Xen Episode One Read Online Free Page A

beast.
    I stood in the center of my
lounge room,
my front door still open and banging in the wind. I stood there as
the day trailed into night.
    Stock still, eyes locked on the wall, I
thought.
    I would have to plan what I was going to do
next carefully. I could not compromise my cover. I could not reveal
my true skills. I could not let anyone know who Chandler had really
been.
    Adam would try to stop me.
    I would overcome him.
    It was my right to know what had
happened.
    Though Chandler had told us to integrate, I
felt as if Adam had integrated too well. He’d forgotten that under
his exterior he was an officer in the Unitine. And as an officer,
he had a duty, first to the galaxy, and second to his crew.
    You never left somebody behind, and you
never gave up on them.
    Even when they were dead.
    …
    Adam
    I sat at my desk, stiff hand locked on my
face as I considered my computer screen.
    She wasn’t going to let this go.
    True, I hadn’t had much to do with Xen over
the past 30 years, but I knew her.
    She was a Peacekeeper, and they never left
their crew behind, especially not their commanders.
    But if she knew what was good for her, she
would drop this, turn away, and live out the rest of her existence
on Earth.
    With a jerked move, I sat back, head banging
against my seat. I brought my hands forward and locked my fingers
together. My hands were sweaty. My pulse was quick.
    I may have started off as an alien, but the
more I lived on Earth, the more human I became. As the devices in
my body broke down, I started to feel the infirmity of my age.
    And I didn’t like it, because I had things
to do....
    I rested my white knuckles back on the desk,
closed my eyes, and sat back.
    “You have no choice,” I suddenly told myself
out loud, listening to my voice as it rang through the empty
room.
    And it was true. I had no choice.
    I couldn’t allow my plans to be interfered
with.
    Not now. Not ever.
    …
    Miguel Rodriguez
    Man, I hated my conscience. It never let me
rest.
    It was after my goddamn shift, and I was
still going to check up on Jenny. Why? Because I hadn’t liked the
look of that guy. The one who’d brushed past me without a sorry or
a hello.
    I pulled up outside her gate and shook my
head. Not at the dilapidated state of the gate, but my ridiculous
sense of justice.
    Jenny was clearly fine. I was overreacting.
That guy from before had been nothing. So why was I getting out of
my car, opening her gate, and walking up to her front door?
    I cursed under my breath as I saw the door
was wide open.
    There were no lights on inside.
    I was off duty, and my gun was locked in the
safety box in the back of my car. That didn’t stop me from walking
slowly and carefully up the front porch. Heart pounding in my
throat, I shifted towards the door, pressing two fingers on it as I
pushed it further open. “Hello,” I called out, “is anyone
there?”
    “I am here,” Jenny said.
    As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw
her standing there in the middle of her lounge room.
    “Are you okay?” I asked suddenly.
    She was standing there in a puddle of water,
her clothes drenched, her old gray hair sticking to her cheeks and
neck.
    And yet she still looked at me with that
same regal if impassive gaze. “Yes, I am fine.”
    I paused. “Ma'am, your door is wide open and
you're just standing in a puddle of water. Are you sure you’re
okay?”
    “I went to a funeral today,” she pointed
out.
    I swallowed. Damn. I wasn’t a counselor.
Wincing, I realized I couldn’t just walk away from this though.
“How about I close your door for you, ma’am, and put your heating
on?”
    “I require no heat. The open door does not
bother me. Does it bother you?” She asked directly.
    Jenny seriously was a weird one. I dearly
wanted to know what she’d done before she'd retired.
    Now probably wasn’t the time to ask.
    “Do you have anyone I can call for you?”
    “I know no one worthy of contact anymore,”
she said