Falling Angels

Chapter 2-2

Well, I couldn’t do anything about it now, since it seemed I was basically glued in place and couldn’t have moved even if there was someplace for me to go. A few more seconds passed, and then the light dimmed and I was able to open my eyes.

My sweater and jeans — and yep, the high-heeled designer boots I’d scooped up at an after-Christmas sale at Nordstrom Rack — were all gone. Now I wore a dark gray jumpsuit made of a fabric that didn’t quite feel like cotton or silk or even microfiber, although it gave the impression of being incredibly soft and incredibly sturdy at the same time. My long hair had been pulled back into what felt like a tight braid that fell down my back, although since I couldn’t see myself, I couldn’t say for sure exactly what the hairstyle looked like. I was wearing boots, but low-heeled ones that seemed to have been designed to fit my feet perfectly. It was hard to tell I even had them on, they were so light, although as soon as the opaque film disappeared and I stepped back out onto the floor of the changing room, or whatever you wanted to call it, I could feel the way the boots both cupped and supported my feet.

Like the world’s best foot bra, I thought with a mental grin. Speaking of which, my undergarments felt subtly different as well, although I certainly wasn’t going to open up the jumpsuit to take a peek inside. Not that I was sure how I’d even be able to accomplish such a thing. That jumpsuit didn’t have a single zipper, button, or snap. It almost looked as if it had been grown around me, which might present some problems when it came time to go to the bathroom.

All those worries about logistics went right out of my head, though, when I glanced across the room and caught sight of Raphael.

He also had on the same dark gray type of jumpsuit I wore, which I wouldn’t have normally thought of as figure-flattering. But with those sweeping robes of his gone, I could see how broad his shoulders were, his lean long legs, and, well —

Your mother will freak if she catches you stealing a peek at Raphael’s ass, I scolded myself. Somehow, I did manage to tear my gaze away, but not before I’d gotten enough of an eyeful to confirm that he did in fact have a very stare-able butt.

By that point, everyone had emerged from their respective bays. My mother’s hair had also been braided out of the way, and she and my father and Logan all wore the same gray jumpsuits as well. Logan brushed a hand over one sleeve of his suit, his expression troubled. Was he remembering wearing something similar, back when he’d been “hatched” — or whatever you wanted to call it — at the alien base?

It wasn’t the sort of question I would’ve had the guts to ask even under normal circumstances, and I certainly wasn’t going to ask now.

“In approximately forty-five of your minutes, we will reach Mars orbit,” Raphael said. Had he noticed the way I’d been staring at his body? From his matter-of-fact tone, I had to guess not. Thank God.

My mother wore a worried from. “Won’t they be able to tell we’re coming?”

“Neither the Reptilians nor your own space agency’s sensors will be able to detect this ship, so you need not worry about that.”

My father didn’t appear too surprised by that revelation. Well, why would he? Once upon a time, he’d been surrounded by this same technology. Logan nodded, and my mother also remained quiet and stood there with her arms crossed, clearly expecting Raphael to go on with his briefing.

“The Reptilians have also captured the crew members who stayed back with the landing module,” he went on. “They are all being held now at the base the Reptilians constructed in the crater on Utopia Planitia. That is our destination.”

“How many of the enemy?” Logan asked. His gray eyes were intent, focused. It looked to me as if he’d clicked right back into soldier mode. In a way, that was reassuring; he definitely gave the impression of someone who knew what he was doing. On the other hand, something about him had altered subtly, making him seem far less approachable than I’d originally thought. I wondered what Grace would have thought of the change in him, if she’d been around to see it.

“The number on active duty at these bases can vary, but generally it falls somewhere between forty and fifty.”

That reply took a moment to sink in. “Fifty?” I repeated, the word coming out in a nervous squeak.

One corner of Raphael’s mouth lifted. “I suppose you think that ten to one is not very good odds?” His attention shifted to my mother. “How many did you vanquish, all those years ago? Two hundred?”

“I really didn’t stop to count,” she said. Her voice sounded calm enough, but from the way she cast a worried glance toward my father, I could tell she didn’t much appreciate having to revisit that particular memory. “A lot.”

“Well, then. You and Martin and Callista possess those powers — as do I — and Logan is, as he claimed, trained for combat and reconnaissance. There really is nothing to worry about.”

Easy for him to say. I swallowed, trying to figure out the best way to ask the question. Oh, well, I’d just let him be condescending and make me feel like an i***t, and then maybe after he got that out of his system, he could give me an answer I’d understand.

“About those powers,” I ventured. “I’m not saying I’m an expert or anything, but everything my parents have taught me so far has been about tapping into the power of the Earth, using the energies in Sedona to either reach out with or to turn inward to protect myself. How is that supposed to help me on another planet like Mars?”

