Project X ✔ [O L D V E R S I O N]

+ chapter twenty-one +

As she observed the chaotic scene of weeping females, Xander watched her. His eyes were intently observing every moved she made; even the amount of times she blinked. He wanted her engraved in his memory because a hologram would not be enough.

"Xander," she whispered, turning to look at him as she leaned her head against his broad chest, "I'm scared."

He frowned, looking down at her. "Why?"

"There has to be a reason for the president to want the women. What if he just wants us because he knows we'll get pregnant? They'll probably use us as lab rats – oh my god! They probably will-"

He shook his head, pressing his finger against her lips to quiet her down. "The General already thought of that. Your President was angered because we told him that no females were impregnated yet. They do not know about the blood injections either; we know how selfish your race can be so we kept out important details like these."

Alexa nodded, feeling a bit more relieved, but the panic was still tugging at the back of her mind. "What if they torture us to get information about you?"

His gaze hardened, but he shook his head again. "There are too many of you to torture; your government would have to wipe all of you out."

"And they'll probably blame it on you guys," Her voice cracked at the end with fear.

Xander took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair and slid his hand in his pocket. His fingers closed around a cool small pendant and he smiled down at her as he motioned for her to open hold her hand out. "I was going to give you this as an accessory that our warriors wore, it was supposed to be just a gift, but I guess you must use it now."

Alexa raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the silver X. "What is it?"

He raised the collar of her shirt and hid it under it, right on her shoulder. He fixed her collar and said, "It is a device known as a tacto. Our warriors use it when we enter unchartered territory; we can track down the warrior or use it as a technical device. In your planet it is kind of like a tracking device, however ours has other functions."

"Like?"

His face relaxed into a lopsided smile and she felt her heart fluttering in her chest. "It can interfere with your technology and it would notify me if you were to be in any harm."

"How?" She frowned.

"It picks up your stress signals. When you are afraid of something, your brain releases certain chemicals and brainwaves; the chip picks up on them and notifies us. Now that you will be miles away from me, I need you to keep it. When you board the ship, I will turn it on so that when you are speaking to the women they can't hear it through devices. You must be careful when you are speaking of the pregnancies and such because this only will keep the frequencies covered; if they are near, they can hear you."

She nodded, hugging him again. She closed her eyes, listening to his heart beating along with the waves crashing against the shore gently. If she hadn't been forced to say goodbye to him, the day would've been beautiful.

They could go to the beach again and take pictures of each other and try to build a caste for the sand people. But she was leaving and she would never see him again.

"Alexa," he spoke softly, "they are here; you must go."

Alexa gritted her teeth tightly and sniffled to keep from crying. He kissed her gently and forced out a smile. It didn't reach his eyes like they always did, but at least he was trying. His eyes were clouded with sadness and she felt angry that her race was so stupid. "Non per si viti."