I now present.... Earthseed (In parts)

[Wild Monkey]

Well Ame told me to "do it" so I am uploading the first three chapters for now! I hope to get feedback and I am not afraid of criticism! Anything brought up will be checked and either fixed, or if it is important, changed!

Earthseed

By: Adam Schmitt and John Fogle

Chapter 1: Forecast

“This evening is a great night for stargazers everywhere. A large meteor shower is going to pass by the earth around eleven lasting until two in the morning. Scientists have however cautioned that a few of the passing meteors may impact yet they stress that the calculations are still too broad to know for sure.” Derek knew that there would in fact be impacts, he had been following the system for a little over a week and all calculations showed a high probability of impact, why the scientists were hiding the information was beyond him. He clicked the television off and prepared eggs and bacon. His wife had left early in order to prepare for her advanced literature class at Hemmingway High School, he would be leaving soon to prepare for his physics class but he was running late as usual. He finished eating as he pulled into the parking lot and ran into his room to set out the demonstrations, which due to the impending meteor shower was quite ironic, they were gravity experiments.. As he set the weights to the appropriate strings, he caught a girl looking into the class. Usually students looking into his room would not have bothered him however the girl appeared frightened but before he could ask her what was bothering her, she ran.

The last class of the day came before the question was asked that was on everyone’s mind. A student named Sophia Rayne raised her hand and before he could call on her she asked “are we really going to be hit by the meteor shower tonight?” Derek didn’t know how to answer her without alarming the class, suddenly the girl from earlier ran into the room; however she no longer had the markings. Before he could question about it she said, “Sorry I’m late! I am new here.” She seemed very nice as far as he could tell and the fear she showed earlier was gone, he was perplexed by her current demeanor yet decided for the sake of the class to just shake it off. He explained how the demonstration works and set the students to work on the lab. He looked at his sheet and noticed that she just recently transferred from a different state. Her name according to the sheet was Millana Archaeda. She had been grouped with Sophia through pure chance, although on this day nothing seemed to be by chance. Sophia was always good with making friends according to the other teachers. Millana and Sophia finished first and were excused so Sophia could help Millana find her way around any other things she may have missed. With the day over, Derek went home and found himself wondering about the meteors again. He decided he would do a few last minute calculations. Walking into the small living room of his rather small house he found his laptop where he had left it on the couch. Pulling out his laptop on his lap, Derek pulled up the program he had been using to track the interstellar missiles. Their trajectories had slightly altered from before and it now appeared that Earth would be in a direct path with the center of shower. He was concerned but decided that Earth’s atmosphere would handle any incoming problems. Sighing heavily, he reached for the TV remote that sat on the coffee table, when he noticed something flashing on his laptop screen. Derek saw what appeared to be an error in the graphing system he was using. It showed the meteors slowing gradually the closer they got to Earth. “That’s impossible.” he said rolling his eyes at the computer. He refreshed the graph and redid the calculations in a different program only to find the same results. Shocked, he did them to find something wrong with his calculations. Once more and still everything was spot on.“This can’t be happening,” Derek said to himself as the simulation showed every meteor crashing into the Earth around midnight. Unable to believe what he had discovered Derek turned on the television and began watching the weather.

The evening news confirmed Derek’s fears as images of cities being evacuated flooded the television. Derek was both afraid and curious of the night’s coming events.

“This just issued by the military, all residents in the Hemmingway area are to go to the local high school for shelter.”

About this time he heard his wife pull into the driveway, the squeaking of her cars brakes was all too familiar. Rushing out to her he kissed her quickly.

“Did you hear the news?” he asked

She simply shook her head no.

Derek pulled her inside and to the TV where the report was still repeating the onimus instructions. They decided to stay home, going to the school would probably be pointless if all the meteors did impact the near area. He didn’t know if tonight would be their last night but if it was, he wouldn’t wish it to be any other way than with her. Ten o’clock came and went, the two watched the television as if nothing was about to happen and that was the way he wanted it. They fell asleep around eleven holding each other closely. The sirens began sounding around twelve thirty and Derek awoke to see Millana standing over him. “You must take cover immediately, as you probably know by now, these are not meteors about to impact your planet,” she said worriedly. He was confused by her presence and looked quickly for his wife who was still asleep at his side. “What are they?” he asked. “There is no time to explain. Wake your wife up and go to the school, it is the only place that is safe for now,” she said. He was about to ask her again what they were but noticed she was no longer there. He woke his wife up and went to the school as he was instructed. He was about to question the fact that he had taken advice from a student when he pulled into the school. There were armed guards surrounding the school and Derek immediately knew why. Someone else must have warned about the invasion. They were escorted into a civilian barracks by guards, this all seemed like a dream to Derek but as long as they were safe, he didn’t really mind. They entered a small room that Derek recognized as his classroom. He sat one of the cots that had been erected, waiting until the first impact when suddenly he felt that his finger was bare. He knew that his wife would throw a fit if he didn’t have his wedding band so he did the only thing he could think of, he went back.

