Magnum: Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides (Intergalactic Dating Agency) Read online

  “Where do we go?” Georgia asked.

  “Back to the house. We need to warn Posey, Bond and my mom. And something tells me that we’re better off together.”

  “That makes sense,” Rocky said, nodding.

  “I already texted Posey,” Georgia said. “She and Bond are on their way with the car. Let’s do this.”

  “You think they won’t find us?” Sykes cried. “They’re coming and you’re all going to be—”

  “Your talk annoys me,” Magnum said. “Shall I quiet you, or can you calm yourself?”

  “I’m good,” Sykes said immediately.

  “Have it your way,” Magnum shrugged. “But I’m willing to reconsider if you open your mouth again.”

  He turned back to Rima and offered her his hand.

  She smiled and took it, and they walked through the spooky amusement park. The stars shone bright above them and the gravel crunched beneath their feet.

  Rima felt like a princess in spite of the blood and dirt on her dress. No, she felt like a queen.

  When they reached the gate, sure enough the beat up old station wagon was waiting.

  Dr. Bhimani hopped out of the drivers seat, and Posey and Bond followed.

  “Rima,” her mother cried in a tremulous voice.

  “I’m okay, Mom,” she tried to tell her, realizing how it must look - there so much blood on her.

  “Rima, oh god,” Posey gasped.

  “She’s fine, she has healing powers now,” Georgia said.

  “Is this true, Rima?” her mother asked.

  “Yes,” she nodded. “I have them because Magnum has them.”

  “Magnum,” Dr. Bhimani said in wonder.

  But then there was the sound of sirens and tires screeching as they entered the parking lot.

  “No,” Rima whispered.

  Sykes began to laugh - a shrill, high-pitched giggle.

  “Come out with your hands up,” a voice squawked over a loudspeaker.

  20

  Magnum

  Magnum saw the approach of the cars, lights flashing, and heard the amplified voice from within the first one.

  The implications were so awful he almost couldn’t conceive it was really happening.

  Had he really become fully human just in time to be captured and experimented on?

  And of course, that would end quickly - when the Aerie made Earth uninhabitable for its current life forms.

  But these ideas wouldn’t reconcile with the heaven of Rima’s hand in his, or the glorious taste of the clear night air.

  “Rocky, fly,” Rima hissed.

  But Rocky stood tall, his arm around Georgia.

  Magnum turned to see Bond by Posey’s side, in much the same way.

  Whatever they faced, they would face it together. Even Dr. Bhimani stood proudly with them.

  “Let me go,” Sykes squawked at Diaz.

  She released him from the safety belt they’d swiped from the carousel to restrain him, and moved next to Dr. Bhimani.

  Sykes staggered toward the cars, rubbing his wrists.

  “Stay back,” the voice said. “Hands where I can see them.”

  “I’m Special Agent Matthew Sykes. I’m the one who tipped you off,” he squinted at the car.

  “I don’t care if you’re the Easter Bunny,” the voice said. “If you don’t get your hands in the air, my men will fire on you.”

  Sykes lifted his hands high.

  “We will give our lives to save the women,” Magnum said softly to Bond and Rocky. He had known this day might come.

  “No,” Rima cried.

  “Rima, you and your friends must take the ship to another planet and avoid the destruction here,” he told her. “I love you. This is the only way.”

  “But we can’t…”

  “You can,” Magnum told her. “We have modified the ship to be operable by you. The coordinates are already programmed. Why do you think we spent so much time working on it since we got here, when we could have been spending time with you?”

  She blinked up at him, tears streaming through the blood and dirt on her sweet face.

  Though it hurt his heart, he let go of her hand.

  As one, Magnum, Bond and Rocky stepped forward.

  “We are guests from Aerie,” Magnum said in a deep voice. “The women didn’t know. We pretended to be religious missionaries. We will go with you peacefully, but we ask that these innocent civilians be allowed to go free.”

  “You are not guests. You have no government clearance for your visit. You are illegal immigrants at best, and these women have aided you,” the voice said. “Now get on the ground, slowly, face down. One false move and we will use force. Do you understand?”

  Special Agent Sykes gasped and stared up at the sky.

  Magnum followed his gaze.

  Besides Rima’s smile, it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

  The night sky was alight with the pink underbellies of Aerie ships.

  21

  Rima

  Rima looked up to see the sky throbbing pink. It was both shocking and somehow familiar.

  Then she heard Magnum chuckle and it came together.

  “They came,” she breathed.

  “On the ground, now,” the voice in the loudspeaker said, seemingly still oblivious to the ships overhead.

  But one of the throbbing pink ships was nearing, following the wind current almost like a helium balloon as it drifted down into the dark parking lot between the cars and the group of friends.

  There was a click, and a long silence, as if the loudspeaker in the black SUV had been turned off, though Rima wasn’t sure if the agents had done it, or if it was something the Aerie ship had actuated.

  “People of Earth,” another voice said, the sound carrying across the parking lot, though without the hiss of an assisted volume device. “We humbly accept your tribute. Prepare to meet with a representative from our ministers.”

