Protecting Earth: Defy The Stars

By Magan Vernon

I never believed in life among the stars…then a man from space saved me.
My reality was worse than my nightmares before Monte showed up.

Now I'm helping my savior bring down my captors—the monsters who intended to sell me.
The bond I have with Monte grows stronger every day. But the closer I get to my alien, the more dangerous our situation becomes—for both of us.

Protecting Earth is our primary goal. But will the elite Navy SEALS and a group of rogue aliens be enough?

***This is a Defy The Stars series crossover, previously a Kindle Worlds novella, so some names, places, and faces have changed. This is more mature than the rest of the books in the Defy The Stars series, but not as *bow chicka ow ow***

• Language: English
• Publisher: Magan Vernon
• Release date: Aug 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201764678

Magan Vernon

Magan Vernon has been living off of reader tears since she wrote her first short story in 2004. She now spends her time killing off fictional characters, pretending to plot while she really just watches Netflix, and she tries to do this all while her two young children run amuck around her Texas ranch.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Monte

Feeling the atoms and each part of my body disappear, whirling through time and space at the speed of light before it reappeared again never got easier.

Ace? You there? I packed some mints in your left pocket if you’re about to get sick again, Ace’s human wife, Alex’s voice rang through my ear piece.

I couldn’t help laughing at my partner, standing next to me in his matching Kevlar armor over our temperature control suits. Earth had the weirdest weather. It never stayed the same, and I thought that humans should listen to that global warming or whatever they wanted to call it.

This from the Caltian who puked his first time teleporting, Ace said with a smirk that I could barely see through his mask.

Guys, C'mon. Are you going to fight all day or are we getting this mission over with? Alex’s voice rang through the speakers again, followed by some muffled sounds in the background.

Alex, sweetie, who is in the control room with you? Ace asked.

What? No one! This is a mission to get a Caltian out of a trafficking situation in Mexico. Why would I have people with me?

Not humans, but Izzy, Ace said with an edge to his tone

I’m only half-human! Their half-Martian, half-Sheppard barked over the speakers.

The two lived just outside of Circe Operations Center where we worked. I guess they had a Martian go after someone’s dog in heat. Izzy was one of the spawns who looked like a German Sheppard and talked like she was from Minnesota.

Izzy! Alex shushed her and I could only imagine Alex holding the little furball on her lap while they both ate popcorn and stared at the computers in their office back at Circe.

I might have pretended I wasn’t a fan of the little furball, but when no one was looking, I gave her extra ice chips.

Oh, Crap, Alex shrieked, and the sound of a yelping dog and the frantic clicking of keys sounded behind her.

What? Izzy eat all the popcorn again? I asked, unable to control my laughter.

No. We’ve got company, Alex muttered.

I stared at Ace, widening my eyes. What is it? Do we need to faze out?

I can’t tell, Alex muttered. There’s a group; I’m catching on one of the cameras. They’re crouched and geared up like the military.

Shit, I groaned. I wasn’t planning on fighting today. Just a simple get in, get the Caltian Contessa who went on spring break, trying to be human like and ended up going home with a guy who was more interested in selling her than sleeping with her.

Wait... Alex’s words were barely above a whisper. They’re American.

What the hell? I thought we were with the military. Didn’t someone tell them we were running this mission? I growled.

Stupid humans and stupid military. If this were Calta, we would have just blown them all up by now.

It’s the SEALs. I’m going to get the Navy on the phone right now, Alex said, her fingers clacking against the keyboard.

What the hell are we supposed to do? I asked. Wait like sitting dukes?

Ace shook his head. I believe the humans say ducks.

Whatever. Let’s go in, get this mission over with, then get some pizza. That’s one thing humans get right. I walked past Ace, holding my weapon to my side and crouching down.

Two guards. One door that goes in and out, I said, peering at the two men in front of the squat cement structure.

What are the humans doing? Ace asked over my shoulder. Are they fighting the guards? Shouldn’t they have mind control technology or something by now?

The bigger of the men, took the butt of his gun, snapping it against one of the guard’s face, the noise cracking through the air like a whip.

Is that the correct way to use a gun? Have we been doing this all wrong? I asked, staring at the back of my weapon.

Let’s just get in there, get the Contessa, and get out back home, Ace grumbled.

I nodded. Right. The soldiers have the guards, so that’ll distract them at least. Thank you, US Navy for doing our dirty work.

Ace and I both looked at the door, making sure we had an eye on the little window leading inside. We couldn’t see much, but the only way we could teleport anywhere was if we’d been there before or had a clear sight of it. Recently we were able to use satellite images to get places to do missions like these, but that didn’t get us inside of the buildings, so we had to get creative.