Derek saw the first of the “meteors” beginning to enter the atmosphere. Most were very small but a few were incredibly large, Derek knew that if any of those hit with enough speed that it would be over for everyone in the town. He reached his house just as the first meteors began to impact. They did not hit nearly as quick as they should have which was a quick indicator that these were indeed something else. Derek kicked open his front door and spotted the ring almost immediately, on the kitchen counter where he always would leave it. Grabbing it and jamming it on his finger, he could hear loud crashes and explosions as the objects impacted the area of his residential block. He turned to run out of the house but just as he was about to hit the open door a meteor crashed in front of him, in the yard. The shrapnel from the impact littered his body and the pressure of the impact knocked him out cold. In less than a minute, Derek would die.

Chapter 2: Summer High

Three Months Earlier

School had just broke for summer when Mathew Larson looked out his bedroom window on that sweltering day to see a new couple moving into the house across the street. They seemed normal enough, with their new Chevy Camaro in yellow and the large moving truck that occupied the driveway and yard. Matt was about to turn away from the window, when he spotted a lovely looking girl getting down out of the moving truck. She had very bright blonde hair that was almost platinum, from this distance Matt couldn’t make out her face but he could tell it was beautiful. She was breathtaking, it was almost of he had been hit in the stomach. Deciding that it would be a good idea to go help, and introduce himself, Matt ran down from his room into the living room of his house. He tripped over his shoes as he reached the bottom of the stairs and luckily fell onto one of the couches.

“Ooouuuuch.” he grumbled to himself, as rolled back onto the hardwood floor.

His parents were home, which was good they typically were more reclusive than him so their absence allowed him freedom, such as going to help new neighbors.

Grabbing his shoes and staring blankly at the teal painted walls of the room as he put them on Matt readied himself to go outside. He briefly looked into the mirror that hung on the wall and messed with his unkempt hair to no avail. Noticing the stubble on his broad jaw was as black as the hair on his head, Matt grimaced at his own image, hoping that he would not appear homely.

Eventually, he made his way to the door and walked down the short sidewalk to the street where he lived. It was devoid of traffic, no one ever came this way that didn’t live in the immediate area so he crossed without looking. As he neared the moving van the man, that was presumably the father of the girl he noticed, came storming around the corner.

“What are you doing here?!” he practically yelled.

His attitude rather upset Matt, but he managed to keep his anger at bay.

“Sorry I was just coming over to ask if you would like some help, I mean it’s a lot for three people to do, once my parents come home they will help too if I ask them to.” Matt said.

The man’s face twisted in a snarl of disgust.

“Get out of here kid! We don’t need your help.” he remarked.

This time Matt didn’t hide his feelings at being addressed as such.

“Ok, fine, not like you need it or anything.” he said defensively.

He practically ran back to his house. The white paint on the vinyl siding seemed comforting like a soft cloud as he ran in and stormed up to his room.

“The nerve of that guy.” Matt said aloud.

He turned on his Xbox 360 console and went to play one of his first person shooters,with his friends, who hopefully would be online.

They were, relaxing they got organized and played a match. After a large bout of cursing and reckless gameplay Matt and his friends won the game.

“I hate campers... I just hate... campers.” his buddy Luke commented over the headset.

“You and me both.” This time it was John his other friend.

“Agreed.”

Matt heard his parents car pull up into the driveway, and the garage door below his room start opening.

Realizing that his parents would probably would give him a lecture for trying to help the new neighbors, Matt decided to get off of his xbox. Saying goodbye to Luke and John, he went downstairs and sat on the couch and turned on the TV. His parents eventually walked in, they were talking about their workday. They completely ignored Matt who ran to the kitchen to look busy. He grabbed an apple and was about to take a bite when the girl’s father yelled from across the street, “Hey! Why don’t you folks teach your child about privacy!” he boomed his voice echoing into the house through open windows.

Matt sunk beneath the snack bar in his kitchen knowing the rage that was about to befall him. “Son, would you mind telling me what that the neighbor meant?” His father asked as Matt peered over the snack bar.

“I’m sorry, I was only trying to help. They looked like they needed it,” Matt replied innocently. His father seemed to mull the information over in his mind before speaking again.

“Well, I can’t fault you for wanting to help,” Matt’s father replied with a sigh.

