Synopsis

Archon has been a soldier for the United Federation of Earth (UFE) since the day the first race of aliens invaded. He was one of the first volunteers for the robotic enhancements and has been on the front lines of the war every day since. Being on the front line, also meant he was one of the first ones affected when the spell was cast that tore his and every other living creature on earth’s life force in two. Archon has learned to despise all the Aliens; even those in the UFE. So what happens when he discovers half of his life force in a Venusian? Will he choose to continue to live as half a man or will he choose to accept an alien for a lifemate?

Glossary of Races & Worlds

Andromedains – aka Ghosts – Alien life forms made of energy with flowing incorporeal forms. Their home planet is Methuselah. Andromedains are a formidable race with top notch technology. They also have several abilities such as mind control, weather modification and they can make themselves invisible.

Zeta Graylings – aka Grays – Aliens from the planet Epsilon Eridani. One of the first invaders on Earth. They are hairless, dark grey-skinned humanoids that lack external human organs such as noses, ears or sex organs. They are longer, thinner and their limbs are proportionally different from a human's. They have large heads in comparison to their bodies.

Venusians – aka Beauties - Considered the most beautiful of all Aliens. Appear to be perfect humanoids but are actually a sulfur-based lifeform from the planet Aquarii. Took to living deep underground in cooled lava tubes coming topside only for necessities. Venusians consider themselves lovers, not fighters and many Venusian’s have been hiding on Earth since the dark ages in an attempt to stay out of the Galactic War.

Reptilians – aka Time Trekkers – Combative alien race from the planet Cancri. They are similarly shaped with humans but are actually cold-blooded. They are tall, with green scaly skin, three long fingers and an opposable thumb with talons on the ends, holes for ears, muscular legs and arms, and large eyes. Reptilians reportedly have the ability to time travel. Due to their cold blood, Reptilians have settled in rainforests, deserts and other warm climate areas.

Sirian – aka Blues – Sirian’s started visiting Earth thousands of years ago. They originate from the planet Gliese. They are humanoid in shape and size but have pale almost translucent blue skin in their natural form. They are water based lifeforms and prefer to live in water whenever possible. Sirians are natural masters of magic.

Anunnaki - aka shapeshifters – Anunnaki like the Sirians also started visiting Earth thousands of years ago during the time of the Babylonians. They are humanoid in shape and size but are typically dark skin toned and have the ability to shapeshift. They are from the planet Anunna one of the first ones destroyed in the Galactic War.

Termaritans - aka Greens – Small green aliens from the planet Serpentis. Highly aggressive with most advanced warfare technology. Termaritans are parthenogenesis and can reproduce without a mate.

Earthlings – aka Humans – Aggressive, adaptive and creative beings, native humanoids born to the planet Earth. Most Earthlings have been technologically enhanced with robotic or semi-robotic arms, legs, heart, etc. The average lifespan for a human averages between two hundred and three hundred years.

Halfling – aka Mutts – Mixed species humanoids of any combination.

Chapter 1 ~*~ December 18 th 3207 Earth

Archon was a friend of mine. He was a good man, but lonely and often jaded. He was alive but not really living. The war made him that way. He was just a teenager when the first Galactic warship landed on Earth. Like so many other boys his age, he quit school and volunteered for the United Federation of Earth (UFE). Archon was also one of the first men to volunteer to get robotic enhancements.

Over the years, Archon got more and more robotic enhancements. So many in fact, some would say he was more robot than human. He has robotic arms with weapons, enhanced legs, and several internal organs including brain enhancements and fully robotic lungs and heart. He is considered a superhuman.

His robotic enhancements, however, are not the only thing that make Archon stand out in a crowd. He has learned some magic from the Sirians and seems to have some natural form of ESP. It was because of the ESP that Archon knew it wasn’t just a dream. It was a foretelling. A prediction of what would come to pass.

