Enemy Planet: Home Planet, #2

By S.R. Bond

Charlotte Rey doomed Earth. Now she's ready to save it. 

 

The human resistance has finally won a battle against the alien shapeshifters who took over their planet ten years earlier. But Charlie knows the war is far from over. With the help of new allies, she is going back to space to recruit support for the fight against the powerful Prukin—from the place they’ll least expect it. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.R. Bond
• Release date: Feb 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386667193

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Dot

The man lying on the floor of the ship was handsome, by human standards. Tousled blond hair, lean muscles, what Dot thought would be described as chiseled features. The Prukin didn’t put stock in looks the same way that humans did, so her review of his looks was just cold analysis. She supposed his handsome features were the reason Charlotte Rey, who otherwise seemed like a practical woman, had been so taken in by him. A weakness in her race, the importance placed on the way someone else looked.

As shapeshifters, the Prukin could look like anything or anyone, so looks became much less important. Who cared what your lover looked like if they could change their appearance a moment later?

Yet another reason the humans needed guidance, she thought. If they pulled themselves out from under Prukin rule—which seemed unlikely enough that it made Dot snort out a laugh—they were on track to destroy themselves anyway. Like the Prukin, they pulled resources from their planet too quickly, not taking the time to let them replenish themselves but just using, using, using. Killing rainforests to create makeup to change their faces. Ridiculous.

Jonathan stirred just a little, groaning. Dot might need to dose him with sedatives again. Every time he woke up, he began to panic, and she needed him to stay calm. He wasn’t useful to her if he hurt himself. The girl, Charlie, she had almost destroyed him. Dot should have left him behind to his fate. He didn’t deserve to live. But Dot had to plan for the future, and Charlie was important to her long-term goals. Jonathan had controlled Charlie once, and her hard outer shell cracked when it came to him.

Of course, he was useless to the Prukin now. The poison that Charlie gave him had damaged him enough to take away his ability to shift. He might as well be a human. That was what sent him into a panic every time he opened his eyes—he was trapped in that useless body, and he would be as long as he lived.

The control panel of the ship beeped at her, and she checked her position. Not long now. This would be a painful stop for her, because she knew her home planet was a disaster, ravaged beyond recognition and uninhabitable. But it was a stop she had to make. The Prukin world was the only place she knew to begin, to start over in getting Earth back on track and make it her new permanent home.

To do that, though, she needed help. And the only person who could help her now was her mother.

CHAPTER TWO

I stood in the Oval Office, staring out at the grounds through a massive hole in the wall.

For the most part, the White House had survived the damage from a major battle between human rebels and the evil shape-shifting alien invaders who had taken over our world. The structure was intact. The grounds were scarred and burned, but they hadn’t exactly been in great shape after a decade of Prukin spacecraft using them as a landing pad anyway. There were a few hallways where probably priceless paintings and rugs were ripped to shreds by laser guns. And there were many holes. This was just the biggest one.

Being in here was a surreal feeling to begin with. Last time I was in this room, I had watched the boy I thought I loved murder my father in cold blood. Now, I was standing in the same spot, with part of the wall gone, the only evidence it had ever been there the rubble on the floor and the fine layer of white dust that had settled throughout the room.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Theo had come up behind me, and I returned a weak smile to his warm, crooked grin.

Damage could be worse, he said. We’ve gone through the whole building now, I think, and most of the rooms are still habitable.

Are we staying here? I asked. I meant the Resistance, but I also meant, well, us. I didn’t know if I belonged in the Resistance. But Theo and Jonas (despite the latter’s tiny flaw of being Prukin) had been with me through a lot these last few weeks, and at this point the best place to be was with them. I didn’t have a family anymore. If my brother was alive, I had no leads on where he could be. My parents were dead. I had to find family where I could get it.