“Anyways, your father and I have been talking and we have decided to allow you to go out more often. It’s time that you get out and experience everything life has to offer.” his mother stated rather matter-of-fact. Matt was confused, he had never seen his parents act like this before. Instead of questioning their sudden change of heart, as they walked off towards the living room, Matt decided to go see what John was up to.

He walked down his street and turned onto the adjacent street where John lived there was a single car that passed by but otherwise the area was as deserted as Matt’s street. As Matt walked every step he took he could hear a rustling coming from somewhere, he would look around only to see the leaves of the trees and other shrubs frantically dancing as the wind blew through them. Matt felt like someone was watching him the entire time as he slowly edged closer to John’s large home, whose large dark pines did not make a friendly sight, even in the early evening. Suddenly, as if she had been waiting the entire time, the girl jumped down from the trees.

“Hello Matt!” the girl said in an excited tone.

“Ummmm...Hey, how do you know my name?” Matt asked confused.

“Sorry, my parents spoke with yours soon after you left. I overheard your parents say your name,” she answered with a smile.

“Oh, well what is your name?” Matt asked, the girl took his breath away, at this distance her beauty seemed to light up the dull colored shade of the pine trees in John’s yard. Her blonde hair shined and her blue eyes sparkled in tandem with the changing wind.

“My name is Millana Archeada, I just was excited to meet you. It’s been a long time since I had actual neighbors!” she replied quite jovial, though Matt was so awestruck with her he barely noticed her say it.

“Millana?” he mumbled, staring though he didn’t mean to.

“Yes Matt, Millana.” she said walking closer, and bringing Matt somewhat awkwardly back to reality.

“So...because I’m so curious, who were you going to visit?” she asked.

“John Foges, He’s a friend of mine he lives right here actually.” Matt said, pointing to the house.

Millana appeared startled when Matt spoke his friend’s name.

“Is something wrong?” Matt asked.

“No, it’s nothing, I just forgot that dinner would be ready soon,” Matt turned for a second when he heard John open the door, when he turned back to say goodbye to Millana she was gone.

“Did you see that?” Matt asked.

“See what?” John asked confused.

“The girl that was right there like not even a minute ago,” Matt replied pointing to where Millana stood only seconds before.

“I think you better get inside before your imagination gets the best of you,” John replied sarcastically, rolling his brown-amber eyes. Matt walked up on the porch and followed John inside.

The house was really nice, John’s father was a general in the military, so they certainly had some money, and his mother was working for the same company Matt’s parents worked with.

“So what did you come over for?” John asked.

“What do you mean? I just came to hang out, is it a bad time?” Matt asked in response.

“No, I’m just used to your parents never letting you out of your house, what gives?” John responded. Matt was suddenly aware that John was much taller than him, and he appeared more muscular than last time they had spoken in person, Matt wondered what he had been doing.

“I’m not sure myself, they just said that I should get out more and ‘experience life.’ I’m not sure, but I think there may be something wrong,” Matt answered as John beckoned him into the house.

“What do you mean? Did they find something?” John asked curiously. He had always found Matt’s parents’ research quite intriguing and Matt liked to keep him in the know so he talk to someone besides his parents about it.

“Yea, they think so anyways. They heard static that they believed was a message. They said that it was a female and she was requesting aid from anyone that received the message,” Matt answered. Secretly against his parents will Matt had been introducing John to the aliens that would occasionally make their way to Earth, to be interviewed by his parents. Matt’s parents and John’s parents both were a part of the secret United States alien acknowledgement program and the two boys were very aware of the existence of other intelligent life in the galaxy. They both had always had fun meeting the “aliens.”

“Female? Any name?” John suddenly asked very suspiciously, his eyes narrowed and Matt saw his hand drop to his side, where a flick knife’s clip hung on the pocket of khaki shorts.

“No, why? It’s not like...” Matt suddenly thought of something that seemed impossible, but his mind told him that it was true. However, he wasn’t sure he could trust John with the information, though they had been friends for years Matt had a sudden foreboding feeling that gripped his stomach.

“It’s not like what Matt?” John asked with his hand now clasping the handle of the knife.

“Nothing, I was just thinking that maybe she is already on Earth,” Matt responded quickly.

“Hmm, yes, I will ask my mom later,” John said as he moved his hand away from the knife. Matt had never seen his friend like this, he seemed like he knew this alien and wanted her dead. John would surely never do that though, he liked the many visitors that had visited in the past, especially the one with crimson hair from the planet Concord.

“Why were you so jumpy?” Matt asked.

“I have no idea what you mean,” John answered, he did a poor job of covering up his interest.

“Well when I mentioned the girl, you seemed to tense up,” Matt responded.

