Page 12 of Sublime Target
A freaking Kordolian. Tall and imposing, with long white hair and gently curved obsidian horns and luminous silver skin. He had elegant features and striking golden eyes, and he wore flowing robes of midnight blue made from a silken material.
In the eyes of anyone—human or alien—he would be considered terribly beautiful.
“Hello,” he said, his voice sounding slightly unreal; echoey and distant. Actually, the sound came not from his mouth but from the capsule-thing.
“My name is Xalikian Kazharan. I am the Kordolian Cultural Ambassador to Earth.”
The alien spoke in flawless Universal. Clarissa knew Universal. These days, anyone who wanted to study at university needed to know Universal to a passable standard. The Federation government had implemented the requirement decades ago—even before the Kordolians had appeared in Earth’s orbit.
It was the future, they’d said. In order to survive, Earth needed to open up to trade with alien civilizations.
This alien standing before her… his Universal was flawless and elegantly enunciated. It made sense. Kordolians had invented the language, after all.
Her hand shot out… and passed right through the alien.
I knew it.
It was a hologram.
Not just any hologram. This one was so detailed and realistic that if not for the slight sense of something being off about his voice, Clarissa would have totally mistaken him for real.
The effect was jarring and surreal. It was almost as if she had a real live Kordolian standing in her kitchen.
How could these beings even be real? The alien was so striking and unearthly, like something out of a fantasy novel… only with scarily advanced tech.
Was this some sort of scam?
But no, it couldn’t be because no scammer in their right mind would fork out thousands of credits for a device that could create such a perfect holographic simulation.
Why do I even have this right now?
“You might think it strange that you’re receiving this unsolicited communication from us,” the alien continued as if reading her mind. He flashed a smile, revealing a pair of gleaming fangs.
Fangs!
“I want to assure you that there is nothing untoward about this message. It’s nothing more than an invitation, and you are free to choose whether you accept or decline. As part of our intention to create a long, peaceful, and prosperous relationship with the humans of Earth, we would like to extend an invitation to you to attend our inaugural Kordolian Cultural Event. If you would like to know more, press the center of your device.”
Clarissa was inches away from pressing the damn thing when her Link Band buzzed, reminding her that she had to be out the door in thirty seconds or she’d miss the train that would get her into the city on time.
She stared at the hologram for a moment, blinking in disbelief.
Then, she picked up the device. It closed in an instant, the geometric petals sealing together to form a seamless pod once again.
She threw it into her handbag and rushed out the door, a thousand insane thoughts swirling through her mind.
SEVEN
As she walked through the glass doors of the entrance foyer, Clarissa ran into Bea, who worked at front reception.
Bea—short for Beatrice—had joined Garner Corp at the same time as Clarissa. On induction day, they’d bonded over their mutual dislike of boring simulated training courses and mandatory checklists.
In the same way that Clarissa had landed in her role, Bea had found herself at the front desk in a coincidental manner. The last person in the role—a severe, intimidating guy called Tanner—had been poached by one of Garner’s arch-competitors in a vicious and bitter move that left the boss in a foul mood for weeks.
Young and inexperienced, Bea had been thrust into the role in what was supposed to be a temporary appointment. But she was motivated and gutsy, and she had the fiercest resting bitchface Clarissa had ever seen.
She’d turned out to be impressively good at dealing with the irate, difficult people who frequently showed up at Garner Tower’s front door. But behind her no-nonsense exterior, she was also one of the warmest, most generous people Clarissa had ever known.
And now, something was wrong because the normally unflappable Bea looked like she’d just seen a ghost.