Sleeping with the Enemy.

by Kaitlyn O'Connor.

Chapter One.

Moon Base 2028

The agitation that had driven First Lieutenant Sybil Hunter from her quarters in the barracks to the Cosmos observation center eased as the lack of activity reflected on the huge screens caught her attention. For a solid week, dozens of workers had been carefully going over the hull of the colony ship, searching for micro-meteor holes to patch. The ship-as yet to have its maiden voyage-had been liberally peppered with them during the transition from external shielding to internal, forcing a frantic search and patch operation before the tiny holes could seriously jeopardize the hull's integrity.

They were conspicuous now by their absence. Undoubtedly, they'd finished and withdrawn inside the ship once more to help the others working on finishing the ship's interior.

It was amazing how often the simplest things worked best, Sybil reflected. Not that they knew yet whether it would in this particular case, but every study and every calculation had pointed to a high probability of success. After the finest minds had wracked their brains for a solution to the *gravity problem' for decades and come up empty-handed, they'd finally decided to give the *harebrained' solution a try and it looked like it was going to work.

Of course moving an asteroid the size of this one out of the asteroid belt and into roughly the same orbit as the moon hadn't been an easy task by any stretch of the imagination! The fact that it had its own gravity had only made it that much harder, but then there wouldn't have been any point to the delicate operation if it hadn't!

Desperate times called for desperate measures, however. Poised to begin full scale colonization of Mars, they already had over a million volunteers signed up and the buses built a decade earlier to carry scientists, colonists, and sightseers to the moon were woefully inadequate for the task. Although advances in the past decade had resulted in ships that could make the trip to Mars and back three times faster than they'd been able to manage back in the teens and early twenties when they'd established the first bases for scientific studies, ferrying the colonists already signed up for land on the new world was a daunting task. With more people eager to escape the Earth and forge a new life on Mars every day, it had begun to seem an impossible task.

The U.S.S. Cosmos had been the solution, but it had its own problems. Although big enough to carry nearly a hundred thousand colonists at the time, the ship was far slower than the smaller crafts they'd built. It would take nearly six months to make the round trip, and that meant that the colonists weren't going to be in any shape to begin working when they arrived- not at nearly zero gravity. It would take months of rehabilitation to get them in shape even though Mars' gravity was only 38% of Earth's. The combination of *gravity' suits, which worked in conjunction with electro-magnetic forces, and *artificial gravity' created by centrifugal force used on the Moon colony wasn't practical, even if it could be done-and everyone had been pretty convinced that it couldn't-not on that scale.

It was critical to the success of the Mars colonization project that the colonists be able to start to work when they arrived. The Mars colonist dormitory/holding/and processing facility was being completed even as the final touches were being completed on the U.S.S. Cosmos. It was fully stocked to house them for at least a year, but resources were at a premium and would be until the colonists began to produce their own goods. The first colonists needed to complete their personal habitats and begin growing their own food within the first six months or it would seriously jeopardize the chances of the next group and every group thereafter.

So-the harebrained solution thought up by a pseudo-scientist who had no idea what sort of complications might arise from capturing and then building a ship around an asteroid with its own gravity. It had actually made construction of the ship much easier. Flying it was going to be a real b.i.t.c.h, but if they could manage it the colonists would arrive on Mars in excellent condition.

She was to have been a member of the crew that would take the Cosmos on its maiden voyage.

Not anymore!

She shook her head as if she could shake the thought, but it was stuck, had been since she'd gotten her orders the day before.

Her stomach knotted with anxiety. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, the *emergency mission' she'd been rea.s.signed to scared the p.i.s.s out of her. She supposed, wryly, that it was crazy to be unnerved when she'd been prepared to take a flight on the totally experimental craft she was looking at, but she had confidence that the new design was going to outperform anything built before. She didn't have a h.e.l.l of a lot of confidence in the hastily re-outfitted ship that was to take her in the opposite direction-to Venus.

There hadn't been a single d.a.m.ned probe launched toward Venus in well over a decade, though! From the time Earth had entered its climate change and the situation on Earth had begun to decline rapidly all eyes were on the Moon and Mars. Neither had seemed like mankind's last hope or a port in the storm before the climate change, but it hadn't taken very many natural disasters to make them look better and better, despite the challenges of living on the Moon and Mars.

