The Shadows over Us: Book 3 of the Offspring Book 3 of the Offspring

By C.J. Gnos

Garon planned a fun trip for Cassie. He was taking her and their friends to Earth for some R&R but it was beginning to look like they might witness Earths final days instead, unless they could stop an invasion. Who were they and where were they from and why were the cloaked ships dropping their deadly cargo all over Earth?
Calling the League of Planets for help Garon hoped to destroy the ravenous beasts that were devouring all life and keep them from spreading to other planets. One of the League ships was captained by Kamarsoman the Malai warrior who held a special place in Cassie's heart.
Could the League turn the tide and save Earth and could Garon keep Kam and Cassie apart or did fate have other plans for all of them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483642529

C.J. Gnos

C.J. Gnos has always had a love for Science Fiction books and movies and always wanted to try her hand at writing. Some of her interests besides writing are cooking, photography and of course reading. C.J. is originally from New York state and has lived in Florida for the past twenty years. She presently resides on a farm on the Nature Coast. This is her third book in the Offspring Sci-fi adventure trilogy.

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Copyright © 2013 by C.J. Gnos.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 05/16/2013

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Epilogue

Prologue

T he shadow descended from space into Earth’s atmosphere, where it hovered for a short time. Turning toward the North Pole, it slowly moved forward. Its long dark shadow passed over the ice and snow. If any human had been down there, they might have seen a gray shimmer or even thought it as a trick of the eye. The shadow moved toward Greenland where the Lincoln Sea met the narrow Nares Strait. The other end of the strait opened up into Baffin Bay on the west coast of Greenland, which was a rich feeding ground for the shadow’s cargo.

The shadow landed softly on top of the frigid water and sat floating for some time. Then it started to shimmer faster and faster until it took on form. It was an enormous spaceship, dark and foreboding. It was cigar shaped, with many sharp protrusions and hatches down its sides. One hatch was now opening silently. When it completely opened, an enormous dark shape could be seen undulating in the doorway. As if by some unseen command, it slithered into the water, got its bearings, and headed into the Nares Strait. Unseen, it started its search for food.

The hatch, relieved of its cargo, now closed. The ship shimmered, becoming a shadow again, and rose into the dimly lit sky as silently as it had come and headed to its next destination.

Chapter One

A lona was a beautiful planet to live on. Everything grew lush and green, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. Of course the addition of my handsome, gorgeously well-built alien Garon didn’t hurt. Any problems we had in the past seemed to be gone now.

Our adventure on Torva could have ended my relationship with him, thanks to a little white flower and Kamarsoman-Jakai-Lall-Malai, better known as Kam, one of the most powerful-looking aliens I had ever seen, next to Garon. Now that Kam’s planet, Talag, was part of the League of Planets, I have seen him quite a few times; and although I hate to admit it, he still holds a place in my heart. I can tell by the way he looks at me that that what he felt is still there; however, I think the woman who has always loved him, Sadi, may have dulled that sword. Yes, everything on Alona was perfect, except for two things—Garon’s overprotectiveness since we left Torva and the absence of a bathtub. There wasn’t much I could do about the first one, but I sure could work on the second.

Every Allkrum home had a room between ten to fifteen feet long, designed as kind of a long shower. As you walked down it, the jets adjusted to your height and sprayed you with a solution that was designed to blast you squeaky clean, or at least that’s what it felt like to my human skin. Dulcy and I missed having a real tub, where we could take long luxurious bubble baths. We wanted to lean back, close our eyes, and shut the world out for a while. It had almost become an obsession for the two of us. Finally, Garon and Jax were having tubs built for each home, per Dulcy’s specifications. Most Allkrum homes, such as ours, had slightly raised platforms at the back for entertaining or just relaxing and enjoying the deep green forests. That’s where my tub was regulated to go, and Dulcy had a similar arrangement with Jax. The only other concession the men would make was to enclose the tub areas in glass. They wanted them to blend in with the surroundings like the rest of their homes. Fine for them, but not very private for us. But as Dulcy pointed out once we were under all those nice bubbles, who cared?

Getting real soaps and body lotions, that was the next problem. Dulcy and I had dreams of walking into a bath and soap shop on Earth and taking one of everything. My darling sweet, overprotective Garon stepped in with the solution.

Addie (my cairn terrier) and I were sitting on the edge of the platform, watching the strange Lacoba picking around in the backyard. The birds fascinated me with their colorful hair that clumped and looked like feathers. They were scratching around with their clawed front arms, looking for roots and bulbs to eat. They were very tame and accepting of Addie to her dismay. I think she would have rather chased them. I heard Garon come in and kneel down behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me back against his broad chest while kissing me on the neck. I turned my head and put my hand behind his head, pulling him down for a long, slow kiss.

