Martin told us we were going to a private airport near London, which would take us a few hours to reach. Despite the dire news we’d just heard, I’d started falling asleep to the lullaby of rubber on road within half an hour. My head flip-flopped between resting on Casey’s shoulder and Sarah’s as we took corners.

Someone poked me awake when we finally arrived. We were stopped on the apron of what I could only assume was where we would be boarding our plane. There was a small, private jet settled nearby with its entry ladder lowered and pale yellow-white light spilling out into the twilight.

It had grown pretty dark outside and I guessed that the sun had set while I’d napped. I wasn’t sure exactly what time that made it, but it was late.

“Alright, ladies. We’re just going to show these men our travel documents, then we can board the jet,” Martin said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

My sleepy brain had a moment of panic when Casey and Sarah started fishing out their passports, handing them over to our new host. Martin didn’t seem to be too bothered that I hadn’t given him my own documentation, though. He just held a wedge of travel documents out his open window.

A uniformed airport worker with an official-looking fluorescent jacket took them in hand and  spent a few minutes inspecting each one. When he needed to verify someone’s identity, he made use of a torch to brighten the interior of the car to get a better view of our faces. He’d give each person a smile and a small nod, then moved onto the next.

When it was my turn, he flicked through our passports until he arrived at a light blue one. He scrutinised my face, then the document again, and finally nodded.

I relaxed, letting out a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding.

Once we’d all been identified, our documents were returned to us. That gave me the opportunity to study mine for the very first time.

The passport itself wasn’t actually a passport as such. It was light blue and had the United Nations crest stamped on the front, plus some French text. Inside was the usual passport stuff though, plus my identification page which proudly showed my name, sex and date of birth all together. The thrill of finally having something official like this was washing over my tired brain.

Honestly, if we’d found ourselves in any other situation there was no way I’d get this issued to me in a million years. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.

We were driven the rest of the short way to the jet, then allowed to board. Our bags were transferred from the boot to a small hold on the plane where they could be properly secured for flight.

I climbed the ladder first, with Casey just behind. I had a feeling I knew why she wanted to be ‘bringing up the rear’ and it wasn’t just to keep me safe. The thought made me blush and giggle a little. With the last few steps cleared, and after a strange sensation in my abdomen, I stood inside the cosy interior of the aircraft.

The seats were arranged quite spaciously, with a single seat on each side of the aisle. I did see some two-person sized sofas at the back of the cabin set right angles to the direction of travel. I decided to head for one of those. There were others already aboard the plane, although there were still a few empty places for the three of us.

There had been a low murmur of conversation, but that soon changed. A hush descended over the whole cabin once people started to notice my arrival. Their eyes were wide, and they were staring right at me.

Uh. I guess word got around?

“Welcome aboard, Erin,” a familiar feminine voice said from nearby. I glanced down to see Christine giving me a welcoming smile from her seat.

“Oh. Thanks,” I managed to answer, still feeling super awkward to be getting so much attention.

Casey came up behind me, and several pairs of eyes switched to gawking at her instead.

Christine greeted her a little more icily, “Cassandra.”

“Casey,” she corrected with a not insignificant amount of annoyance in her intonation. “Just Casey.”

The two glared at each other for a little longer, until I took Casey’s hand and dragged her further down the plane. I wanted to find the less populated aft section with the sofas so we could have some private time.

Sarah had been busy arguing with someone outside. They wanted to put her luggage in the hold, but she was arguing vehemently that she wanted to bring it aboard. She eventually managed to persuade them. There were tears in her eyes as she ascended the steps, her arms wrapped protectively around her suitcase.

That’s a little… odd, even for her.

I did notice that the other people stared at my sister a lot less than they’d stared at Casey and I. We were still getting a few backwards glances from some near the front. Sarah took a place opposite us, letting her bag sit on the empty sofa seat next to her.

“It’s almost like they’ve never seen an alien before,” Casey mumbled to me once I settled down.

I was starting to wish I’d picked a seat next to a window so I could see outside, just in case I began to get air sick. I’d only flown once or twice previously but vertigo had been a problem each time.

There was also the fact that I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for Muse to use any of her abilities while in the air – especially for something as mundane as helping to make my time flying more comfortable. Could that disrupt something, and cause the plane to break in some way? That was the biggest fear for me; inadvertently doing something that would kill us all.

‘This is my first time being in one of these metal contraptions,’ Muse told me as I snuggled up to Casey. ‘They are fascinating.’

The discomfort in my abdomen was back and bothering me – I placed a hand over my stomach to see if some pressure might help relieve it.

My girlfriend started to run her fingers through my hair just as the plane began to slowly move. We were probably supposed to be sitting in different seats with belts on but I really didn’t feel like moving. I was tired and I was grumpy.

As if entirely to prove my point, one of the other passengers came and directed us to take our seats before we hit the runway. They’d looked thoroughly intimidated as they’d approached us, and my grumpy glare was making them gulp in fear. Why were they so afraid of us?

