torso. I felt guilty about my gut reaction to waking up beside him, when my memories hadn’t come back quite yet.

To say that I hadn’t expected my first meeting of an alien to go like this would be an understatement. I didn’t regret a thing about what had happened, but the Chloe of yesterday morning would’ve laughed at the idea of pairing up with any extraterrestrial, let alone a Kolshian—Kelvan helped me shed the idea that they were dangerous monsters. By the time I realized I was hanging on his every word, it was too late to put on the brakes. It was like a tether was drawing me toward him; there was euphoria in the times our skin brushed, and a desire to be closer that made me feel as light as air. There were so many reasons I shouldn’t be with him, yet when I hurt from his absence before he’d ever left…I couldn’t think of one.

“You are wonderful.” My voice was an inaudible whisper, not wanting to wake him. I delicately removed Kelvanis’ arm from being draped over me, watching as it fell against the mattress. “I need to get cleaned up, then check on my workload, but I’ll bring back some breakfast. Love you.”

Unable to resist the temptation, I leaned down to plant a kiss on his temple. The alien sighed with contentment in his sleep, and I watched Kelvanis with fond eyes for a few seconds. When people said you knew when you met the one, I hadn’t believed it, yet with him, it just clicked. Everything we did worked in conjunction with the other, as if it was always meant to. How was I supposed to keep a straight face, or focus on other cases, after last night? Hoping to clear my mind, I crept off for a quick shower; like my sweetheart had said, water cooled the mind’s embers. However, by the time I was toweling off my glistening hair, the oxytocin hadn’t relented a bit.

Knowing the only way I could force myself to leave was to task myself with something for him, I reminded myself that I should check up on his asylum request. There was another issue: if he was allowed to continue to Earth, that would mean he was leaving me. As much as I’d wanted to stay here and help other asylum seekers with the lack of compassion I’d seen from the UN staff, Kelvanis had won my heart. I could go home, with him, and help him settle in; there could be paths for both of us to raise awareness in the Sol system. What would my family think, if I quit my job in a day to run off with an alien? Had I gone mad?

I unzipped my bag, which I hadn’t begun to unpack at all, and dug out an outfit that I could throw together for the day. What was Kelvanis’ favorite color? That would’ve been what I’d prefer to wear, though I hoped the floral colors would suit his botanist mind. I cast a final glance back at the snoozing Kolshian, before heading for the exit. Inching the door open so that it wouldn’t wake him, I snuck out and closed it with a gentle touch. With an aluminum wall between us, it felt like I could finally breathe. My head leaned back against the door.

“Morning.” A human voice to my right made me jump, as I spotted a security guard posted nearby. Shit, I needed to come back soon, to figure out a way to sneak Kelvanis out of here. “Fresh meat, huh? Welcome to the Haf system.”

I faked a smile. “T-thanks. Um, sorry if this is a dumb question, but what time do we start? You know, being on the clock?”

“Huh? Your guide should’ve filled you in on the hours we work.”

“He said eight-hour days, forty-minute lunch. Didn’t specify the whole ‘start and end time,’ or even how you measure those things…out here.”

“Our time is synced with time back home, on Earth. I’d help, but fuck if I know which shift you’re put on. Who was your guide?”

“Kenzo.”

The man blinked, smirking. “That explains a lot. He’s been pissy as can be since the incident: too good for anyone else now, I guess. I don’t know whose idea it was to put him on chaperone duty. I mean, I get him being a twat to the squids, but sending a middle finger to your own people? What did we even do?”

“Back up. The incident?”

“Not my story to tell. I’ll take you to the lout’s office, and if he doesn’t give you what you need, find me. I’ll sort it out. I’m Perry.”

“Chloe,” I responded, shaking his hand. “Thanks for the help.”

“Sure thing, don’t mention it. We’ve all been where you are, and we humans gotta watch out for each other—else we’ll wind up being toastier than a crème brûlée. It’s a hard adjustment for some. You sleep okay, first night in space?”

A sly smirk crossed my face, though I was glad Perry had his back to me. “Yes, I’d say I slept very well. I could get used to my current arrangement.”

The security guard whistled, jabbing at the elevator call button. “Damn girl. What sleeping pills are you taking? I still have mad insomnia, and I’ve been here for months!”

“Sorry, Perry. I’ll have to keep that trick my secret for now.”

The bulky, bald-headed man shrugged, gave a parting word to a colleague, and strolled into the arriving elevator to select the second floor. Given how the herbivores’ secondary objection to our furlessness had been the hair patches on our heads, I wondered if they thought that full baldness was more natural. If I’d heard the list of weird things about us from any alien but Kelvanis, I probably would’ve been offended. Receiving it from his lips, I could laugh at myself. Maybe it was how happy he was to call his species weird, and use it as common ground. My mind was racing, as I tied it full circle with Perry’s comments, excusing Kenzo’s rudeness to the “squids”—while I was happy that some human occupants here were welcoming, that casual racism gnawed at me.

How can they all think it’s justified to treat Kolshians like shit, just because of their species? What exactly was this incident that Perry referred to, which made Kenzo an asshole?