“Oh, well don’t worry about it then. Would you mind introducing me to her when she arrives?” John asked.

“Sure, hey I know I just got here, but I forgot to take out the trash before I came here. You know my parents, if I don’t get home and do it soon, they will go ballistic,” Matt said quickly as he walked for the door. Running away quickly, before John could object, Matt sped up the street, around the corner, and to his house. The feeling of unexplained fear continued to harass him even in his house, a place where he had always felt safe.

What he hadn’t told John was that the alien girl’s name was Millana, Millana Archeada, and she now lived across the street. He had realized it when John had started asking questions about her it had jogged his memory.

Sending John a short text message saying his parents were detaining him at home, Matt went up to his room and sat on his bed staring at the wall. The wind blew in through his open window.

This startled Matt, he hadn’t opened it in the last week because of how hot the weather had been.

Feeling like he was no longer alone in the room, Matt stood up and began looking behind his dressers and desk frantically.

The squeaking of the closet door made him almost cling to the ceiling in fear as he jumped high into the air in horror of what was coming to get him.

To his great surprise and great joy, Millana walked out, looking rather sheepish, he face was flushed and she looked at the ground.

“Oh thank God!” Matt exclaimed recognizing her, “It’s only you.” he said breathing rapidly, body still pumping adrenaline. He was so relieved that he jumped onto his bed from where he stood, and took a very deep breath.

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew the “Undying Demon?” Millana asked offensively.

“Um, who?” Matt asked confused.

“The one you call John, he is famous in this sector of the galaxy, infamous probably would be a better description, he can’t be trusted.” Millana stated very annoyed. Honestly, Matt was not sure if he was daydreaming or not, things seemed to be escalating beyond his comprehension, there was a girl in his room.

“I am fairly certain you have him confused with someone else,” Matt responded “He is probably one of the nicest people I know, and as far as anything else goes he looks pretty mortal to me.”

“That may be how he appears, but I promise you, he is very dangerous. My father had asked for his assistance once and once only,” Millana said shivering at the thought of it.

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask, what species are you? My parents would want to know to log it into the database,” Matt said booting up his computer.

Millana sat in silence and stared at him in awe, she must have not realized that he was intimately a part of his parents’ research.

“I would rather not be put into the database,” Millana responded, finally after she managed a small grin.

“ why not? I assume you know the protocol,” Matt responded.

“I do know the protocol; however, there are reasons that I prefer my arrival to be kept secret,” she said matter of factly.

“Oh, well would you at least tell me for personal knowledge?” Matt asked.

“I am not sure, I do not wish to expose my cover,” she answered.

“Fair enough, maybe if you get to know me better, then you may be willing to tell me,” he said calmly.

“Thank you Matt, not many people would take my preference into consideration,” she answered with a smile and after a moment’s pause she added “and I really would like to get to know you better.”

“Sure.” Matt mumbled, a little more than surprised at her last bit.

Millana nodded, that platinum blonde hair shaking lightly, and climbed nimbly out of the window and into the darkness. Stunned, Matt remained stuck on his bed.

Had he just gotten asked out by an alien girl? He wasn’t sure he could believe what had happened.

And John being an “Undying Demon?” what that meant Matt was even less sure about.

Unable to quite cope with the strangeness of the day. Matt passed out and went to sleep.

*****

John sat impatiently in the bushes outside of the suspect’s house. Sure enough she whizzed by with lightning speed and agility. Even in her disguise he clearly recognized her. Princess Millana Archeada.

Sighing heavily, he got up out of the bushes and walked home, things were not a simple as he would have liked them to be, but a man had to do what a man had to do. Reaching his home John went inside, the side door that lead to the antique style kitchen. He then crossed across the dimly lit room and went down into the basement of the old house. Reaching the heavy metal door that looked so out of place inside the otherwise innocent house, he punched in the access code.

The pressure seal hissed as it unlocked and the door swung open.

Having a father in the military certainly did have its perks. John grinned as he laid eyes on the state-of-the-art intergalactic communications system. Its panels and monitors flashed blue and red against its light grey metal that hid the circuitry. Walking nervously over to the device, he entered the code he had been given by Lucidious.

The maniacal voice of the worst villain in history crackled to life over the call line.

“What information do you bring me Jonathan?” Lucidious asked.

John loathed the man, and he knew siding with him would cause him problems but if it spared Earth a few more days, in fact even minutes, John didn’t care. Except for being called Jonathan.

“The Alterenians have sent their envoy here to Earth. Your target should arrive by next month.” John lied carefully.

“Indeed, then I shall begin the necessary preparations, contact me when you identify her for certain.” Lucidious’ voice seemed to ooze with perverted pleasure.