Raphael didn’t smirk the way I’d been expecting him to. Instead, he steepled his fingers under his chin, then narrowed his eyes as he appeared to consider my question. “All worlds have their particular energies. Those in Sedona are very powerful, which is why the Reptilians sought to exploit them. Even so, you can tap into the energy from any other world, even Mars. All you have to do is learn how to access it. When you work with the power of your home world, what do you do?”

“I — ” It was hard for me to explain, just as I supposed it would be hard for someone with perfect pitch to explain how they knew to always hit the right note. “I guess I can just feel it. I go still and breathe it in, sort of.”

I stopped there, expecting him to mock my vague reply. But he didn’t. Raphael nodded and said, “It is no different when you go to another world. You simply need to reach out and let the energy come to you. It is part of the harmony of the universe, and the force that gives us our advantage. You see, the Reptilians are always working against the natural order of things, and that is why they bring discord and destruction wherever they go. We can use their very natures against them.”

Logan didn’t look too thrilled by that particular revelation. I couldn’t really blame him; it had to be hard to realize such toxic DNA was part of your genetic makeup. Not for the first time, I wondered how the Reptilians had managed to make someone so human-looking when Logan was actually anything but human. But, from what I’d heard, genetic manipulation was one of their strengths…and their obsessions. So was Logan one of their successes, or their failures?

“And that’s why you want Kirsten and Callista here, isn’t it?” my father asked. “They’re of our race, and so can access those powers, but they’re of Earth as well, and will have an easier time accessing the energies of a world from their own system.”

“Precisely,” Raphael replied, then directed his next words to my mother and me. “Deep within, you two are made of the same elements that make up your solar system. Martin and I have a great deal of training in these matters, and so of course we will be able to assist you, but our chances of success are much greater with you two on the team.”

I wanted to be reassured by his confidence in me, especially since it was one of the last things I’d been expecting, but right then, all I could do was hope his belief in my so-called powers wasn’t misplaced. After all, it was one thing to go through the exercises with my parents, sitting at one of Sedona’s vortexes and allowing myself to sense the way its energies ebbed and flowed, and how I could lace them through my fingers like ribbons of light if I wanted to. Taking those ribbons of energy and turning them into a weapon was something entirely different. I’d never done anything like that before. If I couldn’t manage the task, I would be risking the lives of everyone on our team.

“What is the plan, exactly?” my mother asked then. From the way she’d been watching me, I knew she could tell how nervous I was. She’d asked the question because she knew the thing I hated the most was uncertainty. I’d rather hear the worst than have some nebulous fate hanging over me.

“In a way, the Reptilians have made it easier for us by bringing the entire crew of the Mars mission together in one place,” Raphael said. “We will energy-jump into their base, and then — ”

“‘Energy-jump’?” I asked.

“Just the opposite of how we got up into this ship,” my father said gently.

“Oh, like in Star Trek.” There was the franchise that wouldn’t die. Last I heard, they were in the middle of filming sequel number eighteen or something. But at least it meant I knew what a transporter was, even if Raphael called it something different.

“It’s actually not like it at all, but we don’t have time to worry about the particulars now.” Raphael didn’t look terribly thrilled by the interruption, but seemed ready to forge ahead once he’d determined that my father and I weren’t going to contribute anything else to the conversation — at least, for the moment. “At any rate, we should be able to catch them by surprise. And once we’re inside their base, the four of us will be able to deflect their attacks by using the planet’s energy as a shield. Then we will bring your astronauts back to their ship and get them headed home.”

Well, that sounded simple enough…except for the fifty or so things I could think of that might go wrong, starting with “energy-jumping” right into the middle of a group of Reptilians and going from there. And what about the astronauts themselves? Did Raphael think they were just going to keep their mouths shut about the little assist they got from a bunch of strangers in gray jumpsuits? They’d certainly have to file a report about what had happened to them, how they’d been rescued.

I asked as much, and Raphael responded, “They’ll have no recollection at all of seeing any of us.”

His reply made me want to laugh. “Oh, so you’re going to use that old ‘Men in Black’ memory-wipe trick.”

“It is not a trick,” he said, dark eyes glinting with disapproval. And yet, they held mine for a second or two longer than they should, and a little shiver went through me. No, I had to be imagining things. There was no way in the world that he could be looking at me like…well, like that.

Luckily, my mother didn’t seem to have noticed our strange little exchange of glances. “Okay, leaving that aside for now, how are the astronauts going to explain away what we saw — what the world saw — on that news feed a few hours ago? And what about the little fact that they weren’t supposed to head back to Earth until six months from now? All of the data that’s been programmed into their guidance systems to get them home is going to be completely incorrect.”