  “Holy shit balls,” a small voice said from somewhere behind both the cars and the ship.

  “Earl?” Rocky asked.

  Then the man himself jogged into view.

  He was followed by a well-dressed woman with a microphone and blown-out blonde hair. A man with a video camera and a kid with a boom mic ran after them.

  “Hope you don’t mind,” Earl said, tipping his hat to Rocky. “I called a couple of reporters. This one believed me.”

  Brilliant. Once word got out, there would be no way to cover it up.

  Rima did something she thought she would never do. She took a step forward and hugged Earl Road.

  He looked almost as shocked as she felt.

  Earl had saved them all by showing up with a reporter when he did.

  Maybe he would make the Christmas card list after all.

  “Give me fifteen seconds of live feed on social media and the others will be here, too,” the woman said briskly. “I’m ready, Leon.”

  “Live in three, two one,” Leon pointed back at her.

  “Sienna Hatfield here, for Channel Six news. We’re at the scene of the Stargazer Amusement Park, where government officials have responded to what appears to be visitors from another planet.”

  Leon panned to the ship.

  “Channel Six is about to give you exclusive live coverage of an alien minister, who is going to address the crowd.”

  The hatch to the ship slid open.

  Rima held her breath, wondering if she was about to see the gaseous form of a resident of Aerie.

  Instead, a man stepped out.

  He was tall, with blond hair that brushed the collar of a suit that looked like it had come off a European runway.

  “From the ministers of Aerie,” he said, in a clear confident tone, “I greet you, citizens of Earth. My name is MacGyver. From the craggy cliffs of Aerie I bring you gentle tidings.”

  “Wow,” said Sienna, obviously forgetting she was on the air.

  Rima wasn’t sure if the journalist was blown away by
the greeting, the name, or the stunning good looks of the man who delivered them. But in any case, if her reaction was any indication, the boys could expect to be welcomed here.

  MacGyver scanned the parking lot, his eyes alighting at last on Magnum and his friends.

  “Magnum, my friend, you look well,” MacGyver said, approaching them.

  They shook hands thoroughly. It was odd to see two men from a wildly different culture immersing themselves somewhat accurately in Earth’s.

  “I apologize for the actions of the operator of the transmissions,” MacGyver said politely. “When we received your unconventional message, I hastened my journey.”

  “It was to be expected,” Magnum replied. “I only regret that I did not anticipate it before we left. But no more of this, all is well now.” He nodded at the man in the suit. “I see that your physical migration has been a success.”

  “Thank you, I am learning to wear it though not yet with grace,” MacGyver allowed.

  “Even Earth-born humans have some awkwardness at times, don’t they my love?” Magnum asked Rima, raising an eyebrow.

  She giggled, loving this new Magnum who understood teasing and jokes.

  “Is this your bride?” MacGyver asked, eyeing Rima with great interest.

  “Yes,” Magnum said, wrapping an arm possessively around her shoulders. “This is my Rima.”

  “A pleasure, my dear,” MacGyver said very formally, offering Rima his hand.

  She took it and he shook so hard she was afraid her arm would come out of the socket.

  “Nice to meet you,” she said.

  “And of course you know Rocky and Bond and these are their brides, Georgia and Posey. And this is our host, Dr. Bhimani. And… a friend, Special Agent Diaz.”

  MacGyver smiled and nodded politely at each of them. But when his eyes met those of Special Agent Diaz he paused, as if thunderstruck.

  Amy Diaz stared back at him, her mouth slightly agape.

  MacGyver moved to her quickly and dropped to one knee. Taking her hand in both of his, he pressed it ardently to his lips.

  “If you were not royalty, I would choose you myself, here before all these others,” he murmured.

  “Wh-what?” she asked.

  “A special agent,” he said sadly. “This title was not in any cultural document I studied. Is it hereditary or were you elected?”

  “Special agent is just her job, love,” Dr. Bhimani explained. “She’s very brave, though. She disobeyed an order from a superior officer to protect your brothers.”

  MacGyver’s gaze turned smoldering and Amy smiled tremulously.

  “Is this true, my dear?” MacGyver asked.

  “Um, yes, I guess so,” Diaz muttered.

  “I will give you the stars,” MacGyver announced gravely.

  Rima couldn’t hide her smile.

  “Don’t laugh at him,” Magnum whispered in her ear. “Have some sympathy. I know how he feels.”

  His whisper in her hair sent a tingling sensation down her spine. Rima felt herself reacting to his touch, even after the endless events of the day.

  “You said you accepted me,” Magnum continued. “After this long night, do you have the strength to accept me physically?”

  “I do,” she whispered back, her cheeks turning red.

  “Then let’s hope we can straighten all this out quickly,” he told her ardently. “I need to claim my bride.”

  22

  Rima

  The next few hours passed in a whirlwind for Rima.

  As Sienna Hatfield had predicted, a few minutes after her live broadcast began the rest of the local press descended. Small papers, radio hosts and every television station appeared. One normally stuffy local anchor even arrived in his pajamas.

  Then the national services began landing helicopters in the parking lot.