Perry led me down the same hallway I’d traversed yesterday, en route to my new office. There were some humans already at their desks, which left me worried that I’d missed part of my shift; then again, it wasn’t my fault, when Kenzo hadn’t given me the basic information I needed to do my job. I wasn’t afraid of whatever cases that I had been assigned, after realizing that these were people just like us. Nobody back on Earth spoke about how awful conditions on Aafa were; it was either swept under the rug, or there wasn’t anyone who cared enough to hear the truth and pass it along. Why would they deserve to be locked up for crimes they didn’t commit or have any relation to? If that was a sentence passed along by a court system, it’d be called a false conviction.

“Kenzo, open up.” Perry pounded on the door with a fist. “You left your trainee out on an island, sounds like. Why don’t you fucking help the girl a little?”

A grunt came from inside, before Kenzo shoved the door open. “I was gonna come and see her, whenever she decided to show her face. It seems like she was off getting her beauty sleep.”

“You didn’t exactly give me a start time,” I pointed out. “You know, like any other job would?”

“I was getting there. You’re the one who wanted me to go easy on you. Perry, get the fuck out of here. You patrol upstairs, so you should be upstairs.”

“Nice try, prick. I ain’t going anywhere,” the security guard huffed. “Someone needs to stay and witness this shit, for Chloe’s sake. Get a move on it, or I swear to God, I’ll stand right here all day.”

Kenzo rolled his eyes. “Suit yourself. Your shift will start at 8 AM UTC—or standardized human time, if you like the UN’s rebranding. I don’t care, but that’s what we use up here, end of discussion.”

“Got it. What’s on my schedule for today?” I asked.

“Well, I originally had a case on your docket for this afternoon, but given your lack of efficiency, I thought it was wise to not hand you a case at the end of the day. You’ll probably spend five hours telling that blue Ghostbusters slime that his application was denied.”

My blood ran cold, sending shivers down my spine. “Wait, what?”

“That’s today’s lesson: how to tell these fuckwits they’re rejected. I’m sure that’ll be scary, so that’s your one fucking job for today. I’m glad Kelvanis turned out to be as open-and-shut of a case as he looked like from his profile. Easy denial. You do that, and bam, first case is over. Not so bad.”

Every muscle in my body stiffened, as alarm bells clanged in my head. How could Kelvanis’ application have been denied overnight? I would’ve assumed the process would’ve taken at least a few days, not just a snap refusal! The lines he’d said requesting equal rights were in line with the Universal Declaration of Sapient Rights: the most sacred document in the Sapient Coalition. I didn’t want to tell him that his application was rejected, and then to see what would happen to him—most likely being sent back to the Aafan hellscape he’d described. From what Kenzo was saying, they wanted to get rid of the melty-eyed xenobotanist as quickly as possible.

I promised Kelvan that I’d do everything in my power to see that his application got through; he doesn’t deserve to be quarantined. He was just a child when the Federation fell—he’s an orphan who’s trying to do right by his species, and approached us with a much more open mind than we ever gave him.

“Why was his application denied? This has to be a mistake,” I croaked, feeling tears swell in my eyes. “The only reason he wouldn’t be allowed to leave is for being a Kolshian.”

Kenzo pinched his nose. “No shit. Kolshians are fucking dangerous; we don’t want a bunch of them on Earth. Kelvanis is under no active persecution or fear for his life, so there was no reason for asylum to be granted.”

“There was no reason for his asylum to be denied! What happened to innocent before fucking proven guilty?! He’s good—way better than you, you worthless piece of shit! What happened to you to make you such a heartless dick?”

Perry squinted at me. “Hold your horses. Chloe, are…you okay?”

“No! I’m not telling Kelvan that. I won’t be the reason he suffers more; I won’t send him away like some kind of monster.”

“It’s part of the job. If you won’t do it, then pack your bags. Someone else will,” Kenzo hissed. “You’re not the first, or the last, bleeding heart to show up here. I used to feel sympathy for the shits too. You want to know what happened to me? Want to see where that got me?”

“What? With anger issues that you take out on your coworkers?”

“It got me with a knife in the gut!”

A scowl contorted Kenzo’s features, as he lifted his shirt to show a lengthy scar lacing his stomach. The size of the wound was enough to silence me, even in my present panic over losing Kelvan. The pink gash mark had faded slightly, but the jagged edges of the cut were still visible. Perry winced, stepping back like he wanted no part in this discussion. I tried to imagine how a Kolshian could’ve gotten close enough to land such a deep cut, or how Kenzo had survived; he must’ve lost a lot of blood, and his internal organs could’ve sustained serious damage. My loathing of him subsided for a moment, before I decided to wait for his next words to offer further explanation.

“She was a real nice farmer: no warning signs. Her crop yield was wiped out by a harsh winter, she gave away what little she had to the starving village, yada yada,” Kenzo sighed. “Thin as fuck. I felt bad for her when the UN turned down her app, and she sat there crying a river. I moved closer to comfort her, and next thing I knew, the bitch shanked me. Left me there to bleed out on the floor without a care in the world; I almost did. That shit changes you.”

I pursed my lips. “I can’t imagine. I’m sorry that happened to you, but…you can’t let one Kolshian sour you on the rest of them.”