A lot of people were still waiting for Armageddon, she thought wryly, but unlike the frog in the slowly heating pot of water, some of the *frogs' had woke up and discovered they were already in the middle of Armageddon, not waiting for it to arrive.

Shaking the thought, she glanced at her watch, muttered a curse under her breath, and left the observatory. She hardly noticed the transition from centrifugal weight to magnetic as she moved from the observatory into the corridor that connected it to the administration building. It had taken some getting used to when she'd first arrived, but she'd acclimated in the two months she'd been stationed on the moon base.

The shift in *pull' from overall-the centrifugal force of revolving buildings against her entire anatomy-to strictly external with the drag of magnetism against her grav suit still made her stomach flutter uncomfortably with a sense of weightlessness, but she'd ceased to really notice it. It also wasn't nearly as much of a challenge to step from the corridor into the next revolving structure as it had been at first. With barely a pause to adjust her stride, she stepped from the corridor into the main lobby, glanced around, and headed toward the conference room.

Her crewmates were already a.s.sembled in the conference room and they didn't look any happier to be there than she was.

After saluting her superior officer, Major Reed Powell, and exchanging salutes with Corporal Thomas Spencer, she moved toward the conference table where the two civilian scientists who would be accompanying them, Dipak Kushbu and Holly Rains, were already seated.

She'd been training for the Mars mission with Major Powell and Corporal Spencer since her arrival and knew them in a strictly professional capacity. She hadn't so much as lain eyes on Dr. Kushbu or Dr. Rains before, but since Kushbu was east Indian it wasn't difficult to figure out who was who.

Dr. Rains nodded a greeting and moved a hand that shook faintly toward the control of the holographic display in the center of the table. An image appeared that sent a shockwave through Sybil.

Dr. Rains smiled thinly when she'd observed the reactions of everyone at the table. 'As you can see, Venus looks a good bit different than it did before. These are the pictures we managed to take with the probe we uh appropriated before it malfunctioned.'

Sybil wouldn't have believed it was was Venus if the woman hadn't told her. Venus if the woman hadn't told her.

'Any guesses as to what's going on there?' Major Powell asked sharply, breaking the silence that had held them.

Dr. Rains shrugged. 'I can tell you what we think is happening. It's the reason you were pulled off the Mars mission.'

Sybil frowned when the doctor stopped, apparently weighing her next words. 'Bad news? Or seriously bad news?'

'I suppose that remains to be seen. Maybe it would be easier to digest if I go back a little bit?'

Major Powell's lips thinned, but he nodded to encourage Dr. Rains to proceed. She tapped the keys of the pad and different image appeared-one that was no more recognizable to Sybil than the first had been. 'This is an image of Pluto captured a few days ago. The onset of the change was first observed back in 2006. The scientist that first noticed it thought that there was a problem with the images-an error in the data stream. After carefully going back over everything, he finally announced his findings in 2010, but we didn't have anything that far out to help the scientific community understand what was causing the change to Pluto. We haven't had anything since, for that matter, but he finally convinced the scientists in charge of the Inmar telescope sent up to replace the Kepler six years ago to realign the telescope for a better look. These images were captured,' she explained, tapping the keyboard to display a progression of startling images.

Noticing tiny, fuzzy lights surrounding Pluto, Sybil narrowed her eyes, trying instinctively to bring the images into focus. 'What are those-lights?'

'Ships,' Dr. Kushbu said succinctly.

Sybil glanced at him sharply, blinking while she tried to digest that.

'Ships?' Major Powell demanded sharply.

'Alien ships,' Dr. Rains clarified.

Corporal Spencer uttered a snorting laugh. 'Alien ships? You're talking flying saucers? You aren't serious? My G.o.d, we haven't had UFO reports in over a decade!'

Kushbu and Rains shared a look.

'Maybe you can come up with an explanation that suits you better?' Dr. Rains asked tightly. 'No one wanted to even suggest the possibility, but it's hard to ignore. Those *lights' have not behaved like any natural phenomena known to us. Moreover, when considered in conjunction with the undeniable changes we've discovered in Pluto, it seems a high probability that they are indeed alien crafts and they are terra-forming Pluto.'

