Dovetailed by Rashelle Workman Page A

of us will be a family. I promise.” He left, climbing out the window, and used Britorent to get back to the Transport.
    He opened the door. The cockpit lit up. “Return flight in T minus five minutes and counting.” Dervinias moved to get in, but froze. He’d been so busy thinking about Chev he’d allowed himself to be snuck up on. Not good. It wasn’t that they could hurt him, he was indestructible on Earth . . .
    “Hello Dervinias. It’s been a while.”
    “I don’t have time for you right now.” He climbed into the Transport, removed the Ostwallow sword, pressed the recorder button, and finally looked at Charles, the newest leader of the A.L.T. unit for the US government.
    Physically the man wasn’t much to look at. He was barely five foot five and didn’t weigh more than one-hundred-forty pounds—even that was generous. His blond hair was thinning and his face was pockmarked. He wore the standard issue suit and tie, but somehow he still managed to look like he’d slept in it. Maybe he had. A.L.T. was his life.
    Dervinias also knew his appearance was a charade, a farce used to allow his enemy to think he was careless, stupid, and untrained. Dervinias had seen first hand the cruel way Charles proved them wrong.
    “Make time.”
    Dervinias sighed. “What do you want?”
    Charles took a solitary step forward. “I’ve read your file. I know what you are.”
    Dervinias choked back a smile. Charles thought he could threaten him. Perhaps he wasn’t done killing after all. “What am I, Charlie?”
    Another step forward. “It’s Charles, if you please, and I know you’re an alien.”
    “Oooh, what gave me away? Was it the spaceship?” He couldn’t hide the smirk this time.
    Charles returned his grin, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “You’re mine,” he hissed.
    Using Britorent he came at Charles, lifting him off the ground by his wimpy little neck. “I think it’s time you learned your place. Right before I kill—”
    A shot rang out.
    Dervinias looked down and saw that Charles held a gun. Smoke and the smell of gunpowder tickled his nose. He laughed. “Your measly weapons are nothing.” As he spoke he realized pain was radiating from his stomach. It was dull, but there nonetheless. He glanced down again. His shirt was wet.
    That’s strange , he thought, letting go of Charles. The tiny man suddenly weighed a ton.
    Dervinias touched his shirt and brought his fingers to his nose. There was a sweet scent. Shocked, he understood it was his Kelvieri’s blood. “Impossible,” he whispered, looking up. His vision wavered and Charles seemed to fade in and out. “How?” he asked, realizing that the human had somehow caught him by surprise. He’d found some kind of technology capable of wounding Kelvieri. Unable to stop himself, he fell forward. His body was too heavy.
    “Your father, King Antyon, provided us with a poison capable of rendering you helpless.”
    Anger burned. He should’ve expected something like this from his father. How could he have been so stupid?
    “You are a peace offering,” Charles continued, “though we don’t make peace with alien species capable of harming us.”
    “Your… First… Mistake…” He took a deep breath and realized the air was choking him. So this is what Venus experienced , he thought randomly. “First to go,” he added.
    “Oh, don’t worry. King Antyon will get what’s coming to him.”
    Dervinias tried to shake his head. Humans could be so arrogant sometimes. No, most of the time. For the most part their arrogance didn’t bother him. He knew how to use it to his advantage, but now that Chev and his daughter were here on Earth he wanted to protect them, and that meant he’d give the humans information to help them defeat his father—if they’d let him, anyway. It felt as though he would suffocate before he got the chance. “Stupid.” Dervinias fell face first to the ground. The dirt was dry against his skin. Pebbles pressed against his cheek.