[Ben]

The forces pushed me forward in my seat as the flyer spun like a top. At the same time, it felt as if I was floating while we plummeted down. I didn't have much time to recover from the flat spin. Becoming part of a crash site in the grassland below was not how I wanted this day to go.

There was no way the flyer auto controls could handle a spin with only three fans, so I switched it to full manual. First, to deal with the spin, I powered up the fans and ducted thrust counter to it. I had to do this carefully - too much thrust might roll us. Once the spin stopped, I slammed the fan power to maximum and directed the thrust straight downward. The forces pressed me down into my seat.

I glanced out my window. We were close enough to the ground that I could make out the small red wildflowers between tufts of grass. That was close, too close. I turned toward Kie as we regained altitude. The color had drained from her face.

I mumbled, "They are beginning to piss me off."

Besides trying to kill us, they blasted off the fan that I had just fixed. They must have some sort high-velocity projectile launcher, maybe a railgun. That was actually a small bit of luck. The hypersonic slug sheared the left rear fan right off. The impact of a lower velocity projectile might have tipped us over completely and into an unrecoverable roll.

The flyer shuddered as I banked hard left. It could still fly with only three fans, but it was not as stable. A dark streak flashed by to the right, blasting a hole in the ground and kicking up a cloud of dirt. They were still shooting at us. I opened up the throttle and flew low next to the ground in a zigzag pattern, hoping to throw off whatever kind of targeting system they had.

Kie jumped as another hypersonic slug whizzed past us. She turned to me, her eyes wide. "Do you remember how upset I got the first time you flew like a maniac?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Cost me a chocolate bar."

"Well, I take it back. Show me what you can do."

I grinned. "My little mouse, I thought you would never ask."

I think she rolled her eyes.

Ahead, the wide river valley narrowed into a canyon with red rock walls where the lazy meandering river transitioned to tumbling white-water rapids. I turned toward it.

The alien ship followed behind us but could not match my back and forth movements. That was its weakness. Designed for space travel, it was not very maneuverable in atmospheric flight. I pushed the yoke forward and dove into the canyon. As I hoped, the ship fell back and lifted above the canyon rim, unable to navigate its twists and turns. But it still followed us. I may have, at best, delayed our demise.

Ar'ell spoke in song from the back seat. He waved his arms as streaks of green flashed across his face. Kie turned to him and replied in song.

She turned back to me, half a smile on her face. "Our friend has a plan."

"We could use a good plan."

"He wants you to get close to the ship. Right on top of it."

"That's his plan?"

"He said he could then disable it."

What the hell. I didn't have any better ideas. I replied in song, 'yes!' Ar'ell raised his hands. Shades of blue came to his face. He was as much a maniac as me.

I skimmed the water, following the curves of the river. A hyper-velocity slug slammed into the canyon wall ahead. I banked hard to avoid the avalanche of rock and boulders, but still, a few pieces bounced off the side of the flyer with loud clunks.

We came to a long bend in the river, sweeping around a huge rounded rock monument. The towering rock and the sharpness of the bend would take us out of sight of the alien ship for a moment. This was our opportunity.

I yelled, "Here comes the fun part. Hang on!" Based on her wide eyes and her white-knuckle grip on the seat arms, I didn't think Kie was having any fun at all.

As the rock hid us from the alien ship, I pulled hard on the control yoke. The flyer nose pitched up as we decelerated. I slung us around, reversing our direction of flight. Pouring on the thrust, the flyer raced out of the canyon and circled behind the rock formation. We came up close behind the hostile alien ship. As I hoped, it had slowed down, trying to find us.

Kie turned as Ar'ell spoke in song. Nodding her head, she pushed the buttons that opened up the flyer rear gull-wing doors. Ar'ell gripped his lance. It hummed a high pitch crescendo as the weapon activated, audible even over the wind that rushed in the open doors.

Ah, so that's his plan!

I accelerated, bringing the flyer closer over the ship. I don't think they spotted us yet. I landed on the upper fuselage with a jolt. The two thrusters, large cylinders mounted on pylons, rose on both sides of us. Ar'ell leaned out the right door and fired two bright yellow pulses from his lance at a thruster. He then repeated the process on the left side.

The alien ship lurched as I lifted off. Smoke poured out from both thrusters. The ship rolled on its side as it fell, slamming into the canyon wall. I shielded my eyes from the bright explosion that ripped it apart. Pieces of the ship splashed down into the river below.

I raised a fist and shouted in song, 'Yes!'. Ar'ell repeated the gesture.

We landed on a grassy knoll not far away from the crashed alien ship. I needed to inspect the flyer before we continued. Kie rushed in to hug Ar'ell. He was not sure how to respond until I pantomimed a hugging motion to him so that he would put his long arms around her.

Next, it was my turn. Kie wrapped her arms around my waist and nuzzled her head against my shoulder. She purred as I wrapped my arms around her. "You two are my heroes."

I whispered in her ear. "Since we are officially a mated pair, I was hoping to get a kiss out of this too."

With a sly grin, she placed her hands on my shoulders. She teased me, brushing her soft open lips across mine with the faintest of touch. But it was as if that slight touch connected a circuit. The electricity flowed between us, lighting up my core. A soft touch was not enough. I pulled her closer and pressed my lips to hers. She molded her body against mine and looped her arms around my neck. Sparks danced across our lips and tongues as the circuit connected our hearts together.

For a few moments, Paradise consisted of only us.