Everyone sat back in their seats and glanced around at each other uncomfortably.

'Why would they want to terra-form Pluto? I think that would be a good place to start the questions,' Major Powell said abruptly.

Kushbu glanced at Rains and shrugged. 'We don't have a clue,' he responded. 'But the fact remains that our instruments managed to detect changes to the dwarf over the past decade and half that have made it livable-extremely harsh conditions by our standards-but capable of sustaining life and it certainly wasn't before. It doesn't just look look like there's water on the surface. As far as we can tell, there is.' like there's water on the surface. As far as we can tell, there is.'

Dr. Rains studied her hands, clasped before her on the table. 'The government thinks it's merely a base and their target is Venus.'

Sybil gaped at the older woman. 'That's why we've been pulled from the colonization project for this emergency mission to Venus?' why we've been pulled from the colonization project for this emergency mission to Venus?'

'Well I sure as h.e.l.l don't follow!' Spencer snapped angrily. 'Even supposing you're right and those are alien ships out there, why colonize Pluto if their target was Venus?'

'We've got more questions than we do answers!' Dr. Rains said. 'The theory is that they're using similar technology to what we've used to terra-form Mars-except better, because they're obviously more advanced than we are. It's pretty much all wild speculation at this point. We don't have anything to really check out either planet, but look what we we have managed in little more than a decade! The particle beam we've been using to clean up Earth's greenhouse ga.s.ses by transferring them to Mars has not only cleaned up the Earth considerably, but it has transformed Mars-something we expected to take decades longer than it has. have managed in little more than a decade! The particle beam we've been using to clean up Earth's greenhouse ga.s.ses by transferring them to Mars has not only cleaned up the Earth considerably, but it has transformed Mars-something we expected to take decades longer than it has.

'If we consider that the aliens are doing much the same thing, then it certainly explains the drastic changes in both Pluto and Venus! And, since it would've been far more logical to take the ga.s.ses they needed from closer planets, then it seems to follow that they must have plans for Venus if they are, indeed, responsible for the changes. The government seems to think so, at any rate, and they're disturbed, to say the least, at the possibility of having aliens on our back doorstep.'

The invention of the particle transporter had been a life-saver-literally. Of course the men working on it had intended it for use to transport living beings from place to place and that was something they still hadn't figured out how to do. Even the emergence of quantum computers hadn't, yet, solved that problem, but inanimate objects were a different matter altogether. By the time it had occurred to anyone to use it remove Earth's harmful gases, it had been pretty well perfected-for that kind of use-and it had slowed the deterioration of Earth's environment considerably, giving scientists and engineers much needed time to develop alternate energy sources.

Those advances had also slowed the climate change, but it was generally accepted that nothing was going to stop the cycle-it was still a case of too little, too late. The Earth would recover, eventually, but there was no telling how long that might take or how many people would survive.

Of course, the people focused on colonizing Mars had been livid. They'd fought the use of Mars as a dumping ground so ferociously that it had taken nearly three years to implement the plan but in the end, they'd lost. The government always won, and they had no intention of losing this particular battle. It had been pure dumb luck that they'd succeeded in terra-forming Mars at the same time-rather than intentional. Of course, the Mars colony project had intended to use a similar process to terra-form, but they'd planned to use *clean' greenhouse ga.s.ses. They hadn't wanted to risk *dirtying' Mars with Earth's pollution.

It had come down to a case of *all's well that ends well'. The fact that the project had dramatically improved Mars in an amazingly short time had brought about a hard shift in the government's stance. New projections were that people would be able to walk around the Mars surface without pressure suits or respirators within the next two or three decades. From viewing Mars merely as a handy receptacle for waste, they'd begun to realize Mars would be even more beneficial as a colony. Natural disasters and diseases had taken their toll, but the Earth's population was still way out of balance. A ma.s.sive migration to Mars was just the ticket since the Moon was never going to provide much relief in that direction.

