Of course, it could easily backfire. What if Kal grew worried—which I knew he would—and insist on setting up a guard outside my room in case I began wandering off again?
Or maybe he would tie me to the bed…
Focus, girl!
I surveyed the training yard. Blunt weapons and practice blaster pistols adorned the walls. There were even ancient wooden weapons at the opposite end. I’d seen too many horror movies to feel comfortable in a secluded place like this.
“Hello?” I said. “Is anyone there?”
The Changelings could come out at any moment and scare me to death. So, I placed a hand preemptively over my mouth to block the “Eek!” that would explode from my lips.
There was little else I could say that wouldn’t give away the reason I was there—just in case the Changelings had left and they’d been caught or replaced by guards.
“About time you showed up,” a craggy voice said.
I spun around and caught the “Eek!” in my hands.
Not George Clooney melted from the shadows. I still had little idea of what these creatures were capable of. Could they only morph into man-shaped beings? Or could they adopt the guise of other shapes and objects too?
“You were meant to be here an hour ago,” Not George Clooney said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was asleep.”
He eyed me uncertainly.
“I turned the buzzer off so it wouldn’t get anyone’s attention,” I said. “A cleaner or one of the guards. If they found it…”
The game would be up. Then what would happen to me? For the first time since I’d arrived on the moon, the thought of getting caught terrified me more than anything these creatures could do to me. They might rip me to pieces or lock me in a pod and blast me into space, but at least my heart wouldn’t be broken.
That’s when I realized how close I now was with Kal. When death was less scary than the thought of disappointing him, I knew I must have deeper feelings for him than I realized.
I regretted coming out to the training yard, regretted beginning this whole mission in the first place.
Except, that wasn’t true, was it? I didn’t regret meeting Kal. He was the best thing that’d happened to me since… well, since forever.
Images of the night we spent together flashed through my mind and a hot flush tore across my face and cheeks. I was glad it was dark in there and the red tint of the giant host planet helped mask me.
“No matter,” Not George Clooney said. “I’ve received word from command you have achieved part of your mission.”
I nodded.
“Yes,” I said. “I inserted the device into his computer. You know, it would have been useful to know what a computer looks like down here. I almost didn’t make the deadline.”
“It is a regular computer,” Not George Clooney said, waving a hand dismissively, “the same as any other unit on a multitude of planets and moons.”
“Not on my planet or moon,” I said indignantly. “And I was the one that had to plant the damn thing.”
To them, it might be normal. To me, it’d been a shock.
“When will you take me and my friends home?” I said.
I rode the giddy excitement like a wild stallion. Go home. I couldn’t wait.
“Not yet,” Not George Clooney said. “We’ve hit a snag.”
“A snag? I don’t care about any of your snags,” I said, my voice growing louder and more shrill.
The Changeling glanced at the walls and hissed for me to be quiet.
“You told me I could go home once I did this mission,” I said. “I’ve done it. Now I want what you promised me. To go home.”
The creature placed a hand over my mouth.
“Sh!” he hissed. “Do you want to bring them down on us?”
He glanced furtively at the front and back doors. It was good to see I wasn’t the only one on edge.
“Your mission was to discover where the lord’s loyalties lie,” he said. “The best way of doing that was to plant the device on his computer system so we could monitor his electronic communications. But we found nothing.”
Even I could have told them that. The Titans were not blindly obsessed with technology. They still took walks in nature to strengthen their bond with their surroundings. It showed just how little the Changelings knew about the race they had just conquered.
“So maybe that proves he’s loyal to you,” I said.
Not George Clooney shook his head.
“Lack of evidence one way or the other does not prove the opposite is true,” he said. “You will return to your original mission. You will get closer to him and learn his allegiance. Then, once he makes a decision that proves his disloyalty, you will report to us.”
“I did what you asked,” I said. “If you weren’t sure what you would find on his computer system, you should have been more careful. I want to go home and I want to go right now.”
“You aren’t going anywhere. You will stay here and discover his allegiance—the way you were tasked to begin with.”
‘Get closer to him’ conjured a headful of images I didn’t need to distract me right then. I couldn’t get any closer to him without climbing into his skin.
The thought of betraying him brought a nasty taste in my mouth. I wanted to go home but I didn’t want to condemn him. I’d gotten closer to him over the past few days as I had with any man back on Earth.
“I can’t do it,” I said, knowing what failure would mean for me and my friends.
“What was that?” Not George Clooney said.
“I can’t learn what you’re asking for. It’s too deep, too personal. He won’t tell me his allegiance.”
But I already knew, didn’t I? Even if he hadn’t said it in so many words…
His heart was good and pure and he would