  No one wanted to miss out on the biggest story of the… well, ever.

  By then, though, the black SUVs had long since departed, along with a chagrined looking Sykes. Rima kept quiet about the fact the he had shot her, deciding it would only raise more questions about her healing ability.

  Special Agent Diaz opted to stick around. Rima suspected this had everything to do with MacGyver.

  The handsome newcomer, who had learned Earth culture through watching movies and television, seemed to be quite taken with the idea of appearing onscreen himself. So as the gang from the observatory looked on, he gave many messages of greetings and congratulations to the people of Earth, some of which sounded oddly familiar. When he began to quote Ecclesiastes Rima almost expected him to explain that now was the time to break the town’s no-dancing law. But he managed to stay on track and at last the press began to question Dr. Bhimani as well.

  Posey left Bond’s side for a moment to wrap her arm around Rima.

  “Pretty crazy, huh?” she asked.

  “I can’t believe it,” Rima replied, shaking her head.

  “I guess the world will never be the same,” Georgia said, joining them.

  “Hey, so this is good news for Bond, Jr., isn’t it?” Rima teased Posey.

  Posey smiled and rubbed her nearly flat belly. It was hard to believe a baby was growing there.

  “Maybe it’s Posey Jr.”

  “What, you’re not going to name her Madonna?” Georgia asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Posey giggled and then Rima giggled too.

  Georgia threw her head back and laughed and then wrapped an arm around each of them.

  “We did it,” she said.

  “It’s unreal, isn’t it?” Rima asked.

  Posey nodded. Then she shook her head.

  “No, you know what? Somehow it’s just right. Once I got used to this idea… I don’t know. I think it was my destiny. Do you feel that way, Georgia?”

  “Yeah,” Georgia admitted.

  They turned to Rima and she laughed.

  “You already know what I think,” Rima said. “I orchestrated this whole thing. I’m just glad you’re not still mad at me for it.”

  “I am hungry,” Magnum announced.

  Georgia rolled her eyes and Rima laughed again. It felt good to laugh with her friends. The past few weeks had been way too serious.

  “They do deserve a meal. We all do,” she said.

  “Hey, it’s after midnight,” Posey said, looking at her phone. “It’s Thanksgiving!”

  Rima smiled to herself.

  There was so much to be thankful for.

  23

  Rima

  They managed to leave the park just after one o’clock in the morning. At Earl’s urging, the Stargazer Police provided them an escort back to the observatory.

  Once they were there, Dr. Bhimani looked around at all the tired, hungry, happy faces.

  “I have a turkey thawed in the refrigerator,” she said. “But that will take too long. Shall I order pizza?”

  “That sounds perfect,” Georgia said.

  “I have yearned to taste pizza,” MacGyver said. “Will it have pepperoni?”

  “Why don’t you help me choose the toppings,” Dr. Bhimani offered kindly. “Special Agent Diaz, anything you don’t like on a pizza?”

  “Oh, it’s just Amy, and I can’t stay,” Diaz said.

  “Nonsense, you’ll stay. If I come back in and you’re gone I’ll be unhappy,” Dr. Bhimani told her.

  Amy smiled widely, and she stayed.

  Rima snuck downstairs for a warm shower.

  She came back up in her coziest pajamas to find them all gathered around the big dining room table, eating pizza and drinking red wine out of the lumpy ceramic mugs Rima had made in middle school.

  She slid in next to Magnum and accepted the mug and plate he offered.

  Everyone was in high spirits. Jokes were made. Even a few from Magnum. Guesses were taken about the effects of the alien visit on the stock market and the history books. Georgia explained what it felt like to fly. And everyone touched on what they were thankful for.

 
Rima stayed quiet. She was sleepy, and content to enjoy the happy voices of her friends and family, knowing that the man by her side was there for keeps. There would be challenges ahead, every couple had their challenges. But knowing they were in this together took a weight off her shoulders she hadn’t fully realized was there. She was in an almost blissful state.

  Except for the desire that had clawed at her insides since he had told her he needed to claim her.

  As strong as the feeling was, it was tempered with a small amount of trepidation. Rima had never had sex before. Something she hoped wouldn’t be a big deal to an alien who learned Earth culture from watching movies that were older than she was.

  Nonetheless, she was more than a little nervous. She hoped the mug of wine in front of her would help her relax.

  24

  Rima

  Rima awoke to warm morning sunlight streaming through the window, making patterns on the tangled sheets of her bed.

  What had happened?

  The events of the previous day flashed through her mind.

  Oh.

  Oh.

  She thought regretfully of the full mug of wine she’d been drinking last night. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember a single thing that had happened after that.

  The door to the bathroom clicked and Magnum came out, droplets of water clinging to his huge, muscular frame.

  The towel draped around his waist looked as tiny as a washcloth on his big body.

  He ran a hand through his dark, wet hair, and gave her a cocky smile that made her insides quiver.

  “M-Magnum,” she stammered.

  “Yes, my bride,” he replied.

  “Last night, I-I…” she trailed off, too embarrassed to tell him she couldn’t remember.