We reluctantly did as asked, but only for long enough for the plane to become airborne. As soon as the metaphorical seatbelt sign went out, we were back snuggling on the sofa.

Ugh, what was wrong with my stomach?

“Babe,” Casey whispered to me, “take my bag and go to the bathroom.”

 

I was blushing furiously as I left the toilet, Casey’s bag held in my hands. There was no way I could look anyone in the eye as I passed them, with my gaze fixed firmly to the floor.

“Well that was embarrassing,” I whispered to Casey as I handed her bag back, retaking the seat next to her on the sofa. I’d just about died inside when I saw the sanitary towels that she’d stored for me inside.

She laughed softly and scooped me up in her arms, her chin resting on my shoulder and her lips nipping at my ear, “It’s something lots of folks have to deal with. Don’t worry about it.”

Her tender ministrations were lulling me into a state of catatonic relaxation and my eyes were drifting closed.

This was disturbed when a few bumps of turbulence rattled through the small plane, sending my heart racing. I gripped Casey tightly, and she tried to comfort me with more gentle, reassuring touches.

That was when I noticed an almost imperceptibly faint whispering begin in my head. It grew louder over the course of roughly half a minute until I realised that it was Muse – she’d begun to sing to me. The words were foreign and unintelligible, but the melody was soft, delicate and soothing.

This felt almost as good as her helping with my emotions, I suppose. The rest of the two hour flight was spent snuggled up with Casey and falling asleep to my symbiote’s lullaby. 

Casey woke me up as we started to descend for landing, leading me back to my seat that I’d reluctantly taken for take-off.

The whole trip from London to Vienna had me tired out, and I was looking forward to being able to sleep for real. Food was starting to sound nice, too.

There was a coach waiting for us once we taxi’d to a stop and we all flowed from the plane to the vehicle with the big UN lettering on the side. Our bags were moved across without us having to do a thing, and then we were on the road again.

I managed to sleep for almost another whole hour before we pulled up to our final destination – some air base that the UN had managed to persuade the Austrian government to allow them to use. I could see signs of a hell of a lot of construction happening – this place was a big deal. 

Even at this time of night, workers were still labouring away, extending the runway. Heavy equipment was still and silent, waiting for the morning shift to begin. In the background, the dark skeletons of incomplete structures stood in stark relief against the pale floodlights that washed over the space.

Sarah was staring out her window in amazement at the sight, which made me smile. I hoped that she’d be able to find something to do that would let her feel helpful. If nothing else, it made me feel better to know that she was somewhere I could keep her safe.

The whole area was drowning in activity and I strongly suspected that this place was going to feel overcrowded very soon.

The coach eventually came to a halt once we were inside the perimeter, and we were allowed to disembark into a courtyard surrounded by a cluster of prefabricated structures. Everyone was checked off a list as we filed out, with some extra attention given to our trio.

We were told that we’d been assigned a guide and were directed to one side, where some official-looking folks in military uniforms were standing. One of them, a young woman just slightly older than us, and a fraction shorter, had a board with our names written on it: “Reid & Kowalski”.

She introduced herself to us as Emilia, and told us that our bags would be brought to our rooms shortly. Casey towered a good ten centimetres over her and she was making me feel tall again, which was a weird sensation.

“Follow me, please,” she instructed, waving a clipboard in the direction she had started walking. Her voice carried a hint of some kind of Germanic accent. Given where we were that made sense.

“You have been placed over here, near the command staff, for some reason,” she said to us, her legs moving way too quickly for someone of her stature. We did our best to keep up with her blistering speed as she weaved through the labyrinth of prefab cabins.

“You’ve been allocated these three here,” she said, indicating the three in a row, and I nodded.

That meant one for Sarah, one for Rishaan and one for us two. Of course. Naturally.

“Uh, three?” Casey asked, a hint of concern creeping into her voice.

“Rish needs somewhere, too,” I said to her, nudging her in the ribs.

“Oh right,” she responded, awkwardly.

Emilia watched us with raised eyebrows, referring back to her clipboard, and then back at us, “No, these are for the three of you.”

There was a pause as I looked at Casey, then back to Emilia, “We only need two, but one of those will need a double bed.”

“The double cabins are for married personnel. They are currently all taken,” she replied, matter-of-factly, tucking her clipboard under her arm.

“And?” Casey asked, folding her arms. I could tell that she was starting to get annoyed.

“That means that you do not qualify,” she tried to explain, although she sounded like she thought we were being deliberately obtuse.

Casey and I looked at each other again and I sighed, “Let’s just pull the mattress from one into the other and we’ll get them to change it tomorrow. I’m tired.”

She pulled me into her arms, allowing me to rest my head against her chest, “Okay. We’ll do that for tonight, but tomorrow we’re getting our own place or heads will fucking roll.”

Emilia visibly bristled at how we were behaving – she was probably used to soldiers doing as they were told or something.