A cold shiver rang throughout my body, splitting every atom and molecule as I kept my sights on the building until my body fully evaporated, appearing just on the other side of the door.

I heard a small gasp in the corner of the dark room that smelled like baby powder and glitter if glitter had a smell.

Caltians? a prominent voice asked, but that wasn’t in the same direction as the gasp.

Ace went toward the voice, explaining who we were and what was happening, but I turned toward the gasp. Toward the little mound in the corner with wide blue eyes.

Kneeling down, my eyes adjusted to the dark and I saw the outline of a woman.

What are you? she whispered.

Monte! Let’s move! Ace called as yelling sounded and an alarm rang throughout the small space.

The red light from the alarm left a shadow over the woman’s face. I hadn’t been much for human girls, but with her dark blonde hair and her bright blue eyes widening, there was something vulnerable. Something that made me want to take care of her.

Without thinking what I was doing, I lifted the woman up, she was almost lighter than air in my arms, but as soon as I got her up, a force pulled her back.

Chains. Stupid human inventions.

Monte! What are you doing?

I whirled around to see Ace, holding onto the Contessa, her chains on the floor.

Can you zap hers off too? I asked, holding up the woman with the metal holdings dangling from her feet.

The SEALs will get her. Come on! Ace barked.

I shook my head. I’m not going without her.

We’d never teleported with a human before. For all we knew it could kill her, breaking her atoms in a million pieces.

But if those SEALs didn’t succeed in breaking down the door, this woman would deal with even more horror than she’d already seen, I just knew it.

The door handle jingled then a loud oomph pushed it slightly. Either the SEALs or the guards were taking it down.

Ace’s dark eyes met mine, and we sat in a stare off for a few seconds before he pulled out his gun and shot the shackles.

Just as the metal bindings disintegrated, the door burst open, and men in American uniforms stood there, holding their weapons. Drop the women and your weapons! one of them yelled.

Before they could shoot or anything else, I pressed the button on my suit, praying that teleportation worked for humans too.

Chapter 2

Ryn

One minute you’re answering an ad on Facebook sale site for a part-time, work from home, and the next you’re waking in up in some cement hovel.

I had no idea how long I was in the place and wished I paid attention in high school Spanish to know more of what the men, who came in and out the single door into the windowless room, were saying.

I didn’t know how long I’d been in the cement space. Long enough that I hallucinated two guys beamed in like Star Trek into the room.

And now, in whatever dream, I was having, or maybe I was drugged up as the men liked to do before parading me around in my underwear, I felt like I was floating. Not just floating but weightless in something gooey like a bowl full of Jell-O.

I’d been trapped so long that I was starting to think about the worst of food groups.

My eyelids were heavy as I slowly opened them to a pool of green and two wobbly shapes in front of me.

Holy shit, what kind of dream was this?

I opened my mouth to speak and got a mouthful of goop that tasted like nail polish remover.

Was this was Mexican water boarding was? This was it. This was how I’d die.

At least I thought it was until a hand gripped my shoulder and I was pulled out of the goo, gasping for air as I pushed globs of the green substance out of my face.

Something cold and warm was in my ear, and I shuddered back, realizing I was in a small green tank filled with goo like something out of a science fiction movie. But that wasn’t the weirdest part.

The warm thing on my ear was a small, sable colored dog, standing on a platform next to her was a raven haired girl with glasses.

Izzy! Bad dog! The woman scolded the little dog.

What? She needed to be cleaned, the dog responded in a Minnesotan accent.

I blinked hard, wiping my eyes and shaking my head. I had to be really out of it if I thought I heard a dog speak.

Sorry about that, the girl with the glasses said, before offering me a hand and helping me out of the green cylinder tank and onto a metal platform.

Instead of still in one of the ridiculous lingerie sets I’d been strapped into, I was in a gray jumpsuit that stuck to me like a second skin.

Thanks. I think. Where the hell am I? And what is this stuff? I asked, brushing the goo off my head. It was cool to the touch and peeled off me like dried glue.

In laments terms, it’s healing goo. You were pretty banged up when you were brought in, and we had no idea how the hell teleportation would react to a human. But you seemed physically and mentally unscathed by it, so now I’m going to start demanding my husband take me on some trips. Izzy and I hate flying commercial, the girl went on and on as if this entire conversation wasn’t entirely bizarre.

Pardon? I must have hit my head or something because I swore you were talking about healing goo and teleportation, I said, forcing a small laugh.

She was, the dog answered.

I stared from the talking dog to the still talking girl before I felt my body quake and everything go dark. Whatever dream I was in,