“You think I’m the only human who’s been assaulted by them? Nah. That’s who the Kolshians are, Chloe, and they’ll do that shit to you if you let them. I warned you not to get close to them for good reason. You don’t know how this Kelvanis fuckface’ll react to that news, how he’ll change. Anyone can put on a friendly face for a single chat.”

“Kelvanis is authentic—you can feel it. Please listen to me, because I’m certain as can be. I trust him implicitly, in my soul.”

“That’s your fucking mistake. You know, I assigned Kelvanis to you because he looked like the least threatening candidate—didn’t want you in harm’s way—but guess what? Bastard never turned up to his assigned quarters for the night. So first, we have to find the globby freak, and then you can give him the news. Perry, since you’re so eager to get involved, you can head up a security detail; we want Chloe to be safe.”

Perry raised his eyebrows. “There’s orders I can agree with. I’ll send out word to ramp up the search party. There haven’t been any departing ships, have there? If he’s still on here, he could be hiding anywhere, and maybe he found a way to arm himself—”

“Whoa, stop it!” I protested. “Kelvanis couldn’t hurt a fly; call off the search party. I don’t need security with me to talk to him.”

“We can’t call off the search until we find him. He’s an alien hiding on a UN station!” Kenzo fired back.

“I don’t want you pointing guns at Kelvan. I…I know where he is.”

Kenzo’s mouth parted, before he slapped his forehead with his hand. “No. Please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

“I, uh, look…just let me talk to him. He’s sleeping; not a threat to anyone.”

“Not a threat? You don’t know that! Do you think, at all, about what you’re doing? Bringing Kolshians to our living quarters? The floor’s biolocked for a fucking reason!”

“It was my fault. Please, there’s no need for security; I can get him down here without any guns or armed details. Perry, please.”

The security guard’s eyes widened. “Fucking hell. The Kolshian needs to be off of our floor yesterday, especially before he finds out he’s not getting asylum. I’m coming with you; this protocol breach is no joke. Straight downstairs.”

“And then you can tell Kelvanis that he’s declined, so that he can go straight back to Aafa—I could have you fired for this! How can you be such an idiot?” Kenzo spat.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen.” I decided to play at meekness, if only to protect Kelvan from being dragged away at gunpoint. This wasn’t the time to argue his case; his safety was most important. “I don’t want to make a big scene, or to see anyone get hurt. I promise, I started this, I can handle it. I’ll do exactly what you said.”

“Then go do it. Fucking go!”

I all but sprinted out of Kenzo’s room, eager to get away from this discussion; my ears were burning, after seeing the judgment in both men’s eyes. It wasn’t like I was ashamed of Kelvanis, but those flabbergasted reactions were what I would get from all of my people. That was assuming I found a way to get him to Earth, where people thought his species existed to knife predators in the gut. After yesterday was a perfect, blissful day, today was a nightmare—spiraling out of control. I had to figure out some loophole to stall for time, or to appeal the decision on Kelvan’s case, but I was too new at this to know anything. Maybe I could get Perry to give me an idea, if he hadn’t turned on me all together.

The security guard snickered, as we entered the elevator. “Well, that didn’t take you long at all. Your quality sleep secret’s out, girl. The UN sure doesn’t screen like they used to. I know xenophiles slip the net no matter what, but—”

“Please don’t call me that. I swear, I’m not…it’s not like that. When it’s true love, you don’t have a choice. It just happens. And I know it’s crazy, but I love him,” I murmured.

“Whatever. I hope you’re not serious, because if you are, you’re so fucked.”

“I know! Is there anything I can do to…give him one more chance with the UN? Please, Perry. I’m begging you.”

“I’m sorry. The only way he’d get a second look’s if he filed a complaint against your handling of the case, which it doesn’t sound like he’ll be doing.”

The beginning of an idea sparked in my mind. “Oh. That’s a shame.”

“Just the way the cookie crumbles. It was never going to work, and you have to know that. Rip off the band-aid; it’s for the best.”

Perry’s hand drifted over to his holster, which I hoped was a taser. My heart sank like a stone at the thought of Kelvanis being pumped full of lead while I watched, though I tried to push such worst-case scenarios from my head.  Everything was going to be fine, because I wouldn’t let this injustice be perpetrated against the sweetest alien in existence. I would take him back to the main level, and tell him what had happened—whatever had transpired with Kenzo, I was certain that the xenobotanist wouldn’t turn on me. His true personality had shone through in the amusing remarks and the small kindness; our connection was more real than anything I’d experienced in my life. The two of us were going to put our heads together, and figure out how to fight the UN’s decision as a team.

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A/N - Chapter 6! Chloe wakes up floating on air about her new relationship, but quickly has the rug yanked out from under her as she finds out Kelvan’s application has been rejected. She also has to shut down a search party due to his absence, and endure the judgment of her peers for her choices; now, she has Perry, a security guard who tried to help her, tagging along while she has to break the news. What do you think of Kenzo’s story for why he turned on the Kolshians? How will Kelvanis reject to the snap rejection; and what do you think of how quickly the UN refused him?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!