Theo shrugged. Some people will need to stay here. This was a major victory for the Resistance. The Prukin will want to take this building back, or at least wipe us out before word can spread that someone is fighting them and winning. So we need to be on the defensive for a bit. If we can hold the White House, it will be a symbol of hope for the rest of the world.

If they ever find out, I said. I was trying to be less cynical, but it was hard when I was stuck in the middle of a war I didn’t have much hope of winning.

When the Prukin invaded, they had cut off access to television, radio, anything that might allow humans to stay connected to each other and be more effective against them. Some radio activity had come back, but it was sparse and unreliable. Any television broadcasts were Prukin messages to their conquered subjects, and my understanding was that no one in the Resistance had been successful in figuring out how to intercept that. The Prukin broadcasts were few and far between, scheduled events that everyone was required to watch. But they never seemed to come from the same location, and where they were coming from was a guarded secret.

Of course, we now had a handful of captured Prukin in our custody. That had been quite a project, trying to distinguish human from Prukin in the mad hours following the battle. Luckily, I knew about the flash of silver in the shapeshifters’ eyes, the result of a second set of eyelids blinking, and that information had allowed the leaders the Resistance fighters to pick out friend from foe.

Jonas was the only Prukin we could trust. Not everyone trusted him—not yet—but we had been through a lot together. I owed him my life. It wasn’t his fault his niece had turned out to be a power-hungry psycho.

Thinking about Dot sent a shudder through me. I was so focused on Jonathan, on getting revenge on my ex, that I had ignored my own instincts about the woman who had betrayed us. The woman who had tricked me into coming to Earth to bring down Jonathan by impersonating my brother.

Bitch.

I took a deep breath and shook off thoughts of Dot. I would not let her go, but there were more pressing things to worry about. Making plans to hold on to the White House. Figuring out the Resistance’s next steps. And, on a more personal note, finding out for sure if my brother was actually alive or if he died during the invasion like I’d always assumed.

I heard the door open behind us and turned to see Jonas walking in with a woman I recognized as being a Resistance leader. Jonas’ arm, which had been shot with Dot’s laser gun during the fight, was bandaged and bound against him in a makeshift sling.

Miss Rey, the woman said, holding out her hand for a  stiff handshake. She shook Theo’s hand, too, acknowledging him with a polite nod. We haven’t formally met. I’m Winona.

I sized the woman up before replying. Force of habit for a former intergalactic con artist whose existence relied on not messing with the wrong people. She was maybe in her late thirties, with only small laugh lines showing up by her dark eyes. Younger than many other Resistance leaders I had met. Bronze skin and rod-straight black hair that fell in a shiny waterfall to her shoulders. Despite the laugh lines, her expression was serious, and I knew she wasn’t just coming by to say hello or to gawk at the former First Daughter.

Charlie, please, I said. No need to be formal.

Charlie, she repeated, but I couldn’t help but notice it sounded forced, like she was trying to relax but couldn’t quite get there. I’m here to talk to you on behalf of the Resistance.

And there it was. I knew this was coming, although what this was I hadn’t quite decided. Everyone except Theo and Jonas had pretty much avoided me since the battle. I wasn’t sure if they blamed me—people had died in the attack on the White House, and as many times as Theo told me they were planning an attack here anyway, my imprisonment had been the catalyst that launched the attack. I knew it was also very possible they wanted something from me. For some reason, they thought I could be a powerful symbol of hope for them, although I doubted this was a real possibility.

I had been mulling this simple statement over for way too long, and everyone was staring at me.

Oh, I said. Um, sure.

Killing it, Charlie.

We sat on the uncomfortable Oval Office couches, which were mostly still intact aside from the layer of white dust and small rubble that I brushed at uselessly before sitting. I was wearing an old pair of jeans that were a size too big and a faded t-shirt, so getting dirty seemed unimportant.