It was the same dream night after night. Each time, however, new pieces of the puzzle were revealed to him. The dream was probably the most important thing of his life. It foretold of him finding his lifemate. A lifemate is someone that you share your lifeblood with. Half of the same whole. Archon knew his lifemate was alive and trying desperately to communicate with him. He also knew he had to find her and he had to find her fast. He looked down at his notebook and reread all of the details he gleaned from his most recent vision.

The Reptilians rounded the bend and caught their first sight of him. The battalion was a combination of Reptilians and Termaritans. Archon watched the lead reptilian’s nose twitch as he confirmed Archon was indeed a human. Just the sight of the Reptilians caused Archon’s anger to boil. He wanted to rip the bastard’s throat out and leave his bloody dead body lying on the sandy ground to rot for all eternity.

The leader looked over at the female then back at Archon. The female had her hands tied behind her back and the reptilian leader was pulling her with a rope that was looped around her neck. Something in the way he looked at Archon’s lifemate caused his anger to triple into pure black-out fury. It was obvious to Archon that they were mistreating her and had been for quite some time.

His lifemate tripped and fell roughly to the ground. The reptilian leader dropped his hold of the rope and instead focused his attention on Archon. He built speed as he launched himself at Archon. He tore into him with everything he had. His battalion members fought beside him and they too gave it everything they had. They foolishly thought, there was no way Archon was going to survive the attack.

They were wrong. It didn’t matter that they had more than two dozen reptilian, plus a dozen or more Termaritans fighting with them. Had I been there with Archon that day, I would have laughed at the foolish battalion. So many years we’ve been fighting them, and they still don’t learn. How could they misevaluate what Archon was?

Anyhow, the reptilian kept coming at Archon and it appeared they had no intention of backing down. They were doing their best to tear off his head. But no matter how hard the Reptilian fought, Archon stood strong. He was a robotically enhanced superhuman. He was ten times stronger than the average enhanced Earthling. They would need closer to fifty Reptilians to take him down, and that was if he wasn’t angry.

Archon, however, was pissed. They had his lifemate and he wanted her. He hated that they had abused her. Nothing would make him stop. He was going to fight to his last breath. Whatever it took to rescue his lifemate. Minutes turned into hours and still he stood powerfully against them. It was almost as if he was playing the reptilian for fools.

Finally, the leader started to consider the fact that this was no ordinary enhanced Earthling. With his power and his enhancements, they weren’t going to have any luck on bringing him down. The Termaritans battalion members must have come to the same conclusion as the Reptilians since most of them started backing off and disappearing into the desert. The lead reptilian roared a battle cry deep in his throat letting them know that he expected them to continue the fight, backing off wasn’t an option. Despite his roar, the others in the battalion slowly but surely leaving the fray.

Chapter 2

Naelia’s bare feet were burned and peeling, and her stomach ached from not eating. She looked toward the horizon and decided that she must have traveled at least forty miles today. That thought made her immensely happy because it was even better than her average of thirty per day. Naelia felt a light breeze and thanked Ewmjir, the god of strength, the sun was setting.

The setting sun was a blessing and also a curse. The blessing was that the temperature would drop and her feet wouldn’t get any more burned today. It also meant that wild animals would come out to hunt and if she was lucky she might get a chance to eat.

It was bad because she didn’t have proper covering for the cool night, and it was three times more likely the battalion of reptilian nearby might spot her. She needed to find a way back underground. Back to her people hiding deep beneath the crust of the earth in the extensive lava tubes that ran under the Sahara desert. She knew if she could just find an access tunnel she’d be home free.

She’s been trapped topside for six long and painful months. She came to the surface with several other Venusians from her colony. The only came topside to harvest regatta leaves. Regatta is a vegetable that grew natively on Aquarii the Venusians home planet. The vegetable has amazing healing qualities and is essential in daily Venusians life. Sadly, while the lava tubes provide nearly everything the Venusians race needs to survive, the lack of sunlight prevents the regatta from growing underground. For that reason, Venusians are forced to come topside on a regular basis and collected it.

Collectors are always chosen by lottery. Naelia and the other chosen Venusians were attacked and scattered across the desert. Most of the other collectors that came topside with her have already been caught by the Reptilians or Termaritans. So far, Naelia has managed to stay under the radar.