I’m home, he said in his deep voice.

I see, I answered as I looked into his hypnotic turquoise eyes.

He sat down next to me and said, I’ve scheduled a trip to Earth. The League is sending me on business, and while we’re there, I thought you and Dulcy would want to take the time to go shopping.

I was so excited I jumped at him, knocking him backward, which made him bang his head on the platform floor. I landed on top of him, and as we laughed, I rubbed the bump on his head. Then I stopped and looked into his eyes and said, You are too good to me, do you know that?

That is because I love you. Getting serious, he added, You know that, don’t you, Cass, that I would do anything for you?

On Torva, Garon had a moment when he wasn’t sure that I would come back to him. First, he thought I was dead; then he thought I might choose Kam. In the end, it was him, not Kam, that I turned to, yet sometimes Garon looked like he was afraid I might leave him. At times, he was too overprotective, as if he was afraid I would get hurt and taken away from him. On a couple of occasions, it led to my snapping at him to back off, but then I felt guilty for yelling.

I put my hands on either side of that beautiful golden-skinned face and slowly kissed him. His arms came up around me and pulled me up to stand next to him. We kissed again, and he picked me up in his arms and carried me inside. Much later, we discussed the trip to Earth.

Among other things I wanted to do on our visit was to get a baby present for Chen and Pa-laya. When the four of us—I, Dulcy, Chen, and Axel—had our older bodies altered by Grinder’s machines, no one knew if it would even work. The machines original purpose was to heal the Allkrum that had been injured. They were altered for us four and our unique DNA, but there was no time to test them. It was a big gamble that paid off for Grinder. The machines apparently didn’t change the older Earth men from being able to make babies. The old men that were given young bodies apparently could still make babies, but the older women made young couldn’t. Grinder with all his knowledge hadn’t figured out a way to change that yet, but he said he was working on it. So in the meantime, even though the machines made us bodies of twenty-year-olds and we would now live three hundred years like the Allkrum and Malai, we two females would be childless. Seeing we could never give our Allkrum children, Chens was that much more special to us; and as honorary aunts, it was our duty to spoil little Chen to the limit.

Two days later, Garon woke me with kisses and said, Come on, my love, your bubbles wait. It was time to go to Earth.

The huge starship was suspended in space, and we would be taking the pod up to it. First, we had to drop Addie off with Chen and Pa-laya. Normally, we would take her with us, but Pa-laya loved to have her around and asked if we would leave her with her for company even though Chen wasn’t going with us. Seeing it was close to her time, Garon didn’t want to take Chen away from her, so he would be sitting this trip out at home. As we walked to the accursed cube, Chen got me aside and asked if I could bring back a puppy for Pa-laya if we had time. I had to laugh. That would make a total of three dogs on Alona, the second being the cairn terrier we brought back for Grinder on our last trip. I assured him I would, and we boarded the cube. I was glad Garon was giving the directions. I still couldn’t master the thing, and half the time, I ended up in the wrong place. It seemed so simple. Punch in where you want to go, and it takes you there. Unless you’re a human. Then it has resentments, I think.

When we reached the pod, Dulcy and Jax were waiting for us.

Are we ready to go shopping? I asked Dulcy.

I sure am. I’ve never gone this far for soap before though, she said, laughing.

Yes, but we’re going to the malls too! I said excitedly.

We both laughed and practically pranced onto the ship. Like the Earth men for hundreds of years, our two Allkrum followed and wondered what they were getting into.

Chapter Two

T he pod took off, and in a short time, we entered the large starship. I was always in awe at this magnificent machine. It was a city unto itself, right down to a farm, where food was grown for the varied crew, and the beautiful large forest was reflective of the ones on Alona for walking and meditating in. Garon was in his element here. I couldn’t help admiring him. Tall and handsome, golden-colored skin, light-brown hair with lighter streaks in front from the sun. His eyes that were now turquoise but could turn dark midnight blue in fear or anger were always startling, and then there was his body, hard and beautifully muscled. Looking at him now, I remembered the feel of those well-muscled arms around me. To think, all Allkrum men were built like him. They didn’t always wear shirts, and most of the time didn’t, like now. Instead, they were adorned with a leather-type strap that crossed from shoulder to waist, which held their communicators at the hip. Sometimes they wore bands around their wrists made from the same material as the straps. They wore tan or gray tight pants with a strap around their thigh to hold their gun, and soft knee-high boots. Unlike Kam, the taller, heavier-muscled Malai, the Allkrum didn’t have any tattoos. The first time I met Garon, he was also wearing a helmet similar to the Viking style, which hid his face, except for those eyes. I never saw it on him again though. The overall look of the Allkrum was of intelligent power, and this Allkrum was all mine. In spite of whatever he was going through right now with this overprotectiveness, it didn’t change the fact that I loved him.