Miss Rey, Winona said once we were sitting, and I resisted the urge to correct her, The Resistance believes we can put you to good use in the fight against the Prukin invaders. We struck quite a blow here, and now is the time for us to declare ourselves and move forward. You are one of the most recognizable faces from before the invasion…

Beyonce wasn’t available, huh? I cut in. Theo gave a little snort, which I appreciated, but Winona still looked serious.  Jonas shot me a Look that would have made my father proud. I shut my mouth and made a zipping motion in the air before settling back into my seat.

Sorry, I said. Please continue.

We would like you to make a broadcast, Winona said. Announcing our victory here and calling for the rest of the world to join our cause.

CHAPTER THREE

You want me to be the face of the Resistance, I replied, after a long stretch of silence. Like a spokesperson.

Winona glanced at Jonas, then nodded. Basically, yes, she said. We think you will represent their good memories of the past and inspire some hope for the future.

I leaned back into the couch. I’m not my father, I said. He was a great speaker. A great man. He inspired people. I was just a stupid teenager who was lucky enough to be his daughter.

And now you are a smart woman, Winona said. A woman who has survived huge losses. One of the only humans to live in space. And, yes, the daughter of a great man who was a symbol of hope for many even in better times.

If I closed my eyes, I could almost picture my father in this office again, sitting behind that big desk with a weary smile on his face. Winona was right. He had been a symbol of hope for many people. The son of poor Mexican immigrants, the first Hispanic President of the United States, and a true rags to riches story. But I wasn’t my father. I was born into a typical American family, with my father already embroiled in the political landscape. I never had to worry about money or safety or where my next meal was coming from. Not until Jonathan and the Prukin tore my world apart.

I don’t think I’ll be much help, I said. I’m willing to do what I can, but I don’t think I should be the face of anything.

You still feel guilty about the boy, Winona cut in, and I shut up for real. I had told a small group of people about how Jonathan had tricked the teenage Charlie a decade earlier, how I had been used as part of the invasion, and apparently word had gotten around.

Maybe you should, Winona continued, and now Jonas and Theo were staring at her with me. I don’t know. I try not to judge people based on what they did when they were teenagers, and I think most people will feel the same way if they ever find out.

If, I said.

Well, we’re not planning on shouting it from the rooftops, she said. I’m sure there will be rumors. We’ll spread some of them. We want people to know where you’ve been. You have some of the most complete knowledge about the Prukin and other alien races of anyone on Earth. Only Jonas, she nodded at him, seems to be able to match what you know.

Jonas knows more than I do, I said quickly. Much more.

Winona nodded. Jonas is a valuable resource. Most of the Resistance leadership has realized that, and the rest will come around. But a Prukin cannot be the face of our movement. Only you can do that.

For once in my life, I didn’t have a smart comeback. Earth was at stake. My home, the home of the human race, was at stake.

Of course, I said. I still don’t think I’m the best choice, but I’ll do whatever you want me to. I’m in.

Theo’s hand closed on top of mine and squeezed. I realized my hand was clenching the couch cushion hard, fingernails digging deep into the fabric, and I released my grip and tried to relax.

How are you going to broadcast Charlie to the world? Theo said. The Prukin have blocked all unauthorized broadcasting, haven’t they?

A genuine smile broke across Winona’s face, and I could see where those laugh lines came from. Ah, she said. That was the case. Until this morning.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Resistance had a TV station.

I hadn’t been back on Earth long, but I knew this was a big deal. Since the invasion, the Prukin had controlled the airwaves absolutely. First, they had taken down the TV stations. Then they had tracked down anyone still trying to communicate via radio. That had been harder, but over time even that had faded away to little more than a memory.

Any radios and TVs that remained were tuned into the Prukin channel 24/7. Homes that had a TV or radio were required to have them on during scheduled broadcasts, when the Prukin would send out messages to their captive world. Anyone that didn’t have one had to report to a public location to see the messages. Usually these were new rules the Prukin council had come up with for Earth, or, Theo told me as we walked with Winona and Jonas to meet with our transport to the TV station, lists of the known dead in the mines.

That information stopped me cold. When