“Yes sir!” John responded cutting the call.

Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding John grabbed a chair and sat down on it as he leaned against the communications machine.

No one really knew how precarious the situation he was in was, nor did they realize the consequences if Millana was discovered. And no one really knew what he really was.

After readying himself to speak to another person of importance John called Millana’s father, leader of the Alterenians, King Byland.

Again the call line came alive immediately.

“John. Has she arrived there safely?” Byland asked.

“Yes she has Byland. I’m assuming you didn’t tell her about me, her reaction to the mention of my name was less than welcoming.” He told the King.

“No. I refrained so she would maintain an appropriate level of caution.” Byland responded sounding very relieved by the news. John felt terrible about keeping his status as triple agent a secret from the King. But again, Earth was his only concern, nothing else particularly mattered to him. So long as his home was safe from the war between the Neereeum and the Alterenians he could care less about what happened to their cultures or their royalty. In fact, he could think of one person that he would have liked to see quite dead, though it would be a near impossible task.

“I have to go, I’ll inform you of her progress with the Earthseed.” John said.

“Thank you, signing off.”

John turned off the machine once Byland ended the call.

He felt tired with the deceitful means he had to use to ensure Matt’s awakening, he wished he could simply expose everything to his friend and just let it go but it wasn’t that simple.

He wondered what Luke would think about everything, but he decided that he wouldn’t tell him. Unsure to do for once in his life John stood in the kitchen aimlessly. Eventually he realized he could do nothing but wait, something that he was beyond tired of, he had only been doing if for 3 years. His mind strayed to another of the greats in this current generation, Sophia Rayne, she hadn’t awakened either, which was going to be a problem if everything went to hell like he expected it to by the end of summer.

All the thoughts were rather depressing and he opened the fridge to view the bottles of beer that his father kept. Knowing he really shouldn’t he grabbed one and opened it and took a heavy drink.

The rest of the summer was going to suck and he knew it, soon enough, when Lucidious figured out that he was stalling him, Earth would become a battleground.

Chapter 3: Raging Heat

Millana climbed the tree that was right next to Matt’s window as she had for the past two weeks, she enjoyed her time with Matt however she never lost sight of her main objective, she had to help him awaken his powers as a Seed. She hadn’t had much progress with that though, she was growing impatient with him so she decided to try something drastic. She had done research on things that earthlings did on “dates” and decided to ask Matt if he would like to see a movie, it was apparently popular since she couldn’t turn on her television without seeing a commercial for it, likewise she would be shopping and notice different articles of clothing and other trinkets that were worn by the characters. She found the Earth’s distracting culture hypes to be fun and this evening was no exception.

Matt smiled when she entered his room. “Hello.” he remarked with evident pleasure.

Millana realized she was growing quite fond of Matt which would cause problems if they were discovered.

“Matt..” she began, biting back her instincts to avoid becoming even closer with him, “I want to go see that movie that is on at the theater, the one with the girl and the huntsman.” she said.

“Ohh...yeah that looked good, we can buy tickets at the door! And, we still have enough time to get decent seats.” Matt spouted off extremely excited.

Millana smiled widely at him. Unkempt or not she found him to be fun and handsome, “going out on the town” with him was a thought that she quite enjoyed. Though she knew it was mostly counter-productive to the overall plan she couldn’t help relaxing for a moments, Lucidious was yet to discover of her whereabouts and she wished to take advantage of it. She considered John being a possible threat but decided that she would risk the trip if it helped her get closer to Matt and help him discover his true purpose.

This was all apart of her little plan, she had a friend ready to see what type of seed Matt was and she found a movie with Matt and a test to seem to go together really well it would be the perfect test.

After Matt gathered himself some more they set out towards the old cloistered buildings that was the small town of Hemmingway’s “downtown.” They left Matt’s house unnoticed by his parents.

“I’m surprised they didn’t see us.” Matt said as they crossed the yard.

“I’m not they probably aren’t worried about you getting in too much trouble, they seem like they are getting to be more relaxed.” Millana smiled at him. She knew the real reason they didn’t notice though.

Continuing on the sidewalk Millana breathed in the rich air of the planet and sighed with satisfaction. Her home had been not much different than Earth once. With similar blue skies, and temperate weather, that was different now, and the atmosphere, especially when around Matt brought up a sense of nostalgia from her young childhood.

Matt noticed her relaxing.

“It’s a nice night out, not as hot as it has been that couple of days.” he said.

Millana nodded and grinned absorbing the sounds of the chirping birds and the smell of cut sounds She clasped the purse she had brought with her, when she saw John come around the corner of the street in front of them.

