Mad Panther: Alien Guardians of Earth #2

Chapter 3

3“Are we there yet?” Sugar bit her lip when Rodu turned to glare at her.

“Why do you keep asking me that question? It’s only been fifteen minutes since you last asked.”

Sugar shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I figured a flying saucer should travel faster than an airplane. It feels like we’re not even moving. I’m pretty sure I keep seeing the same clouds passing by.”

“Peru is very far from the palace,” Rodu said carefully, turning his attention back to the sky in front of them. “Earth physics apply to all craft moving through its atmosphere. Perhaps it would help you to know that we are moving at triple the speed of the fastest commercial airliner. That’s the safest acceleration our human bodies can handle, even for you and I who are aided by the artifacts within us.”

Sugar made a face. “So are we talking more than four or five hours to get there?”

Rodu turned to glare again. He pressed a button on the panel in front of him. “Calculate and report the estimated time of arrival when maintaining current speed.”

“Four hours fifty-two minutes and twenty-eight seconds,” the craft’s programmed voice reported.

Sugar giggled at the information and how Rodu got it. She couldn’t help it. This was definitely a flying saucer, and it had an onboard computer just like in the movies. She turned a wicked grin his way. “Are you sure the calculation is right?”

Rodu grunted. “No wonder you tamed my son. The uncertainty you create is like trying to walk through wet cement. He probably never knows where he stands with you.”

“Not if I can help it,” Sugar agreed with a smile.

She turned to stare out of the window. All she saw was the sky. It had stopped being amazing after the first ten minutes. Now it was just tedious.

“Actually, I don’t try with Axel. It’s like we meshed without all the common struggle two people experience when they’re attracted to each other. My relationship with him is not like any I had before him.”

Rodu shrugged a shoulder. “Nyomi is as foreign a female companion as a male could ever find. We have nearly nothing in common except that we are obsessed with each other. How it came to be that way remains a mystery to me, even after all this time.”

“That sure doesn’t sound like an easy relationship.”

Sugar grinned when her comment finally managed to get Rodu to smile.

“No. It is not easy. But being with her is more wonderful than anything a human male could ever dream of finding. Her adoration alone is worth living for, no matter how many lifetimes it costs me. And it has cost me several already. The blade I carry would have probably found a new host long ago if it had not agreed with her regeneration plans.”

Sugar sighed in understanding. “All mine says about the potential end of our connection is host alive until death. It doesn’t seem to get how that kind of statement is not exactly reassuring.”

“If you’re expecting it to develop nuances of understanding, give that up now. My blade is as direct as it was in the beginning. The only thing I’ve gained over time is that it doesn’t seem to have an opinion on every action. Sometimes I forget it’s in me until it speaks up.”

Sugar chuckled. “I’m really far away from that place. I address it as ‘Artifact’ when I talk to it. Honestly, everything that’s happened to me still seems completely surreal. Hearing you talk about your blade seems surreal too.”

“After all the years it has been with me, I assure you the being I carry is very real,” Rodu answered. “Soon you will come to understand your bonding with your blade is a natural state. Your blade sought a host for a long time, and it finally found one in you. It was created solely to make its host become superhuman, as trite as that sounds.”

Sugar nodded. Being superhuman no longer seemed like something fictional, but her brain still couldn’t accept it yet either. The only reason she stayed silent was that too much had happened for her to debate Rodu’s description or his conclusions.

Sugar?

Sugar glanced at Rodu then returned to staring out the window. Private mode, Artifact. Understood?

Affirmative. Urgency recommended. Protector now awake.

Sugar closed her eyes. Yes, but don’t you think the Protector needs sleep too? I’m still tired.

Response is unclear. Please restate for clarity.

Sugar rolled her eyes behind closed lids. Like the artifact was making sense tonight? Never mind, Artifact. Explain things to me. I’m listening.

Choice now made.

Sugar felt her eyebrows draw together. I know, and I get it. You chose me. You and I are a team.

Affirmative. We are team. Protector chose Lake.

Her eyelids squeezed tighter as Sugar tried to sort out what the artifact was trying to tell her. Are you saying the new blade is now in a lake?

Negative. Previous answer valid.

Sugar opened her eyes and stared out at the sky. It was acres of blue with fluffy white vapor puffs. Funny how from the ground the sky always seemed more interesting than when you were moving through it in an aircraft. Is that where we’re going? To retrieve the Protector blade?

Negative. Retrieval will result in death.

Whose death? Sugar demanded, her eyes widening at the warning.

Death of Lake.

Sighing, Sugar leaned forward in her seat. The artifact was usually much clearer, but at the moment, she was getting a headache trying to figure out what it was saying. That hadn’t happened in a while.

“Getting airsick?” Rodu asked.

“No, I’m straining to figure out what the hell my blade is trying to tell me. The artifact says the other protector blade is awake and now in a lake. She says if we try to retrieve the blade that the lake is going to die.”

Rodu pondered the possibilities. “Perhaps the blade is speaking of Lake Titicaca. It is the closest lake to your coordinates. There is a science base beneath its depths staffed by a variety of aliens from other planets.”

Sugar turned to Rodu and lifted a hand in disbelief as he chuckled at her reaction. “Are you telling me there are real aliens living underwater in Lake Titicaca?”

“Many visitors from other planets have limited capabilities. There are aliens living in lots of places on Earth—probably in places you’d never believe unless you saw them there.”

“You got that right,” Sugar said with real feeling.

“How can you be so shocked when you’re sleeping with a half-alien male yourself? You know for certain that aliens exist, Dr. Jennings. How can you not accept that there are more of them?”

Sugar let a long breath escape. Because it was incredible that Earth had been invaded long ago and not many knew it, she chuckled over bumping up against the limit of her willingness to believe. “Guess you got me on that one, Rodu. The possibility simply hadn’t crossed my mind.”

Rodu grinned. “In Earth terms, Lake Titicaca hosts a scientific observatory where other species study Earth’s ecosystems and biology. But there are no humans there. Human bodies simply aren’t made to be handle pressures down that deep. Only certain aliens can do so.”

Sugar nodded. What else could she do but accept all the new knowledge Rodu kept dropping on her. “Okay, I got it. Blades only go into humans, and there are no humans in the nearest lake to the coordinates. We’re now officially back to zero understanding of what my blade is saying. I think we need to go to the coordinates and look around for clues until I get clear on the message.”

Rodu frowned as he nodded. “It makes sense that you should trust your instincts in the matter. I will take us to the Temple Of The Moon. We will pretend to be explorers and hopefully find our answers.”

Sugar felt her lips twitch. Her wicked side was never far away. “I actually am an explorer. Remember?”

“I suppose that’s true,” Rodu said, nodding. “Our ruse will be highly believable then.”

Sugar didn’t bother reminding Rodu that if it was true, then it wasn’t a ruse. Rodu was concerned enough about the new blade. She’d save her sarcasm for another day.