Striker (The Alien Wars Book 2) by Paul Moxham Read Free Book Online

tall
for a Gray?” Molly asked. “We did a study about extraterrestrial species and—”
    “I’m normal for
my species.” The Seod held out his hand. “My Earth name is Carl.”
    Kenneth shook his
head in amazement as he shook Carl’s hand. “How can you speak English?”
    Mike glanced
around. “How about we continue this talk inside?”
    “Why?” Molly
asked.
    Mike hesitated. “It’s
complicated. Just follow me inside and I’ll explain.”
    After picking up
the cowboy hat, the Seod placed the helmet back on his head and followed the
others. Every few steps, the teens would glance at Carl and shake their heads
in wonder.
    They entered the
house and sat down in the living room. Once everyone was settled in, Mike
glanced at the three of them in turn. “What I’m about to say is so secret there
isn’t a word to describe it. You got it?”
    They all bobbed
their heads but kept their mouths shut, so Mike continued speaking. “If word
got out about what I’m about to tell you, we’d all die. So keep your traps
shut, okay?”
    “My lips are
sealed,” Kenneth said.
    “Ours are too,” Molly
muttered.
    Mike hesitated
and glanced at Carl. “Shall I tell them everything?”
    “What do you
think?” Carl replied.
    “Well, we do need
to trust someone, and I do know the parents of these teens. They seemed like
decent people.” Mike locked eyes on Kenneth. “What about you? What’s your
connection with these two?”
    “He’s been
helping us find our parents,” Derek said. “If you’re in a tight spot, he can
help you.”
    Kenneth glanced
at the Seod and then at Mike. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two,
but if it’s about saving people from being killed, I’m all for it. I’ve seen
too many dead bodies these last few weeks.”
    “Okay, here goes.
Seods are, in many ways, like humans. Some of them are good, some of them are
bad. You might find it hard to believe, but this mission to Earth was supposed
to be as peaceful as possible. And, in some cases, it is.”
    “For a peaceful
mission, a good many people have died,” Kenneth muttered.
    “That wasn’t our
intention,” Mike stated.
    “Our intention?” Kenneth scoffed as
he shared an eye roll with the teens. “What do you mean by that?”
    Mike hesitated. “Well,
you ought to know the full story.” He smirked. “I’m also a Seod. Well, half
human and half alien. I’m what you might call a Hybrid.”
    The three stared
in shock and surprise. None of them could speak for a minute.
    “But how can that
be?” Molly backed away. “You look just like a human.”
    Mike made a big
show of flexing his biceps. “It was a long process, one that involved changing the
shape and figure of my body, but I can’t complain about the results.”
    “But how did you
do that?” Kenneth asked, astounded. “We can’t do it.”
    “Correct. But our
technology is far more advanced than yours. Anyway, we’re getting off track. Neither
your people nor mine have time to waste, so I’ll give you the brief facts.
First, we didn’t come here to harm you. We just wanted to get a metal out of
the ground.”
    “What kind of
metal?” Kenneth asked.
    “I won’t go into
specifics because it doesn’t matter, as you, earth people, don’t use it, but
for us, it’s a matter of life and death. Second, our leader was overthrown
while our ships were heading to Earth. That’s why some people are following the
new leader whose instructions are to get the metal as fast as possible and at
whatever the cost.” He sighed. “I’ve come to admire the beauty of this planet,
and I don’t want it to descend into war.”
    “Correct me if
I’m wrong, but aren’t we already at war?” Kenneth asked.
    Mike smiled thinly.
“Well, to you, yes, but not for us. The wars we’ve had on our planets—”
    Molly frowned. “Planets?”
    “Yes, we live on
more than one. As I was saying, the wars we’ve had have been far more
destructive than yours. We actually lost