He waved and a broad smile came across his face.

Matt had seemingly ignored her warnings about John, she didn’t trust him, he had his own priorities and was quite the mercenary in general, which was why her father had hired him, but she didn’t like the fact he was not truly loyal to their cause.

“Hey Matt!” he boomed as he walked closer.

Millana grabbed the small knife in her purse as he drew closer. She had never actually met him in person and this was not the time for her to be meeting the “Undying Demon.’

“So...this is the girl you were talking about.” he said looking Millana over.

She felt like he was staring straight through her clothing and deciding how best to have his way with her.

“You certainly have done well for yourself!” John continued turning his gaze towards Matt.

“Certainly better than you!” Matt sneered at his friend. Millana half-smiled half-blushed at their banter.

They two boys laughed at each other for a moment and didn’t seem to notice her state, until John extended his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m John Foges, sorry about just now too, I like to give Matt a hard time.” he said, oddly, she could tell that the smile and his sentiment were genuine.

“A pleasure.” She said as she shook his hand curtly, still suspecting treachery. “I’m Millana Archeada.”

If John cared or recognized her, he showed no emotion at all.

“Millana.” he repeated slowly as if he had heard the name for the first time.

“I like to memorizes names and faces, Millana is a pretty unique name so it should be easy.” John continued.

“So what are you two doing?”

“Going to see the movies.” Matt said for her.

“Ohhhh....I see...” John smirked narrowing his eyes, with mock suspicion. “Alright well I have to get over to Luke’s house, we are supposed to be breaking out some Axis and Allies.” he said.

“Well have fun then.” Matt said as John started to walk off. Millana decided that now would be a good time for tonight’s test, Matt’s and a new one she just schemed up for John. Waiting until they were underneath some trees where she knew her friend would be Millana purposely stumbled on the ancient cracked sidewalk. She over dramatised it, screaming loudly and going so far as to quite literally throw her purse into the air and away from herself. However, to her great surprise she didn’t hit the ground.

Matt caught her well before she fell, his hands caught her hip and her shoulder, she opened her eyes to find that she was looking right into Matt’s.

She blushed heavily as he leaned over her. “You ok?” he asked. Millana.

Instinctively, she put her arms around his shoulders, which caused him to blush as well. After a moment of awkwardly staring into each others eyes, Matt stood her up.

Noticing the plan had worked quite well, she started with the test. “ Hey where’s my purse?” she asked.

Her “friend” was walking away from the area with it in his hand.

“That guy has it...”Matt said his voice trailing off as he pointed.

“Hey! Give that back!” he yelled as he stormed off after Millana’s bodyguard.

Astounded that she had not even had to tell him to chase James. Millana followed Matt as he ran off.

Matt and James soon outdistanced her in fact Matt began actually catching James from what she could tell as she kept up a more “normal” speed to not yet alert Matt to what was going on. She continued following Matt untill he got moving so fast that she lost him around a set of turns.

Knowing the dead end alley that James would run as per the plan Millana made her way there, avoiding the twisting route that her bodyguard was using to test Matt on his “speed test.”

As she drew near to the old narrow alley, lined by the antique brick buildings that occupied this part of town, James appeared next to her.

He was an average-sized man, with jet-black hair hand a chiseled jaw that housed a perfectly trimmed beard, he wore his usual black vest and white shirt. He was grinning widely.

“The boy’s fast milady. Very fast.” he said his deep voice rumbling.

“Indeed. Did he show any signs of realizing his true potential?” Millana asked brushing a rebellious strand of hair away from her face.

“No. However, he will soon I believe, stay safe at the movies.” James’ voice echoed from nothing, as he disappeared before her eyes.

Matt came around the corner of the alley just then.

“Hey I got it back!” he stammered between breaths.

He held up the purse quite triumphantly. Millana crossed the distance and took it from him.

“Thanks a bunch Matt! You didn’t need to get it... I don’t really have anything in here...I just had to make me look a little bit more like an Earthling.” she said. Biting her tongue at the last bit she had forgotten that Matt was unaware of a Seeds’ ability to alter their appearances.

Confusion wrinkled up Matt’s forehead and cheeks.

“You look like a human to me....but judging by what you said, you don’t normally look like this do you?” he seemed almost unwilling to say it.

Millana sighed. “You are sometimes a little too curious for your own good. Nows not the time, I’ll show you later this week ok?” she said. To her surprise Matt grinned quite widely.

“Whenever you are ready.” his voice was in good humor and he seemed suddenly full of anticipation.

Guilt made Millana swallow when they bumped hand and Matt grabbed her’s as they began to walk off toward the theater which was no longer so far away from where they were. She prayed the sensation of affection she was feeling was real and not just her determination to save her people. Matt was so kind and caring that if it was all fake she would never be able to forgive herself for dragging him into her life.

