~ An excerpt from Nathan's novel "The Mars Accords" ~
The First Wing was alive and accounted for. They were all on board a ship that was a flying city, but they were alive. It wasn't the usual treatment that Taggert had anticipated when his ship was captured, but living in what could be called a building with the rest of his Wing wasn't as terrible as he imagined.
There was no mistaking that they were still prisoners of war; the guards out front, the permanent escort wherever they were taken. It was all a sign that the Queen, as he came to know her, was holding them while discussions were going on with Earth about their release and the failure that was their First Contact mission.
He had been in contact with his superiors not long after being taken on board the Queen's ship. They were after information that he simply didn't have given his limited access. It was also dawning on him that Earth saw the battle in a different light than he did.
Every ship was undamaged. Every drone was stored with its parent ship. Every pilot reported the same thing: loss of power due to the Visitors' weapons. They weren't out to kill anyone; the First Wing was just in the way.
In the time since the arrival, the Visitors had landed on an uninhabited island in the Pacific to establish communication with the nations of the world. Even more City Ships, as humanity was calling them, had arrived with their own transport fleets. None of them had opened fire on the planet. Their message was simple: they didn't wish for conflict, but would not shy from it either.
The Queen seemed to take an interest in the Wing for they could provide a window into humanity that she did not have prior to arriving. Being the commander, he spent many a dinner or afternoon in conversation with the Queen, thanks to an implant they had provided to him. Being around her, it was clear that she was troubled about something, but would deflect every time he probed. Taggert was no diplomat, but he was honest and she seemed to appreciate that.
One evening, about a month after First Contact, Taggert was brought to the Queen's chambers late at night. They didn't use the same route as before, sticking to maintenance passageways rather than the main corridors. Finally, Taggert found himself in an opulent room that he hadn't seen before. The soldiers left him alone for the first time before the Queen swept into the room, dressed in a simple gown rather than her usual regal wardrobe.
In that moment, the physical differences between human and Visitor were forgotten. She looked tired and worried in ways that he hadn't seen before. She had to be adroit at wearing many masks as leader for her people in Taggert's mind. She stood before him, looking into his eyes. The Visitor language sounded like a cross between cat purring and snake hissing, but it came out as clear English in his ear.
"You have to convince them. You have to get them to work with us or two species are doomed."
~ Chapter 8 ~
It had been a while since Vanessa and I started sleeping together. She was busy during the day at work, but she spent every night close by my side. While we were still exploring new aspects of our lives together, it felt like we had been a couple all along. We didn't need the awkward "getting to know you" phase or learn about each other's families. We already were family in many respects.
One thing that we did well was entertain each other. We were so busy wrapped up in our own world that we let things go. I didn't mind, but Vanessa urged me to consider the other relationships we had to nurture. Case in point, we still hadn't gotten around to having a get together with our old friends since I moved back. I knew she was right, but didn't feel like it while my book was still unfinished. Vanessa got creative with her "bribery" and talked me into it during one passionate morning in the shower. A dinner and hang with our old friends for my twenty-sixth birthday wasn't such a bad idea in the moment, so I finally agreed before pinning her to the wall to finish.
Vanessa went out shopping on the day of the dinner while I worked on the revision of one of my chapters. I knew Vanessa was back when I heard the intercom buzz. Since she had her own pass and keys, I figured she must be loaded down with armfuls of bags and couldn't reach them.
I popped the door open after I buzzed Nessa into the building and went back to my computer. I wasn't quite happy with how I was ending the chapter yet despite spinning my wheels for the last twenty minutes on it. If I didn't figure it out before dinner, it would niggle at me all night.
In the other room, I heard Vanessa burst through the door and kick it closed.
"Sounds like you have your hands full. It's just dinner with Angela, Mike and the gang... nothing major, right?" I called out to her as I heard about fifty bags hit the floor. Something a bit more delicate was placed on the kitchen counter by the sound of it.
Vanessa's footsteps came up the hall outside the room as she spoke. "Nah, nothing major. Just felt like blowing three weeks of pay in one day. You know, sales and all," she said as she let out a breath and leaned against the door to the little study alcove.
I looked over and smiled. It was these small moments that made me wish that I didn't have my own place upstairs waiting for me to move in. It didn't hurt that I had a sexy roommate for once; even harried, Vanessa lit up any room.
"When do we have to leave?" I asked her as I looked back at the text on the screen.
I heard Vanessa rummaging in her bra, pulling out her phone to check the time. I shook my head at how she could use those as an auxiliary purse in a pinch. Then again, her bust was generous, so it wasn't all bad. Finding what she was after, she slipped it back in.
"We still have an hour or so. I was thinking of taking a quick shower," she said.
