A.T.T.R.A. Chronicles 1 (A Spinning Time Novella) by D.F. Jones
Alien Time Travel Research Agency (ATTRA) Tracker Commander Ruben returns to Lunar City with his talking alien dog Klock after capturing a known galaxy smuggler. Prince Aelius contacts him and initiates a new project to protect Cradon, a royal from Olzin. Ruben, and his team, Charlie, Saira, and Klock, return to Earth. After meeting the alien, their team encounters resistance trying to intervene in the interspecies conflict with The Reptilian Hybrids (The RH Squad). Charlie gets shot, and Ruben's world starts to crumble. He loves Charlie, but he's been afraid to tell her, and now he could lose her.
Charlie's been in love with Ruben since the day she fell into a naturally occurring time portal at Woodstock. He trains her to become a Tracker; they become partners, leading to a deeper relationship. Charlie is tough as nails, but her patience is running thin with Ruben's inability to commit. Should she stay with Ruben or move on? The Olizn mission to protect Cradon opens the door to many revelations that will change her future, and everyone else's on the team. How? Only time will tell.
Excerpt:
"Charlie, you cannont treat the alien with contempt. He's from an entirely different galaxy."
"You can't tell me what to do." She looked out the passenger window. Her hands curled into fists.
Ruben whipped the Ford four by four off the road and stopped at a closed gas station. "Look at me. Damn it, Charlie, look at me."
She turned and glared.
"I most certainly can tell you what to do. I'm your superior on this project, and I won't allow your anger at me to jeopardize it. If you don't get it together, I'll send you back to ATTRA."
Klock jumped in the middle. "Children, do I need to put you in a time out?"
In unison, they shouted, "Shut up, Klock."
"Geesh, can't anyone take a joke anymore?" He hopped onto the floorboard. "Keep it up, and I'll wash my hands of the both of you."
The night was hot and sticky, so Ruben cranked the a/c. He threaded his fingers through his sweat-drenched hair. He closed his eyes and inhaled Charlie's sweet scent of jasmine. The time had come to either tell her the truth or let her go for good.
He stared into her eyes. "I love you, Charlie." His hand caressed her cheek.
The silence stretched.
"Did you hear me?"
With a whisper, she said, "I love you. I've always loved you even when you didn't see me."
"Oh, Darling, I saw you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, but I'm damaged goods. The things I've seen, the things I've done." He looked away, but she turned his face toward her again.
"We've both done things we aren't proud of, Ruben. I love you anyway. I'll always love you, no matter if we go our separate ways. Life has no guarantees. Love is a gift. Can't you see that? Don't run from it. Run toward it because, at the end of the day, love is all that matters." She unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted next to him.
"That's beautiful." Klock sniffled.
Ruben took her into his arms. "I want to run to you," he said with a slight hitch in his voice. "I want to run towards you." He crushed her with a kiss that was fiery hot, burning with desire, imprinting him to her forever. His tongue slid between the seams of her lips, and she moaned. He unzipped her jeans and slid his hand down her stomach and over her mound of tender flesh.
High beams flooded the truck.
Fear pitted in his gut - not for himself, but Charlie.
Ruben glanced in the mirror. His heart raced as black SUVs surrounded them.
Charlie zipped her jeans and fastened her seatbelt.
"Hold on. It's going to get ugly." He started the ignition. The engine roared. "Watch it, Charlie, infrared coming in."
Charlie ducked as bullets penetrated the windshield, cracking the glass.
Ruben floored it, knocking one of the SUVs out of the way just enough to clear a path, spraying gravel in the air. He sped along the highway, running off the shoulder, then yanking the steering wheel, pulling it back onto the pavement.
He glanced at Charlie slumped in the seat. "Darling, please say something. Klock, check if she's hit and where."
Klock jumped into the front seat, nudging his way under Charlie, blood covered his white coat of fur. "It's a tangential peripheral wound, non-fatal, but she's losing blood. She needs the hospital."
Charlie came to and managed to croak out, "No, ER. That's what they want. We have a surgical room at the house. You're the only doctor I need."
They lost the assassins after maneuvering the back roads, so he drove to the safe house. Whoever shot Charlie would pay.
He stopped the vehicle around the back of the house, jumped out, and opened the passenger door. "Put your arms around me." Charlie did as he requested, her head lolled on his shoulder. "Klock, run ahead for Saira."
Saira met them at the kitchen door. "What happened?"
"The RH squad shot Charlie," Klock barked. "But we lost them."
Ruben strode to the surgical room down the hall and placed Charlie in the hospital bed. He gingerly peeled away her bloodied clothes.
She screamed.
"I'm sorry, Charlie. I know it hurts."
Saira brought over a syringe with pain meds and inserted the needle into Charlie's thigh while Ruben started an I.V. on her good hand.
Cradon seemed to float into the room. "I can heal her if you will allow me." The alien's hair stood on its end like he'd been stuck in an electrical outlet.
Ruben decided to trust Cradon. He took a step back. "I'll be in your debt." He watched as the alien fingertips manipulated into what appeared as surgical instruments.
Cradon worked on Charlie for fifteen minutes before he turned and said, "The wound's healed. She will bruise, but no shrapnel is inside her body. She needs rest."
"I'm not leaving her." Ruben pulled a chair over to the bed.
"We'll be outside if you need anything." The electricity in Cradon's hair disappeared, his fingertips returned to normal. Cradon turned to Saira and Klock and pointed to the door. They left the room.
Ruben tenderly caressed Charlie's hand. He could've lost her today. He would never take her love for granted again.
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