A/N: This work of fiction is the product of my imagination. Please respect my work. Comments are welcomed as are votes. Thank you for choosing read my story
© 2014 George McDorman Jr.
Chapter 1
In the field just beyond a small airport outside the 'city' in which he lived, a young man was lying back on the hood of an older model import car, looking as the stars twinkled against a dark background. A soft, warm breeze rustled the leaves at the top of the only tree in the field.
He got up from the car and walked back to reach in and grab the tarp folded in the passenger seat. As he spread the tarp out to lie on and ponder on the vastness beyond the planets of his solar system. As Cory lay on the tarp staring at the stars he wondered if mankind was really alone in the endless space of the universe. He and his father had been stargazing since he was a small child. The years spent had left him with many questions but no answers. According to what he had been taught, man was alone in the universe, but part of him always questioned that belief. The universe was just too vast for just one form of intelligent life to exist, he believed. Little did he know how soon he was going to learn the truth.
A movement among the stars caught his attention. At first he thought it was an airplane but he soon realized there were no navigation lights blinking, then he thought it was a satellite.
"It can't be" Cory mused to himself "It's not going in the right direction."
As he watched the light move from west to east he swore it was slowing down.
"Is that thing going to land around here?" he asked himself "If it does, there's going to be trouble."
As he watched, the light sped up and disappeared over toward the horizon, moving too fast to be a plane. He could swear that just before it reached there it blinked out of existence.
_____________________________
Aboard the 'light' the officer in charge was trying to figure out how the ships cloak turned off when they were passing by the planet rendering the ship visible. The timing was too coincidental to be thought of as a simple malfunction. While in the middle of her investigation she was summoned by the mission leader. Her real mission was about to begin.
____________________________
"I wonder if anyone else saw that?" Cory thought as he got up to go home for the night. "That was strange. Why did it disappear like that?"
He got up and sat in his car. After he started the car and turned on his lights to start his drive home. He shook his head trying to figure out if what he saw was real or not.
Driving along the dark country road all he could hear were the tires of his car as he rolled along. There was no noise from crickets or other nocturnal creatures. The silence was unnerving. Looking at the clock on his cell phone he saw that the night was almost over. The sun was already lightening the eastern sky.
"Great, I'm not going to be able to sleep til after work." he moaned as he steadily drove along. Soon he was turning onto his street as he tooled along quickly towards his home, a small apartment near the local college. Too early for a crowd of people, there was still light traffic in town. He finally pulled up in front of his building and got out of his car.
When he got inside he took a quick shower, got dressed and then made a pot of coffee for himself. As he sipped his coffee his thoughts went back to the light he saw earlier. Turning on his TV for his morning news he was startled to see a picture of the light on the screen. Apparently he hadn't imagined the light since someone recorded it.
" Government officials are not commenting on what the object was. Some scientists have said it was an asteroid. When asked why an asteroid would speed up they had no comment." the reporter said "We will keep you informed as we learn more."
When the story changed to sports Cory turned the TV off and sipped his coffee as he wondered what was going to happen. Getting up he put his empty mug in the sink and looked around his small apartment, seeing nothing that needed immediate attention he shrugged and walked out the door.
Since he lived only a mile from where he worked he didn't bother to take his car and started to stroll down the block.
Walking along he pondered over what had been said as well as what hadn't been and what he'd seen. Looking down, lost in that thought, he didn't see the woman that stood at the curb and walked into her almost knocking her in front of a car speeding down the street.
"I'm so sorry!" Cory exclaimed as he caught her arm before she fell.
The second he touched her it felt as if he was almost being electrified, the feelings were exciting. The effect was immediate as the pleasure registered in his mind. He noticed that the skin of her arm was silky and soft. The muscle underneath supple yet strong. He didn't want to let go, the current still coursing through him. He didn't know where the feeling of completeness he was having came from but he knew he liked it.
"Watch where you're going." The woman snapped at him as she tried to pull her arm from his grasp.
"I said I was sorry." Cory said smiling sheepishly, unwillingly releasing her arm "I was just thinking about the light in the sky from last night. It was pretty strange and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"What are you talking about?" the woman demanded "What light? Is that a reason to not look where you're walking?"
Cory looked at her to reply before he realized that she had to be the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her hair was a soft dark brown that fell halfway down her back in gentle waves. Her eyes were a startling shade of the purest blue he'd ever seen. They almost glowed as she stared at him, a little angry: but mostly surprised. Almost as if she felt the energy as strongly as he did.
"M-My name's Cory." he stammered when he found his voice again "Didn't you see the news this morning?"
"No I haven't. I work at night and was just on my way home to bed." she replied.
"Nice to meet you. I'm headed this way to work. Would you mind if I walked with you?" Cory asked, desperately trying to think of ways to spend more time with her.
"No, but I'm not going that far." She stated, "Only a few streets down before I turn off."
"That's OK. What do you do that makes you work at night?" Cory asked as they started walking along the sidewalk "If you don't mind my asking."
"I work near the airport." she replied, somewhat vague, trying to change the subject she asked "How about you?"
"I work at an oil change shop. Nothing important." Cory said, smiling as he looked at her.
It wasn't long before she turned and said "This is where I turn. It was nice to meet you. My name is Krystal"
"The pleasure was all mine." Cory said with a smile "Hopefully I'll see you around."
As he walked away, he suddenly stopped and turned around to ask her out for coffee before she had to go to work that evening but she was already gone, like she vanished into thin air.
"Where did she disappear to so fast?" he muttered to himself as he looked back down the block for her. He shrugged.
Turning to head towards his job he walked off with a puzzled look on his face. He couldn't figure out how she vanished so completely that quick.
_____________________________
As soon as Cory walked away Krystal ran and turned the next corner in record time. Too fast for a normal person. However, Krystal was not a normal person. She was from the light in the sky that had been mentioned in her encounter with Cory, the native of this planet. What surprised her most was the energy current that had passed between them. Her race possessed a physical reaction when in contact with her lifemate. She never expected to find that person outside of her own race. That was an extremely rare event for her kind.
However, It seemed to have just happened to her if what she had been told was true. She didn't know how she should react. The feeling of his hand on her arm was exactly what she had been told it would be when in physical contact. Now she had to find a way to get Cory to come with her to the stars. She worried he wouldn't want to go with her. She didn't want to stay on this planet but if he didn't go she would have to. She had no choice in the matter. For her it was truly life and death.
As she walked back to the field where she had landed her fighter. The same field Cory had been to, earlier that night. If he had stayed fifteen minutes longer he would have been blown over, physically as well as mentally, when Krystal landed.
She decloaked the ship just long enough to scramble inside. She recloaked and took off for her base ship. Streaking through the sky, she quickly left the atmosphere and pushed the throttle forward.