I switched my attention to the rest of his team as they arrived. Aside from Dulcy, Jax, and I, there was Mendak, the Allkrum that still made passes at me from time to time, but now only in jest. Something happened to him on Torva too that changed how he viewed life. Roon (a Bazaroo that was a werewolf look-alike) and the newest additions to the team Cem-tok, Bosh and Bay-dox, the Rooks from Kaal. With their tall bodies, pasty-white skin, football-shaped heads, and odor reminiscent of low tide, they were imposing, especially when they looked at you with those black dots for eyes. Bay-dox, a doctor, took the place of Grinder’s assistant Naja after she was killed on Torva. The only missing member was my good friend Deleek-ka, our Gafall. My tall slim lizard-looking friend was visiting Talag at the moment. Ever since it was discovered that Kam’s people were the long-lost colony from Deleek-ka’s world, there were lots of catching up to do between the two planets. Kam’s people only looked similar to Deleek-ka pretty much from the nose up, but softer features. The rest of their bodies looked like the Allkrum on steroids. The Gafalls were originally being transported by the Allkrum off their dying planet when their ship was lost and crash-landed on a planet they named Talag. The survivors believing they were lost forever mated with each other, eventually creating this powerful race of warriors. Our chief doctor, Grinder, rounded out our team. He normally would only go on League missions, but this time, he felt he would just like to go along for the ride to Earth.

My attention turned back to Garon as he gave orders to leave our space and head for the threshold that would take us to Earth. The Allkrum discovered quite a few thresholds, which opened up the chances of finding planets with life. That’s how we found Talag and Torva, although by accident. Just before we entered, Garon turned to me and held out his arm. I walked to him and snuggled into one of my favorite positions against his chest as we watched the threshold recede behind. Tomorrow, we would see Earth in front of us.

Once through giving orders, Garon turned the bridge over to Clirex, and we left to join our friends in the main dining room. Dulcy and her good humor turned out to be infectious, and we all talked and laughed late into the evening. Garon and I said our good nights and headed for our quarters.

I’m so happy, I said, looking up into his eyes.

And I’m happy you’re happy, Garon said, laughing. I hope you realize just how thankful I am that you came back to me, Cass. I really thought I lost you on Torva in more ways than one.

I turned to him and brushed one wayward lock of light-brown hair off his forehead and said, Understand me now, I love you. I’m here, and I don’t plan to leave.

With that, he swept me off my feet and carried me into our room. The excitement of visiting Earth would have to wait. Right now, there was a more pressing business to attend to.

Chapter Three

T he dark shimmering ship cast its shadow on the land below. It traveled over Victoria Island then down over British Columbia. It followed the coast to Vancouver Island where it slowed and lowered to the surface of the water. There where whales here, the only witnesses to the dark ship’s materializing and opening a hatch.

The huge dark shape, twin to the one in Greenland, slithered out of the ship. It was hungry after its long trip and immediately spotted the whales. It turned to their direction, making them panic. This was a danger they never saw or felt before. They swam for their lives. Several didn’t make it, and with two quick bites, they were gone, except for a faint trace of blood staining the water. The dark creature followed the remaining whales. Two broke off from the rest and entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which opened into Puget Sound. The monster hesitated for a moment, then chose to follow the two, the easier kill.

Just as they passed Port Angeles, the monster caught them. The water frothed briefly as the whales died and all was quiet. A lone fisherman spending the night aboard his boat thought he saw something out in the middle of the strait. When nothing more happened, he wrote it off to dolphins or seals doing a little night feeding. The monster continued its search for food into the sound, searching, always searching.

The dark ship returned to a shadow again, rose slowly, got its bearings, and headed west toward Africa and didn’t stop until it reached the Indian Ocean where again it discharged another creature into the water. The pilots of the ship were satisfied with their seeding of Earth’s oceans, with what they called their pets. Now it was time to seed the land.

The occupants of the ship watched for a while longer until satisfied that their pets would do their job. Then it shimmered and rose into the night sky, passing two more shadows that were on their way down. The rising ship, its job done, took its place next to a larger command ship and waited.

One shadow was headed for Australia and the other South America. Dark shadows bringing death closer.