No one wanted to admit it, but Apophis had been another strong incentive to focus every effort on colonizing Mars. Due to pa.s.s Earth within a year, with everyone poised to implement the plan to divert it to make certain that it wouldn't hit on the next go *round in '36, it still made everyone uneasy. It would be the first time they'd even attempted to divert the path of an asteroid the size of Apophis.

It had worked with the asteroid they'd diverted for use to build the colony ship, but that asteroid had been a fraction of the size of Apophis-approximately a quarter of the size. Theoretically, it should work just as well with Apophis, and in that case they only had to nudge the huge asteroid a few thousand miles out of its current path, but no one really wanted to base the future of the entire human race on that theory, however sound it seemed.

Not to be too melodramatic about it, but were man's days numbered whatever they did, Sybil wondered abruptly, feeling her belly execute a strange little freefall? She considered herself a realist with a positive att.i.tude, but she'd been born in 2000, grown up in the midst of the Armageddon hysteria that reached a crescendo in 2012 and hadn't actually abated a lot since even though the *big one' didn't hit in 2012. Was it that att.i.tude of impending doom that had descended upon her? Or did logic and reason fit into it anywhere?

It was the sense of overwhelming odds, she decided finally. They'd faced every trial head on and yet they just kept coming. Every time they managed to dodge a bullet, they discovered another one right behind it, and the realization that they might now have to fight an alien race, that was far more advanced and, one would presume, more powerful, to eke out an existence 'f.u.c.k!' Spencer exploded, abruptly surging to his feet. 'They're sending us out there to get our a.s.ses shot off! They might as well paint a f.u.c.king bull's eye on the d.a.m.ned ship, because that's what this is all about-to see just how focused the aliens are on Venus!'

'You're skating thin ice, soldier,' Powell growled warningly. 'Get a grip if you don't want to end up facing charges of insubordination.'

Spencer sneered at him. 'So throw me in the brig! I didn't volunteer for this anyf.u.c.king-way and I sure as f.u.c.k didn't sign on to be used as target practice!'

Powell shot to his feet. 'Sit down,' he growled. 'Now.'

Spencer glared at him for a long moment but finally resumed his seat.

The scientists, who'd looked more than a little alarmed at Spencer's outburst, shifted uncomfortably in their own seats as if struggling with the urge to vacate the conference room. 'We don't know any of this for a fact,' Holly Rains said finally. 'I'm sure it's occurred to everyone that it's a possibility that the aliens, if they are are responsible for the changes, might feel threatened and might shoot us down. You should consider the whole picture, though, before you make any conclusions. Clearly, they're a more advanced race than we are. If we presume that they are behind the UFO sightings and abductions that have been reported over the years, then they'd been here, studying us, for many, many years. If they were aggressive, don't you think they would've invaded Earth years ago? Long before we had any weapons that might be any possible threat to them?' responsible for the changes, might feel threatened and might shoot us down. You should consider the whole picture, though, before you make any conclusions. Clearly, they're a more advanced race than we are. If we presume that they are behind the UFO sightings and abductions that have been reported over the years, then they'd been here, studying us, for many, many years. If they were aggressive, don't you think they would've invaded Earth years ago? Long before we had any weapons that might be any possible threat to them?'

Spencer snorted. 'Who the f.u.c.k would want Earth after what we've done to it? We don't even want it any-f.u.c.king-more!'

'Speak for yourself! Not everybody agrees with you on that. Anyway, she has a point,' Sybil put in, reigning her own temper in with an effort. 'If they'd come purely for conquest, they could've done it. The first sightings date back to around WWII, right? We sure didn't have much to throw at them then-not when we didn't have any s.p.a.ce flight capabilities, and the Earth was a much more habitable place then-not nearly as polluted or overpopulated as it is now.'

'We developed the a-bomb then,' Spencer shot back at her. 'They probably thought they'd just wait until we destroyed ourselves and then move in!'