Still, it hasn’t been easy. Venusians are a close knit race. They are never alone if possible. Yet one so young as Naelia has survived and traveled alone, defenceless, without food and water by foot towards the mountains where she hopes to find an underground passage that will take her home. If not for her dreams, she would have probably given up and died months ago. But for some reason, her broken and fragile mind created a sanctuary. A life and a dream lifemate for her.

She doesn’t really care how or why it happened, all she knows is that she’s grateful. Because, when Naelia goes to sleep at night Archon her Earthling lifemate comes to her and together they share the life that she wished she could share with him during the day. Some days when Naelia's really hungry and really tired of traveling, she tells Archon the truth.

She tells him what happens to her when she’s awake. She tells him of her grief and pain. She begs him to help her leave this world. Archon refuses and instead demands she push on and come back to him the next night. So for that reason alone Naelia keeps herself alive. She fights the darkness and she breathes every day just so she can dream about him again.

Naelia heard a twig snap to her left and she knew she’d just become the hunted. She slowed down and slowly made her way to a little overgrown brush. She crawled under it and took in her surroundings. She watched with trepidation as six Termaritans crept slowly toward her.

Termaritans while highly aggressive are thankfully not the brightest bulbs. They also have poor senses compared to the other races that now inhabit earth. They have no sense of smell, and their eyesight at night is fair to poor. Naelia snuggled deeper into the sand and did her best to bury herself. She made a mental note of her position and wrapped as much sand as possible around herself. She briefly thought that it was possible the temperature could drop enough that she might freeze to death.

Venusians like Naelia are sulfur-based lifeform and thrive in the heat but become lethargic in cooler temperatures. The Sahara desert was the perfect temperature during the day for everything but Naelia’s bare uncovered feet but the cool night air was brutal without proper protection. Despite knowing that however, Naelia had no other options so, she let the sand wrap itself around her and within moments she drifted off into a deep and dangerous sleep.

Chapter 3 ~*~ February 2, 3208 Earth

Archon bolted awake with the sense that he was finally getting closer to his lifemate. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. His body shook with joy and excitement. Then the anticipation of finally finding his lifemate was replaced by anxiety and sadness. She was dying, alone somewhere deep in the Sahara desert and Archon had no idea of how to find her.

Archon would bet his life that she was somewhere in the Sahara desert. The Sahara desert was a dangerous and deadly place even for a superhuman like him. The desert was the breeding grounds for the Reptilians.

Reptilians, also known as Time Trekkers are combative aliens from the planet Cancri. They are similarly shaped with humans but are actually cold-blooded. They are tall, with green scaly skin, three long fingers and an opposable thumb with talons on the ends, holes for ears, muscular legs and arms, and large eyes. Reptilians reportedly have the ability to time travel. Though most of us in the UFE are still trying to find proof.

Anyways, due to their cold blood, Reptilians have settled in rainforests, deserts and other warm climate areas. The Sahara desert is one of their favorites. More than two-thirds of all the Reptilians that now call earth their home can be found in the Sahara. It also doesn’t help that the reptilian’s biggest allies in the war are the Termaritans.

The Termaritans also known as the greens are small green aliens from the planet Serpentis. They aren’t the smartest of the alien races but they are highly aggressive and have the most advanced warfare technology. The Termaritans have strategically formed borders all over the northern part of Africa effectively making the entire continent a dead zone for the UFE.

Still, if his lifemate was there, then Archon was heading to Africa. That was just the kind of guy he was. Most of us Earthlings don’t want to buy into the whole lifemate thing. It was a concept the aliens brought with them when they attacked Earth. They claimed that everyone had a lifemate. Someone that completed them. Someone that shared the same life force with them and made the whole. They claimed since the dawn of man Earthlings have always searched for something, but never knew how to find it.

They used our romance novels and lovesick songs to prove it. As the war raged on and the billions of Earthlings became less than millions, we realized the truth. The aliens were right. Earthlings did have lifemates and most of them were now dead and we would never have the chance to be complete.