******

Matt awoke from a deep night’s sleep. Millana hadn’t been over in a few days and when he noticed that it was 1pm, he decided to call her. She had acquired a regular cell phone since she had been on Earth, and its ring back tone was a popular song at the time.

“Hello Matt,” She said as the noise of a phone being answered filled Matt’s ear.

“Hey what have you been doing the last couple of days?” he asked. Though he had grown very fond of her Matt had suddenly wanted some alone time. However, his thoughts were constantly on Millana and what she had told him about the galaxy and the fun times they had had so far throughout the summer. Many things seemed to be like a dream for Matt, in fact he was still waiting to wake up he didn’t believe it was real. Her, the galaxy, everything just seemed too perfect.

When he finally realized she was speaking to him Matt practically fell out of his chair in surprise.

“Matt!” she yelled into the phone, “Did you hear what I told you?”

“No, sorry I sorta dozed off there, what were you saying?” he asked wincing at his lack of attention.

“I said that I have been studying for that pre-semester test.” Millana sighed.

Puzzled Matt remained silent for a moment.

“What pre-semester test?” he asked.

“The one from your last semester? You take it online on the internet thing, at that supposed new school website. And since I’m staying to study Earth’s education system I kinda need to pass it.”

“Oh.” Matt mumbled. “When are we suppose to be able to take it?”

“Tonight’s the last night.”

His parents would kill him if he didn’t pass it. The news could not have come at a worse time too, there was a clan battle on the Xbox tonight, and he owed John and Luke some friend time, then he wondered if they knew about or had taken it earlier.

“Crap. Looks like I’m going to be cramming tonight then, well more like all day.” he said.

Millana laughed loudly over the phone.

“You had better!” she continued to giggle.

She gave him the internet address and told him “good luck”

Matt spent the rest of the day at his computer doing the practice test first and painstakingly going through and checking all of his answers. By late that evening he was ready. The test took almost three hours and left him with a huge headache. He felt like he had done well though, so Matt pressed the send button that had finally appeared on the screen. He got immediate feedback, he passed with an 89% which evidently was well above the normal scores for all students that took this pre-semester exam. Relieved and exhausted Matt passed out.

****

Lucidious was pacing the halls of his ship, The Ambassador, examining the gun batteries and other facilities on the battlecruiser. John would be sending a report soon, it had been a standard Earth by now and Millana was sure to have arrived. Many of his followers were against a global invasion but Lucidious determined that it was the only way that they would find her before she escaped again and besides, it would be much more fun to just enslave everyone anyway. Lucidious stroked back his needlessly long crimson hair as he walked the dull gray halls of the ship to his private chambers. He sat down awaiting the call and pondered his rise to power in Neeree society. It had been only been five years ago that he had made his first grab for power. He had slain the Neereeum Emperor in a duel and claimed his title the foolish man deserved his death, he had failed to recognize the Seed of Neeree. He was very experienced and commanding his Seed powers then and even more so now, and what respect he couldn’t gain he gained through fear and the Neereeum military eventually came fully under his control. He almost killed Millana once already on his quest for revenge after botched negotiations of the First Concord War and he would not allow Ms.. Archaeda to escape this time. He again fiddled with his blood red hair fearing that she would be untraceable soon, even if John was watching for her. “Where did you run to little rat?” he asked himself scanning the hologram of the Solar System in front of him. He could not bear the wait any longer, he wanted to scream. Suddenly, the comm system on the other side of the room came to life. Dashing over to it he pounding on the system activating it as quickly as possible.

John answered. “I found your target sir.” he responded holding a picture of Millana into the camera, she had blonde hair in the picture but it was clearly her.

“Excellent, now keep her there,” he said with a venomous smile creeping across his face.

“I could always deliver her to you, it would be quite easy, since she thinks I’m on her side.” John replied.

The thought stopped him, John certainly was capable of surprising Millana and taking her hostage, and it would guarantee him his revenge, but Lucidious wanted to do this personally, and he wanted another planet to add to his collection. However, he wouldn’t tell John that he planned to invade anyway.

“That sounds perfect, our fleet will arrive in about one standard month from now. But I have a question first. Whose side are you on?” Lucidious asked, he wanted to gauge the turncoat’s resolve.

“Yours for now. So long as you keep paying me.” John responded wryly with a mischievous grin, few had the gumption to speak so freely to him.

“You are quite the mercenary, well consider it a deal, I will contact you once we make orbit.”

“Understood.” John responded as the comm was cut.

Lucidious turned his attention to his revenge and the thought of it consumed him.