'All of this is pure conjecture!' Kushbu interrupted. 'We don't know know anything-they haven't made any attempt to contact us-and we aren't going to learn anything until we get out there. It's our belief that they're here purely for study, that they're scientists. We believe that's supported by the fact that they've been around so long and haven't shown any aggression toward us. I don't care for the idea of getting my a.s.s shot off anymore than you do. I wouldn't have volunteered to go if I thought there was any real risk in that respect.' anything-they haven't made any attempt to contact us-and we aren't going to learn anything until we get out there. It's our belief that they're here purely for study, that they're scientists. We believe that's supported by the fact that they've been around so long and haven't shown any aggression toward us. I don't care for the idea of getting my a.s.s shot off anymore than you do. I wouldn't have volunteered to go if I thought there was any real risk in that respect.'

Spencer's lips tightened. 'You're a.s.suming it's the same aliens that were sighted over the years. What if it isn't? I mean-they spent sixty or seventy years studying us and now, all of a sudden, they decide they want to move in? Give me a break!'

'Earth is still the most habitable planet in this system,' Sybil said pointedly. 'Besides, they aren't from this solar system. That means they have capabilities far beyond ours, which also seems to suggest they could've looked around for something better, that would take less work to make it livable. I'm inclined to agree with them-that it is scientists and they're more focused on what they can learn than threatening us in any way.'

'Maybe,' Powell said grimly. 'But we've been looking for Earth-like planets since the Kepler was launched back in '09. We've found thousands, and as far as we've been able to determine, they're pretty d.a.m.ned close-nothing we have any hope of reaching with our current technology, but pretty appealing. If they have the technology we believe they do, why focus on our corner of the galaxy-or even our corner of the universe? There must be something particular to our solar system that's drawn them here.'

Rains shrugged, smiling grimly. 'At the risk of sounding conceited, maybe it's us? Maybe we're just the most interesting species they've encountered?'

Powell studied her for a long moment. 'Maybe. And maybe it's the fact that this particular solar system has three worlds within the habitable zone for a species similar to ours. I could be wrong, but I don't recall that we found another system that fits that particular criteria. Granted, all of the real estate needs a good bit of fixing up to make it even close to comfortable,' he added wryly, 'but they've clearly got the technology to do it.'

Venus, Year 2 Post Sumptra

Anka's expression was grim as he stared out over the landscape of Venus. Although it was a reflection of his feelings in regards to the alien landscape when he first took up his position, the view dimmed shortly after he'd turned to study it and he saw the landscape of his home world, Sumptra, in his mind's eye instead. The scorched ground, barren, rocky slopes, and molten rivers didn't differ a great deal from his last view of his home world if it came to that, but it differed vastly from the world he'd grown up in.

The world the natives of the system called Earth most closely resembled it-the land, the sky, and the sea, not the cities themselves and not the people.

For a few moments, he indulged the ache inside him that was never far from his awareness no matter how hard he worked, and tried to summon the images to his mind that he'd worked so hard to banish. Ghostly, wavering, indistinct images of his family filled his mind- his mother and sisters and brothers, his nieces and nephews, his lovers and his own children, but they were like smoke. The harder he tried to grasp them and bring them into focus, the more indistinct they became.

A mixture of pain and anger flooded him, churning in his gut like slow burning acid. His throat closed. He'd banished them because he couldn't bear to think of them-gone, all gone- and now he couldn't summon them to him anymore to sooth his loneliness and fill the aching void they'd left behind. Giving up the fierce battle inside after a moment, he turned, sucking in a harsh breath as if he'd been holding his breath or truly fighting a battle. At once, the starkness of the base they'd erected chased the shadows of the past away, but it was almost more painful to look at than the images in his mind or the hostile environment of the world the aliens had named Venus.

The irony of that smote him. They had named it for some ancient G.o.ddess they had once believed in, a creature of great beauty-the G.o.ddess of love. The irony was that this world had been an ugly thing more nearly resembling their ideas of Hades, or h.e.l.l, even then. From what little they'd been able to discover since they'd begun studying it, it had once been as beautiful, or maybe even more beautiful, than the planet Earth, but that had been long, long ago.

He wondered at the decision to keep the name but supposed no one really cared enough to change it. It would've seemed almost a profanity to have called it Sumptra. Even if it had been anything like their home world had been, even if it one day became became more like their home world, it would never compare. Nothing would ever come close, because it was the more like their home world, it would never compare. Nothing would ever come close, because it was the people people who'd made Sumptra beautiful, who'd made it home, not the land. who'd made Sumptra beautiful, who'd made it home, not the land.