*****

The flyer groaned and squealed as we landed by the southwest research station. It was far from my smoothest landing, but I was flying a damaged aircraft. The sun, Tau Ceti, hung low over the long building. Several greenhouses flanked it, each like a large transparent tube half-buried in the grassy ground. A series of bunkhouses and a few other outbuildings sat behind. I had been here several times with my parents over the years.

Nova peeked around a greenhouse. A huge smile grew on her face as she bounded over to me, her dark ponytailed hair swinging back and forth. I lifted the little girl and slung her over a shoulder. "Hey, squirt. Did you miss me?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We had to come here 'cause there are bad aliens at home." Her smile faded. "Daddy's still there."

I put her down on her feet and put an arm around her shoulders. "We've met some bad aliens. But you know what? There are some good aliens too. We brought one with us. His name is Ar'ell."

Her chin dropped as Ar'ell writhed his long body out of the flyer. "Whoa..."

Nova pulled me by the hand toward the main building. She called out, "Mommy, Ben's here!"

Mom met us at the door and wrapped me in a hug. Tears came to her eyes. "Ben..." She pulled back. "These last several days... I hoped you avoided all this."

I shook my head. "Actually, no. We were in the middle of it all." I turned and motioned Kie and the alien forward. "Mom, I would like you to meet Ar'ell of the Orra clan. He's a terraformer like you."

Ar'ell dipped his head in an attempt to mimic a human greeting. Kie stood next to him. Mom's eyes went full open and her jaw dropped. She took a step back. I put a hand up. "It's okay. He is with us and we've been through a lot together. He... Well, there's a lot to tell you."

My other two sisters, Eve and Luna, burst out of the door to give me hugs. Luna wrinkled her nose at the sight of the mangled flyer. "You came in that?"

"Um, yeah. Had a few encounters with unfriendly aliens."

They hugged me tighter and Eve's lip quivered. That worried me. I expected some of their normal teasing, at least some sarcastic quip about wrecking yet another flyer. Something bad had happened.

I looked at Mom. "What's wrong?"

She dipped her head. "Your father. The invaders shot him and Liz too. I saw it happen on a video feed. We don't know if..." A sob took away her words and she turned away.

Her words squeezed my heart. I almost didn't want to ask, but maybe he did not die. "What did you see?"

A tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. "Some sort of yellow light hit him in the chest. Then he shook and collapsed. I... I didn't see any more."

I blew out a breath. "Those lance things are powerful. I've seen them in action. But they also have a stun function. I know, because I experienced it. Mom, I think Dad was just stunned."

She looked up as I put a hand on her shoulder. "Then there is hope?"

I nodded with a small smile. "Yes, there is."

Kie conversed with Ar'ell in song. I think she explained to him what was going on. The series of tones and chirps still seemed bewildering to me and likely more so for Mom.

Mom's eyes shot full open. "Kie, you can communicate with them?"

Kie nodded. "Yes. Ar'ell taught me their language or some of it at least. It's tonal based."

I smiled. "Mom, there's more! With Ar'ell's help, we may have a way out of all this, to reclaim Paradise. Like I said, we have a lot to tell you."

We told our tales over dinner. A few of Mom's security team joined us and we made early morning travel plans to Paradise City.

To Ar'ell's delight, based on the light blue shades on his face, Nova gathered some strawberries for him. She seemed to be fascinated with the alien. Kie even taught her a few alien words and Ar'ell played along.

Kie sat close to me on the bench before the table. It was Eve who noticed the matching gold bracelets. Every jaw in my family dropped when I told them Kie and I were now a mated pair in the Orra clan. Mom almost choked on her food. Although we did not speak of it, I am sure she and my sisters suspected the growing relationship between Kie and me.

Eve proceeded to warn Kie about how much of a 'butthead' I was. Mom cut that conversation short with a pointed glare. Kie covered her mouth to hide a grin. I may need to keep her apart from my two oldest sisters.

It was well after dark when Nova escorted us to our bunkroom for some much-needed sleep. Ar'ell pointed out a reddish star near the horizon to her. Kie translated that his homeworld, Av'arr, was there.

The bunkroom contained only four beds separated with dark curtains, a few grey plastic chairs, and a small shelf unit. In no time at all Ar'ell fell fast asleep, his long legs hanging off the end of his bed.

Kie and I spread our sleeping bags out on two beds separated by a curtain. I kissed her goodnight before she laid down. Her eyes held mine as I walked around the curtain to my bed. I laid in my bed with my hands behind the head. The moons of Paradise, Eros and Anteros, cast streams of faint soft light through the window. This had been an eventful day, to say the least.

Kie appeared beside my bed. "Ben?"

The moonlight showed enough of her moist amber eyes that I could see into her heart. There crouched an anxious fear. The burden of Paradise bore down on her. I wanted to take some of that load, to support her. "I am with you, Kie. Whatever comes, we will face it together."

There was something else in her eyes, a deep vulnerability that tugged on my own heart. I held out my arms. She accepted, sliding into my sleeping bag with me. I wrapped my arm around her as she laid across my body, her head nuzzled into the crook of my neck.

She whispered, "I wouldn't be able to say no to you tonight."

I kissed her on the forehead. "Then, tonight I will not ask."

What had happened to me? Not many days ago I would have taken full advantage of her.

She closed her eyes. "Ben... I love you."

"You know what, my sweet mouse? I've kinda fallen in love with you."

Oh, yeah. That's what happened.

https://youtu.be/9_sR4epKtNA