Sarah reached out to take one of the keys from Emilia’s hand, gave her a smile, then dashed off to settle into her space for the night.

We were left with the other two keys, while Emilia departed for whatever she considered to be more important things. Frustrated but way too tired to complain further, I went into the nearest of the little cabins while Casey moved the single mattress across from the other. Or at least that’s what I assume she had been doing.

I was fast asleep as soon as the mattress hit the floor.

---

Saturday

I was still tired when I woke up in the morning – I was also famished, and my throat was sore from thirst. Casey was asleep next to me, her arm draped over my waist. She’d put a pillow under my head and kind of half-undressed me before giving up.

Our suitcases were sitting by the door, so I assumed that those must have arrived after I’d passed out. I sure didn’t remember them arriving.

My heart swelled with love for the woman lying next to me, and I wrapped my arms around her despite my growing discomfort at unfulfilled bodily needs. She stirred cutely, then fell back into sleep and I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

Sighing, I extricated myself from underneath her arm, and went to see to those things my body was complaining to me about.

I couldn’t find any food in any of the cupboards, nor in the small fridge that had been allocated. The whole cabin was extremely basic, with the barebone essentials for what someone might need if they were on a short trip in the woods – or at least what I’d need.

I’m soft, leave me alone. 

There must be some kind of cafeteria or restaurant where they’re serving meals, because I doubted that they expected us to forage for ourselves.

I’d just finished getting myself a drink of water when there was a knock on the door. Yesterday’s clothes were all I had immediately at hand, so I threw those on before answering.

It was Sarah, looking up at me with a distinctly familiar squirrel on her shoulder. The poor little floof didn’t look happy, though – she actually looked lethargic and despondent.

“Is that Sabina?” I asked, incredulous.

She gave me a tiny nod and offered the furry pest to me with a dip of her shoulder, “I think she misses you.”

“Misses me? How did she even get here?” I asked, reaching down to lightly scritch the little lady on the head. That made her lift her head and look up at me.

“I… might have smuggled her in my luggage,” she confessed, looking bashful.

My golden eyes flicked to her, and that made her wince.

“Rah, you can’t just smuggle animals across borders…” I gently chided, dropping down to sit in the doorway. The morning was quite fresh but it wasn’t cold – I wasn’t too concerned with waking Casey up.

“But she would have missed you,” she complained. “I’ve given her water and some nuts I brought with me but there’s still something wrong with her.”

I sighed, lifting Sabina from her shoulder with both my hands and letting her sit on mine.

‘She is tired and a little shaken from being in Sarah’s suitcase, but she will recover,’ said Muse.

“She’ll be fine, Rah. She just needs to get some sleep,” I smiled at her, and went back into the cabin to find a place that she could curl up. A blanket in the corner would work for now.

Sarah came in behind me, though her cheeks inflamed at the sight of Casey still sprawled out on the mattresses, wearing nothing but her underwear. She stammered a little, then turned to leave again.

Oh boy.

‘I need you to contact Prometheus,’ Muse cut in suddenly, surprisingly the shit out of me.

Didn’t Prometheus take the name Paladin, or had I missed something in the conversation we’d had?

‘I don’t care about his desire to escape his past. His pride can-,’ she answered with a little more venom than normal. Plus she’d stopped herself halfway through whatever she’d been about to say. Those must be some strong feelings.

‘I apologise, you are correct. Please, contact him. It is important,’ she eventually continued, her voice more level after she’d recovered from her outburst.

My stomach was growling at me as I searched for my phone. Once I found it, the first thing I noticed was that it was later than I’d thought. Goddamn timezone shenanigans wrecking my internal clock. It was actually just approaching 7am local time. I hope someone came to get us soon or we’d have to go searching for food.

I flicked open the secure messaging app and opened the discussion with Asowande.

‘Tell him that we need Hephaestus to give us delivery of two full sets. Plus tell him I need “it”’, she told me. ‘He will know what that means.’

“Are you sure he’ll know who Hephaestus is?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I mean, we’d never mentioned them before and these aliens changed names on a dime. From what I could tell they didn’t really seem to get their identity from their chosen designation.

‘I am done playing games with them. The situation is too dire. He will know exactly who I mean.’

My fingers were already typing out the messages she’d asked me to make.

The reply came swiftly, and he agreed that the situation was escalating faster than anyone could have anticipated. Apparently Hephaestus was already working on what Muse had asked for, but they were also still getting everything calibrated and working efficiently. It could take up to a week for everything to be finished.

My guess would be that Hephaestus was some kind of engineer. That didn’t really take much of a genius to work out given their name was literally taken from the Greek god of forging and craftsmanship.

I had no idea how any of these things she was asking for were going to actually reach us, though, whatever they were.

‘We will cross that bridge when we come to it,’ she answered, reassuring. ‘For now, you and Casey should be training at every single opportunity. There is not a moment to lose.’