“We both knew it was a matter of time little rat. Soon, you will die and there will be nothing to stop me,” Lucidious thought as he headed towards the bridge of The Ambassador. Raenae sensed his happiness as soon as he entered the bridge and walked to him gracefully.

“Where is the brat hiding my love?” She asked seductively.

“The planet Earth as the Undying Demon expected her to.” he said smiling. He almost floated over to the captain’s chair and shouted the order to begin moving towards Earth. He knew the trip would be long, but the payoff would highly outweigh the risks of losing supplies. “I’m coming for you, you silver-haired witch,” He thought to himself as he grabbed a glass of the Neereeum equivalent of wine from one of the many whimpering attendants around him and sipped it slowly.

[Wild Monkey]

Why is there a random Wynaut in the story? XD

[Amethyst]

Why not?

[Summer]

Black color hard to read, too lazy to highlight entire story.

[Wild Monkey]

lol yea... sorry about that... I should have thought of it! But I kinda forgot XD I guess it got fixed though since it is showing up as white now... if not then let me know! lol

[Jelly]

I read "aliens" then I was out, I just don't like the thought, but I think it's very well written for however much of the book this is.

[Summer]

In my honest-est opinion, the story has waaaay too much suspense. You're also giving out obvious clues that Earth is going to be attacked. (Unless plot twist, then derp). And the 'seed' thingy is still so vague. You should at least give an estimate of how good it is. (etc Crushing Mountains, mind-control) And lazy readers like me dislike remembering unique names. Try to use something simple- Tom & Jerry were successful because people just couldn't forget the names.

[Wild Monkey]

Yea... That was kinda the point.... it's no big surprise what happens to earth as *spoiler* not much of this book takes place on earth... As for the suspense... well that's another thing that myself and my friend are known for lol it gets pretty action packed later on... I understand where you are coming from with the simple names and for the most part, they are... with the exceptions of Lucidious, Millana, and others not from earth but then again we were basically taking idea that what may not be normal for us may be normal for others... If you are talking about other names than those, I would be happy to take another look at them... =) (btw, not sure why James has a regular name though he comes from a different place lol) thank you for the comment though! It helps!

[Wild Monkey]

As for Jelly, no problem! Everyone has their likes and dislikes! ^^

[Summer]

About the simple names- it only apllies to major characters. You also put in a lot of discription. Not being negative, but sometimes too much is bad. Usually when I write, I like to keep things simple yet impressionable. If you were to say "a ship" instead of "a dull ship", it would sound bland but if you glorify the interior (if you plan to) that leaves a lot to ponder over for the readers. The reader's creavity matters most in a text.

[Yuki]

A lot of the punctuation seems awkward of misplaced, and there are a few run-on sentances that could use fixing.

Two problems I'm seeing here are that the tone seems very monotonous, and your sentances/phrases read at different speeds because they very abruptly go from very descriptive to generally skimmed-over details.

Some transitions from place to place or introductions person to person (background information or tidbits about that person go a long way towards developing a reader's perception of their personality, too) would go a very long way, and I think that if you incorporated a few of these things into the story it'd read much more smoothly.

[Wild Monkey]

Yea, I was actually afraid of that, but then again when i brought that up to my co-author (I know, odd for a dual author story) It was much worse than this before... alot of the punctuation would probably be from us fixing it from it's first draft raw form lol Thanks for that though and we will look more closely at that! Otherwise, from a story point, what isi your opinion? Good, Bad, Mixed?

[Yuki]

I'm generally not a follower of science fiction novellas, but it always gets me in that it's grounded in a delicious mix of fantasy and, well, science. The genre on it's own begets novelty, and that's always a good thing to have in a story. Admittedly I haven't gotten past the first chapter yet (I'm working on my own piece of writing in the other window) but one more piece of advice I have is clearly refining the perspective-- is the story being told in Third Person Omniscient, Third Person Limited, First Person Narrative, or something else? Sometimes the lines between one or the other seem to blur a bit, and that can put a reader off. It sometimes makes it harder for them to immerse themselves in the plot, which would be a shame since this one seems pretty solid.

[Wild Monkey]

Thanks Hark, I was looking over some of the suggestions and I am planning to make changes to this to more clearly define those things! I also try not to add too much detail because I understand that good detail doesn't always mean good story... it has to be a mix of detail and character development and plot in my opinion... I need to work on getting that down better and with this being 1 in a projected 3 part project, though I am worried about exactly HOW to mix them correctly, I am not panicked over it yet lol. This is draft 2 and I was hoping to draft again after getting complete feedback and then maybe once more for final revisions, so I appreciate everything that everyone is saying!