Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
At the same time, the Kindred warrior beside her seemed to suddenly wake up. He looked at Vicky, frowning.
“Why didn’t you run?” he demanded.
“Well, I—”
“Hang on—I’m going into the other one. This time when I do, you get out of here!”
Then he slumped in his seat again and appeared to go back to sleep.
Suddenly, the second copy/paste twin straightened up and looked down at the one which was still crouching on the ground.
“You don’t look so good, brother,” he said, reaching for his friend. “Come—let’s get you back to the ship and seek some medical attention.”
“I do not know…I feel strange.” The first twin looked up again, his mask still flickering. “The Kindred—he was inside my brain. He made me say and do things I did not wish to say or do.”
“Yes, yes, of course he was,” the other twin said soothingly. “Which is all the more reason to get away from him and seek medical help. Come on.”
“But…but the T’lix-Kruthe—our greatest treasure!” the first twin protested.
“We’ll find it later. Let’s go.” The second twin continued to tug at his arm insistently.
By this time, Vicky saw, they had drawn the attention of the burly bartender and several of the other bar patrons. There were unfriendly stares and whispers as one twin helped the other to his feet and the two of them walked towards the door.
She looked back and forth between the apparently sleeping Kindred and the copy/paste twins. What was the first one saying about the Kindred getting into his head? Was that even possible? What was going on here?
Belatedly, she realized she had been told to leave during the distraction. Now would seem to be the perfect time to get away.
Still keeping half an eye on the apparently sleeping Kindred, she slipped out of the booth and began edging towards the door. But the copy/paste twins were in the way and now the second one seemed to be having the same problem the first one had.
He seemed to be at war with himself, first reaching for the door handle, then turning back towards the table where the big warrior still slumped. Meanwhile, the other twin was still clutching his head as though he had a terrible headache.
Vicky stood there watching them indecisively—should she try to get past them and get out the door? By now she wanted to get away from the whole mess. Pretending to be the big Kindred’s girlfriend had been fun, especially when he kissed her. But what she’d seen beneath the human masks of the weird alien twins was enough to make her want to go home, lock herself safely away, and curl up with a hot cup of tea.
As she watched, the twins continued to struggle.
“Let’s go,” the second one said. “Let’s…let’s…” He seemed to be fighting with himself as his twin watched him suspiciously.
“Grizok, is that you?” he demanded. “You are speaking strangely. Is the Kindred in your head?”
“No, of course not,” the second twin denied. But the next minute, he doubled over, clutching the sides of his skull and groaning. Then he straightened up again and looked at Vicky. “Run!” he commanded her.
By this time, Vicky understood that it wasn’t the freaky copy/paste twin talking to her—it was the Kindred who had somehow taken over the alien’s body. Her paralysis seemed to break and she ran, dashing around the two weird alien twins and reaching for the door.
The first twin tried to grab her but the second one snatched his twin’s hand away as its clawed fingers—because they were claws now, not human hands, Vicky saw—caught in the fabric of her red dress.
“Run!” he grated again. “I can’t hold him for long!” And then he doubled over in pain just as Vicky opened the door.
Immediately the first twin grabbed her dress again.
“You’re not going anywhere Earth female,” he snarled, his mask slipping again so that just for a moment she was staring into his lizard-yellow eyes. “You are with the Kindred which means you must be searched.”
“Let me go!” Vicky kicked out at him but he wouldn’t let go of her dress. As she pulled, she heard a ripping sound coming from the thin red fabric.
“Hey, what’s going on there? Leave the lady alone.”
The commotion had finally caused a reaction. Looking up, Vicky saw the large bartender—a man with tattoos up and down every inch of his burly arms—coming out from behind the long wooden bar. He was wiping his hands on a clean white dishtowel and his face looked like a thundercloud.
“Stay out of this, Earth male—it does not concern you!” hissed the lizard twin with his claws hooked in Vicky’s dress.
“Let her go!” the other twin exclaimed. Then he clutched at his head and snarled, “Get her! She must not be allowed to escape!”
“I said, hands off the lady!” the bartender bellowed. He grabbed the twin who was holding onto Vicky but the alien shifted in his grasp, as fast as a snake. Pulling a weapon that looked like a sleek, silver pen from somewhere he pointed it at the bartender and pressed one end of it.