Galactic Forces : Alien Love Triangle Romance

Galactic Forces:

Book 1: Warp Attraction

Chapter 1

The heaviness of the room bore down on my shoulders. I stared at the stressed faces of Earth’s leading representatives and knew they were serious in backing what was just said. Not to come back from Bagar-1 without military aid. It was a tall order, but I was confident in my abilities to work with the Bagarian High General.

I know how serious the Corsovian threat is and I won’t let my planet down, I assured the table. The long oval conference table went on for yards, it held exactly fifty seats. When I first sat down I thought I’d slowly wither from the scrutiny of forty-nine pairs of eyes, but I was ready for the questioning. I understood that one of Earth’s highest hopes for meeting this invasion with a favorable outlook depended on me closing this deal.

Well, I think we’ve all heard what we need to on the matter. Representative Horowitz, your Bagarian escort will be arriving in three hours. This council—all of Earth’s nations, are counting on you, said my own Commander in Chief. With that the meeting was adjourned and dozens of security measures were taken to get the world leaders and representatives out of the Nations United meeting center. There’d been gatherings of people around the building for three days while the world watched and waited for a game plan in how Earth was to defend against our very first, and very real, alien invasion threat.

I was escorted by a Nations United security officer to a waiting car that would take me to the nearby spaceport. When the black SUV door was shut, I felt a pang in the center of my chest. Things had gotten surreal for me ever since I was chosen to go to Bagar-1. As a Nations United military correspondent I was often responsible for bartering aid from Earth’s larger nations. But that was only for reasons of aiding still underdeveloped countries. I’d never imagined I’d be sent into space to barter aid from Bagar-1.

The drive to New York’s spaceport was a short one. It meant I’d have a lot of time to worry about the various things that could go wrong on the three-day journey to Bagar-1.

Miss Horowitz I’ll be taking you directly to the dock where your transport will be landing. There is a private waiting area attached for you, my driver said.

Thank you, I said, smiling at him through the rearview mirror.

If you don’t mind my asking, have you been to other planets before? he asked.

I’ve only visited the moon colony right after it was built. I haven’t been past it, I said.

Well space travel shouldn’t be so bad for you then. Now it seems like everyone is visiting Mars, the moon, or some asteroid. I remember when space travel like that was only on the movie screens. Now we have alien allies and Dubai on Mars, he chuckled. I smiled, the driver looked to be in his early sixties maybe. Space travel had exploded as soon as the reusable rocket was perfected, then warp speed technology followed soon after.

Will you ever visit outer space? The Earth cruises are really nice and affordable now, I said.

"I don’t need to see what the planet looks like from space. I’m on the planet," he scoffed. I couldn’t help my chuckle. There’d always be some old-fashioned people who liked their feet planted firmly on the ground.

There’s nothing wrong with that sir, I said. He flashed me a shy grin, then assumed his driver’s face again and focused on the road. We’d reached the spaceport and he simply had to drive around to the specific dock. I shook hands with my driver and he wished me good luck before I went to the waiting area. My luggage was already there from my hotel and all that was left to do was wait.

There was a huge viewing glass that ran the length of the room and I slowly paced in front of it, watching the sky until I spotted the huge black and purple spacecraft slowly dock on the landing pad. It looked a lot like the Milano from that old Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It was three times bigger though.

Here we go, I said to myself. I took a deep breath, then went to grab my suitcase handles. The docking entrance opened within five minutes of the ship’s landing and a procession of five men spilled out. Two were employees of the spaceport, and the other three were very obviously Bagarian. Their skin had a purple tint to it and they were in uniform wearing light grey slacks and a matching vest with ranking badges along the right shoulder.

Representative Horowitz, this is Commander Knor, he’ll be overseeing your safe transport to Bagar-1. One of the spaceport officials introduced me to Knor and two of the chief pilots of the ship.

Rest assured Representative, you will have a swift and safe trip, Knor said. He shook my hand and I looked up at his face for the first time. My eyes had been drawn to the platinum ranking badges on each of the pilots’ arms. I wondered how I hadn’t noticed how gorgeous Knor was from the moment they stepped into the room. He had perfectly defined cheekbones, a dimpled chin, and strong jaw. His eyes were an odd translucent silver color, but it wasn’t unlike the other two pilots. They had unique greyish eyes as well.

Thank you Commander Knor, I have full trust in you and your crew, I said, smiling. Knor gave me a dimpled grin and I caught a charming glitter in his eye.

Allow us to get your things on board. The ship will take just a moment to be refueled, he said. His pilots took my bags for me and I followed them inside after a deep breath. I had to keep focused on my ultimate goal, which was to get the help we needed to keep Earth safe.

