Serac shook his head. “They’re doing what they can, but are being pulled in many directions at once. Our operation is still needed, and we can do the most good if we continue to work outside their scans.”
“We say, ‘under the radar’ on Earth,” Marvin said.
“Whatever you call it, it’s wrong to go behind their backs,” she said. “They’re supposed to be running our interactions with aliens.”
Marvin chuckled, then slapped Serac on the back and headed for the door. “I’m going to let you two sort this out.”
The moment they were alone, Kimmy stood to face Serac, letting her blanket fall to the chair. She could feel Payback grab onto locks of her hair to keep his position at the nape of her neck. It was still a little weird having something constantly sitting on her shoulder.
“This isn’t right,” Kimmy said.
“Right?” Serac set down his cocoa, taking a step closer—and he had already been pretty close. “Many of the planets we help have been duped or pressured by the Coalition into giving away all the resources they need to sustain life. They have to live in domes on their own homeworlds. Others struggle to survive on the surface.”
Kimmy had trouble wrapping her head around that. The only member of the Coalition she had met was Sabrina’s new boyfriend, Len. He was Sadirian, and he was a sweetheart. A high-ranking sweetheart, if Kimmy understood correctly. He was Chief Science Officer of the Reckoning.
Though, now that she was thinking about it, that wasn’t the friendliest name for a ship…
“I don’t want to mess up this chance for Harbor to be a gathering place for aliens,” she said. “We could make a difference for all of humanity. And maybe we can help the Coalition learn better manners, too.”
The room felt colder than it had when they first arrived. Kimmy suppressed a shiver.
Serac reached down to grab the blanket, then draped it over her shoulders. He kept his hands resting there. Her body heated at his touch. Her brain might not know what to think of the situation, but the rest of her sure as heck knew how it felt about him.
“We won’t prevent this opportunity for your town,” Serac said. “I promise. My crew has been running our own smuggling operations for decades. Now that Craig and Barbara have given up their routes, someone needs to take over. Planets are depending on them.”
“I’ve met Craig. He wouldn’t leave people hanging.”
“Hanging?”
Kimmy let out a sigh. “He wouldn’t stop helping people if they needed him.”
Serac nodded. “He has a new nestling to think about, plus his human foster-son. And if he’s anything like my captain, Craig was probably counting on Hank stepping in to take over their role.”
“It just…” She bit her lip and looked away, not wanting to offend him.
Serac cupped her cheek and brought her gaze back to his.
“What?” he asked. “You can tell me.”
Her heart thumped, heat again spreading from his touch. Kimmy always did everything by the books. And this kind of activity sounded…not by the books.
She hoped saying so wouldn’t put a permanent chill on their nascent relationship.
“On our planet, smuggling is illegal,” she said. “But that would make you a criminal.”
He nodded. “I am considered a criminal by the Coalition and—”
He shut his mouth so hard and fast that his teeth clacked. This time, he was the one to look away—and she was the one reaching up to turn his gaze back to her.
“Then why are you doing it?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
“Because it’s the right thing to do.” He shook his head. “I can’t risk going through proper channels, if such things actually exist now. We don’t have that kind of time.”
The skin around his eyes tightened and the furrows between his brow deepened. Something was there—a weight that she felt the strongest urge to ease.
How could she care so much when she didn’t even know him?
But I feel like I do.
“One person can’t save the world,” she said. “And one planet can’t save the galaxy.”
He shook his head. “One person can do much more than they think, and when it comes to Earth, the potential is limitless.”
“I don’t understand how we can make such a difference. I mean, if there are as many planets out there needing help as you say, what’s to stop us from becoming one of those barren worlds ourselves?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it again a few times. Finally, he sighed and cast a small smile at her.
Her stomach felt like it dropped through the floor. He had finally smiled! And the way it softened his features… It was so worth the wait.
“Let me show you,” he said.
“Show me how?”
“Come with me. Help me make this delivery. Then tell me what you think of our operation.”
Was he offering to take her to outer space—to visit another planet? How could she say no to that? And yet, if what they were about to do was illegal… She didn’t want to end up in some space-jail.
“See with your own eyes,” he said. “Make up your mind on your own.”
She did like the thought of that.
“What about Mrs. Simpkins’s cats? Marvin said the Scorpiian will keep going after them.”
Serac shook his head. “Dean isn’t just after Earth cats anymore. He knows he can’t handle them on his own.”
“So, what is he after?”
“He’s after you.”
7
Kimmy stared at Serac for a few moments, her large eyes blinking behind her lenses. She didn’t seem scared or concerned in the least.
Was there anything this beautiful Earthling feared?
“How do you know he’s after me?” Kimmy asked.
In that moment, Serac himself was more afraid than he had perhaps ever been. The small omission of not telling her his main reason for visiting Marvin still sat like a weight within his chest. How could Serac not tell her the truth now?
She had expressed concern over him helping others by working outside the laws of the Coalition. What would she think of him when she learned of what he had done while working within those laws?
“Better to end this now. Let her know who I truly am,” he thought.
“She will accept you.”
Serac wished he shared his zyln’s optimism.
“I know because he told me,” Serac said. “It’s the reason I came to Earth in the first place. Dean said he had found something of value and needed assistance obtaining it.”
“Why did he think you would help?”
“Because we used to work together,” Serac said. “I used to be one of the operatives who…who convinced sentients to give up their resources.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So, you came here to kidnap me?”
“No,” he said. “That life has been behind me for cycles. I came here to determine what he was planning and stop him if necessary.”
“That’s what you were fighting about in my backyard.”
“Yes.”
“And everything else you’re doing, it’s penance,” she said. “You’re trying to make up for the mistakes you made in the past.”