Chapter Four

D ulcy and I entered the bridge just in time to see Earth come into view. Garon, Mendak, and Jax were at the helm. I walked up behind Garon and slid my hands over his broad bare shoulders, something I never got tired of. He picked my hands up in his and brought them to his lips, kissing them, then returned them to his shoulders. He leaned back against my chest and turned his head and said, Your almost home, my love.

No, Alona is my home, this is well, my previous home, I said, smiling down at him.

Okay, you two lovebirds. When you get to Earth, you’ll have to find a motel. Dulcy snickered.

What’s a motel? Jax and Mendak asked at the same time.

Oh dear Lord, here we go again with the questions! Dulcy answered as she rolled her eyes.

Garon said, I would like to visit that beach again, lying in the sand, holding the woman I love.

He was interrupted by Dulcy putting her hand over her mouth and making noises like she was going to lose her lunch. Garon giggled quietly to himself. He loved to get her going.

The starship hovered in space above Florida, while Garon, Jax, Dulcy, and I entered a pod and headed down to my daughter’s farm. After we were clear of the bay doors, the big ship headed back to Alona with instructions to wait for Garon’s call to return. Seeing we weren’t sure how long we would be on Earth, it didn’t make sense to keep them waiting. As usual, we put down in the meadow behind their house and rental where I had lived. Two Allkrum, Coran and his mate Betah, had been stationed there to learn Earth’s farming methods. They loved the farm and wanted to stay, and Garon saw no reason to make them leave yet.

As we disembarked, my daughter, Donna, and her husband, Mike, met us; and after hugs and handshakes, we all walked up to their home.

As we were making lunch, Donna brought me and Dulcy up-to-date on the news. Among other things, she mentioned there seemed to be a sudden decrease in the whale population around Greenland, as well as the dolphins, seals, and other aquatic life. Some were blaming oil drilling and spills and others global warming. Then she went on to other topics in the news just as Garon, Jax, and Mike came in. In the evening, we gathered around the fire pit in the yard, talking and laughing. It felt good to be here in one of my favorite places with my family and friends. Having Garon here as part of my life made it perfect. I watched Garon in the flickering light as he played with some of the farm’s kittens. Such a strong man, yet gentle. I remembered Kam was like that too. Kam, if it wasn’t for Garon, things might be very different right now. I wondered how he was doing. Grinder did experiments on the flowers we brought back from Torva and its effect on us, especially me and Kam. He said the strange Veckle pollen had the ability of getting into our systems, so it wasn’t just the odor that caused problems. In time, it would work its way out of us. But in the meantime, we had to be careful around each other as the attraction would still be there whether we want it or not, and it would be very hard to resist each other. The Oblay leader used the flowers to keep the females in the mood for mating. By the time we found that out, it was almost too late.

But Kam was back on his planet Talag, and I was here with Garon. My attention was drawn back to him and the kittens. I wanted evenings like this to go on forever, but as life dictates, sometimes all good things come to an end, at least for a while.

The next morning, as Dulcy and I got ready for our shopping trip, Garon and Jax came into our quarters and informed us they were coming with us. Their official Earth business in Washington could wait a day. I was excited to have them come. Any part of Earth I could show them always made me happy, and I was sure Garon was having one of his separation attacks. Besides, Dulcy and I thought it was time to have a little fun with the Allkrum on our home turf. Mike tried to tell them that they would be sorry, but they wanted to experience something the Earth men did. Mike said watching a football game or car race would be better, but they weren’t listening.

We borrowed Mike’s utility truck and headed for one of the larger malls. I drove, and we had the radio on as we traveled. We were all talking and laughing when I caught the end of a news story. I asked everyone to listen for a minute as the newscaster said there was something odd going on in Baffin Bay. The Inuit people were reporting a lack of narwhal, which they have hunted for centuries. Even the humpbacks seemed to be gone. There were also signs of trouble in Hudson Bay. The beluga whales and walrus seemed to be gone.

Well, that’s different, Dulcy said.

Yeah, I wonder what could be causing that, I answered as the programming returned to music.

Should we contact Axel and Pel, maybe they know more? Garon said thoughtfully, then added, Maybe I’ll contact them when we get back.

Shopping with the Allkrum is unique, not only for us, but for them too. Dulcy and I had made Garon and Jax wear jeans and short-sleeved shirts so that they would fit in better. The arms fit like a tight band around their biceps. It was hard to fit the Allkrum bodies, and the shirts fit quite snuggly, but it was an attempt to tone them down a little. Go native if you will. Allkrum being Allkrum, they were uncomfortable, unless the shirts were open partway down. Being used to wearing no shirts at all, Dulcy and I figured it was a small price to pay to keep them mostly covered.