Chapter 2

INSIDE, THE SHIP WAS spacious. The entrance led directly to a sort of common area. There were two large desks back to back. One had a hologram computer on it, the other was scattered with various data pads and had three seats pulled up to it. There were three doorways around the room.

Directly ahead is the piloting hub. Through the left doorway is a hall that leads to a small cafeteria and a few of the bunkrooms. The right has more bunkrooms and escape pods at the furthest end of the hall, Knor explained.

This is our recreational area so to speak, said Vero, one of the pilots. He walked over to a wall panel I hadn’t noticed before and slid it back to reveal shelving full of books.

I think I’ll be fine for the trip then, I said. I’d downloaded a bunch of movies to a flash drive so I’d be able to have some entertainment on the ride too.

Allow me to show you to your quarters, Knor said. I nodded and followed him to the hallway on the right. It was the room closest to the escape pod bay.

There are exactly enough escape pods for all crew and guests on board, so there’s no need for worry. That is, in the unlikely event that we run into trouble, Knor said. He grinned at me again and I started to get the sense that he was quite the charmer. With a face like that, I was sure women often threw themselves at him.

Knor pressed his thumb to a small pad by the bunk’s door and it opened up to reveal a nicely sized bedroom. A full-size bed was in the far corner and by it a rectangular viewing window that was half the length of the bed. Across from that was a tiny reading area, it had one chair and small coffee table. Next to that was another door that led to a bathroom I assumed.

You’ll need to program your thumbprint here so that you can get in and out of your rooms, Knor said. I stepped out of the room and he gently wrapped his fingers around my wrist to guide my hand to the scanner, though I could have done that myself. I glanced up at him, not amused, but he wasn’t fazed by my expression. He simply smirked and then held my thumb to the pad until it was scanned and assigned to the room.

Thank you...for that, I said, my tone wry.

Sir, the ship has been refueled, we’re ready to launch at your command. Vero appeared and behind him a crew member with the barest of ranking on his sleeve came shuffling down the hall with my bags.

Representative Horowitz, this is Rodin, you’ll see him scurrying around doing grunt work. He’s new to the crew, Knor introduced the soldier and I gave him a kind smile.

Thanks for bringing those back for me Rodin, I said.

It’s my duty Representative, he said with pride in his voice. After he flashed me a smile and quick salute, he rolled my bags into the room, then hurried back down the hall with Vero.

Feel free to acquaint yourself with the ship. You have access to all areas apart from the piloting hub, you’ll need me or another pilot to escort you there. Knor said.

All right, we’re leaving soon then? I asked. He nodded.

In ten minutes, we’ll launch, he said. Knor left me in front of my bunk and I let out a deep breath after he was gone. In my room, there was a small cutout which acted as a closet. It had a few shelves and a bar for hangars. I unpacked my garment bag and hung it up. Other than that, I didn’t see any use in unpacking anything else. Up in space I wouldn’t have a signal to call home, it would only be me, my old movies, and the crew...and Knor. Though, I knew that getting involved with a Bagarian, let alone the Commander of my transport crew, wouldn’t be too smart. I had to stay focused on my mission.

A knock on the door, brought my head around and I found Knor waiting on the other side.

I wanted to tell you that your reading chair there, also acts as an anchor with appropriate harnessing should a launch or landing be particularly bumpy, he said. He walked over to what looked like a sofa chair, then revealed the harness hiding underneath each of the chair’s armrests. If you’d like, there is an extra seat in the pilot bay. You’d get a fantastic view of the launch and entering space, he said. With the flirtatious way he was looking at me, and the almost sultry tone of his voice, I knew he was trying to charm me!

Okay, sure, I said. I couldn’t deny that I wanted to get the best views of space possible. It wasn’t at all often that I did space travel. Knor led me to the pilot bay. There was a huge view of space that extended above the seats, there was also a very long control desk. Four seats manned the control panels and four more were arranged in a semi-circle behind it. Knor sat me down in one of the passive seats and smiled at me before he went to command his pilots. Within five minutes everyone was seated, including him to my right.

Vero, detach at your discretion, Knor said. I kept my eyes pointed up at the sky while the ship gently moved backwards and angled up. My breath caught at the top of my lungs as the ship shot out into the sky. The midday blue turned to black and we were surrounded by stars in the distance...and satellites.

Very soon, we will transition to warp and the space, for every star we pass, will turn momentarily white, Knor said. I glanced at him and wondered faintly if he was putting some sort of ‘wonderment’ move on me. The more obvious his flirting became, the more I wanted to show his