Emerging from his dark thoughts, Anka saw his adjutant, Minh, striding briskly toward him. His expression was grim and Anka felt his belly tighten reflexively. Some new disaster, he wondered? Water or food shortage? He dismissed that. There was always a water and/or food shortage these days and he'd already adjusted the rationing. Equipment failure? He couldn't detect anything critical and he certainly would have if a problem had developed with the cooling system or the air or the pressure.

Minh halted before him and saluted. 'They've settled into orbit, Sir.'

Anka felt his belly clench, pushing acid into his throat. He didn't have to ask who had settled into orbit. They'd been watching the f.u.c.king alien vessel ever since it had bypa.s.sed Earth and headed straight toward them. 'Manned? Or unmanned?' he asked sharply.

'We've counted five life-forms aboard the vessel.'

Anka's lips formed a thin line of anger and distaste. 'Never underestimate the greed of the species,' he muttered. 'It was too much to hope they might not notice before we had the settlement established.' There was no getting around the fact that they had had hoped to be firmly in possession before the humans noticed, however. They had been dispatched to the target primarily to oversee the terra-forming process. They hadn't actually expected to have to defend it. hoped to be firmly in possession before the humans noticed, however. They had been dispatched to the target primarily to oversee the terra-forming process. They hadn't actually expected to have to defend it.

They hadn't wanted wanted to be forced to defend it. That was the main reason they'd only sent one detachment of soldiers and scientists to establish a small observation base camp. to be forced to defend it. That was the main reason they'd only sent one detachment of soldiers and scientists to establish a small observation base camp.

That and the fact that they had a d.a.m.ned thin militia to protect their interests.

He frowned. 'Just keep monitoring them for now,' he said finally. 'Keep me posted on any developments. I'll be in my quarters.'

Minh looked uncomfortable. 'Should I inform base camp Sir?'

Anka glared at him but finally forced the angry tension from his neck and shoulders. Their *leaders', such as they were now, would fall to arguing the best course and would be as useless in arriving at a decision as to how to proceed as they had been about everything else that they'd had to deal with since the disaster on Sumptra. 'Absolutely,' he ground out, not that he had any intention of waiting upon their decision in this particular case. He would do what he thought best. There were times when decisiveness and quick action was far more desirable than a lengthy debate and worrying about offending the sensibilities of politicians with a puffed up sense of importance. As far as he was concerned, this was one of them. With the fate of their species hanging in the balance, he wasn't willing to take any unnecessary risks.

He was well aware that, in the old world order, his ranking wouldn't have put him in a position to make such decisions, but that was the old order, the old world-the dead world. He was the highest ranking officer among the survivors and it was both his duty and his right to protect what was left of their people-even if it meant displeasing what pa.s.sed as their ruling body at the moment.

It wasn't an easy decision, for all that. They couldn't afford to make mistakes-any kind of mistake was too costly.

When he reached his quarters, he settled on the hard bunk that pa.s.sed for a bed and stretched out without bothering to remove his boots, staring up at the ceiling and trying to block out his surroundings. It settled over him like a heavy weight, however, like chains. His quarters were no worse, nor any better, than anyone else's save for the fact that he had privacy they didn't have. He'd been in the holds of derelict salvagers that looked more welcoming, however.

In point of fact, much of the materials they'd recycled to build the base had come from an old salvager, so it was small wonder that was the end result-the feel of being trapped in a filthy, airless hold that was worse than the worst prison he'd ever seen on Sumptra.

Briefly, he allowed himself to wonder if he would've been quite as miserable if they'd at least been able to surround themselves with some comforts, but he didn't dwell on it. What was the point? They were lucky to have what they did. They were grateful for it.

They'd hated every moment of every day since they'd lost their world and it didn't look like they would see a time, again, when things would be better-not in their own lifetime.

He regretted the thought the moment it entered his mind. The one thing he had avoided above all else was thinking about children. He couldn't bear the thought of fathering more and there would certainly never be any more nieces and nephews.

And yet what future did they have without children?