It was nearly a year after Archon first realized his lifemate was alive that he parachuted into Niamey in Niger Africa. If only he’d told us what he’d planned... we could have helped him. We could have had his back, but that day, he was alone in enemy territory desperately hoping he could find his lifemate. Hell, he knew as much as we did that he had a better chance of finding a needle in a haystack but he had to try. To Archon, continuing to fight through life without a chance of being with his lifemate was a life not worth having.

He searched high and low for a trace of her. He followed ever lead and shook every tree. He rescued no less than fifteen Earthling females, but none of them were her. His lifemate was nowhere to be found. With only his dreams to go on, he was beginning to lose hope of ever finding her.

Then he had a waking vision. Archon was sitting still, considering his options when he felt her presence. This was the first time she came to him outside of a dream. He could see her as clear as day, and she was terrified. She was calling and begging him to come to her and save her from a fate worse than death. Archon didn’t hesitate for a moment. He launched himself from the ground and ran in the direction he believed she was in, with all the speed he could muster.

His ESP kicked in and he sensed her presence nearby. His nose, not his ESP, however, told him not only were Earthlings nearby but also Reptilians and Termaritans. His lifemate was smack dab in the middle of all of them.

Given his skill level, it was easy for Archon to approach their camp quietly. He took his tie determining where in the camp she was likely located despite not being able to get a visual on her. He took a deep breath through his nose and was immediately able to identify what he believed was her unique smell. According to him, she smelled like fresh baked apple pie on Christmas morning. Now, I never wanted to call him a liar but… well, I thought she smelled nice and all but Christmas morning was a real stretch.

Anyhow, the setting was a scene right out of one of his earliest dreams of Naelia. There was a battalion of reptilian warriors and he knew they would all be gunning for him. He needed a plan that would allow him to find her without immediately alerting them to his presence. It seemed magic might be the best way. Archon learned a bit of magic from the sirens.

The Sirians also known as blues are aliens that lived on Gliese before it was destroyed. They are water based lifeforms that have pale almost translucent blue skin and prefer to live in water. Even before the Galactic War and Gliese was destroyed many Sirians visited Earth’s oceans as a vacation spot. Some Earthling legends have depicted them as mermaids. Anyhow Sirians are natural masters of magic and when they beseeched the UFE to allow them safe passage on earth, the UFE demanded they teach top security personnel magic.

Archon was one of the chosen soldiers. Most of the magic the Sirians taught the UFE soldiers were nothing more than useless parlor tricks. Most but not all. The OBE (Out of body) spell is particularly useful in just the type of situation Archon found himself in that day.

I can’t explain exactly how an OBE works. It is, after all, magic. But it starts by initiating a lucid dreamlike state, and then they separate their soul from their body. It allows the individual to perceive the surrounding environment from a different perspective from a position outside of his or her own body. That day, Archon sat silently on the edge of the camp and allowed his soul to lift from his body.

He moved through the camp entering caves and dwellings in search of his lifemate. He went from place to place but didn’t find any signs of her. He called out to her soul but received no response. Something was wrong. How could he have lost her? Where could she have gone? Panic set in as Archon started to doubt he would find her.

He pushed his robotic legs to their top speed as he ran through the rest of the camp. Archon legs could easily run one hundred and sixty miles per hour. At that speed, it only took a few minutes for him to check every structure and cave in the camp but one. The leader’s cave. Archon ran through the entrance of the cave and stopped dead. He’d found her. His beautiful lifemate Naelia was lying on to the ground, wearing nothing more than dirty, tattered rags. It looked as if she’d been exposed to the elements for months. Her body was covered in bruises and she was nothing more than a scrawny bag of bones that was nearly starved to death.

The reptilian gang leader slept comfortably only feet from her in a soft bed without a thought to her wellbeing or comfort. Archon reached out and touched her cheek and felt the moisture that had yet to dry from the tears she must have recently cried. He bellowed out in anger and rage that it had taken so long to find her. He snapped back to his body, with the intention of racing to the cave to rescue her. Archon was prepared to kill everyone that stood in his way.